Partita for Violin No. 3 (Bach)

Composition for violin by Johan Sebastian Bach

Preludio

Performed on guitar (originally composed for lute) by Gordon Rowland.

Gavotte en Rondeau

Amateur performance

Menuet I

Amateur performance

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The Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006.1 (formerly 1006), is the last work in Johann Sebastian Bach's set of Sonatas and Partitas. It consists of the following movements:

It takes about 15–18 minutes to perform.

Bach transcribed the Partita as a suite, cataloged as BWV 1006.2 (formerly 1006a). The music critic Wilhelm Tappert claimed in 1900 that this arrangement was for lute solo, but present research indicates that it was for an unspecified instrument.

The Preludio consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes). The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for use in two cantatas:

the sinfonia which opens the second part of the 1729 cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a.
the opening sinfonia, scored for obbligato organ, oboes, trumpets and strings, of the 1731 cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, in D major

The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs.

In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN 111/1). An arrangement of the Preludio for jazz trio by Jacques Loussier appeared on his Reflections of Bach album of 1987 and was used as the theme of the BBC Radio 4 music quiz show Counterpoint. Eugéne Ysaÿe's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor also quotes the Preludio in the first movement.

References

"Partita no. 3, E BWV 1006.1; BWV 1006". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 2020-04-09.
"Suite, E (arr. of BWV 1006.1) BWV 1006.2; BWV 1006a". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 2020-04-29.
Titmuss, Clive, "The Myth of Bach's Lute Suites", in Classical Guitar website, accessed 27 April 2015
Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record. New York: Ballantine Books. 1979. p. 170. ISBN 978-0345283962.
Rowat, Robert (2 October 2018). "Here's the arrangement of Bach's Violin Partita in E Major you didn't know you needed". CBC Music. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
"Jacques Loussier: Bach's Instrumental Works". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
"Counterpoint". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 17 April 2022.

External links

Manuscript (fair copy) in Bach's hand of the Partita at the Bach Digital project
6 Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001–1006: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Blair Johnston. Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 at AllMusic
Performance by violinist Karen Gomyo from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Animated score on YouTube, Arthur Grumiaux

v t e Chamber music and orchestral works by, and transcriptions after, Johann Sebastian Bach
Solo	Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001–1006 Partita No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012 Partita for Solo Flute, BWV 1013
Ensemble	Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014–1019 Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027–1029 Flute Sonatas in B minor, BWV 1030 in E♭ major, BWV 1031 (doubtful) in A major, BWV 1032 in C major, BWV 1033 (doubtful) in E minor, BWV 1034 in E major, BWV 1035 Trio Sonatas Sonata for two flutes and continuo, BWV 1039 Canonic Sonata for oboe, violin and continuo, BWV 1040
Concertos	Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043 Triple Concerto, BWV 1044 Sinfonia for violin and orchestra, BWV 1045 Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051 No. 5 Keyboard concertos, BWV 1052–1065 No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053 No. 4 in A major, BWV 1055 For two harpsichords in C minor, BWV 1060
Suites	Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066–1069 Orchestral Suite in G minor, BWV 1070 (doubtful)
Fugal	The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 discography
Adaptations	"Air on the G String" "Alphabet" "Ave Maria" Bach-Busoni Editions "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" "Feel My Rhythm" "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" "Joy" "Lady Lynda" "Sheep may safely graze" "They" Trio Sonata, BWV 525a "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
Albums	Bach's Greatest Hits Back to Bach Jazz Sebastian Bach Switched-On Bach Switched-On Bach II
List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

v t e Voyager Golden Record
Contents Voyager program Voyager 1 Voyager 2
Sound	first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 "Cavatina" from Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 Chakrulo "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" "Gavotte en Rondeau" from Partita for Violin No. 3, BWV 1006 "Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" "Johnny B. Goode" Mugham Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 870, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II Puspawarna Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute "Sacrificial Dance" from The Rite of Spring Songs of the Humpback Whale first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5
Contributors	Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven Valya Balkanska Bavarian State Opera with Edda Moser, conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch Budapest String Quartet Johann Sebastian Bach Ludwig van Beethoven Chuck Berry Columbia Symphony Orchestra conductor: Igor Stravinsky John Cohen Tom Djäwa Ann Druyan Glenn Gould Arthur Grumiaux Guan Pinghu Anthony Holborne Kamil Jalilov Blind Willie Johnson Kesarbai Kerkar Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Münchener Bach-Orchester conductor: Karl Richter David Munrow with the Early Music Consort K. P. H. Notoprojo Philharmonia Orchestra conductor: Otto Klemperer Carl Sagan Nick Sagan Laurie Spiegel Gorō Yamaguchi
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