Deconstructing Familiar Cello Music From Film and TV

Video producer Estelle Caswell of the Vox series “Earworm” called upon renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein to help her deconstruct the very familiar sounding cello music from film and television.

The piece is actually the Cello Suite in G Major, the prelude to Six Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Within each suite are various movements named for dances, and they each have very strict structures. These movements are all masterpieces in music, and they get increasingly complex. But before these dances begin, there’s always a Prelude. In the Bach suites, it’s a way to establish the key, to establish the motives, and it’s also a kind of improvisation. And this prelude, in particular, is revered because it achieves a lot with just a few very simple concepts.