Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 01/15/2017, uploaded on 06/03/2017

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Chaconne from Partita No. 2, BWV 1004                Johann Sevastian Bach, arr. Busoni

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne, from the second unaccompanied Violin Partita is an enduring work, ever popular with performers and audiences alike since its rediscovery along with the rest of Bach’s oeuvre in the 19th century.  Yet the idea of a violin playing without accompaniment was bizarre for the audiences of the time--a sight and sound strange to them.  Thus began the long tradition of transcriptions for Bach’s Chaconne, at first two versions for violin and piano by Mendelssohn and Schumann, then Brahms’ infamous transcription for the left hand alone, and many more for a wide array of instruments.  Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni made his grand transcription for piano in 1893.

Busoni, fascinated by Bach’s music ever since he was a child, made specially edited editions of Bach’s keyboard music for pedagogical purposes.  In these Bach-Busoni Editionen, Busoni also began to include concert transcriptions of Bach’s other music, mostly from the organ repertoire.  Busoni imitated the scope and registration of the organ in his transcription for piano, using the superior finger dexterity of the pianist and the damper pedal to simulate cathedral-like effects.  Although Bach’s original Chaconne was for an unaccompanied violin, Busoni imagines grand organ-like effects, and utilizes the entire range of the piano to create a masterful, virtuosic, almost overwhelming transcription of one of Bach’s greatest pieces.

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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.