Chaconne

The d-minor Chaconne is undoubtedly the most famous movement of all of Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo. So it is hardly surprising that it has seen many arrangements. Johannes Brahms marvelled at how a single staff of music could offer “a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the mightiest emotions”. He promptly made his own arrangement; it is for left hand alone, in order to come close to the restrictive framework of the original. He wrote enthusiastically: “A similar degree of difficulty, the manner of technique, the arpeggios – everything comes together to make me feel like a violinist!”

This Henle Urtext edition by Valerie Woodring-Goertzen is based on the text of the new Brahms Complete Edition. In her foreword she also offers fascinating details about the compositional history of this unusual work.

Fingerings by Markus Bellheim