LDV115-6

18 BACH | LES SIX SUITES POUR VIOLONCELLE SEUL Do you think that the notion of infinity in this music is specific to Bach’s output? I make no distinction between my approach to Bach’s music and the music of today. The process of discovery and learning is identical; in other words, I learn about the style, the cultural and historical context of the composer and the score. The only difference is that for Bach, we don’t possess any audio documents from his time and we have to imagine how to interpret him. It’s all just guesswork. The melodic and rhythmic richness of the suites is often combined with very complex textures. How can one synthesise these elements in interpretative terms? Despite howmusically rich the suites are, the fact that there's no original manuscript by J.S. Bach gives me the impression that it’s a real puzzle (something that’s even more true of the Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin), which raises countless questions and provokes so many controversies among musicologists and performers. Paradoxically, and this always seems incredible to me, the work sounds crystal clear to the ear. That means it should be played as simply and naturally as possible. I’ve practised these suites so much that when I play them, I’m guided by my instinct alone!