LDV115-6

24 BACH | THE SIX CELLO SUITES The radiant key of C major illuminates the Third Suite. Should we not transpose it mentally to the organ? The melodic magnificence and beauty seem to light up the stained-glass windows of an imaginary cathedral. Following the Prélude, the Allemande sings with delightful fantasy while the Courante moves straight ahead, ineluctably weaving a perfectly contoured design. The Sarabande is the most substantial in the cycle. It uses the full length of the bow and unfolds with a polyphonic richness that sometimes makes one doubt that it was composed in just two parts. The popular, almost folklike dimension of the two Bourrées provides welcome relief after a movement of such intensity. The Gigue closes the suite in similar vein, but with a virtuosity greatly heightened by its intoxication with sheer sound. The Prélude to the Fourth Suite in E flat major evokes both the sonority of the lute and the plenum of the French classical organ. The ostinato motif that constantly plunges down to the lowest depths of the instrument seems as if it need never stop. After a movement of such gravity, the Allemande sings its song in a lyrical, improvisatory voice. The Courante is joyously dancelike and lacks neither finesse nor humour. Is it perhaps a dialogue between two characters who confide in each other, burst out laughing, question one another? The confessional tone of the Sarabande is much more distinguished in nature. What a contrast with the two Bourrées that follow, so rustic in spirit, and the nonchalant Gigue!