Bach, Johann Sebastian / Partita No. 1 And Sonatas Nos. 1 And 2 (Hilary Hahn, Violin)

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2019-01-28 Pull Date: 2019-04-01 Charts: Classical/Experimental

Album Review
Larry Koran
Reviewed 2019-01-24
Hilary Hahn’s 1997 debut CD received rave reviews. Now 38, and having played Bach nearly every day, she completes her recording of the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin. She writes, “I hope they will bring the depth, emotion humor, and reverie to your life that they do to mine.”
Bach’s Partitas and Sonatas for solo violin test a player’s ability to manage both quick passagework and singing lines. The sonatas each have 4 mvmts, the 1st slow, the last brisk, and the central pair of mvmts being a fugue and a slower, more graceful mvmt. The opening mvmt of the Sonata No. 1 has an otherworldly serenity, but also a clear sense of tension and resolution. The minor mode melody of the 2nd mvmt fascinates.
The Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV 1002, composed in 1720, 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 for the more typical gigue. Each mvmt is followed by a variation called double in French, which elaborates on the bass-line of the prior mvmt.

Track Listing
1. Violin Sonata No. 1 In G Minor, Bwv 1001. I Adagio (4:45)   9. V. Sarabande (4:02)
2. Ii. Fuga, Allegro (5:26)   10. Vi. Double (3:35)
3. Iii. Siciliana (3:31)   11. Vii. Tempo Di Borea (3:26)
4. Iv. Presto (3:22)   12. Viii. Double (3:15)
5. Partita No. 1 In B Minor, Bwv 1002. I. Allemanda (7:22)   13. Sonata No. 2 In A Minor, Bwv 1003, I. Grave (4:44)
6. Ii. Double (4:12)   14. Ii. Fuga (8:07)
7. Iii. Corrante (3:42)   15. Iii. Andante (6:33)
8. Iv. Double (Presto) (3:31)   16. Iv. Allegro (5:50)