Moreover, cello strings are much thicker than the violin and respond less quickly, placing some physical limitations on articulation and tempo. Even if transcribed down a fifth, which preserves note, fingering and string relationships, the fact is that the cello is much larger and hand positions that are possible on the violin simply are not practical on the cello.
Performing these magnificent violin works on the cello is problematic at times. Thus, transcribing for alternate instruments was not a foreign concept to Bach as he practiced this with some frequency himself. He also transcribed the entire third violin Partita for an unspecified polyphonic instrument, generally believed to be the lute. He expanded the Preludio of the third Partita into two of his cantatas: “Wir danken dir Gott, wir danken dir” BWV 29 and “Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge,” BWV 120a. This same fugue appears as BWV 1000 probably intended for the lute. Parts of these violin works were transcribed by Bach himself - for example the Fuga of the first Sonata appears as BWV 539 for organ with few changes. Transcriptions of these works for cello a fifth down from the original violin keys were made during Bach’s time but they were soon forgotten.
Transcribing these violin works for cello is not merely a modern eccentricity. 1, BWV 1001 (originally in G Minor), and the Partita No. Instead, I am exploring some of Bach’s magnificent and timeless unaccompanied violin Sonatas and Partitas, specifically, the Sonata No. V of Cello in the Time of Bach, technically none of the music was originally intended for the cello.
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