Piece 1: A Majestic Prelude

What’s a better piece of music to start with, than possibly the most well-known cello work ever written?

You may know it as “The Cello Song”, by The Piano Guys. But that is only a brilliant rendition of Bach’s Prelude in G major, the first movement of one of six masterful cello suites.  Of the countless number of versions (interpretations) of different cellists, I think Mischa Maisky might translate the piece most expressively. His dramatic, passionate playing through every note translates the sound from dots on paper to pure tranquility...exactly how it should be played. 

This prelude seems to have an ethereal voice…it takes the listener out of reality and to the sky, giving them a taste of heaven.  The low notes pull you in, they give you the wings to fly; while the high notes keep you in the air. Gently but progressively you are ascending, bewitched by the rolling current of notes on which you ride. The melody is inescapable. For a transient two-and-a-half minutes, you find yourself completely mesmerized by a most angelic prelude…and the mysterious resonance of an unpredictably powerful instrument.

So often I wonder what the inspiration was. What made J.S. Bach decide on the specific combination of notes, and through them, what was he trying to say?

Sadly, I’ll never know everything about the mind of this remarkable composer. All I know, is that he was given an incredible gift. And even two-and-a-half centuries after his death, millions of people are still amazed and blessed by it!

Wow.