Editions of the Suites
The favorite editions
Results from a survey made in 2017 - More than 330 cellists answered to the question "What is your favorite edition of the suites?"
TOP 7
Bärenreiter BA 320
Bärenreiter BA 5217
Peters EP 9054
Henle HN 666
Breitkopt 8714
Schott / Universal UT 50137
Salabert
More results
Other editions recommended by cellists (in alphabetical order)
AUGENER
by George Pratt
BILLAUDOT
by Tournus
CONTINENTAL
By Casals
DOVER
by ?
FISHER
by Malkin
HAVEY
by Cassia Havey
IMC
By E. Kurtz
LASTRAPES by Jeffrey Lastrapes
LATHAM
by D. Starkweather
LEDUC
by Klaus Heitz
PEER MUSIC
by J. Starker
PETERS
by Becker
PRESSER
By D. Markevitch
SCHIRMER
by Fritz Gaillard
SCHOTT
by Gendron?
STAINER & BELL
by Paul Tortelier
WERNER ICKING
by W. Icking
WINOLD
by Allen Winold
Articles about the existing editions of the Suites
Excerpts from The Recent Editions of the Bach Cello Suites by Dimitry Markevitch:
"All these new editions are interesting to examine but, even if each has their own qualities, too few are the product of professional cellists with a good historical and musicological background."
"When it comes to "Urtext" editions, we are faced with an "ideology" that is now slowly being abandoned. When, some fifty years ago, the first Urtexts appeared, they were greeted with relief, as the editions then -- a heritage from the 19th century -- were full of markings and additions put in by different editors. So, it was great to work on clean copies, free of all the "corrections," giving us texts closer to the original."
"Urtext" means: "like the original," but this is utopian, since it is still the result of interpretations by editors. An ideal edition cannot be achieved; only an honest one can be the goal. There are just as many Urtexts as there are editors."
Excerpt from : A Survey of Bach Suite Editions by Tim Janof
"But we must recognize that no edition, if studied, survives unmarked by the player. The instant we put a mark on the music, we have started the process of creating our own edition. In order to stay as close to Bach as possible, it then makes sense to start with an edition which is as close to the original as possible. If we don't, we will be interpreting an interpretation, which may have already been an interpretation of another interpretation, or previous edition, and so on. Though there are "only" 80 or so published editions, there really is one edition per cellist."
About Barenreiter Scholar Edition:
REFLECTIONS ON THE NEW BARENREITER BACH by Sarah Freiberg
About trills:
TRILLS IN THE BACH CELLO SUITES : A HANDBOOK FOR PERFORMERS By Jerome Carrington
