Chaconne in D Minor

Transcriptions were an important part of Johann Sebastian Bach’s oeuvre. For a composer who never took formal composition lessons, they were pathways to knowledge that allowed him to assimilate different styles and expand his musical horizons.

Bach’s music is the clearest representation of natural beauty created by man in the Western world. Each note functions as a drop of musical paint appearing in the space/time continuum. Each drop a precise intersection across centuries between Bach’s quill, the performer’s hands and the listener’s ears. Through the rapid succession of these musical moments, Bach is constructing a sonic cathedral that captures the beauty of the natural world in sound – even using devices that are ever present in nature such as the golden ratio which governs the arrangement of seeds within a flower. His music inspires not just complex feelings, like the music of other masters, but also resonates in a more powerful way: it fills us with an unadorned awe – a sense of wonder about what is beyond our reach, verging on mystical epiphany.

Anyone who was enchanted by Yo Yo Ma's recent video compilation of Bach's cello suites and who has an ear for guitar will also find something special here. Segovia brings a reverence and timelesness to these works, all of them ineffable masterpieces. While recording techniques and outright virtuosity have continued to develop since these recordings (Williams in the Lute Suites, Bream/Barrueco in the Chaconne, Sollscher/Galbraith and others in the Cello Suites) the sense of discovery and sheer love of beauty shine through as strongly as ever. These recordings will be around for a long time to come, but jump right in and be enchanted by as accurate and unwavering an account of these works as you ever thought possible.
Not to knock the many violinists who have done soulful powerful renditions of the 2nd Violin Partita, but Segovia's transcription of Chaconne is simply phenomonal! This CD is particularly moving for guitarists. - Amazon Reviewers

Bach's music was central to the life and career of Yehudi Menuhin and the violonist is captured in his full early bloom in these performances from the 1930s. Joining the teenage Menuhin in the first and most celebrated of his four recordings of the concerto for Two Violins is his teacher and mentor, George Enescu.

Helene Grimaud presents her first-ever Bach recording! Once again, charismatic Helene Grimaud presents an album with an individual concept. Bach vs. Bach Transcribed brings together original keyboard works by the master with works by Bach arranged (transcribed) for the piano by pianist-composers of later generations: Busoni, Liszt & Rachmaninov. This is the first time that Hélène Grimaud has recorded Bach - a challenge for any musician. The repertoire includes the famous Well-Tempered Clavier II and the Concerto no. 1 in D minor, the latter performed with Grimaud's regular collaborators, the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Bach "Transcribed" features the Bach/Busoni version of the Chaconne in D minor, the Violin Partita in E major arranged for piano by Rachmaninov, and Liszt's version of the Prelude and Fugue in A minor. A landmark project in Grimaud's successful career, this recording is bound to be a best-seller.

Samira Spiegel is an exceptional talent: she has won prizes at international competitions on both the violin and the piano! With GENUIN, she now presents an exciting album featuring music for both instruments inspired by Bach. On the piano, the works range from Franz Liszt's "Fantasie und Fuge" to Busoni's adaptation of the "Chaconne" and Francis Poulenc's "Waltz Improvisation" to Damian Scholl's "une fleuve tranquille" from 2013. On the violin, she juxtaposes Eugène Ysaye's fifth solo sonata, which is genuinely haunted by Bach, with the original "Chaconne" by the great Leipzig master. An adventurous and ludicrously virtuosic ride through styles and centuries!

This important release presents the complete music for harpsichord by Henri D’Anglebert. D’Angelbert was a famous keyboard virtuoso and composer at the court of Louis the XIV, the Sun King. His style is typically French, expressed in a rich counterpoint and lavish ornamentation, a free and improvisatory style, in which sometimes the metre indications are missing (“non mesuré”) and a high level of virtuosity.

Transcriptions of Bach's Chaconnes from the Partita for solo violin in D minor Bwv 1004 by three composers, as well as a timeless interpretation of the original.

Award-winning Armenian pianist Lilit Grigoryan explores the art of the variation in her new recording with Orchid Classics entitled VARIATIONS SERIÉUSES. In stunning interpretations combining both virtuosity and integrity, Lilit Grigoryan takes the listener on a journey through this art form, from Busoni's breathtaking re-imagining of the majestic Chaconne from J.S. Bach's D minor violin Partita, to Beethoven's 32 Variations, which range between extreme technical difficulty and expressive moments of quiet simplicity, to Mendelssohn's grand Variations sérieuses. Alongside these giants of the repertoire are some more rarely-heard gems: Bizet's sinuous and innovative chromatic variations, and youthful late-Romantic colour from Polish composer Szymanowski.