Suite in D minor

Luis Guillermo Pérez writes: ‘Written with D-A-D-G tuning to favour the resonance of the double bass in D (major and minor) and G (major and minor) and structured like the first two Bach suites for solo cello – Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet-Trio, Gigue. Suite in D minor was composed during the month of February 2018 at the request of my cellist son Samuel who suggested writing a series of short pieces which culminated in this suite. I) Prelude, originally written as a study using the intervals of a fifth to develop the left hand with the intention of improving the tuning A coda was added from bar 19 to 25 which ends with three arpeggios of D, using the three strings in harmonics in the middle of the string. II) Allemande [Maestoso] is in key of D minor with the structure AABB, which is characteristic of the baroque dances. Part B begins in the relative major key of F and soon returns to D minor. III) Courante [Allegro] is a fast dance in binary form, in the key of G minor with part B in B flat major returning to G minor towards the end. IV) Sarabande [Largo] a slow dance with the use of chords and accents on the second beat of the bar, characteristic of this Spanish dance. V) Menuet & Trio [Allegretto] – the Menuet alternates between the contrasts of D minor and D major. The Trio begins in F major returning to D minor before a return to the Menuet. VI) Gigue [Allegro] – a fast binary dance with part A in D minor and part B in F major, culminating D major in the last two bars. In bars 22, 23 and 24 the diminished seventh chord or Bachian chords are used, which are characteristic of the great German composer.’ Suite in D minor was premiered by Glen Rodríguez (double bass) on 12 May 2018 at the Conservatorio ‘Vicente Emilio Sojo’ de Barquisimeto, Venezuela. The UK premiere was given by David Heyes (double bass) at East Harptree Parish Church (Somerset) on 9 June 2018.