

Thursday, January 14, 2010

YO-YO MA plays Bach


Dedicated to the Great Buddha
TODAIJI Temple in Nara, Japan

In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of crotchets and minims in alternation. The crotchets are said to have corresponded with dragging steps in the dance.

This suite (Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011) is most famous for its intimate Sarabande, which Yo-Yo Ma played on September 11, 2002 at the site of the World Trade Center, while the first of the names of the dead were read in remembrance on the first anniversary of the attack on the WTC and is the second of only four movements in all six suites that doesn't contain any chords.

Rostropovich describes it as the essence of Bach's genius; Tortelier, as an extension of silence. The fifth suite is also exceptional as its Courante and Gigue are in the French style, rather than the Italian form of the other five suites.


  1. This I know and love! Yo-Yo Ma is virtuoso!

  2. One of the greats
    in cello performance!
    I admire him so -
    his powerful, passionate,
    beautiful play of the strings,
    his rich, expansive repertoire
    that goes beyond classical music
    to other musical genres e.g. tango, too