The "Six Suites a Violoncello Solo senza Basso" of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-

1750) is proclaimed as the "bible" in the world of cellos, and it's also a crucial research

topic for every cellist. However, Bach left no manuscript of the piece, and we can only

speculate from the manuscripts of his wife, Anna, and others. There are endless

interpretations of Bach cello suites, such as the way Baroque music is played, or the

smooth way of playing due to the improvement of modern bows. Among the various

versions, this paper will dive into the two great cellists, Pablo Casals (1876-1973) and

Anner Bylsma (1934-2019), who have in-depth research on Bach's cello suites but have

completely different interpretation methods. The former focuses on the "emotions" that

Bach wanted to convey through his music, while the latter examines the "notations" of

several important manuscripts that still exist and uses them to figure out what Bach had

in mind when he composed his music.

This paper will first introduce the background of Bach's Suites a Violoncello Solo

senza Basso, no. 1 and briefly describe the lives of Casals and Bylsma, and finally

compare and synthesize the analyses and interpretations of the two cellists in their study

of Bach's Suites a Violoncello Solo senza Basso, no. 1, as well as unify the main points

of this paper and draw conclusions.

Graduation Recital Program

J. S. Bach (1685-1750): Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007

J. Haydn (1732-1809): Divertimento for Cello and Piano in D Major

N. Kapustin (1937-2020): Nearly Waltz for Cello and Piano, op. 98

A. Dvořák (1841-1904): Cello Concerto in b minor, op. 104