Chamber Music Piccolo
SKU: PR.114422450
Composed by Johann
Sebastian Bach. Arranged
by Nicola Mazzanti. Sws.
Full score. 20 pages.
Duration 17 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#114-42245. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.114422450).
ISBN
9781491134986. UPC:
680160685974. 9 x 12
inches.
Bachâs
colossal Partita No. 2
for Solo Violin has been
crowned by many masters
as one of musicâs
greatest achievements,
and even its famous
Chaconne movement alone
is a mountain many
performers dare not
scale. While the
literature of several
other instruments has
been enriched by
transcriptions of the
Chaconne, Mazzantiâs
heroic adaptation of the
complete Partita is the
culmination of many
yearsâ work, and the
only transcription
specifically for the
piccoloâs unique
range.
THE
INSPIRATIONEver since my
childhood, Johann
Sebastian Bachâs
solo violin music (like
his works for solo cello)
has always held a charm
and mystery for me.
Thereâs something
about this repertoire
that sparks an
inextinguishable
questioning in my musical
and human soul.It is
music without spatial
limits or temporal cages,
a music as essential as
it is masterfully
complex, in which the
solitary voice of man
meets the
all-encompassing voice of
God. It is a music whose
vertical and horizontal
dimensions, already
admirably fused, are
faceted into new and
mysterious realities. For
every violinist, the
study of these
compositions is at the
apex of tenacious
technical study and
interpretative
effort.Violinist Joshua
Bell has said the
Ciaccona (Bach did write
the Partitaâs
movement titles in
Italian) is ânot
just one of the greatest
pieces of music ever
written, but one of the
greatest achievements of
any man in history.
Itâs a spiritually
powerful piece,
emotionally powerful,
structurally
perfect.âTranscribin
g and performing
Bachâs PARTITA NO.
2, BWV 1004 on piccolo
was a feat that took
years of work. The famous
Ciaccona movement is, of
course, the piece that
alone occupied most of
this time. How does one
honor and elevate such
high music with such a
âsmallâ
instrument, devoid of the
enormous expressive
potential of the violin,
devoid of its chords and
its polyphony? How might
I transform the piccolo
into an instrument with,
like the violin,
full-bodied low notes and
subtle high notes? Above
all, why undertake such a
demanding and
extraordinary journey?The
first reason is obvious:
by transcribing,
studying, and performing
such an admirable piece,
we assimilate it, it
becomes part of us, it
enormously enriches our
musical interior.In
addition, it forces us
technically to expand the
colors, agility, and
flexibility of the
instrument; it makes us
think in a polyphonic
way.Finally, the daily
study, especially of the
Ciaccona, is an
extraordinary gymnasium
in which to consolidate
and strengthen our
general technique.THE
TRANSCRIPTIONThe whole
Partita was transcribed
in the key of A minor, a
fifth above the original
in D minor. This was
necessary for the lowest
note of the violin (G) to
correspond to the lowest
note of the piccolo (D).
This version exploits the
full range of the
piccolo, from the D of
the first octave to the B
of the third octave.
However some octave
adjustments were
needed.The chords,
particularly in the
Sarabanda and the
Ciaccona, have been left
with the same notational
system used by Bach in
his version for violin. I
chose to respect
Bachâs presentation
and did not transcribe
these into grace notes
breaking the chords. I
advocate that we must at
least try to think of
this music in its
vertical dimension,
trying to make the notes
resonate as if they were
being played together,
deciding the speed of the
arpeggio based on musical
needs.While some woodwind
editions of Bachâs
string solos do indicate
broken chords as grace
notes, this implies that
the most important note
is necessarily the
highest one, while
sometimes it is precisely
in the lower pitches that
the theme is voiced.In
this piccolo adaptation,
many of Bachâs
original articulations
have been respected. Some
have been changed, when
needing to adapt them to
the specific needs of
flute playing.The two
passages in the Ciaccona
where Bach indicates
âarpeggioâ were
rendered trying to
respect the most
consolidated and virtuous
violin traditions, and at
the same time the
possibilities that the
piccolo offers us. For
this purpose, in some
cases, different
revoicings of the chords
have been used.I thank
all those who patiently
listened to me and were
close to me during this
period, for their
observations and advice.
In particular, I thank my
daughter Sara for her
assistance and skill in
entering this edition
into music writing
software.
