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Ilya Kaler Ilya Kaler was born in , , into a family of musicians. He attended the Central Music School for Gifted 2 CDs Children in Moscow and completed his studies at the Moscow State Conservatory. His teachers include Victor Tretyakov, J. S. BACH , Zinaida Gilels and Abram Shtern. Ilya Kaler is a Gold Medallist of the Tchaikovsky (1986), Sibelius (1985) and Paganini (1981) International Competitions. His concert tours take him all over the world, and include recitals and soloist engagements with major orchestras. He records exclusively for Naxos Records, with Sonatas and Partitas recordings including works by Paganini, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorˇák, Glazunov, Ysaÿe, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Taneyev and Szymanowski. He has served as a concertmaster with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a guest concertmaster with the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has served on the faculty of the for Solo Violin, in Rochester, NY, held a Distinguished Professorship at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington. He is currently a Professor of Violin on the faculty of DePaul University School of Music in . BWV1001–1006 Ilya Kaler

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) A slow Sarabanda, with its own variation, leads to a final virtuosity of the great Chaconne. Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 Bourrée and variation. The Sonata in C major follows the usual form, with an Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002 The Sonata in A minor, again in church sonata form, Adagio introductory movement, an elaborate fugue that opens with a slow introductory movement, duly includes an inversion of the subject in its polyphonic Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 embellished, followed by the customary fugal movement, progress, an accompanied aria-type slow movement and Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 a particular feature of German violin-playing of the time. a rapid final movement without double-stopping. Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 The third movement Andante, in C major, leads to a rapid The last of the Partitas, in the key of E major, opens Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 concluding Allegro. with the well known Preludio that provided Bach with The Partita in D minor, which ends with the material for re-use in cantatas and the violinist Ysaÿe with The career of , the most illustrious of important works for the keyboard. monumental Chaconne, a use of the traditional an idée fixe for one of his unaccompanied violin sonatas. of a prolific musical family, falls neatly into three unequal In his three Sonatas and three Partitas for dance-variation form that has attracted subsequent French titles and dance-forms follow, with a Loure, a parts. Born in 1685 in Eisenach, from the age of ten Bach unaccompanied violin, written during the period he spent transcribers and arrangers, opens with the usual German Gavotte with a repeated rondo refrain, Minuets in lived and studied music with his elder brother in Ohrdruf, at Cöthen, Bach built on an existing German tradition of dance, the Allemanda, followed by the customary alternation, a Bourrée and a final Gigue. after the death of both his parents. After a series of violin-playing. The earliest examples of works in more Corrente, Sarabanda and Gigue, four movements that appointments as organist and briefly as a court musician, than one movement for solo violin come from came to provide a traditional frame-work for the dance Keith Anderson he became, in 1708, court organist and chamber musician with a Suite by Johann Paul von Westhoff written in 1683 suite, here complete in itself, before the extended to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of , the elder of the two and followed in 1696 by four-movement partitas. Von brothers who jointly ruled the duchy. In 1714 he was Westhoff later served as chamber secretary and chamber promoted to the position of Konzertmeister to the Duke, musician, as well as teacher of French and Italian, at the but in 1717, after a brief period of imprisonment for his court of Weimar, where he died in 1705. There are other temerity in seeking to leave the Duke’s service, he early examples of music for unaccompanied violin by abandoned Weimar to become Court Kapellmeister to Biber, with a remarkable Passacaglia included in his Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, a position he held until fifteen Rosary Sonatas, and by Johann Jakob Walter, a 1723. From then until his death in 1750 he lived in musician who also served for a time in Dresden. Bach Leipzig, where he was Thomaskantor, with responsibility may have been directly influenced, however, by the for the music of the five principal city churches, in 1729 playing of Johann Georg Pisendel, a pupil of Torelli and assuming direction of the university Collegium Musicum, later of Vivaldi, who served at the court of in founded by Telemann in 1702. Dresden and met Bach in Weimar in 1709 and again in At Weimar Bach had been principally employed as an Dresden in 1717, when he played his recent Sonata for organist, and his compositions of the period include a solo violin. considerable amount written for the instrument on which Bach’s three Sonatas for solo violin are in the form of he was recognised as a virtuoso performer. At Cöthen, the so-called church sonata. The Sonata in G minor, BWV where Pietist traditions dominated the court, he had no 1001, opens with a slow introductory movement, followed church duties, and was responsible rather for court music. by a fugue, both later adapted by the composer for the The period brought the composition of a number of organ. The third movement, a Siciliana, provides a respite instrumental works. The final 27 years of Bach’s life before the rapid final movement. brought a variety of preoccupations, and while his official The Partita in B Minor, BWV 1002, in the parallel employment necessitated the provision of church music, form of the chamber sonata derived from the dance suite, he was able to compose music for the university opens with the traditional German dance, the Allemanda, Collegium Musicum and to write or re-arrange a number followed by a variation on it and a Corrente, also varied.

