Trying to find unaccompanied cello suites that aren’t by J. S. Bach? Look no further.

Cello Suites Beyond Bach

Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello remain foundational works in the cello repertoire. Their enduring influence has inspired many composers to contribute new solo suites—expanding the expressive range and technical possibilities of the instrument.

This eighth edition of my digital postcard series highlights Benjamin Britten’s three suites for unaccompanied cello, written for and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. These powerful and deeply personal works combine modern compositional language with echoes of older forms, offering unique challenges and rewards for both performers and listeners.

Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and Composer Benjamin Britten. Photo by RIA Novosti archive, image #25562 / Mikhail Ozerskiy / CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Curious to explore more solo cello music? Be sure to check out my earlier postcard collections featuring Asian composers, Black composers, women composers, and Hispanic and Latino/Latina composers, or browse all of my postcards.

Postcard #1 – Suite No. 1, Op. 72 by Benjamin Britten

• Title: Suite No. 1 for Cello, Op. 72
• Composer: Benjamin Britten
• Year Composed: 1964
• Duration: 21:00
• Movements: 6 plus 3 cantos
• Number of Pages: 17
• Number of Measures: In these suites, Britten does not write in a traditionally metered format, so measure numbers are irrelevant here.
• Difficulty Level: advanced
• Highest Position Reached: thumb
• Technique: bass, tenor & treble clefs; unmetered, 4/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 2/4, 4/2 time signatures; double, triple & quadruple stops; harmonics & false harmonics; grace notes, numerous accidentals, quintuplets, pizzicato & left hand pizzicato, con sordino, col legno, saltando
• Publisher: Faber Music
• Where to Purchase: johnsonstring.com
• Cost of Score*: $18.99 for all 3 suites

Recordings

Program Notes

Benjamin Britten’s Cello Suite No. 1, Op. 72, premiered in 1965 at the Aldeburgh Festival by his friend Mstislav Rostropovich, is more than a suite—it’s a deeply personal musical portrait. Britten composed three such works for Rostropovich (originally promising six), blending technical challenge with emotional insight.

As quoted by Janet E. Bedell in her 2023 program notes, British musicologist Donald Mitchell observed:

“There can never have been a composer who left so substantial a part of his legacy in the shape of a portrait gallery of his virtuoso colleagues and friends.”

Unlike the Baroque models that loosely inspired it, this suite uses modern harmonic language and replaces stylized dances with emotionally charged character pieces. A recurring “Canto,” played in slow double stops, acts as a thread throughout, evoking weariness and struggle. Highlights include a witty “Fuga” using style brisé, a “Lamento” that spans the cello’s full range, a quirky “Serenata” with pizzicato, and a “Marcia” that seems to reflect Britten’s pacifist stance with ghostly, drum-like figures.

Read Janet E. Bedell’s full program notes on the suite here.

Cellist’s Guide

This suite consists of: “Canto primo,” followed by the “Fuga” and “Lamento.” The “Canto secondo” precedes the “Serenata” and “Marcia,” and finally, the “Canto terzo” is followed by “Bordone” and “Molto perpetuo e Canto quarto.”

The Cantos are challenging, as they consist of back-to-back slurred double stops. They are definitely a good exercise in controlling bow weight across several strings. If you haven’t watched the video above, Joel Krosnick addresses this issue with cellist Stella Cho.

The lyrical styles of the Cantos and “Lamento” contrast nicely with the percussive quality of the “Fuga,” “Serenata,” “Marcia,” “Bordone,” and “Molto perpetuo.”

“Fuga” consists of short double stops alternating with smooth slurred 16th-note groupings, reminiscent of the opening of the first Bach suite.

“Serenata” is entirely pizzicato, both right- and left-hand.

“Marcia” includes harmonic passages, col legno motifs, and percussive double stops.

“Bordone” incorporates an open D-string drone, with challenging left-hand pizzicato and rapid left-hand 16th notes.

“Molto perpetuo” consists of, you guessed it, constant 16th notes!

All movements are attaca.

Postcard #2 – Suite No. 2, Op. 80

• Title: Suite No. 2 for Cello, Op. 80
• Composer: Benjamin Britten
• Year Composed: 1967
• Duration: 22:00
• Movements: 5
• Number of Pages: 14
• Number of Measures: In these suites, Britten does not write in a traditionally metered format, so measure numbers are irrelevant here.
• Difficulty Level: advanced
• Highest Position Reached: thumb
• Technique: bass, tenor & treble clefs: 6/8, 3/4, 4/4, harmonics & false harmonics; double, triple & quadruple stops; glissandos, pizzicato & left hand pizzicato, grace notes, mordents, trills, saltando, tremolo
• Publisher: Faber Music
• Where to Purchase: johnsonstring.com
• Cost of Score*: $18.99 for all 3 suites

Recording

Program Notes

In Suite for Solo Cello No. 2, Op. 80, Benjamin Britten builds upon the foundations of his earlier solo‑cello work while steering firmly into his own modern idiom.

