NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2013 - Mondavi Center

GIL SHAHAM
PROGRAM NOTES
VIOLIN SONATA NO.1
IN G MINOR, BWV 1001
J.S. BACH
(Born March 31, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany; died July 28, 1750,
Leipzig, Germany.)
It is generally agreed—although by
no means certain—that Bach began
work on Sei Solo a Violino Senza Basso
Accompagnato (“Six Violin Solos without
Bass Accompaniment”) while employed
in the Weimar court, where he served
from 1708 to 1717 as violinist as well
as organist, composer and eventually
concertmaster. The completion date
is much more secure, thanks to a
manuscript in Bach’s own hand from
1720, about midway through his service
to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen.
The collection is made up of three each
partitas (suites) and sonatas.
A benign spirit hovers over those
three sonatas: the revered Italian
composer-violinist Arcangelo Corelli,
who had just recently gone to his rest in
1713. Corelli had meticulously refined
his sonatas into creations of rare beauty
and sophistication, leaving behind
models that were the inspiration (and
despair) of composers everywhere. The
Corellian sonata comes in two flavors.
The “church” sonata da chiesa lays
out its materials in four movements,
slow-fast-slow-fast, with infrequent
changes of key. By contrast, the “court”
sonata da camera resembles a suite of
short movements, including dances.
By following the da chiesa model for
his sonatas, Bach not only honored an
already rich tradition, but also elevated
string playing (and writing) to heights
unimaginable to Corelli or his Italian
contemporaries.
The G Minor sonata opens with a
free-form Adagio that bears a striking
resemblance to those intricate obbligato
arabesques for violin or oboe that often
complement the vocal line in Bach’s
arias. Here, however, the solo violin
carries the weight of the whole: it is
soloist, accompanist, and orchestra all
in one. Bach manages that by writing
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