Bach: Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 1(Prelude) performed by Bela Fleck

After listening to this piece for the first time I was confused by the title because I do not know the definition of a suite. This piece sounded more like a Bach prelude to me, so when I saw the title I was pleased to see that I was correct. Although it is the suite for unaccompanied cello, Bela Fleck performs the work on his banjo. The piece is probably in two-four, like many Bach preludes, and may be described as continuous sixteenth notes for the most part of the song that spell out different chords. In the beginning the melody is do-sol-do-ti-do-sol, which repeats before going to the next chord. Much of the piece follows this pattern of changing chords every two measures. The chord progression is I-something-V-I. The V is very obvious in the fifth and sixth measures because the ti is very noticeable. The only interesting this is that do is used at the beginning of each new measure for the first eight measures. For about the next thirty-five measures the melody changes slightly and it seems as if the piece modulates to the minor and back to the original key by the end of the section, but the speed of the chord progression still stays the same. Next, there is a long cadenza sounding section which actually plays until the end of the piece which ends which a short very cadential ending, V-I.
I really enjoy listening to Bach preludes and I hope to learn many of them in my college years. It is nice to hear this piece on the banjo because the banjo separates the notes very nicely so that you may hear each note clearly. Often, when I have played other preludes I feel as if I am merely slurring all of the notes together, not good to my ear.