BACH — Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor
Bella Hristova, violin

Performed on Monday, June 17, 2013
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia

Bach’s Chaconne is among the first great virtuosic works for solo violin. Though it is often performed as a stand-alone piece, it was conceived as the last movement of his second violin partita. Bach’s solo violin music is at the core of every violinist’s repertoire, and the Chaconne is the crowning achievement among these works.

Before proceeding, a bit of Baroque-era vocabulary: A “Chaconne” is a slow, stately dance in triple meter (counted in three, like a waltz), featuring a repeating bass line over which a composer writes variations. That bass line loops constantly, never stopping, as varying musical events occur above it. The “Partita,” a favored large-scale form at the time, was a collection of dance movements gathered together into an instrumental suite.

Bach’s second partita offers four dance movements of a usual length and character, but the fifth and final movement—the Chaconne—surpasses them all. Longer than all of the others combined, it encompasses some of the most earnest and intense music ever written, as the composer repeats the bass line 64 times. Midway through, Bach turns from the darker and serious minor mode of the opening to a hopeful major mode, giving the violinist the opportunity to sing out. But the music’s original character returns, bringing us full circle toward its somber, reflective conclusion.

Some 150 years later, Johannes Brahms summed up the Chaconne in a concise and elegant way: “On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings.”

—David Serkin Ludwig

#CurtisIsHere

[donstein]

Bach wrote this to commemorate his wife's death; she died at the age of just 35. You can hear his soul being poured out. Stunning rendition.

[chance]

The fact that this piece, written over 300 years ago, is able to be heard in high quality from the comfort of my own home. It's astonishing. Very lucky to have access to these works thanks to the people who continue to keep them alive.

[famllybonilla]

Mígala, siempre recomendado buen arte

[Psittacus_erithacus]

I've been listening to this excellent bit of artistry for years and never thought to comment on it. Probably pretty meaningless to do so, but it is just too wonderful and has added so much joy to so many of my days that it now feels like the very least I could do to express my gratitude: For the artist, for all the teachers and fellow musicians who helped to refine their talent, to the makers of the instrument, of the recording equipment and those who operated it to capture this … and finally to the long dead composer, who's brilliance reached forward through time to enrich my life. The combined genius and effort of so many, packaged up into 13 minutes of human perfection and shared with my undeserving butt for free. Amazing!

[Shirguhl]

this piece has so much feeling, and Bella played it with so much emotion, and she played it like she owned it. I love that

[HandwhistlerBen]

Your technique is spectacular to show Bach's immense sorrow and the sweetness of his memories of the Life that had together, though short. We all have our breaking points when remembering and memories stir up our emotion from being calm working up to a frenzy and the crying and nearly going out of our mind.

[njsanders]

Finally... a violin piece on Youtube that is just violin. I love it.

[benho]

Speechless here... I am shocked at how good this rendition is. It's an honor to hear it. Grateful for uploading this.

[alanrobertandrews]

I never knew Bach wrote it as a memorial for his wife, so beautiful, my favourite of the set, Bye for now love Alan

[amezcuaist]

An epic, historic performance . The Chaconne has never been played so well . Just perfect .

[AngladaFamilia]

OMG what a Beautiful rendition. Pouring the soul of Bach out of her violin. ❤️❤️❤️

[stephenhunt]

Too often we are offered neat, tidy, dry exercises. Hristova treats this as the great musical drama that Bach created. Wonderful and thanks to Curtis Institute of Music.

[fabianvelazquez]

Migala me enseño a apreciar la música clásica cuando solo la consideraba eso,
Música clásica.

[michaelk]

My god! She is amazing! What a fantastic performance!

[Artorius]

Magnificent! I don’t understand why this doesn’t have at least a million likes.

[emilyfischer]

There is so much beauty added to my life whenever I listen to this piece. Thank you for inspiring me through all my years playing violin.

[davidthompson]

The most satisfying performance I have heard.

[madridkuma]

Era mi sueño tocar algún día esta obra. Ya para intentarlo he escuchado esta grabación todos los días durante 5 meses para aprender de ella por que su interpretación me ha gustado más entre todo lo que había encontrado en YouTube. Este video ha sido mi profe durante todo este tiempo para interpretar yo también esta hermosa obra de Bach aunque no se parece nada la mía y la de ella claro, , , Muchas gracias a Bella Hiristova y a este canal.

It was my dream to play this piece one day. Now to try it I have listened to this recording every day for 5 months to learn from it because I liked her interpretation more among all that I had found on YouTube. This video has been my teacher during all this time to interpret this beautiful work by Bach, although mine and hers are not at all similar, of course, , , Thank you very much to Bella Hiristova and this channel.

[erik_midtskogen]

Of the various renditions I've listened to up on Youtube, this is my favorite. It combines the precision and clarity of Hahn with the powerful sound and emotion of Perlman. BRAVO!!

[michaelbassett]

I have never heard such an interpretation. She played it better than Mehunin and as well as Heifetz. What a great surprise to hear these cross-overs.