This diary discusses the Bach Chaconne: its origins, mythology, impact on musical history, and of course, performing the piece itself. If you’re a violinist, I hope that you’ll find this diary particularly interesting.
The 5th movement of the Partita in D minor for solo violin by J.S Bach, more commonly known as the Bach Chaconne, is one of the richest, most challenging pieces of music ever written for the violin. Praise for the piece is lavish: composer Johannes Brahms once famously wrote that had he been able to even conceive of such a piece, the joy of such a realization would have caused him to lose his mind. Master violinist Yehudi Menhuin called it "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists", and modern violinist Joshua Bell described it as "emotionally powerful, structurally perfect". History remembers the Chaconne as one of the greatest achievements in music, and it will speak to generations to come.
Both physically and mentally draining to play, very few have mastered this formidable piece. Trained violinists have been to known to spend more than a decade studying the Chaconne. I am not a professional violinist, but even for someone like me, it is easy to think obsessively about the Chaconne. I have personally played and listened to the Chaconne for eight years, and I plan to continue to do so until my limbs can no longer move. Still nowhere near doing it justice, sadly.
The Chaconne can be broadly separated into three parts: the introduction of the theme and its variations, a shift to a major key halfway through the piece, and the return of the minor key in conclusion. Bach's pain in the first section is naked and painful, particularly for a Baroque piece; yet it is controlled grief, thanks to the strict structuring and measurements of the variations of the main theme that is distinctly Bach. It is emotional and rich, yet paradoxically dignified and austere. It is perhaps this quality that best explains why the Chaconne has managed to remain so relevant throughout the last two and a half centuries: it successfully avoids cliched sentimentality, while simultaneously still speaking to us on a very personal level. It is a mirror of loss: have you experienced the loss of a friend or a relative? The more painful your loss is, the more the Chaconne will speak to you.
Contradictions abound in the terminology of the piece itself. Although a Chaconne is a dance (
as Heifetz described it), this Chaconne is at the same time a piece of mourning. Who in the 18th century mourns through dancing? Bach was a man who suffered tremendous loss. Both of his parents died before he was ten, his wife predeceased him, and he buried ten of his own children. He wrote the Chaconne shortly after the passing of his first wife. Computational Geometry Professor and music enthusiast Bernard Chazelle wrote that Bach's music only targeted the old and the young, and he tended to leave out the middle:
...There are all kinds of mental, psychological dispositions from the opera that he totally shunned. Envy. Greed. Lust. Jealousy...He had no interest in that. His music tries to express things like, awe. Grace. Thanks. Fear. Trepidation. Hope. All kinds of sentiments a child can have, and an older person can have…
Chazelle's sentiments are echoed by Hillary Hahn, who stated that the purity of Bach's music is what keeps her playing "
honest". Bach was a very religious man, and in his time he was more famed as a church organ player than a composer. With Bach's religious devotion at the core of his character, I think it’s likely that the Chaconne is a religious piece. Large portions of the piece have an authentically hymn-like quality, and the piece certainly would not feel out of place if played in an (empty) church. Maybe Bach finds some solace for his grief in God.
A popular interpretation of the piece's arpeggio sections is to play the first, minor one in nearly entirely monophonic while playing the second almost entirely in chords. I like this interpretation partially because it sounds totally awesome, and because I like to interpret it to be that the first section's one person's grief of losing a loved one, while the second section has a harmony and melody going on: holding each other close, and celebrating the memories of a fulfilling life.
My personal favorite renditions of the Bach Chaconne are by Jascha Heifetz and Hillary Hahn. I like Heifetz better for the first half of the piece and Hahn for the second half. Check them out! My favorite bit, and in my opinion the hardest bit, comes in at the 4:14 mark. And what are your favorite violin pieces? Leave your thoughts below, and thanks for reading.
You can read the sheet music here.