Obertures is a cycle of six pieces for solo cello commissioned by Erica Wise. Conceived as a unified whole to be performed attacca, each piece also functions independently as a prelude to one of the six cello suites by J.S. Bach.

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Rather than confronting Bach’s material directly through variation or quotation, these works offer an oblique reflection on the abstract nature of each of his preludes. The music draws on the deep structural features of Bach’s originals, while exploring timbral territory largely absent from the Baroque: the use of extreme natural harmonics. These fragile sounds, often on the edge of silence, lend the music an ethereal and distant quality — like memories dissolving into mist.

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Despite the apparent contrast between these two sonic worlds, the fluid transitions between them blur boundaries and reframe our listening experience. As each Bach suite unfolds, the opening oberture fades into the past — a dream whose outline slowly disappears.