Partita No. 1 in B Minor

If the great “Ciaccona” that concludes the D minor Partita is Bach’s ultimate contribution to the art of variation for a solo violin, in the set’s very first Partita BWV 1002 he embraces an unusual scheme that keeps the impulse to vary things very much to the fore. Every movement—of which there are only four—is followed by a ”Double”, a variation that retains the harmonic structure while elaborating something distinctly new. Unusually, too, there’s no concluding gigue. Rather, Bach offers a “Tempo di Borea”, a bourrée in all but name. The opening “Allemande” is a spiky affair, full of bold gestures and a deal of enriching chordal punctuation. Its “Double”, by contrast, is a smooth-flowing pendant without a chord in sight—something the ensuing “Courante” is emboldened to continue. Marked “Presto” (fast), the “Courante”’s own “Double” rings the changes by upping the tempo and joining the gaps in the melodic line with a scampering workout. Next comes a pre-eminently noble “Sarabande”. It owes its commanding presence to the richly refulgent chordal underpinning which consolidates an intense poignancy—only slightly assuaged by the “Double”, itself almost a pensive gigue in slow motion. To end, the “Tempo di Borea” deploys its two-beats-to-the-bar with a debonair nonchalance that’s not without a hint of attitude. The “Double”, meanwhile, is having none of it—although a flicker of the old bravado resurfaces momentarily. About J.S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin Although Bach was arguably the preeminent keyboard exponent of his age he began his career as a violinist. He preferred to direct the orchestra at Köthen from the string section, and, thanks to friendship with the likes of Westhoff and Pisendel, understood the instrument inside out. Just how profound was that understanding can be deduced from the Sei Solo (Six Solos) for “violin without bass accompaniment” that were assembled in a manuscript dated 1720. Pinnacles of the German violin tradition, and casting an inquisitive eye on developments in Italy, they comprise three Partitas acknowledging the dance-led sovereignty of the French suite, and three Sonatas laid out along Italian “Church” lines alternating movements slow(ish) and fast.