In 1713 the new Duke of Brandenburg, the self-styled ‘King in Prussia’, was crowned. Friedrich Wilhelm I proved to be an efficient administrator but was an autocratic and humourless leader, uninterested in the trifling diversions of high culture. One of his first actions was to disband, without warning, the famous court orchestra in Berlin. Brandenburg’s most talented performers were dissipated throughout the loosely aligned states and principalities of Germany. However, for Bach's employer, the young, cultured Prince Leopold of Cöthen (a lovely small town in the rolling countryside southwest of Berlin), this was a heaven-sent opportunity to augment his own capella by securing some of the most accomplished players in the country, among them the finest cellist of his generation, Christian Ferdinand Abel, for whom Bach wrote the Suites.
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690) was a member of the group of elite cellists that operated in Bologna, Italy in the seventeenth century. Along with his teachers, Petronio Francheschini and Giovanni Battista Vitali, Gabrielli was one of the pioneers of baroque cello playing. Gabrielli's Seven Ricercare for Violoncello Solo represent the first works to be published for a lone cello. Gabrielli was a busy cellist and composer, maintaining employment in Bologna's two premier instrumental groups: the Accademia Filarmonica, and the orchestra of the Basilica San Petronio.
