Sonatas and Partitas

J. S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin are major works in the violin literature. The musical and compositional mastery achieved by Bach in these works surpasses everything previously written in this kind of music.

The present edition of the Sonatas and Partitas, based on a facsimile of a Bach manuscript discovered at the start of the twentieth century (previously, only a copy of the composer’s manuscript, prepared by his wife, Anna Magdalena, had been available), represents an attempt to take a new look at this music, taking account of the realities of the Baroque, including the technical advancement of instruments at that time, which differed from modern-day instruments (shorter, arched bow, delicately sounding gut strings, shorter fingerboard), and also the Baroque way of thinking about music.