“How could anybody think of Bach as 'cold' when these [cello] suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry," Casals said. "As I got on with the study I discovered a new world of space and beauty... the feelings I experienced were among the purest and most intense in my artistic life!”

“It [Bach's cello suites] is like a great diamond," said [Mischa] Maisky in a thick Russian accent, "with so many different cuts that reflect light in so many different ways.”

“Playing the cello did feel nicely neolithic, or at least a civilized way to process the primitive.”

“I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.”

“(regarding the prelude from suite two)... The key is minor, the three notes a tragic triad. The tones move closer and closer to a harrowing vision, weaving spiter-like, relentlessly gathering sound into thighter concentric circle that come to an abrupt stop. Nothing fills the empty space. A tiny prayer is uttered.”

“In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.”

“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all. ”