Bach: Bourrée I & II (BWV 1009)

Suite for Solo Cello No. 3
BWV 1009
Bourrée I & II

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)


Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Known as the father of classical music, Bach created more than 1,100 works, including roughly 300 sacred cantatas. His output is unparalleled and includes about every musical genre outside of opera. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach. They are some of the most frequently performed solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the period 1717–23, when he served as Kapellmeister in Köthen. The title given on the cover of the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript was Suites à Violoncello Solo senza Basso (Suites for cello solo without bass).

The Bourrée I & II is selected from Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 (BWV 1009) as one of RCM (The Royal Conservatory of Music) level 7 repertoire. Drop D tuning is required (the guitar's 6th string is tuned down from an E to a D).