Prelude in D

Suite No. 6 in D, BWV 1012 Prelude
Arr. by Ferdinand David (1810-1873)
The late great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich called this suite “a symphony for solo cello", not only for its extended variations, but because the key of D major was “a tonality of triumph and joy". In fact, the suite might not have been composed for cello at all, but for the so-called "piccolo cello", a smaller version of the modern cello with five strings instead of the usual four.

The original manuscript does not specify any instrument at all, and it is also thought that Bach, who loved the viola, might have composed it for that instrument. In the 18th century, little was certain about instrumentation.

The first movement is an example of this “symphonic" feeling. While relatively long, and consisting mainly of triplets, one can feel the architecture of the movement as it moves up to a series of climaxes. It never lets up for a moment, and one can feel as much the monumental here as in a Bach choral piece.