Bach: Cello Suites
The Six Cello Suites of JS Bach
(Reference Recordings FR-758 – 2025)
ARTIST: William Skeen
The six suites for solo cello are frequently considered to be Bach’s greatest masterpieces and are a pinnacle of the Baroque cello repertory. This new album of Bach’s complete Cello Suites has the unique feature of being performed using two different historic cellos, one of them a rare fivestring instrument from the 17th century which is used on Suite 6.
Lolly Lewis: recording producer
Leslie Ann Jones: recording engineer
FEATURE REVIEW by Ken Meltzer
A new Reference Recordings set of the six Bach Suites for Solo Cello features William Skeen, principal cellist of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Skeen has long been prominent, both as a performer and educator, in the world of HIP cello practice. As I’ve acknowledged in prior reviews of recordings of the Bach Cello Suites, this music has been extremely well served on disc. That’s hardly surprising; these glorious works are the cornerstone of every great cellist’s solo repertoire.
Skeen’s recording is yet another superb account, with many strengths. Skeen’s crisp, impeccable execution and elegant phrasing are aligned with a keen sensitivity to Bach’s vast spectrum of emotions and colors. Each prelude is phrased with a rapt intensity, setting the stage for the suite’s ensuing dances. And whether those dances are of a playful variety, or permutations of the more contemplative sarabande, Skeen realizes an appropriate tempo, inflection, and color. With a total time of 150:21, Skeen’s performances are broader than many. But there is never a hint of lethargy. Quite the contrary, these are renditions brimming with life.
But for me, the most striking aspect of Skeen’s playing is the arrestingly beautiful sound he achieves with what the cellist describes as “instruments and bow (that) are historically appropriate to the standards of the early 18th century.” Skeen plays Suites Nos. 1–5 on a cello labeled “Giovanni Grancino, Milan. 1725.” In Suite No. 6, Skeen performs on his “five-string cello, sometimes referred to as a violoncello piccolo. This Anonymous Italian cello from the 1680s has a smaller body with thinner ribs.” Throughout, Skeen employs “a model of a 1720s bow made in 2010 by Louis Bégín of Montreal.” Skeen describes the Grancino cello as possessing “a warm, rich bass-end, and bright, clear high-end,” qualities evident throughout.
The recording of the Bach Cello Suites was made at the famed Skywalker Sound studio in August 2020. This was the first Skywalker recording made following the studio’s closure during the COVID pandemic. Producer Lolly Lewis and her team “took advantage of the studio’s enormous sonic capabilities” and created a setup and mix that Skeen “felt approximated not only what he actually hears when he plays, but what he wants to hear when he plays.” The recorded sound is not only gorgeous; it has arresting visceral impact.
There was a time when listening to music from the 18th and 19th centuries, performed on the instruments of the composers’ era, required tolerating sub-optimal execution, intonation, and tonal quality. Skeen’s HIP renditions of the Bach Cello Suites affirm that no such concessions are necessary. And I would argue his realizations are as sonically radiant as those on cellos configured for modern performance. Enthusiastically recommended. —Ken Meltzer
This article originally appeared in Issue 48:5 (May/June 2025) of Fanfare Magazine.