-1 VIOLIN FORU@~---------
Bach's Solo Sonatas and Partitas for Violin:
Guide to Practicing and Performing
Eugene Gratovich is currently on the
violin faculty of the Cleveland Institute of
Music. He was project editor of the ASTA
publication, "16 Contemporary Violin
Etudes." He performs with the Gratovich-
Golmon Duo both in Europe and through-
out the U.S.A. The Duo will playa recital
at the Aki Festival held in Cleveland in
October, performing a new piece which
composer Ralph Shapey has written for
the Duo. Gratovich's recording credits in-
clude "Music ofCage, Flynn, Messaien and
loes,' on Finnadar, "20th Century Violin
Music from the Ukraine," and "Sonatas of
Foote and Carpenter," on Orion Records.
Diana Steiner
223 South Bundy Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
54
Eugene Gratovich
In an earlier article on the Bach sona-
tas and suites (AST, Vol. XXII, No.4:
Autumn, 1972), I noted that Ferdinand
David first performed Bach's unaccom-
panied works in 1840, almost 120 years
after they were written. However,
Bach's violin music was not totally un-
known or unappreciated by earlier
violinists. Bach's son, Carl Philip
Emmanuel, wrote in a letter that "one
of the greatest violinists told me that he
had seen nothing more perfect for
learning to be a good violinist than the
said violin solos without bass."
Who was this "greatest violinist?"
Was it Johann Georg Pisendel ... or per-
haps Franz Benda? Pisendel (1687-
1755) was a student of Torelli and the
foremost violinist of his day. Contem-
porary writers wrote of him playing
solos for violin as well as four-part in-
strumental fugues in the course of the
Mass in Dresden where he was a court
musician. His solo violin sonata (1716)
is a fine work and may have influenced
Bach's music for unaccompanied vio-
lin. He knew Bach and had met him.
One musicologist believes that Bach
wrote the solo sonatas and partitas for
Pisendel. It is interesting to note that
other famous composers such as Tele-
mann, Albinioni, and Vivaldi, had
also written for Pisendel.
Franz Benda (1709-1786) was a pupil
of Pisendel and later was in the service
of Frederick the Great along with
C.P.E. Bach. Benda was famous as a
teacher and founded an important
new school of violin playing. He wrote
for the violin a set of Caprices, proba-
bly around 1751. These caprices were
compared to Bach's solo works in a
recently discovered article in the
Allgemeine deutsche Bibliother, pub-
lished in 1774:
The Caprices are pieces designed for
learning to master the full resources of
an instrument. They present all possi-
ble difficulties, to enable the student to
acquire a firm control of them. From
such pieces the author would have us
deduce rules concerning the nature of a
piece which for the satisfaction and cul-
tivation of good taste should rightly be
played only by those who have long
since not only put all such difficulties
behind them, but also derived the ap-
propriate benefits from them. Why does
the author not {recommend instead] the
much more difficult six violin solos
without bass of [oh. Seb. Bach? They are
certainly even harder and harmonically
richer than Mr. Benda's Capriccios. But
they were made for a similar purpose. 1
The above quote was written by Jo-
hann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774),
who was a student of Bach and who
later carried on the Bach tradition of or-
gan playing. In Agricola's opinion,
Bach's music was both superior and
technically more advantageous for stu-
dents. Bach's music challenged the fin-
est violinists right from the beginning.
Bach himself knew all the string in-
struments well. He studied violin with
his father and continued playing both
violin and viola well into old age. He
was first employed as a violinist. He
owned a Steiner violina and receipts
still exist from Bach's purchase of vio-
lin strings as a young man.
Bach wanted violinists to improve
both their instrumental skills and their
musical perception and understand-
ing. According to C.P.E. Bach's letter,
his father was particular about intona-
tion and about careful tuning during
rehearsals. In his teaching, Bach often
played for his pupils, demonstrating
the appropriate touch and expression.
One student wrote on his job applica-
tion that Bach instructed him not to
play just notes but to play with the ap-
propriate feeling or "affetto,"
Bach's solo violin works are difficult
to play but they can be taught. The
musical advantage of practicing these
AMERICAN STRING TEAClIER
works is that the student is faced with a
complete score. Some analysis is bene-
ficial before actually practicing. Many
students do musical analysis in classes
but are seldom asked to use their ana-
lytic skills in the studios. Usually stu-
dents tend to be preoccupied only with
the top notes of the chords. They need
to discover and hear the relative impor-
tance of all the inner lines. Singing the
parts and following the voice leading
in the score is most helpful. Bach him-
self considered his parts or voices to be
friends who conversed together.
Let's first look at the Adagio move-
ment of the G minor Sonata. The fol-
lowing notes on the strong beats
should be sustained and brought out;
i.e., the notes g" -g'-c'-b'flat. This will
help to create a continuous line in the
first two measures. The teacher can
demonstrate for the student the vari-
ous ways of breaking or arpeggiating
the first chord. Earlier editions tended
to tell you how to play the chord by
changing the durations of the lower
three notes. The top note of this chord
top "c" need not be sustained too long
in order to allow the middle "g" to
come out. The bow should remain on .
the 0 string while crossing over to the
A string. Likewise in the next measure,
a similar approach will help to sustain
the "c". On the third beat of this mea-
sure, one wants to establish a sense of
harmonic arrival. Care must be taken
that the "b-flat" does not disappear. To
help the student to focus the tone on a
particular string, it is useful to practice
double stops, first isolating the lower
note and releasing the top; then isolat-
ing the top note and releasing the bot-
tom, all the while maintaining an even,
continuous tone on the held notes.
Generally, the student should strive
for a full, resonant tone that could fill
an average hall. When possible, stu-
dents should try to play Bach in a hall.
In order to allow for nuances and dy-
namic levels, the tone should remain
flexible and not be forced. Often I find
that students do not plan the bow con-
tact points for the lower voices. As an Courtesy: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
example, again in the first measure Musikableilung.

