Violine II (Ciaccona)

Also available for piano and string orchestra and in a version for solo piano.

"To Anna, who inspires me!"

I have revisited the famous Bach’s Ciaccona in an unprecedented way (for piano and strings) with the intention of revealing new structural elements of this milestone of universal musical composition. But at the same time, I also wanted to give the solo part the independence of the orchestra, in order to offer the work equally in recitals, as recorded by Anna-Maria Maak on her 2018 album «Resplendences around Bach».

Beyond the excessive virtuous approach of a Busoni, I was interested in highlighting the frequent practice of Bach when merging extra-musical elements into the context of the work. Thus, some hidden melodies coming from some Lutheran chorales used by the German Maestro himself have been taken to a perceptible plane, to make relief to the main melodic line. Likewise, in another moment I have molded the original sound material and I have delighted with it to simulate a discreet acoustic illusion, a ‘slow motion’ effect, as between bars 105 to 112. Perfectly timeless...!

The symbolism of Bach has been expanded polyphonically, as if a drawing made on paper, in two-dimensional plane, was taken to its holographic form, as a three-dimensional object.

With this compositional work I completed my ‘Leipzig Trilogy’, where I dealt with Schumann and his famous ‘Kinderszenen’ from a polyphonic perspective, creating a version for guitar quartet of the original for piano; but also, with Mendelssohn and his famous cycle ‘Lieder ohne Worte’, expanding the original material to an orchestral form for solo guitar and strings. Thus, very subtle echoes of Schumann and Mendelssohn appear in certain moments of my ‘Ciaccona’, especially in the orchestral version, as musical hints that recall the venerable admiration that both romantic authors felt for the work of the great Maestro of the Baroque - a great point of coincidence among all!

I’m more and more convinced: Bach is the sum of everything that happened before and, in turn, the visionary germ of how much would happen later. And his Ciaccona is a monument, an impressive compendium of human feelings, expressed in music!

WORLD PREMIERE (of the version for Piano & String Orchestra): June 16th, 2016 (MDR Festival of Light, Leipzig), Anna-Maria Maak (Soloist) with MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi.