Gramophone Magazine
October 2024
Editor's Choice

Henrik Dam Thomsen

Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV1007
Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV1008
Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV1009
Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV1010
Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV1011
Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV1012

Nobody knows why Johann Sebastian Bach composed his six suites for solo cello. Nor does anybody know how it came about that the suites were soon afterwards consigned to oblivion and more than a century before a 13-year-old Spanish musical prodigy discovered a worn copy of the score in a second-hand bookstore store in Barcelona. For the next 11 years Pablo Casals practiced them every day. Finally, in 1936, he entered London’s Abbey Road studios to record the second and third suites for the first time. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Bach’s cello suites have become a rite of passage for all aspiring cellists. For Henrik Dam Thomsen, solo cellist in Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Bach cello suites are an integral part of his life, just as they are for all top-flight cellists. During the Covid shutdown, Henrik Dam Thomsen had the opportunity to immerse himself yet deeper into the Bach suites. ‘When one plays the suites, one is obliged to undertake many choices with regard to all the knowledge about Baroque music now available.’ Thomsen felt it was important to remain true to his own instrument and perform on his regular cello, a Francesco Ruggieri built in 1680, using modern strings, played with a conventional bow and tuned to the usual 442 Hz. These choices ensured the best homogeneity for the suites as a whole.

The suites were recorded in the burnished acoustics of the Baroque Garnisons Church (Garnisons Kirke) in Copenhagen, beautifully captured in the immersive DXD format (352.8 kHz/24bit) by Mikkel Nymand.

"The overwhelming impression is of a cellist playing as comes naturally, with his very personal, timeless (albeit period-aware) response to the music…It’s a tough field of competition for this repertoire, but this is distinctive and exceptionally finely done." - Gramophone Magazine, October 2024