J.S. Bach Third Suite BWV 1009

A Canadian School of Double Bass production
J.S. Bach Third Suite for solo cello performed on double bass
Performer/Arranger Joel Quarrington
Former Principal Bass London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa Canada. Professor Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.
Filmed, recorded, and produced by Travis Harrison
Recorded August 20 2022 at La Belle Chapelle in Sherbrooke, Québec
Prelude 0:07
Allemande 4:27
Courante 8:31
Sarabande 11:44
Bourrées 16:16
Gigue 20:12
www.joelquarrington.com

[@talondavis2469]

Just casually some of the best double bass playing in the history of mankind. No big deal 😅

[@SteveAbrahall]

Who needs a cello! Not Joel! :-) Amazing work thank you - your an inspiration!

[@asimo15]

... fantastic Joel !, thanks !. so much to learn ! You show what the real capabilities of the instrument are in the hands of somebody that knows how to play it !

[@Opus766]

Allemande and Gigue were very moving. Can't wait to re listen to the whole thing. Thank you!

[@brandensteele4486]

Simply amazing Joel. It's always amazing to see a lifetime of thoughtful hard work coalesce into a musical performance.

[@jandenie5272]

Very nice! Unbelievable virtuosity, to play this in such a marvelous way on the contrabass !

[@braizahnjones745]

I didn't know how much I needed to hear this in 5ths on the bass. It sounds so natural!!!

[@nicolasperez4443]

thank you so much please do every suite it would make my life complete. Your 2 suite recordings are without doubt my favorite ever

[@davekanemusic]

What a phenomenal sound!!! Absolutely incredible playing. This is the best version I've ever heard of this suite played on the double bass. So incredibly beautiful !

[@christopherherrmann921]

The first bassplayer I ever heard, that would be able to make me overthinking my own phrasing and usage of tone when I as a cellist play the suites...

[@TheGalen62]

24 minutes long and over way too soon.

[@heinzhasenauer5258]

JOEL!!!!!! this is just beautiful and incredible work of art! outstanding in the history of bassartistery! i call Your sound butter-bass! nobody on this planet has this beautiful soft sound-like YOU! i‘m myself bass-artist-but cant‘reach this sound! greetings from Austria-Gasteinertal,where i play in the kurorchester Badgastein! go to spotify-kurorchester badgastein! or-Ronny Wiesauer-Chants to the sea with love from the austrian alps! Heinz Hasenauer

[@jaikee9477]

I fell in love with Bach's cello suites on double bass! Fantastic performance, thank you, Sir!👏👏👏

[@RodolfoLimacbx]

BRAVO Joel! This is the cello tunning and adapted to G Major, right? An amazing job!

[@ugurbasar9201]

He tuned the double bass to C, G, D, A like the cello. ❤

[@zevyzions]

@@ugurbasar9201It’s in G major and the lowest note is G. So there is a scordatura here, but I don’t play the instrument therefore I can’t tell what the exact tuning is.

[@stk4847]

@@zevyzionsIt is not a scordatura, the piece is transposed to G Major rather than the original C Major, and Joel tunes C G D A

[@thebadcellist]

Using his trademark fifths tuning, but transposed up to G. I suppose playing it in the original C would be too muddy. One way he manages fifths tuning is by spending very little time in first and second position where unavoidably you're shifting for almost every note. Up in fourth position, you're at cello string length and can play one finger per half step like cellists do. I could add that he sounds great but with him that goes with out saying!

[@PabloBrie]

Gracias Joel! Se siente el amor por la música en cada nota!

[@milarepa3154]

As always beautiful performance and great player! Thank you!

[@glenng725]

Wow, bravo! Thanks for this! You’d most likely not pass a round though, your playing is too good😂

[@isabellanakahara]

I am becoming a double bass junkie.

[@matssundman9360]

GREAT! Innovative interpretation and chose of tonality. Thanks! PAX!

[@antoniovisioli4460]

Maestro, sono sbalordito ed emozionato da questa sua esibizione: puntuale, fantastica, emozionante!!!

[@deafpick9707]

Deeply brilliant.. Thank you !

[@CC-Pi]

Hey Joel, I am just wondering how many years of practice did it take to get that amazing? I am in awe of your playing, I only recently started learning the cello about 4 months ago and have been learning some of the pieces you played, they are really hard on the cello, let alone on a double bass, so I am curious as to what it has taken for you to get to where you are, thanks 😀

[@themusiccovenant]

Excellent. Where can I download the sheet music sir?

[@thedoublebasschannel7630]

Great maestro Joel!!! Wonderful Bach.

[@richardbishop1916]

On "Gigue" at 21:14- ..16 ,...and at 22:11- , ..15 . Harmonic pitch sang wonderfully, and the "Power" of the drones !, thank you Joel, ..I was wondering about the Placement of the Mic Behind you as well?

[@JoelQuarrington]

I don’t know that Travis ended up using that one; we thought it got more of the profoundo range at some point.

[@canadabassbass]

The fart detector? It's in the mix!

[@BenAbraham2701]

Which almost ontologically prove the existence of God! (Yes, it is that beautiful.)

[@BenAbraham2701]

Typo corrected: which (...) proves.

[@abrahamflannigan8427]

when will the fourth suite recording come out?

[@JoelQuarrington]

One and two are done, four and five in 2024.

[@shawnmarko7131]

Thank you sir, your performances continue to inspire!

[@MarkHoemmen]

amazing -- thank you for sharing this with us!

[@hergestthered5314]

Amazing! I swear I prefer the cello suites on the contrabass.

