Edson Scheid, violin
J.S. Bach’s Unaccompanied Violin
Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685‒1750)
Adagio
Fuga (Allegro)
Siciliana Presto
Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002
Allemanda; Double
Corrente; Double (Presto)
Sarabande; Double
Tempo di Borea; Double
Interesting info from the violinist. The Sonata No. 1 was written in 1720. The first performance was in 1840, with piano accompaniment written and played by Felix Mendelssohn. The first recording, as a solo work, was in 1933, by Yehudi Menuhin.
The first movement of the sonata was tuneful in a slightly sad way. It was mostly a single line, though there were some double stops. That’s where the violinist plays two strings at the same time, creating a two-toned chord. For the record, there were no electronic score problems since he played both pieces from memory. The second movement was livelier and fuller, with the opening motif repeated fairly often but in varied ways. More on that later. It was the longest of the four movements. The third was slower and lovely while the fourth was off to the races, fiery and fast-fingered.
A note about the doubles in the partita. Also as announced by the violinist, the partita is really four movements. The double portion is the previous movement played a second time with the notes in a different style/order. Are you confused yet? I was.
The Allamanda was energetic in a subdued way, possibly an effect of the B minor key. The double (repeat) was not really clear to me. The Corrente was similar to the first movement, though more fluid—lots of running notes. I liked it a lot. Just as I was writing 'too long?' the movement ended. So the answer was no. The double was a lot faster, a tour de force, (Presto) indeed! The Sarabande was slower and somewhat fuller. The word thoughtful came to mind. The last movement was Tempo di Borea, which sort of stumped me.
I recognized the first three movements as dance names (though they didn’t really strike me as dance-like). It turns out that Borea is a synonym for Gigue, so that made sense. It was more sprightly than the Sarabande, and somewhat cheerful, in a minor-key way. The double for the final movement was much livelier, and a great way to end the concert.
