Classical Music | Violin Music

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001  Play

Rachel Barton Pine Violin

Recorded on 01/29/2004, uploaded on 02/12/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001     Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach began work on his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin around 1703 while in Weimar. They date from roughly the same period as the six Suites for violoncello and the Brandenburg Concertos. Bach’s time in Weimar was particularly conducive to the composition of secular works since he served as a court musician. The set was ultimately completed in 1720 after Bach had moved on to serve as Kapellmeister in Cöthen.

Many composers were actively writing for the solo violin since the last decades of 17th century. Of particular interest in connection with Bach’s compositions is a set of partitas composed between 1682 and 1696 by Johann Paul von Westhoff. Bach worked alongside Westhoff while in Weimar and there are stylistic similarities between their respective works for solo violin.

The set contains three sonatas and three partitas. Each of the sonatas contain four movements in the slow-fast-slow-fast pattern of the Baroque sonata da chiesa, while the partitas are set in the dance suite form. Furthermore, each sonata’s first two movements are paired as a prelude and fugue.

The prelude of the first sonata in G minor, like its successor in A minor, is highly ornamental with three- and four-note chords turning into sweeping runs and an abundance of arpeggio figures. The following fugue will no doubt seem familiar to anyone acquainted with Bach’s organ music. This fugue was later reworked for organ as part of the Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 539 as well as for lute in the Fugue, BWV 1000. The third movement is a siciliana, a slow dance in compound meter and often with an emphasis on dotted rhythms. Finally, the last movement takes on a presto tempo. It is in a binary form and maintains a consistent sixteenth-note rhythm in 3/8 time with the only exceptions being the cadences that conclude each section of the movement.       Joseph DuBose
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The autograph manuscript of the Six Sonatas and Partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is dated 1720. Scholars believe he began writing these pieces during the end of his service to the Duke of Weimar, possibly during his brief imprisonment in November of 1717 for seeking to leave the Duke's employ. Bach probably continued work on the Sonatas and Partitas after entering the service of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, a period without church duties in which he completed much of his celebrated chamber and instrumental music. The Sonatas are in the Italian "church sonata" form: slow, fast, slow, fast. The first and second movements are in the style of preludes and fugues, the melodic third movements are in contrasting keys, and the last movements imply multiple voices within a single line. The Partitas (spelled "Partia" in the manuscript) are suites of dance movements. It is clear that Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas were conceived as a cycle. Each Sonata is followed by a Partita. Each Sonata's fugue is longer and more complex than the previous one's, and the movements of the Partitas increase in number from 4 to 5 to 6.

Bach's Sonata in G minor begins with an Adagio in ABA form. The taste and inventiveness of Bach's ornamentation is especially evident when the outer sections are compared. The embellishments of the same material are almost entirely different. The Fuga contrasts three-voiced contrapuntal sections in multiple-stops and idiomatic homophonic passagework with implied counterpoint. The section of broken chords in the middle and the organ-like ending, both over a pedal point of D, are especially noteworthy. The delicate Siciliana simulates the texture of a trio sonata, with two treble voices in duet and an accompanying bass line. The Presto, in binary form, is full of complex inner rhythms and is an impressive example of polyphony hidden in a single-line movement.

About the Violin

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to record this music on a 1770 Nicola Gagliano in unaltered baroque condition. The instrument is strung with gut strings tuned to A=415. I chose this violin partly from a desire for greater authenticity, but mainly because this instrument and setup bring me closest to the concept of sound that I envision for my interpretations of this repertoire.

Rachel Barton Pine


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