Bach Chaconne Alexandra Richardson violin 15dec23

Alexandra Richardson Bartoletti. Chaconne from the D minor Partita by JS Bach (1720).
Recorded at home on December 15, 2023.
Violin: Sebastien Klotz 1744. Bow: Eric Grandchamp

Having studied the D minor partita over 30 years ago without ever daring to play the Chaconne, I finally decided to learn this wonderful work. This is still a work in progress. Version 2. With hopes I'll get to a improved version before the holidays!

I'd like to give special thanks to Nicolas Jequier (violin professor, Conservatoire de Genève) for his patience, precious time as well as technical and interpretive advice.

2023 was marked by the loss of wonderful souls who were close friends and colleagues. My dear friend from work (biotech) of over 15 years, Georg Buchner left this world. My boss, mentor, work guru, the charismatic and larger-than-life Tom Brorby (chairman of the Clayton Foundation for Research) passed away in April leaving an immense emptiness and feeling of loss. Bach wrote the Chaconne as he grieved over the premature loss of his wife. This is my personal tribute.

Information on the Chaconne from Wikipedia:
Professor Helga Thoene suggests that this partita, and especially its last movement, was a tombeau written in memory of Bach's first wife, Maria Barbara Bach (who died in 1720), though this theory is controversial.

Yehudi Menuhin called the Chaconne "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists".

Violinist Joshua Bell has said the Chaconne is "not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect." He played the piece busking in L'Enfant Plaza for The Washington Post.

Johannes Brahms in a letter to Clara Schumann described the piece, "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man [Bach] writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."