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) A slow Sarabanda, with its own variation, leads to a final virtuosity of the great Chaconne. Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 Bourrée and variation. The Sonata in C major follows the usual form, with an Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002 The Sonata in A minor, again in church sonata form, Adagio introductory movement, an elaborate fugue that opens with a slow introductory movement, duly includes an inversion of the subject in its polyphonic Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 embellished, followed by the customary fugal movement, progress, an accompanied aria-type slow movement and Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 a particular feature of German violin-playing of the time. a rapid final movement without double-stopping. Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 The third movement Andante, in C major, leads to a rapid The last of the Partitas, in the key of E major, opens Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 concluding Allegro. with the well known Preludio that provided Bach with The Partita in D minor, which ends with the material for re-use in cantatas and the violinist Ysaÿe with The career of Johann Sebastian Bach, the most illustrious of important works for the keyboard. monumental Chaconne, a use of the traditional Baroque an idée fixe for one of his unaccompanied violin sonatas. of a prolific musical family, falls neatly into three unequal In his three Sonatas and three Partitas for dance-variation form that has attracted subsequent French titles and dance-forms follow, with a Loure, a parts. Born in 1685 in Eisenach, from the age of ten Bach unaccompanied violin, written during the period he spent transcribers and arrangers, opens with the usual German Gavotte with a repeated rondo refrain, Minuets in lived and studied music with his elder brother in Ohrdruf, at Cöthen, Bach built on an existing German tradition of dance, the Allemanda, followed by the customary alternation, a Bourrée and a final Gigue. after the death of both his parents. After a series of violin-playing. The earliest examples of works in more Corrente, Sarabanda and Gigue, four movements that appointments as organist and briefly as a court musician, than one movement for solo violin come from Dresden came to provide a traditional frame-work for the dance Keith Anderson he became, in 1708, court organist and chamber musician with a Suite by Johann Paul von Westhoff written in 1683 suite, here complete in itself, before the extended to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, the elder of the two and followed in 1696 by four-movement partitas. Von brothers who jointly ruled the duchy. In 1714 he was Westhoff later served as chamber secretary and chamber promoted to the position of Konzertmeister to the Duke, musician, as well as teacher of French and Italian, at the but in 1717, after a brief period of imprisonment for his court of Weimar, where he died in 1705. There are other temerity in seeking to leave the Duke’s service, he early examples of music for unaccompanied violin by abandoned Weimar to become Court Kapellmeister to Biber, with a remarkable Passacaglia included in his Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, a position he held until fifteen Rosary Sonatas, and by Johann Jakob Walter, a 1723. From then until his death in 1750 he lived in musician who also served for a time in Dresden. Bach Leipzig, where he was Thomaskantor, with responsibility may have been directly influenced, however, by the for the music of the five principal city churches, in 1729 playing of Johann Georg Pisendel, a pupil of Torelli and assuming direction of the university Collegium Musicum, later of Vivaldi, who served at the court of Saxony in founded by Telemann in 1702. Dresden and met Bach in Weimar in 1709 and again in At Weimar Bach had been principally employed as an Dresden in 1717, when he played his recent Sonata for organist, and his compositions of the period include a solo violin. considerable amount written for the instrument on which Bach’s three Sonatas for solo violin are in the form of he was recognised as a virtuoso performer. At Cöthen, the so-called church sonata. The Sonata in G minor, BWV where Pietist traditions dominated the court, he had no 1001, opens with a slow introductory movement, followed church duties, and was responsible rather for court music. by a fugue, both later adapted by the composer for the The period brought the composition of a number of organ. The third movement, a Siciliana, provides a respite instrumental works. The final 27 years of Bach’s life before the rapid final movement. brought a variety of preoccupations, and while his official The Partita in B Minor, BWV 1002, in the parallel employment necessitated the provision of church music, form of the chamber sonata derived from the dance suite, he was able to compose music for the university opens with the traditional German dance, the Allemanda, Collegium Musicum and to write or re-arrange a number followed by a variation on it and a Corrente, also varied.

