Johann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso
organist than as a composer in his day. His sacred
music, organ and choral works, and other instrumental
music had an enthusiasm and seeming freedom that
concealed immense rigor. Bach's use of counterpoint was
brilliant and innovative, and the immense complexities
of his compositional style -- which often included
religious and numerological symbols that seem to fit
perfectly together in a profound puzzle of special
codes -- still amaze musici...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso
organist than as a composer in his day. His sacred
music, organ and choral works, and other instrumental
music had an enthusiasm and seeming freedom that
concealed immense rigor. Bach's use of counterpoint was
brilliant and innovative, and the immense complexities
of his compositional style -- which often included
religious and numerological symbols that seem to fit
perfectly together in a profound puzzle of special
codes -- still amaze musicians today. Many consider him
the greatest composer of all time.
The first two sonatas and the three partitas of J.S.
Bach's six sonatas and partitas for solo violin make
considerable demands on performers. However, the Sonata
for solo violin No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 is in a
class by itself; it is so challenging a piece on every
front that even the usually unflappable Jascha Heifetz
used to break out in a cold sweat and suffer nervous
bow-shakes when playing it, and it is a work of such
consummate mastery, so perfectly planned and balanced,
that any flaw in the performance sticks out like a sore
thumb. In all fairness, Bach has gone beyond the bounds
of reason in this grand Sonata -- the violinist is
asked to play music that might give a harpsichordist a
headache (indeed, Bach arranged the Sonata's first
movement for harpsichord) -- but the music is so
rewarding that all the toil is worth it in the end.
Surely this satisfaction comes in part from the unreal,
some have even said mystical, effect of a single string
instrument producing such rich, dense music without the
benefit of any real bass capability. Like each of the
other two sonatas in the solo violin volume, the C
major Sonata has four movements. They are: Adagio,
Fuga, Largo, and Allegro assai.
Whereas the opening movements of the previous two solo
violin sonatas are written in highly embellished,
mock-improvisational style, that of the third sonata
lacks ornamentation altogether. Instead it evolves from
a single, repeating dotted rhythm -- one harmonic layer
is added and then another, the steady pulsation being
interrupted only twice (once near the beginning and
once near the end) for the purpose of expanded and
enriching major cadences. The Fuga, which, like all the
solo violin fugues, is actually a fugue/Baroque
concerto hybrid, ranks among the longest fugues,
measure-wise, ever created by any composer for any
instrument or ensemble. The subject is derived from the
chorale "Komm, heiliger Geist" and is turned
upside-down midway through the fugue. The splendid
Largo in F major has achieved some fame outside the
Sonata, while the Allegro assai finale is the same kind
of fleet-footed binary-form piece that closes each of
the other two solo violin sonatas.
SHEET MUSIC