Classical repertoire as a resource in improvisational solo design

[Jonah]

Listen to and study Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello”. The music is very “cinematic” in much the same way that most great classical pieces are, imho. The music is full of individual motifs that add to the whole.

The six suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are each made up of six movements:

• Prelude: An introductory organ-like movement
  
• Allemande: A moderately-paced German dance
  
• Courante: A fast French dance with a mixture of rhythms
  
• Sarabande: A majestic, slow Spanish dance
  
• Galanteries: Two minuets in suites 1 and 2, two bourrées in suites 3 and 4, and two gavottes in suites 5 and 6
  
• Gigue: A lively dance in 3/8 time that serves as a festive ending
  

Bach composed the suites between 1717 and 1723 while serving as music director in Cöthen. They are considered to be some of the most recognizable and frequently performed solo compositions for cello. The suites are often performed in cello auditions, and are also a standard part of the repertoire for professional cellists.

Maybe a bit off-topic here but... I have played cello suites for many years, I like trying different arrangements for guitar or lute but also I played from original and did some arrangements myself, always come back to them.
They are tricky to arrange and I often disagree with the solutions that the arrangers make here and there. they have to much of a linear texture (violine oartitas and sonatas give much more space for harmonization in my opinion) - and cello suites sound also fine on electric guitar solo with (almost) no amendments... I think it is partly because of more thick and even electric guitar tone, less resonance and more consistency in sustain... it gives it in solo lines a self-sufficient voice in itself (which is close to original). On purely acoustic instruments it seems like something is missing when you play it just as originals, on the other hand it is a big question mark what to add and in which range in many cases not to ruin the piece completely (one of the tests for me is how the arranger treats the opening bars in Courante of Suite IV (Es major in original).

Anyway recently I discovered a new version... not long ago before his death Robert Schumann arranged cello suites and violine partitas and sonatas adding a piano accompaniment to them.
However crazy (and probably for some super modern historical players even more than crazy) it seems - the result is very interesting. I admit I am prejudiced because Schumann is one of the dearest composers to me...
It was late years, crisis years for him and as he had no practical reasons to make these arrangements I assume he turned to them as to a certain source of support... maybe also the idea was to make more attractive to his contemporaries.
Cello suites arrangements were partly destroyed by Clara (and most probably Johannes assisted)... anyway now you can find records of all them ( I believe there are some other (unproved) sources).

What is interesting that Schumann's accompaniment in those that I listened to - does not destroy the orginial texture (obviously because he does no re-arrangements of cello part, he just adds piano) - his piano part sounds as a 'klavier' of the orchestra in concerto grosso.
But I think listening to his versions can be also beneficial for cellist and those who play arrangements on other instruments

[RJVB]

Maybe a bit off-topic here [...] (and probably for some super modern historical players even more than crazy)

Well, at least this doesn't read like something out of an AI snout!

FYI, "super modern" historically-informed-perfomance players will find those Schumann arrangements interesting, and play them as they should on period-correct instruments.

Now, to get that out of my ears again...