Bach, Casals & The Six Suites for 'Cello Solo: Volume Two

The four volumes of Bach, Casals and the Six Suites for Cello Solo is the telling of a preeminent, but almost unknown, legend of Western culture…. the Life of Sebastian Bach, his Legacy, the Life of Pablo Casals - the heroic cellist who rescued the Six Cello Suites from oblivion - and the saga and rediscovery of Bach’s magnificent masterpiece… the companion to Steven Hancoff’s remarkable and ground-breaking three-CD acoustic guitar recording of Bach’s immortal work.


Volume 2: The Legacy of J. Sebastian Bach tells the tale of his death at the hands of a quack, his remarkable family. He fathered five sons all of whom were more renowned as composers in their lifetimes than he was in his! The 80 years of nearly total obscurity following his death, the discovery and bringing to light his incomparable music by the teen-aged Felix Mendelssohn, and finally the gathering together of the more than 1,000 extant works – probably only a bit more than half of his life’s work. As Beethoven said of him: “His name should not have been Bach (“Bach” means stream or brook in German.). It should have been Ocean.



The Legacy of J. S. Bach is highly illustrated, with an interactive map showing Bach’s sojourn and family trees, hundreds of period pictures - portraits, oils, watercolors, stained glass, photographs, etchings and engravings, authentic documents, sculptures, statues and monuments.


Designed to take advantage of all of all the interactive elements available for Apple iBooks, The Legacy of Sebastian Bach includes five sensational and compelling videos. And not only that, more than 200 contemporary artists from all over the world have contributed hundreds of wonderful pieces of art, all of them inspired by the music of J. S. Bach.



Immersing myself in the genius of Bach has enriched my life beyond what I can possibly articulate here. I am so excited that this life project of mine is now making its way into the wide world. I can only hope that listeners and readers and musicians alike will also feel enriched for having partaken of it.  – Steven