79. Johann Sebastian Bach - Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin (1720)

Recording

Title: Complete Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo
Performer: Rachel Podger
Year: 1998-99
Length: 2 hours

Review

The book tell you to get the two separate CDs, but that is now unnecessary because there is a boxed set with the two CDs, that you can see the picture of up there. And it costs the same as each of the other ones. So yay!

And this is something you will want to buy actually, much like the Cello Suites are essential solo cello works, this is essential solo violin stuff. I still prefer the cello suites, but that is because the sound of the Cello appeals more to me, but these are equally brilliant. Just listen to the Ciacconna of the second partita and you will know what I mean, some of the most impressive 13 minutes on a violin you will ever hear.

There is however, the slight feel that these pieces are more oriented to being show off pieces, rather than for the seer enjoyment of the sound. Still Bach manages to ally what really demands virtuosity in the playing with the fact that it ends up being pretty impressive sonically. Highly Recommended.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Bach composed the works in 1720, while employed at Köthen. The manuscript was nearly destroyed but someone saved it from being used as butcher paper. There, Bach composed more chamber music than sacred or choral music; the Brandenburg Concertos, concerto for two violins, and cello suites were all composed about this time.

The original performer of Bach's six sonatas and partitas is unknown. J.G. Pisendel and J.B. Volumier have been suggested, both being talented violinists at the Dresden court, as has Joseph Spiess, leader of the orchestra at Cöthen, where Bach composed the works. However, some contend that it may have been Bach himself who gave the first performance, pointing to his skills as a violinist. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a violinist, and according to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, "in his youth, and until the approach of old age, he played the violin cleanly and powerfully".

The ciacconna:

Part 1:



Part 2: