Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs Bach’s Cello Suite no.1 against the backdrop of green trees and a babbling brook of the Great Smoky Mountains foothills in Tennessee.

The film coincides with the release of Nature At Play: Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, a digital EP that exemplifies Ma’s ongoing exploration of Bach’s music and its contemporary relevance. It asks the listener to ’consider the ways that culture can connect us to the natural world and to each other in pursuit of a common future.’

Ma has pledged to donate his earnings from the release to EarthPercent, a charity that helps artists and the music industry support the most impactful organisations currently addressing the global climate emergency.

This comes ahead of the release of a three-disc LP edition of Ma’s first-ever recording of the Bach Cello Suites in 1983, from Sony Classical. Ma won the first of his 19 Grammy Awards for this recording, and went on to record the suites twice more.

J.S. Bach: 6 Suites for Unaccompanied Cello – The 1983 Sessions celebrates the 40th anniversary of the original recordings with three newly-pressed picture discs enclosed in a tri-fold jacket featuring exclusive, never-before-seen photos from the original recording session as well as an essay by its producer, Richard Einhorn. It will be released on 20 October 2023 and is available for preorder now.