Chaconne D minor BWV 1004 - Bach/Iddo van der Giessen | Iddo van der Giessen

Iddo van der Giessen plays the Chaconne from Partita II in D minor, BWV 1004 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) in his own arrangement for orgen. Live recording of a livestream organ recital.

The arrangement is available in sheet music and recorded CD (St. Bavo, Haarlem): https://www.iddovandergiessen.nl/cd

Organ | Duyschot/Vater/Flentrop, 1686/1727/1992, 41 stops
Location | Westerkerk, Amsterdam
Stop assistants | Evan Bogerd & Samuël Strijbis
Audio & video | Samuël Strijbis, Gerwin van der Plaats & Jan Willem 't Hart

The Chaconne for solo violin has been arranged for other instruments by many composers, including Mendelssohn, Brahms and Stokowski. William Thomas Best was the first to arrange it for organ, followed by among others Henri Messerer, Wilhelm Middelschulte and John Cook. Their arrangements reflect the instruments they knew well. Best’s piece honours the original score and works well on earlier English romantic organs, while Messerer’s arrangement asks for a symphonic Cavaille-Coll organ. Although the character of the piece on organ is very different from the original work for violin, Bach’s own practice of arranging music, his affinity with both violin and organ, and the appropriateness of the chaconne form on an organ might legitimize an arrangement for organ.
However, it proved difficult to find a sufficient arrangement for the large Dutch, mechanical organs. That is why I made my own arrangement of the Bach Chaconne, with the organs of the Westerkerk in Amsterdam and the Bavo in Haarlem in mind. This arrangement is based on mainly the work of Best and Cook and adapted and arranged in a way that makes it both a piece of great melancholy as well as variety and virtuosity. The end result has clear roots in the 19th century practice of arranging, but aims above all at making the organ sound on its best.

www.iddovandergiessen.nl