Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 11/15/2005, uploaded on 01/13/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Chaconne from Partita in d minor, BWV 1004            Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Busoni)

Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni was a famous pianist and composer in his time. He taught at the conservatories of Helsinki and Moscow, and from 1891 to 1894 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Busoni's own compositions include piano pieces, a piano concerto, a violin concerto, operas, and orchestral pieces. He is best known, however, for his transcriptions of J.S. Bach's works, which he published over a span of more than 30 years. He translated the idioms of cembalo, organ, and even violin to piano. Busoni transcribed Bach's Chaconne in d minor from Violin Partita No. 2 in 1892 in Boston. Remarkably, this work is essentially a double arrangement.  It is a transcription for piano as if the piece were originally for organ -- this suggests that the composer reworked the original violin version into an organ equivalent before writing the piano transcription heard today.    Stephanie Shih-yu Cheng

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Partita for Violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004      Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach composed his second Partita for the solo violin sometime between 1717 and 1723. Though published along with the other two Partitas and the three Sonatas in 1802, it remained a neglected work until the German violinist Joseph Joachim began performing it and its companions. It follows the basic outline of the Baroque dance suite, utilizing only the four usual dances. The Gigue, however, is followed by the monumental Chaconne for which the work is most known. Compared to the proportions of the work, the Chaconne exceeds the length of the previous four movement combined. In terms of its substance, it is immeasurable. Concerning the Chaconne, Johannes Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann, "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."

The Chaconne is based on the harmonic progression, presented in multiple-stops, above the ground bass: D-D-C sharp-D-B flat-G-A-D. The variations that follow are a compendium of the various aspects of violin technique known in Bach's time, thus making it one of the most technically challenging pieces in the repertoire. In terms of broad musical structure, the Chaconne forms a tripartite form with a middle set of variations modulating to the parallel major. It ends with a repetition of the Chaconne theme in its original setting and a sort of coda with a varied statement of the ground bass.

Many transcriptions of the piece have been made. Brahms made his own transcription for piano/left-hand only and Busoni for both hands. Transcriptions also exist for guitar, orchestra and organ.       Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.