Pure Bach

November 7, 2021

Jennifer Koh, violin

The solo violin works of Bach are considered the cornerstone of the violin repertoire. Acclaimed by The New York Times as “a masterly Bach interpreter,” Jennifer Koh performs this epic season opener. Koh is revered as a forward-thinking artist dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire while promoting diversity and inclusivity in classical music.

Program Notes

As we celebrate the 300^th anniversary of Bach’s Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas (technically 301^st, but who’s counting?), it is easy to forget that the place these works enjoy as a cornerstone of the violin repertoire was not achieved during Bach’s lifetime. In fact, the reception of these pieces was so delayed that the original manuscripts were almost disposed of as butcher paper. The complete set was not published until 1802 – some five decades after the composer’s death – and even then did not gain popularity with performers until the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim began performing the works regularly. Despite this inauspicious start, the set has earned a status on par with any of Bach’s well-known works and stands as a favorite among violinists.

Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001

The sonata begins with a serious Adagio built around an elaborate melody weaving long lines between harmonic pillars. The following fugue will no doubt seem familiar to anyone acquainted with Bach’s organ music. This fugue was later reworked for organ as part of the Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 539 as well as for lute in the Fugue, BWV 1000.

The gentle Siciliano is characterized by its 12/8 meter and a dotted-rhythm melody. This movement alludes to a trio sonata with two melodic “duet” parts over an accompanying bass.

The concluding Presto is a wild perpetual motion of single notes but with implied polyphony, causing metric instability with its many implicit groupings and voices. 

Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002

Bach’s Partita No. 1 is a Baroque dance suite that contains four dances: Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, and a Tempo di Borea or Bourrée, the latter replacing the customary Gigue. Following each dance is a “Double,” essentially variations on the preceding dance using the same underlying harmonies.

While the Allemande follows established conventions with its quadruple meter and moderate tempo, Bach imbues the dance with dotted rhythms emphasizing its ceremonious and philosophical tone. The Corrente is in a jaunty triple meter and truly expresses the “running” meaning of the word corrente with its quick scalar sixteenth notes. Bach’s noble Sarabande is in triple meter with a song-like Double is in 9/8 that consists almost entirely of triplets. The concluding Tempo di Borea, is a lively duple meter propelled by an upbeat quarter note. In the Double that follows, Bach dissolves the rhythm heard previously into running notes that outline the melodic and harmonic contour.

Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003

Bach’s opening Grave is both lyrical and highly ornamented with a texture that mirrors the opening movement of the first sonata. However, in terms of content, the journey is far more complex with large leaps in register introduced in the opening bars. This leads to a finely-wrought fugue, in which a jaunty subject is contrasted with a descending chromatic countersubject. 

The Andante is a lyrical and hope-filled cantilena sung over a bass line of repeated notes. The airy feel of this movement serves as an intermezzo between the density of the preceding fugue and the sheer brilliance of the concluding movement. The finale is a dazzling Allegro, with Italianate virtuosity employing echo-like dynamics, calling to mind the interplay between soloist and orchestra as in a Baroque concerto grosso.

Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004

The first four movements of Bach’s Partita No. 2 follow the order of the traditional Baroque dance suite with each movement in their classic binary format. The Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue are not overly lengthy and seem to harbor a sense of technical economy that beautifully sets the stage for the massive fifth movement. Equal in length to the preceding four movements, the Chaconne is a work of such scope emotionally, compositionally, and spiritually, that much has been written on this movement alone. 

Formally, a Chaconne is essentially a series of variations, in Sarabande rhythm, built over a repeated ground bass. In Bach’s masterful hands, these variations explore the entire range of human emotions, from confidence to divine consolation to desolation and to exaltation. To achieve this, Bach runs the gamut of techniques available for variations within the sixty-four repetitions. The journey can be divided into three primary sections: the longest one is in D minor, followed by an otherworldly D major, and the shortest final section which again is in D minor. 

Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005

The striking sparseness of the Adagio opening movement feels like the beginning of something wholly new. Unlike the other sonatas in the site, here Bach meditates upon a single motive – the dotted-rhythm pattern. This is juxtaposed by the ever-increasing intensity of the harmony, until the tension is ultimately absolved in a cadenza-like passage near the end.

The second movement is the single longest fugue that Bach ever wrote (354 measures) and can be heard as the resolution to the second Partita’s Chaconne. Its optimistic subject comes from the opening of the chorale Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (Come, Holy Ghost, Lord God), which Bach infuses with awe-inspiring contrapuntal ingenuity, technical requirements, and scope. 

The remaining two movements offer a much-needed release from the intensity of the preceding fugue. The Largo is a melodic, florid line over a simple bass. This leads to the concluding Allegro assai that is jubilant and rejoicing. Its textures evoke the trumpets and timpani of the Christmas Oratorio as Bach draws the final sonata of the set to an upbeat close.

Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006

After the massive and tumultuous movements that defined the middle works of this set, Bach follows with increasingly brief and upbeat movements throughout the final Partita which is composed of a set of six stylized dances. The Prelude that sets off the work is probably the most famous of all six movements, with its perpetual sixteenth notes and its sunny and celebratory demeanor. 

Unlike the other two partitas, the Allemande, Courante, and Sarabande have been replaced with the optional galanteries, in this case, Loure, Gavotte en Rondeau, Menuets (I and II), and Bourrée. The Loure is a slow dance in compound meter (6/4) with emphasis on dotted rhythms often found at every half measure.

The bucolic Gavotte en Rondeau is cast in duple meter and its first musical phrase begins mid-measure, a characteristic of many 18th-century Gavottes. After the repetition of the main theme, the piece alternates the theme with different episodic material in the form of a Rondo as stated in the title.

In the movement that follows, Bach combines two different selections: the solemn Menuet I and unassuming and pastoral Menuet II.  The Bourrée is in an agile tempo, beginning with the characteristic quarter-note upbeat. Bach’s dynamic markings in the score help create echoes between repeated phrases. The Gigue in 6/8 is a lively and ephemeral finale to the partita and entire set.