Sight Reading: BWV 1007 — Cello Suite No. 1, Menuet 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). Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 contains the following movements: Prelude Allemande Courante Sarabande Minuet I / II Gigue The Minuet I / II is selected as one of RCM (The Royal Conservatory of Music) level 7 repertoire. Note that I played it on a 10-string guitar by tuning the 7th string as D, and did not played the 6th E string. The purpose is to use the fingering on the RCM book and simulate tuning the 6th string to D on a regular 6-string guitar. [MEDIA=youtube]ZqRD0jSzY6g[/MEDIA]