Written in 1967 and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, the suite drops the dance‑forms of the Baroque model in favor of character pieces, culminating in a forceful “Ciaccona” that drives toward a brilliant D‑major conclusion.

The movements “Declamato”, “Fuga”, “Scherzo”, an untitled slow movement, and “Ciaccona” each present distinct challenges — from polyphonic illusions in the “Fuga”, to lyrical cantilena in the slow movement, to fiery perpetual motion in the finale. As the blog Good Morning Britten observes, the “Second Cello Suite” arguably

“feels like an even more instinctive piece of work … an even more impressive achievement than the first.” — from Good Morning Britten on Britten Suite No. 2

Cellist’s Guide

All three of Britten’s cello suites have time signatures listed at the beginning of the movements. Interestingly, he frequently disregards them, leaving me to wonder why he includes them at all. Fortunately, his rhythms are tame for modern music, so the scores are quite readable.

While the first suite is highly rhythmic in nature, this second suite meanders a bit. Of all the movements, only the Scherzo can be said to be straightforward throughout.

The movements of this suite are: “Declamato,” “Fuga,” “Scherzo,” (untitled), and “Ciaccona.”

“Declamato” is rhapsodic and technically quite manageable.

“Fuga” is marked Andante and incorporates wide leaps, harmonics, and false harmonics. The wide intervals cause the player to frequently jump several strings, making this movement a challenge for the right hand. The score is also dense, making it hard to read.

“Scherzo” is fast and therefore technically challenging, but worth learning.

The fourth movement incorporates left-hand pizzicato of the open C and G strings while playing lyrical passages with the bow.

“Ciaccona” recaps elements of the previous movements while adding turns, trills, tremolo, and saltando.

The fourth and fifth movements are played attaca.

Postcard #3 – Suite No. 3, Op. 87 by Benjamin Britten

• Title: Suite No. 3 for Cello, Op. 87
• Composer: Benjamin Britten
• Year Composed: 1971
• Duration: 22:00
• Movements: 9
• Number of Pages: 16
• Number of Measures: In these suites, Britten does not write in a traditionally metered format, so measure numbers are irrelevant here.
• Difficulty Level: advanced
• Highest Position Reached: thumb
• Technique: bass, tenor & treble clefs: 5/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 2/4, 3/4, 2/2 time signatures; pizzicato & left hand pizzicato, double, triple & quadruple stops; octaves, grace notes, harmonics & false harmonics, numerous accidentals, glissandos, trills, turns, con sordino, ponticello, tremolo
• Publisher: Faber Music
• Where to Purchase: johnsonstring.com
• Cost of Score*: $18.99 for all 3 suites

Recording

Program Notes

“I wrote this suite in the early spring of 1971 and took it as a present to Slava Rostropovich when Peter Pears and I visited Moscow and Leningrad in April of that year.  The occasion was a week of British music, and our programme with the London Symphony Orchestra was made memorable by the fact that both Richter and Rostropovich joined us – surely a unique gesture of Anglo-Russian friendship.

“As a tribute to the great Russian musician and patriot I based this suite on Russian themes; the first three tunes were taken from Tchaikovsky’s volumes of folk-song arrangements; the fourth, the ‘Kontakion’ (Hymn for the Departed), from the English Hymnal.  When I played the suite through to Dmitri Shostakovich during our visit to Moscow, he remarked that he had been brought up on a different version of the Kontakion. I consulted my friend Bishop Pimen of Saratov and Volgograd, who confirmed that my version was the one he had always know and regularly used. In the score I print both versions, for players to chose whichever they prefer.” — Benjamin Britten from a note in the score

Cellist’s Guide: The third suite has nine attaca movements, ranging from somber to joyous.

“Introduzione” is beautiful, but technically simple (except for a few octaves).

“Marcia” is quick with a spiccato indication, i.e. challenging.

“Canto” is slow and lyrical.

“Barcarola” is definitely a nod to Bach and late romantic composers. Nothing is technically challenging except for the minor 6ths at the end.

In the “Dialogo,” a bowed fragments alternates with strummed triple stops, followed by notes from a chipper classical melody alternating with open C left-hand pizzicato.

The lovely “Fuga” contains a wall of lyrical double stops. As in the “Canto”s from the first suite, the challenge comes in moving gracefully from one double stop to another.

“Recitativo” and “Moto perpetuo” require good bow control and a rapid left hand. Throw false harmonics, trills and tremolo into the mix and you have your hands full!

The suite ends with the “Passacaglia,” which is a recap of the themes quoted in the previous movements. Fortunately, there are no licks and tricks present in the movement, only the presentation of simple themes.

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