JS Bach: Partita No.1 in B Minor for solo violin, BWV 1002
Allemanda – Double
Corrente – Double (Presto)
Sarabande – Double
Tempo di Borea – Double
Published in 1720 in Cöthen, the B Minor Partita was one of several composed during Bach’s employment as Kapellmeister at the court of Anhalt-Cöthen. This was a fertile period for composition of chamber and orchestral works, and from 1717 until 1723 Bach wrote the six Brandenburg concerti, the orchestral ouvertures (suites), the violin concerti and double violin concerto, six unaccompanied cello suites, and six unaccompanied violin partitas and sonatas. His creative output was inevitably linked to such external factors as where and for whom he was working, and also the nature of the job he was engaged to do. In Cöthen he was employed as the director of the orchestra and would most likely have led the ensemble from the violin. One can surmise that he must have been working alongside a fairly extraordinary group of performers, if the quality and difficulty of the works that emerged from this time is anything to go by. It was during this period that he had the opportunity to experiment and to delve deep into the expressive and technical potential of the instruments/instrumentalists for whom he was writing – but not always without complaint: fellow composer and theorist, Adolph Scheibe, had this to say, “Since he judges according to his own fingers, his pieces are extremely difficult to play, for he demands that singers and instrumentalists should be able to do with their throats and instruments whatever he can play on the keyboard. But this is impossible!” It is undoubtedly true that many a violinist since Bach’s day has found good reason to curse him for the technical challenges he presents in his unaccompanied repertoire in particular, but there is nothing Bach demands that is unplayable or un-violinistic. It may be awkward, immensely challenging and a life-consuming expedition for that ever-elusive perfection, but nothing is as impossible as Scheibe declares! Perhaps players today are technically more proficient….
Nonetheless, the unaccompanied violin sonatas and partitas present the greatest challenge to anyone who choses to study them, and the process of discovery both from a technical and musical standpoint is limitless. Depending on your persuasions, you could liken them to the musician’s bible or to the actor’s Shakespeare! In these remarkable pieces Bach opened up new dimensions in every department – format, style, expression, mood, nuance, technique, stamina, colour, to name but a few. The greatest challenge of all is to render the music comprehensible to the listener – therein lies the debate as to whether it was ever intended for public consumption: we have no historical information with regard to first performances of these works. Perhaps they were intended for private study/performance only? Certainly Bach must have been able to play them himself, but how well? The complexity of the music – especially when dealing with 3-4 part voices in a fugue or 3-4 part chords whilst maintaining a melodic line on top, in the middle or on the bottom, and still play in tune and make a beautiful sound – is as challenging as it gets; but that it should communicate through this minefield of constraints and demands is the biggest challenge. Human struggle and endeavour needs to be finely balanced with the concept of the whole – the broader picture. The humility behind the notes (this music is never showy for the sake of it), and the humanity of the man that wrote them, must surely be present at all times.
The B Minor is the most elusive of all the partitas. The key is dark and, at times, suffering, like so many of the best of Bach’s violin obbligati in the same key – for example, Erbarme dich from the St Matthew Passion and the two violin arias from the Christmas Oratorio. There are occasional modulations to sunnier climes but ultimately this is a serious and intensely emotional work – but not in a heart-on-sleeve way. Even the Presto is dark-hued. Essentially, the ‘partita’ form is a suite of dances but here, unusually, the dances are followed by a ‘double’ or variation.
© Alan George & Lucy Russell
