J. S. Bach
Sonata No. 1 and Partita No. 2
for 6 String Violin
J. S. Bach: Sonata No. 1 and Partita No. 2 for Unaccompanied Violin,
arranged for 6 String Violin (2002)
I started playing violin at age ten in 1965. By
1982, my arthritis was severe enough so that even with adaptive gear, I had to
stop playing, and sold my violin.
There followed ten years where
making music was not possible. In late 2001 and early 2002, I had a stable life
studying physics at NCSU, an old piano, housing, and access to a woodshop. I
made two electric violins, a 4-string and a 6-string, that I held like a cello,
with an assistive device to hold up my bow-arm. I could only play for a limited
time before it became too painful, but the new attempt at performance inspired
me to rework once again my old solo violin sonatas, including arrangements for
viola and 6 string violin. I bought a curved bow from Michael Bach, allowing
for polyphonic performance. This is when I made arrangements of J. S. Bach’s
Sonata No. 1 and Partita No. 2 for the 6 string violin. The photograph on the 10 Sonatas for Solo Violin or Viola page shows the 6
string violin that I made, which has since been thrown away, and the Bach
Bogen, now sold.
By spring of 2003, it became clear that the arthritis was too advanced and my
attempt at a return to performance had to end.
In February 2017, I decided to try again to play violin, with new instruments
and adaptive gear. As a result, I went back to the Bach arrangements, which
were still in the now antiquated format of ink and paper, and revised the copy
work in Finale. My health did not allow me to continue to play, and I had to
stop permanently in the fall of 2017.
Performance notes: Most of the movements
have pedal indications. This signifies the use of a freeze effect (sound
retainer) pedal, which many electric violinists will be familiar with. (The
curved bow mentioned above is very rare, rather expensive, and takes months to
master, but may be used if available.) The freeze pedal sustains the sound at
the moment of depression, and continues that sound until released. Other notes
played during this period will not be sustained and play normally. Thus the
pedal indication is like the sostenuto pedal on a piano (not the sustain
pedal), and should be interpreted in that manner if played on a piano.
The tuning is, from the bottom, F-C-G-D-A-E.