Bach: Violin Partita No. 1, BWV 1002

Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 by Johann Sebastian Bach The Partita No. 1 in Bm, BWV 1002 is a piece for solo violin composed by J.S. Bach in 1720. It was written in his early days, when the composer hoped for a church position, though after being heard by Duke Johann Ernst, a court musician position was offered to him. Before exploring solo work, Bach had focused mainly on chamber music. This partita is formed in the traditional way that consists of an allemande, a courante, sarabande and gigue in the baroque style, except that this work substitutes a bourrée (marked Tempo di Borea) for the more typical gigue. Variations are also placed explicitly in the foreground in Partita no. 1. It is the only partita in which each dance (each movement) is followed by a Double. These Doubles are not literal replicas, however. Bach continues working with the same harmonic material, but comes up with a different solution – for example with faster notes in the Courante. Emil Telmányi's performance is an unusual amalgam for the 1950s with portamenti and the "Vega" Bach Bow, or curved bow, used from maker Knud Vestergaard employed, allowing the tension of the bow hair to alter according to whether the music is essentially chordal or melodic. The most striking effect is that the usually ‘awkward’ spread chords sound simultaneously and easily like a quasi-keyboard.