Bach Ciaconna: a Life of Its Own

THE BACH CIACONNA IN D MINOR,
A LIFE OF ITS OWN

Natalie W. Chang
Graduate Survey in Music History, MUSC 7020
November 26, 2012

Introduction It is hard to imagine a world without Johann Sebastian Bach, a world devoid of his absolute brilliance. And yet, he himself found no brilliance in his work, as he had an innate sense of continuous self-improvement through learning from and imitating other composers. For such a master at his craft, he was truly of the most humble of servants to the legacy of music, specifically to Western music. He initialized an unparalleled compositional standard in the art of fugal counterpoint, not to mention the numerous contributions he made to the Baroque vocal genre in addition to his instrumental works. One such instrumental work in particular helped to set a new level of achievement for his successors that would truly change the face of violin performance, even to this day. J.S. Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001-1006 are the perfect marriage of technical virtuosity and individualistic communication. Hereafter referred to as the Solo Sonatas, J.S. Bach’s collective violin masterpiece was such a departure from the Baroque standards of employing the use of basso continuo, even in the case of solo works (which would still be accompanied by a basso continuo). Bach had revolutionized the violin expression by giving the musician an opportunity to perform in a truly unaccompanied fashion. His contemporaries and predecessors may have written works for unaccompanied violin, but failed to do so at the monumental caliber of J.S. Bach. He created a new world of sonorous achievement in treating the violin as the embodiment of multiple voices and multiple instruments. In his Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004, he blended virtuosic melodic passages with newly constructed polyphonic demands that would eventually become the staple of any violinist’s technical and emotional

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