The Ciaccona movement of Bach’s D minor partita is widely regarded as the alpha and omega of the solo violin repertoire. A paragon of compositional ingenuity, the work also bears the weight of Bach’s grief after the death of his first wife, and is laden with encrypted religious references, both musical and numerical. This program presents the Partita in its entirety, alongside two very different but equally extraordinary contemporary works influenced by the Ciaccona.

“Sequenza VIII is built around two notes (A and B) which – as in a chaconne – act as a compass in the work’s rather diversified and elaborate itinerary…where the soloist must make the listener constantly aware of the history behind each instrumental gesture. Sequenza VIII, therefore, becomes inevitably a tribute to that musical apex which is the Ciaccona from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita in D Minor, there – historically – past, present, and future violin techniques coexist.” – Luciano Berio

“The general form of the piece is based on an analysis of Bach’s Chaconne by German musicologist Helga Thoene, to whom the piece is dedicated. The choral tunes that she discovered – which are woven into the texture of this unique conclusion of the D minor Partita – form the original material. Another reference, which is reflected in the title as well, is the novel Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami.” – Reiko Füting

J.S. Bach
Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004
Allemanda
Corrente

Luciano Berio
Sequenza VIII

J.S. Bach
Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004
Sarabanda
Giga

Reiko Füting
tanz.tanz.

J.S. Bach
Partita in D Minor, BWV 1004
Ciaccona