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Ilya Kaler Ilya Kaler was born in Moscow, Russia, into a family of musicians. He attended the Central Music School for Gifted 2 CDs Children in Moscow and completed his studies at the Moscow State Conservatory. His teachers include Victor Tretyakov, J. S. BACH Leonid Kogan, Zinaida Gilels and Abram Shtern. Ilya Kaler is a Gold Medallist of the Tchaikovsky (1986), Sibelius (1985) and Paganini (1981) International Violin Competitions. His concert tours take him all over the world, and include recitals and soloist engagements with major orchestras. He records exclusively for Naxos Records, with Sonatas and Partitas recordings including works by Paganini, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorˇák, Glazunov, Ysaÿe, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Taneyev and Szymanowski. He has served as a concertmaster with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a guest concertmaster with the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has served on the faculty of the for Solo Violin, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, held a Distinguished Professorship at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington. He is currently a Professor of Violin on the faculty of DePaul University School of Music in Chicago. BWV1001–1006 Ilya Kaler

C M Y K 8.570277-78 4 NAXOS NAXOS Profound in spirit and monumental in scope Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin are arguably the most difficult original solo works ever written for the violin. Their formidable technical challenges, especially the persistent use of multiple stops, are not just virtuoso features but are the natural result of the complexity of Bach’s musical ideas and his understanding of the instrument. The crowning glory of the set is the immense Chaconne 8.570277–78 .S BACH: S. J. .S BACH: S. J. from the Partita in D minor, a set of variations on a theme which makes unprecedented demands on the performer’s expressive and technical abilities. DDD Johann Sebastian Playing Time BACH 147:84 Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Sonatas and Partitas for Violin (1685–1750) Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV1001–1006 CD 1 (73:29) Sonata No. 2 in A minor, Sonata No. 3 in C major, Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1003 25:19 BWV 1005 24:32 BWV 1001 17:19 # I. Grave 4:45 6 I. Adagio 4:56 1 I. Adagio 4:36 $ II. Fuga 7:57 7 II. Fuga 10:32 2 II. Fuga: Allegro 5:25 % III. Andante 6:32 8 III. Largo 3:48 ^ IV. Allegro 6:01 9 IV. Allegro assai 5:12 Printed & Assembled in USA Disc Made in Canada Booklet notes in English Ltd Naxos Rights International 3 III. Siciliana 3:28 www.naxos.com ൿ 4 IV. Presto 3:47 CD 2 (74:55) Partita No. 3 in E major, &

BWV 1006 19:34 Ꭿ Partita No. 1 in B minor, Partita No. 2 in D minor, 0 I. Preludio 3:52 2008 BWV 1002 30:40 BWV 1004 30:32 5 ! II. Loure 4:20 I. Allemanda 5:07 1 I. Allemanda 5:05 6 @ III. Gavotte en II. Double 3:38 2 II. Corrente 2:42 7 III. Corrente 3:51 rondeau 2:59 3 III. Sarabanda 4:24 # 8 IV. Double: Presto 4:14 IV. Menuet I and II 4:41 4 IV. Giga 4:25 $ 9 V. Sarabanda 3:45 V. Bourrée 1:25 5 V. Ciaccona 13:49 % VI. Gigue 2:11 0 VI. Double 2:39 C ! VII. Tempo di Borea 3:32 8.570277–78 8.570277–78 @ VIII. Double 3:45 M Ilya Kaler, Violin Y Recorded at St John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket, Canada, 19–22 July 2006 (Sonatas) & 1–4 February 2007 (Partitas) • Producers: Bonnie Silver & Norbert Kraft • Engineering: Norbert Kraft K Editing: Norbert Kraft • Booklet notes: Keith Anderson • Cover photo: Janrysavy / Dreamstime.com