should be played with some nuance so (third beat), playing the "g" -third fin-
that a melodic direction is established. ger on the 0 string - will shorten the
On the third beat, the low "a" and the distance to the bridge, making the 0,

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i\UTUMN/1985 55
 which is often the thickest string, the
shortest string in the chord. Therefore
the string needs more weight and a
specific contact point in relation to the
bridge for a clear, resonant tone. By
constantly adjusting the bow contact
C. F. PETERS CORPORATION celebrates point, the student can control and
the 1985 tricentennial of thereby predict the appropriate tone

J.S.BACH
during the performance.
Generally, students have little expe-
rience playing perfect fourths and
fifths. These intervals can affect the in-
tonation. Frequently, I find that there is
some tension in the finger playing the
top note of the perfect fourth which
Urtext Editions Scholarly Editings prevents the necessary adjustment
during performance. Care must be
MUSIC FOR STRINGS taken to prevent too much vertical
pressure in the left hand fingertips.
Violin Some students may experience more
*P4308 SONATAS AND PARTITAS (6) difficulty playing the perfect fifths. By
Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006) approaching the fifth from the top
(Flesch) Unedited Bach text plus Flesch edition string and choosing the most advanta-
geous part of the curved finger tip, the
**N4075 EASY VIOLIN DUETS student will be able to find the proper
(lst position) (Twarz) finger placement.
To further aid intonation, the stu-
SONATAS
Complete in two volumes dent will need help adjusting the plac-
Violin and Piano (David) ing of the half steps in order to control
P232 Vol.I: Nos. 1-3 (BWV 1014-1016) the proper dissonances. By training
P233 Vol.II: Nos. 4-6 (BWV 1017-1019) the ear to hear slight differences in
pitch or microtones, the student can
TRIO SONATAS make "expressive intonation" adjust-
Complete in 2 volumes ments. It is also advisable to have the
2 Violins and Piano (Urtext) (Landshoff) left hand fingers poised and shaped
P4203A Vol. I: Nos. 1,2 BWV 1037, 1039) over the strings like double stops. Prac-
P4203B Vol. II: Nos. 3,4 (BWV 1038, 1079)
ticing pitch relationships and in vari-
ous rhythms will keep improving
Viola intonation.
P4286A SONATAS (3) In playing chords, it is important to
Arranged for Viola and Piano (Forbes) maintain a continuous flow of sound,
(BWV 1027-1029; Va da G, Pf) particularly when melodies are inter-
P239 Same for Violoncello and Piano (Gruetzmacher) twined through the chords. Again in
the first measure, the last two 32nd
Cello notes of the second beat should move
rhythmically into the third beat chord.
P238 SIX SUITES (Sonatas) The student must be able to reach
(BWV 1007-1012) (Becker) across the strings quickly in the left
N4099 DUETS FOR YOUNG CELLISTS hand. Otherwise, there will be an in-
from the Little Notebook for Anna Magdalena terruption before the chord. Practicing
Bach (Wolerts) scales in fourths and sixths in rhythms
will help to develop this skill in the left
• Edition Peters hand. The following little exercises
** Hein richshofen Edition - New York will also help in crossing three strings.
The exercises can be duplicated for
The above is a partial listing ojuiorks for strings by J. S. Bach
in Edition Peters. For further information, please write for our four string drills and practiced in
Instrumental and Chamber Music Catalogue and price list. rhythms. The diamond notes are held
silently.
C. F. PETERS CORPORATION The student will see few if any dy-
namics in some of the more recent edi-
Dept. AS-20. 373 Park Avenue South, New York. NY 10016. (212) 686-4147
tions. One should, however, play with
expressive dynamics. Bach's harmonic

