{"id":65928,"date":"2026-04-22T13:15:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65928"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:36:21","slug":"the-sonatas-and-partitas-for-solo-violin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65928","title":{"rendered":"The Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I find Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for the solo violin some of the most beautiful, complex music I’ve ever heard. In the partitas, Bach masters the art of creating multiple melody lines on a solo violin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read the history and technical details on the Wikipedia page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001\u20131006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The set was completed by 1720 but was not published until 1802 by Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn. Even after publication, it was largely ignored until the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim started performing these works. Today, Bach’s ‘Sonatas and Partitas are an essential part of the violin repertoire, and they are frequently performed and recorded.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Sheet music is also available from the WLBOTT Collection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They’re Dances!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I find it fascinating that the partitas are in the form of dances –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although still making use of the usual baroque style of allemande<\/strong>, courante<\/strong>, sarabande<\/strong>, and gigue<\/strong>, with some omissions and the addition of galanteries<\/strong>, new elements were introduced into each partita to provide variety.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Joseph Szigeti<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the first musicians to record Bach’s Partitas was Joseph Szigeti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joseph Szigeti<\/strong> (5 September 1892 \u2013 19 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Scene from M\u00e1ramaros county, near Szigeti’s childhood home
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Following a bout of tuberculosis that required a stay in a sanatorium in Switzerland, Szigeti settled in Geneva, where he became Professor of Violin at the local conservatory in 1917. It was in Geneva that he met his future wife, Wanda Ostrowska, and at roughly the same time he became friends with the composer B\u00e9la Bart\u00f3k. Both relationships were to be lifelong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hubay (left) and Szigeti, c. 1910<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(left) By Cushing Memorial Library Texas A&M University<\/strong>
(right) The WLBOTT<\/strong> Makeover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Wikipedia page for Joseph Szigeti has a 30-second snippet from a recording of “Preludio” from J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major. He made the recording in 1908. Our research team was wondering if the recording was made on a wax cylinder. Elder G<\/strong> to the rescue!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Short answer: probably not a wax cylinder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was happening in 1908?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By 1908, recording technology was in a transitional moment, but one thing was clear: Disc recording (flat records) had largely taken over from wax cylinders for commercial music.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the landscape:<\/p>\n\n\n\n