Music, this marvelous universal language understood by everyone everywhere, ought to be a source of better communication among men.
-Pablo Casals
It is a very great pleasure to present this Casals interpretation of the Bach unaccompanied Suites to cellists throughout the world. The preparation of this masterpiece and other works for cello was clearly a labor of love for Madeline Foley, Casals' protégée. She was deeply committed to handing down his legacy to future generations of cellists. Fortunately for all musicians, she succeeded in attaining this goal, even though she herself did not live to see her faithful work appear in print. After her death in 1982, the project was guided towards its final completion with the assistance of David Soyer of the Guarneri Quartet. Additional critical and editorial information was provided by Marta Montanez Istomin, wife of Casals from 1957 until the time of his death.