AMfRICAN ~TRING TfACUfR

 .J " I' J .J
progressions are an important source
of dynamic variety. Start first by devel-
oping a sensitivity to the chord quali-
ties, then let this awareness guide you
through appropriate dynamic levels.
All the solo sonatas have tempo indi-
cations except for the A minor fugue,
while the partitas only identify the ap-
propriate dances. Johann Niklaus
Forkel (1749-1818), German historian
and theorist and the founder of mod-
ern musicology, wrote about these
dances in his biography of Bach in
1802: "In these suites there were, be-
tween the preludes and the concluding
jigs, many French characteristic pieces
and dance tunes in which the rhythm
was the most important object:' Today
most musicians would agree with
Forkel's comment. The actual speed of
the dances can be flexible but the char-
acter must be well preserved. Today
one hears violinists play the fugues in a
variety of tempi. In the 18th century,
Mozart thought that fugues should not
be played too quickly. After hearing
Bach's music, Mozart wrote his father
in 1782, " ... at least it [the fugue] will
not be played fast-for if a fugue is not
played slowly, one cannot hear the en-
trances of the subject distinctly and
clearly, and consequently it is of no ef-
fect:' To Bach, the vertical texture of
the polyphony related to an overall
musical feeling and that should be
communicated if possible. Certainly,
the size of the hall and the particular
acoustics of the hall can help the vio-
linist decide the appropriate speed of
the fugue so that it remains intelligible
to the listener.
AUTUMN/1985
Throughout the sonatas and parti-
tas, a flexible and accurate bow arm is
an important asset. String crossing
and chord playing are among the diffi-
culties found in these works. Tension
in the bow arm can often prevent stu-
dents from playing the complicated
string crossings. By visualizing correct
movements, organizing the motions of
the hand, forearm and elbow into
down-bow and up-bow balances, and
by coordinating the sequences, the
stl;ldent can achieve the necessary
skills to play Bach's string-crossing pat-
terns. To maximize the natural flexibil-
ity of his bow arm, the student often
needs the help of the teacher to choose
the appropriate part of the bow. I often
find students exaggerating the vertical
distances between the strings and as a
result the elbow movements or the
wrist movements are too extreme.
Finally, an understanding of melodic
ornaments and non-harmonic tones
will help the student develop his own
interpretation. Knowing how to play
the anticipations, auxiliary notes, ap-
poggiaturas, passing notes, and mor-
dents will provide the student with
musical flexibility during perform-
ances. Knowing when and where to
play with more energy, and when and
where to relax the energy, will help to
create an impression of improvisation
to the listener. Vibrato should also be
used as an expressive element to help
with the outlining of the melodic lines.
These miraculous works make the
greatest demands upon the skills.of vi-
olinists. This was true not only for the
age they were written but holds true
JOSEF
GINGOLD
SEVENTYFIVE
A TWO RECORD SET
PIECES INCLUDE:
Meditation from "Thais"by Massenet
Song Without Words by Mendelssohn
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, op, 13
by Faure
Sonata for Violin and Piano (19~O) by Walton
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BEAUTIFULLY.
The National Music Camp at
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NMC admits students of any race. color and natIonal or ethnic Origin
today. Obviously, no two violinists will
approach and perform these works in
the same way. It is important that the
musical imagination be stimulated as
soon as possible. By analyzing the mu-
sic, listening to different performers,
and by hearing and studying other
compositions of Bach, each violinist
can develop an individual approach to
practicing and performing the solo so-
natas and partitas of Bach.
1. David. Hans and Mendel, Arthur, Ed. The
Bach Reader. N.Y., Norton (1972), p. 447. ,
57