Chaconne in D Minor for String Orchestra has been arranged by Joseph I. Corporon. It is based on the last movement of the Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin, BWV 1004, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The piece is scored in the style of a concerto grosso, with a String Quartet serving as the concertino, and the rest of the strings as the ripieno. This division of forces helps bring out both the drama and the intimacy of this monumental piece of music.
Quotes from Wikipedia.org
Professor Helga Thoene suggests that this partita, and especially its last movement, was a tombeau written in memory of Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara Bach (who died in 1720), though this theory is controversial.
Yehudi Menuhin called the Chaconne “the greatest structure for solo violin that exists”.
Violinist Joshua Bell has said the Chaconne is “not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It’s a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect.” He played the piece busking in L’Enfant Plaza for The Washington Post.
Johannes Brahms in a letter to Clara Schumann described the piece, “On one stave, for a small instrument, the man [Bach] writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.”
Acknowledgements
Chaconne für Streichquartett arr. by A. M. Hertz
Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 10041: Chaconne arr. by Varun Soontornniyomkij
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