The first prelude of the first suite by John Sebastian Bach, preludes to a series of dances and also to a series of suites.
It is also the first piece of repertoire granted to beginners. Only one finger of the left hand is required to play the first bar, two for the second, three for the third. It is therefore a landmark in the life of a cellist, a key to the life of an artist.
The unabbreviated Six Suite marathon, penetrated with the the obsessional Hallelujah (..--) of the first prelude, celebrated by Jean-Philippe Audin in 2000, Bach’s bicentennial, has given birth to these variations, filled with rhythms and harmonies struck from a more personal and popular note of pleasure, little twinkles, less than a minute in length, micro-preludes from an infinite array of acoustic fragrances for the cello, the ultimate companion to a travel through time and space.
If it were a concert of Bach preludes, it would be like a call at the pause of a solitary performance, or a loop in the shape of an invitation to climb on board.