Guardian Angel

This disc of solo violin music is a real mixture of some favourite pieces. Pisendel’s Sonata was probably written in 1716, just before Bach’s unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas in 1720, and one wonders whether Bach may have known it before embarking on his own giant compositions for solo violin? The two men had met in 1709, and it would be entirely consistent for Bach to take inspiration from another composer, as he did from his German forebears like Georg Boehm and, a little latter, when he was very taken with Vivaldi’s set of concertos L’Estro Armonico and reworked some of the concertos for solo harpsichord and 4 harpsichords in concerto. Pisendel took his inspiration from his teacher Torelli.

His solo sonata shows he was a real virtuoso; the writing is idiomatic and challenging at the same time (he writes a 10th double stop in the last movement!). The first movement is an inspired improvisation during which he uses many different rhetorical devices such as repetition, surprise and sequence, but in a manner which never feels formulaic or predictable; the dramatic landscape is extremely striking for performers and listeners alike.

I adore Bach’s Flute Partita and always knew it from afar, the way you know pieces written originally for a different instrument. I would often play it for fun as a warm up (which would disorient the flute player in the room!). When choosing the repertoire for this disc, I was keen to include a piece by Bach, and eventually had the idea of transposing the Flute Partita into G minor (the original key is A minor). It worked beautifully and as a piece is extremely rewarding and fun to play; I recommend it to all violinists. And here we have the chance to extend Bach’s usual habit of grouping in sixes, which was the favourite number in assembling keyboard suites, other sonatas and the Brandenburg concertos as we reach the magical seven for solo violin!

The Tartini Sonatas for solo violin were unknown to me until David Takeno, my former teacher, gave me a copy of the manuscript a few years ago (the original is in Padua). Tartini’s handwriting is pretty clear even if minute, and the pieces are consistently considerable and engaging.