Bwv 1001 1006

The sonatas and partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. They are sometimes referred to in English as the sonatas and partias for solo violin in accordance with Bach's headings in the autograph manuscript: "Partia" (plural "Partien") was commonly used in German-speaking regions during Bach's time, whereas the Italian "partita" was introduced to this set in the 1879 Bach Gesellschaft edition, having become standard by that time. The set consists of three sonatas da chiesa in four movements and three partitas (or partias) in dance-form movements.

If you adn't noticed, Bach aficionados as a grumpy, contentious lot, and have been long before the period stylists assaulted the city gates with battering rams. In 1981 The Gramophone's reviewer greeted Gidon Kremer's first cycle of Bach's solo sonatas and partitas quite sourly, admiring the brilliant technique but deciding, overall, that the interpretation was wide of Bach's intentions. This strikes me as indefensible.

Hearing guitarist Sean Shibe’s Bach recital, recorded in Delphian’s fifteenth-century Scottish venue, Baroque violinist Bojan Čičić was inspired during the first lockdown to begin recording Bach’s iconic Partitas and Sonatas. Amid the gloom of the pandemic and restrictions on performances, Čičić travelled north – when allowed – to explore the intense rigours of Bach’s fugues and shining virtuosity of the Partitas’ fast movements.

Hearing guitarist Sean Shibe’s Bach recital, recorded in Delphian’s fifteenth-century Scottish venue, Baroque violinist Bojan Čičić was inspired during the first lockdown to begin recording Bach’s iconic Partitas and Sonatas. Amid the gloom of the pandemic and restrictions on performances, Čičić travelled north – when allowed – to explore the intense rigours of Bach’s fugues and shining virtuosity of the Partitas’ fast movements.

Although a 1981 recording, digitally remastered in 1987, this one is the best of the bunch for overall consistency and fidelity to both the note and spirit of the original conception. Sigiswald Kuijken is unfailingly precise in his intonation in pieces which test the soloist's technique to the hilt, with extended passages of double-stopping producing rich textures and sonorities suggestive of ensemble playing. Nowhere, perhaps, is his technique more impressive than in the Ciaconna of the Partita in d.

The violinist Leila Schayegh has already impressively demonstrated her Bach expertise several years ago with her recording of the Sonatas BWV 1014-1019, which won the Diapason dor de lanne, the Editors Choice and was also included in the prestigious Bestenliste der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Now she is venturing into Bachs Sei solo, better known as Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the monumental BWV 1001-1006 this is THE solo benchmark violin music which is a must for every violinist, whether or not they specialize in historical performance practice. Here again, her approach and technical perfection are an impressive proof of Bachs Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by no means having been exhausted, yet, as new brilliant performers such as her will always shed new light on these wonderful pieces.