Bach: Cello Suites (transcribed for guitar)

With this recording, American guitarist Eliot Fisk dedicates himself to the six Cello Suites BWV 1007–1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach in his own arrangements for guitar. Created between 1717 and 1723, these works are among the most significant compositions in music history and have had an impact far beyond the repertoire for cello.

Fisk, a student of Andrés Segovia and for decades one of the arguably best guitarists, has long been engaged with these suites. His transcriptions draw on Bach’s own practice of arrangement—such as in the lute version of the fifth suite—and utilize the tonal possibilities of the modern guitar to shed new light on the polyphonic structure and expressive power of the works.

The recording combines analytical clarity with personal expression, offering an independent perspective on a central cycle of the Baroque repertoire.