SKU: ST.C360

ISBN 9790570813605.

Gavotte en Rondeau from Violin Partita No.3 (BWV 1006).

Paper, daylight and candles were often in short supply during Bach�??s very busy lifetime but simply to view the autograph score in his hand of the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin is to be bound into a spell by the beauty, skill and extempore furiosity of the script. The cycle has been described as a miracle of implied harmony and rich harmonic textures, �??its freshness and maturity, its depth, its beauty, its response to all moods�?� informing a work of humanity and genius unparalleled in all the literature for solo violin.

The present arrangement of the Gavotte en Rondeau from Partita No. 3 (BWV1006) is based on Rachmaninoff�??s intricate harmonisation for piano. �??Ruht Wohl�?? from the St. John Passion (BWV 245). In the final Chorus from the St. John Passion, Bach imbues the popular dance-forms of the Sarabande and Minuet with a spiritual theme of atonement and reconciliation. The three ritornelli stand like pillars in a palindromic structure whose unbroken melodic line and flowing counterpoint represent a �??timeless continuance�??. The original scoring is light and transparent, and transfers appropriately to a choir of cellos without the loss of any counterpoint. Prelude Op. 25 No 3 by Rachmaninoff. Throughout his career as a composer and virtuoso pianist, this Prelude was one of Rachmaninoff�??s favourite pieces and he dedicated it to his teacher Alexander Siloti. A powerful structure is built up from a small rhythmic motif, reminiscent of Tchaikovsky�??s representations of fate or Shostakovich�??s of looming state power. This is contrasted with a lyrical middle section and a final phrase marked leggiero in which the music flies off into the air like a bird.