[@ThaaaFunk]

you are the great marvel of this bass playing world

[@iaf4454]

Great ❤❤❤ thanks for sharing.. so inspiring ❤❤ powerful lower sounds❤❤

[@loiseaunoir1021]

Is that bass tuned in fifths? What is the tunig Joel pl? Thx

[@ryanmurnane7793]

I love the ending of the Courante. So epic.

[@danielvillarreal5534]

Oh yeah

[@patrickmcphail8126]

Simply… Awesome!! You’re a rockstar JQ

[@aartedoverso]

And I don't think I would ever see anything as wonderful performed as the sixth. Mr. Joel, do you still teach at any institution?

[@cecilgriffiths6399]

So Beautiful!! 🙏🙏🙏❤

[@adolforosado]

Love your interpretation!

[@juangregoriobaquerojimenez4517]

Absolute Fantastic,!!!! Bravo !!

[@CCMorgan]

I will always refer bass students to JQ first when talking about Bach on the bass.

[@larlarson]

NO WORDS, dear Joel! Father Bach's Cello Suites have long been my #1 "Desert Island Music" choice, and this performance of #3 has now joined that collection! Thank you, my friend, and I hope you keep more of them coming!

[@DavidDalyDoubleBass]

Magnificent. Beautiful. Bravo.

[@Fernandoalmeidacbx]

Bravissimo Professor !!

[@nicolassetnarsky8555]

What a gift for us to have such a brilliant performance of this masterpiece on the double bass. Thank you Maestro!

[@ChamberForMusic]

Superbly beautiful! Lots of congrats!

[@richardbishop1916]

(and thanks Again kindly)

[@andreabrissa4541]

Amazing 🎵🎵

[@Atomic_pavarotti]

You keep getting better

[@slwright555]

Wow so beautiful and fun to listen! Inspiring❤

[@DouglasFerreira-w7w]

Before I die, I will say that I was lucky to have lived in the same era as Joel!

[@ИлонМаск-э7ж]

Не понимаю, какой строй у контрабаса?

[@JoelQuarrington]

Он настроен на квинты, на октаву ниже, чем у виолончели, CGDA. Надеюсь, вам понравится мой русский.

[@MehmetSurmeli]

Pleasure ❤ 👏

[@jasonshortt7]

Always amazing

[@cplbass]

Bravo 🎉🎉🎉

[@andrewchristianbrundidge]

Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@northspokaneorthodoxchurch653]

Marvelous!

[@Atomic_pavarotti]

Insane

[@wormpie4932]

Beautiful.

[@carmendevilla2]

5ths tuning is awesome

[@philippeyared2050]

Beautiful phrasing!

[@anthonyaveray1324]

Wonderful and so intense

[@JackTadoussac]

I know that there is only a one octave difference between a cello and a double bass that is tuned in fifths -- but wow, this instrument and this talented player is up there with YoYo Ma. It is not really about which is better, except that here there a strength and physicality to playing the double bass at this level. Coming back down to earth, I retuned my own double bass yesterday to fifths, and I must say, what a difference a day makes.

[@KorneyKey]

Подскажите как настроен контрабас? И по каким нотам играет Джоель? Это специальное переложение для контрабаса?

[@JackTadoussac]

@@KorneyKey ask Joel -- he must read the comments from time to time.

[@garybarwin]

oh this is so gorgeous.

[@kevwang0712]

A (possibly stupid) question: if the instrument is tuned in fifths an octave lower than the cello, is there a reason for transposing to G major as opposed to simply playing in the original key?

[@canadabassbass]

Not that this opinion is shared by all, but the sonority of the bass is much more pleasant in this range. Playing it "at pitch" is certainly possible, but it simply doesn't resonate as beautifully on the bass compared to the cello. In other words, we care more about the affect than the key, as this fits resonance of the instrument better; many bassists play the cello suites in transposed keys because of this.

[@alfieharries]

It would sound an octave lower than the cello version as bass is a transposing instrument, which just wouldnt sound great - that low octave just gets very muddy harmonically

[@canadabassbass]

That's also possible... But most who keep the key the same also keep the octave the same (lots of high fingerboard playing).

[@zevyzions]

Very, very good 👍🏿

[@antoniosommese5793]

Straordinario,un grande

[@santiagobenitez1388]

the height on those strings o.o

[@kotruf]

Bravo!!!!!!

[@volnogorets]

It's just flawless!

[@ralf-peter.schwarz]

Wow simply amazing!!!

[@thivyasubbukutty4396]

This is marvelous

[@elsonarcos7068]

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@ThaaaFunk]

fantastic, outstanding

[@nicolasnantes8703]

Bravo!

[@RadekNiec]

amazing! bravo!

[@LukeAverillMusic]

Tearjerking and supremely generous performance, thank you so much Joel!! Had the privilege of playing your Upton copy at their shop a few years ago, had that new bass feel but man they sure got the tone right. Nearly shook the whole barn, all that sound coming back from the ceiling & walls. I was a lucky guy that day!

[@shawnmarko7131]

Yes tears!

[@doublepick]

If you ever want a jam jar opened in your house - call Joel. Those hands are immense. A joy to watch!

[@ericoschmitt]

Why transpose a fifth up to G and make fingerings harder? At least, why not ditch the C string, add a high E and use 4 strings to play instead of 3? I'm confused. I play the suites on my electric bass in fifths, including this one, and although my 5 strings bass has a high E, I just play it in C major and it sounds alright for my taste.

[@WtfYoutube_YouSuck]

I go to Catalin for flare. I go to Joel for truth.

[@chasmonaghan521]

Flare is fleeting. Truth is eternal.

[@aaronwhite448]

I need not a freshly shorn head in bass.