J.S. Bach - Cello Suite nr. 4 in E-flat major: Courante
Thomas Prechal (15 years old), cello
After the corona-quarantine, I was looking for a challenge for my summer vacation. I was just practising Bach's 4th Suite for cello solo and we were spending our holiday in our family house in the Czech Republic. So, I came up with the idea to record all the movements of the suite at locations nearby our family house that we often visit. Here, I play the Courante under the appletrees in our garden. I found this image fitting to the friendly character of the Courante, I am curious whether you think so too!
I was greatly helped with the camerawork of my talented sister Larissa (check out her YouTube-channel and website: [ Ссылка ])
Thanks for listening and I hope to see you again in another video!
Thomas Prechal (30-11-2004) is a cellist who also likes to compose. He is currently taking lessons with Lenian Benjamins and Jan Ype Nota at the Academie Muzikaal Talent in Utrecht, and with Michel Strauss at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. He has participated in masterclasses with Raphael Pidoux, Jerôme Pernoo, Jens-Peter Mainz, Wen-Sinn Yang, Harro Ruijsenaars, Qin Li-Wei and Colin Carr. Together with his string quartet, he has received lessons from members of the Jerusalem, Quiroga and Casals Quartets.
Thomas has won prizes in the ‘Britten’, ‘Archipel’ and ‘Maassluise Muziekweek’ music competitions, and at the ‘Edmond Baert’, ‘Bohuš Heran’ and ‘David Popper’ international cello competitions. He has performed as a soloist with several youth and professional orchestras in concertos by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens and Bruch.
In addition to his cello playing, Thomas likes to improvise and compose music. As a composer, he has won a prize at the ‘Prinses Christina’ competition. He has written various pieces for cello and piano, etudes and caprices for cello solo, various cello ensemble pieces, various chamber music pieces, a ‘Rhapsody for cello and string orchestra’ (premiered and recorded with the Haydn Youth String Orchestra, and performed with the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchestr Pforzheim), ‘Symbiosis’ for two celli and string orchestra (premiered with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchestr), ‘Phoenix’ for cello and symphony orchestra (premiered with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) and ‘Ephémère for string quintet (premiered at Salle Cortot Paris).
