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JS Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

© Yen Loong Teoh

JS Bach, often being crowned as the supreme master of Baroque, had created masterpieces of literally every form of music in the Baroque period (1600-1750). Though regarded as 'conservative and old-fashioned' during his period, he was way ahead of the musical form, and he brought Baroque to such perfection that a new period of musical form had to be established. Consequently, JS Bach marked the last composer of Baroque music (of course as the summit of Baroque music as well) and then came the Classical Period where Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven dominated.

Of these are the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV1001-1006. He wrote these pieces when he was the Court Kapellmeister in Cothen, before he moved to Leipzig. We must always bear in mind that JS Bach was renowned as an organist in Germany, and it was on the keyboard that he built himself up as a composer. Thus composing these pieces for solo violin was no exception. Definitely JS Bach realized the polyphonic potential of this squeaky string instrument and used it to the fullest to bring his music out.

The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo are definitely some of the greatest pieces of music ever composed for the violin. By cleverly using double stopping (playing two strings at once) sometimes the music even suggests a fugue or underlying harmonies. Violinists around the world could not stop the temptation to record these masterpieces which demand not only the highest level of virtuosity but also musicality.

The most famous piece from these suites is the Chaconne from Partita no.2 in D minor, what being described as 'the cornerstone of the violin'. One could not help but to feel the emotional depth of this piece. And anyone who feels that JS Bach is a mechanical composer should listen to this piece. Another famous piece from this set is the Preludio from Partita no.3 in E major. Ask yourself the question when listening to these 2 pieces, are there two/three violins playing or just one? And you would be amazed by JS Bach.

Great violinists in the past have left a handful of recordings on these works, but few could make an impact as powerful as Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986), a Belgian violinist. True, Grumiaux had not achieved the fame such as Jascha Heifetz or Lord Yehudi Menuhin but he definitely deserved a place among them as immortals. Personally I should say that Arthur Grumiaux is the perfect interpreter of JS Bach, and only one word could describe his playing -- aristocratic. I am sure you would agree with me after listening to his playing of JS Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin.

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