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Smiling Shelves

The Cello Suites [Review]

5/20/2014

4 Comments

 
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This book reminded me how much I love classical music, and how long it has been since I’ve listened to any. I was a music minor in college, and for a time, seriously contemplated pursuing a graduate degree in Music History. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t go that route. But I am also exceedingly glad that books like The Cello Suites can rekindle that love in me.

For many years, Bach’s Cello Suites were viewed as nothing more than exercises for cello students. Then one day, a teenage cello prodigy discovered an old copy in a dusty music store and turned them into beloved pieces known worldwide. Today, they are viewed as the pinnacle of a cellist’s achievements.

This book is divided into six sections (one for each suite), and then each section is divided into six chapters (one for each movement within each suite). You’ll know I’m a geek when I say that that structure is one of the things I love most about this book. The first three chapters of each section are devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach, his family, and his trials as a composer and a musician. This biography is handled well, especially when discussing all his musician children of multiple names (it can get rather confusing). Although the biography spans Bach’s whole life, Siblin still keeps the focus on the Cello Suites and their possible origins.

The next two chapters of each section focus on Pablo Casals, the Catalonian cellist who made the Cello Suites famous, even turning them into a political statement. (In the wake of World War II, Casals wouldn’t perform in any country that recognized Franco’s regime in Spain.) Casals was truly a remarkable man and a phenomenal musician, as Siblin’s biography of him clearly shows.

The last chapter of each section follows Siblin’s journey into the world of classical music. He tries everything from attempting to learn the cello himself to attending concerts and workshops devoted to Bach’s works. His love for Bach’s beautiful music shows through on every page.

You don’t have to be a classical music lover to enjoy this book. You just have to be someone who enjoys a good story – and even more so when the story is true.

Below I’ve embedded two videos. The first is Pablo Casals playing the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite #1. This is probably the most familiar of all the movements in the six Cello Suites. If you want to listen to Casals playing all six suites, you can click here.

The second video is the Piano Guys’ version of that movement. Siblin discusses the evolution of classical music into popular culture, and here’s a great example of that! (Besides, I like the Piano Guys.)  
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Learning

4 Comments
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf link
5/20/2014 04:52:38 am

I'm a huge classical music lover (and fellow music history nerd), so I'm adding this to my Goodreads TBR list right now! Great review, thanks for sharing this one. :)

Reply
Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
5/21/2014 02:01:34 pm

I know I've added to my TBR list some of your music recommendations. Glad to return the favor!

Reply
fiddlrts link
5/20/2014 09:17:36 pm

I am thrilled that you included a link to the actual suites. Bach's cello suites are amazing and never fail to reveal new depths even to the experienced musician. (His violin suites are likewise beyond compare, even if they are a source of agony for us violinists.) Most of us played excerpts from the cello suites (in a transposed form) in our formative days. They are easier on violin (or viola) simply due to the smaller scale of the instrument, but they nevertheless are full of nuance - particularly in the harmonic sense. Bach was several centuries ahead of his time.

I do recommend you look up the violin suites as well. (Three part fugues for one violin! Amazing!) Also, Chris Thile plays them on mandolin, which is tuned like a violin. Also well worth the listen.

Reply
Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
5/21/2014 02:03:14 pm

I'll definitely check out the violin suites. I'm actually planning to learn how to play the violin this summer, so that will be good inspiration!

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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