Längin: Der Bachsche Continuo (Bach's Continuo)

Description

lt is a well-known fact that Bach's cantatas have been enjoying increased popularity in our musical life during the last decades. Everywhere, in schools and even church choirs of small communities, one finds performances of Bach cantatas, or parts thereof, which inevitably require a cellist for the basso continuo.

The cellist, however, is often unprepared for his exciting task. These twelve cello parts (ten original continuo parts), selected on the basis of year-long performance experience, are intended as preparatory studies to help introduce the cellist to the various kinds of continuo parts. Moreover, they lead directly to the easier movements of Bach's suites for solo cello.

Since Bach specified no tempo, the editor has added tempo indications as a guideline in parenthesis. Each piece is accompanied by remarks which elucidate its character. The beginning of the vocal line has been given in numbers 3, 4, 6, and 12, and the opening melody of the oboe d'amore in number 10. Furthermore, it seemed appropriate to reproduce the entire bass recitative from the well-known Kreuzstab cantata, "Mein Wandel auf der Welt ist einer Schiffahrt gleich", in the second of these continuo studies. Bach's indications forte and piano signify, besides the familiar dynamics, that the vocal part begins at piano , and that forte always appears at preludes, interludes and postludes. Folkmar Längin, Wessling, Summer 1980