Partita (Chaconne) in D minor BWV 1004 for String Trio (Bach / Loiseleur)

The Partita in D minor BWV 1004 of Johann Sebastian Bach was originally written for solo violin and comprises five movements. The last one is the famous Chaconne (Ciaccona) that has fascinated violin players and composers for centuries.

This score is a transcription of this Partita for String Trio: Violin, Viola, Violoncello.

J-S. Bach did realize a lot of transcriptions of his own works, including the Violin Sonatas which he arranged for lute or organ. Some of this transcriptions involve a complete re-writing, like for instance the Prelude of the Partita n°3 in E that has been arranged for organ and orchestra (and transposed in D).

The Chaconne in D minor has been arranged by many excellent musicians, including J. Brahms (for left-hand piano), F. Busoni (piano), L. Stokowsky (symphonic orchestra), and I. Nodaira (viola quartet).

The originality of this work is that while the violin part stays quite close to the original (but somehow less difficult because there are less double stops and chords), it transforms the violin part into the upper voice of a richer polyphonic texture.

The other characteristic is that the whole Partita has been transcribed, and not the Chaconne alone.

Musical transcription can be compared to the translation of poetry from one language to another: when done skillfully, the result can be appreciated as if it had been written in the other language. Similarly, the arranger hopes that musicians will enjoy this work as if it had been originally written for string trio.

• Sonata n°1 BWV 526 for String Trio (Bach)
• Sonata n°2 BWV 527 for String Trio (Bach)
• Sonata n°3 BWV 528 for String Trio (Bach)
• Sonata n°4 BWV 529 for String Trio (Bach)
• Sonata n°5 BWV 530 for String Trio (Bach)
• Sonata n°6 BWV 531 for String Trio (Bach)