Chaconne from Partita no. 2 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

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.