4. Johann Sebastian Bach, Pablo CasalsThe Cello Suites

The first music I ever really learned, the first I studied in any serious way, were Bach’s Cello Suites. I was nine, with my cello in hand, and from that moment I understood that certain musicians like Arthur Russell, Jeff Buckley, Nina Simone, and Bach can create something that feels completely otherworldly. Bach’s suites are perfect for that: one instrument, playing single notes, somehow capturing entire chords, melodies, even the fullness of an orchestra within its lines.

Casals’ rendition is the one that truly resonates with me. He was the one who rediscovered the suites, finding them in a shop in Spain over a century ago, and his recordings carry a rough, unpolished freedom. He doesn’t treat the music as fragile; he respects it, yes, but he lets its edges breathe. That approach of  reverence for the foundations of music, combined with the freedom to keep the roughness is something I try  to channel in my own music. There’s beauty in those rough edges, and Casals taught me how to hear it.