I’ve spent decades trying to get this piece right. At some point, I found a way in: in the same way that a river begins far before we meet it, I imagine this music starting long before I play the first note; I just have to join it. Like the river, the music is always flowing, and like the river, it’s always changing. All I have to do is picture a river, feel its energy, get into its flow, and follow it. ___ Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 (Live from the Smoky Mountains) Video by Austin Man

Yo-Yo Ma performs a medley of Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 and “Over the Rainbow.” #Colbert #YoYoMa #Bach | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Out now: Yo-Yo Ma's "Nature at Play: Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 (Live from the Great Smoky Mountains) EP." Forty years ago, Yo-Yo Ma’s beloved first recording of the Bach Cello Suites was released on CBS Masterworks. He’s gone on to record the set twice more, but this first set played a key role in establishing Yo-Yo Ma as a cello superstar – the recording won a Grammy. Listen here: yoyoma.lnk.to/natureatplayLF | Sony Classical