Cello Suite

This suite was conceived a long time before it was ever taken up seriously and finished. Some very rough sketches survive from April 2008 of what much later became the Bourrée I. The intention was to write a short solo work for a cellist friend of mine from my time in middle- and highschool in Mexico, but despite putting a double barline to one of the dances of what I then called Cello Preludes, I never felt comfortable enough to show it to anybody. And I believe I was right not to because at that stage—not yet turned twenty—my craft was not up to the challenge ahead. Only with much study and practice did I later acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to tackle such a difficult work. (Writing a solo work for a string instrument has to be, at least for me, one of the most complex and daunting tasks a composer can face.) And even then, I was fortunate enough to count with the support and encouragement of Giacomo Menna in Rome, who had the courage to commission the completion of this suite from me. With time, the sketches grew in scope until they eventually emerged as a considerable work of length in six dances with a prelude and a postlude to boot. As I composed the work I naturally studied the suites of Bach —mostly his cello suites, but also those for the keyboard— and perhaps some distant echoes may be heard. Whatever may have inadvertently leaked from the master into my music I offer to him with utmost respect.

Rodrigo Ruiz

Tapalpa, Mexico

13 March 2022