Bach on the double bass: Edicson Ruiz performs the First Cello Suite

In the July 2023 issue, the Venezuelan double bassist talks about his passion for the Bach Cello Suites and how tutor Anner Bylsma helped him find his own interpretation. ’Anner told me to look for hidden voices throughout; for example, he believed the First Suite’s Prelude could be seen as a family conversation: the first string is the mother, the second the son, the third the father and the fourth the grandfather. For this reason, you need to use all four strings of the instrument to bring out the dialogue between these four voices; it makes the sound three-dimensional, and it also helps with the resonance. Sometimes it feels like there’s a whole choir of voices singing at once!’

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Playing

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

This year’s calendar celebrates the top instruments played by members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Australian String Quartet and some of the country’s greatest soloists.