Hilary Hahn Johann Sebastian Bach

Hilary Hahn Friday, November 9, 2018 at 8:00pm Pre-concert Talk at 7:00pm This is the 878th concert in Koerner Hall

Hilary Hahn, violin

Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin in A Minor, BWV1003 I. Grave II. Fuga III. Andante IV. Allegro

Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin in E Major, BWV1006 I. Preludio II. Loure III. Gavotte en rondeau IV. Menuet I and II V. Bourrée VI. Gigue

INTERMISSION

Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C Major, BWV1005 I. Adagio II. Fuga – Allabreve III. Largo IV. Allegro assai

Johann Sebastian Bach Born in Eisenach, Germany, March 21, 1685; died in Leipzig, Germany, July 28, 1750 Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin in A Minor, BWV1003 (completed by 1720) Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin in E Major, BWV1006 (completed by 1720) Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C Major, BWV1005 (completed by 1720) Reviewing the first published edition of three of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin in 1805, the German composer and critic Johann Friedrich Reichardt perceptively painted a picture of a composer creating great art from minimal means. He called Bach’s solo violin music “perhaps the greatest example in any art of the freedom and certainty with which a great master can move, even when he is in chains.” But no one was listening. Less than half a century later we find Bach’s strongest advocate, Felix Mendelssohn (in 1840), and then Robert Schumann (in 1854) helping Bach overcome his bondage when both added piano accompaniment to Bach’s ‘weak’ violin line. By the end of the century, Joachim was the first to play the pieces unaccompanied and to introduce Bach’s polyphony to 19th century audiences. But the public still found unaccompanied Bach a tough listen. Visiting London, Joachim had to contend with George Bernard Shaw, then writing music criticism for The Star. “Of course, you cannot play a fugue in three continuous parts on the violin,” thundered Shaw in 1890, adding that grating a nutmeg on the sole of a boot would produce more musical results than the scraping of a solo violin in Bach. Undeterred, Joachim made a few (albeit primitive) recordings in 1903, four years before his death. It was not until 1936 that the first complete set was recorded (Yehudi Menuhin) and not until 1977 (Sergio Luca) that recordings significantly began to incorporate Baroque performance practice. The most reliable source of the music is an autographed copy that came down to us from the inheritance of Christiane Louisa Bach, one of Bach’s granddaughters. Its full title is Six Solos for Violin, Without Accompaniment, Book One, by Joh. Seb. Bach, 1720. (Book Two would be the six Cello Suites and it has been suggested that additional collections of a similar nature for other instruments, like the flute, may have been in Bach’s mind). In 1720, when he completed and compiled the violin collection, Bach was midway through his appointment as Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, a prestigious position which, at its peak, was better paid than his future position in Leipzig. Bach may have begun work on the Sonatas and Partitas earlier, when he was employed as a violinist, amongst other duties, in Weimar. But it is not known for whom the music was intended. Certainly, the performer must have possessed an extraordinary technique, as the demands of the music, though thoroughly idiomatic, are extreme. It may have been his contemporary, Johann Georg Pisendel, widely recognised as a leading violinist of his time and himself a composer of a solo suite for the violin. Other leading violinists of the day included Joseph Spiess, who worked at the court in Cöthen, Johann Paul von Westhoff, the Weimar virtuoso, Jean-Baptiste Volumier, the Dresden Konzertmeiser, and Bach himself. Most of these violinists also wrote demanding solo works. But Bach’s six Sonatas and Partitas surpass them in technical demands and musical excellence. They represent the culmination of Baroque polyphonic writing for a string instrument. The collection, as originally put together by Bach, consists of three pairs of alternating Sonatas and Partitas, each closely related through the key relationship of a falling fifth. The three Sonatas share a four-movement structure that derives from the slow-fast-slow-fast sequence of the Italian sonata da chiesa, represented by the music of Corelli and the Italian violinists. The opening movement of the Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV1003 has the character of an improvisatory prelude, creating an illusion of multiple instrumental voices through the generous use of chords spread across the four strings of the violin. It leads to a complex, extended fugue, built on a short subject of just two bars, punctuated by contrasting episodes. The slowly pulsing Andante slow movement, with its extended melody and accompaniment, is more relaxed and closer in type to the dance movements found in the Partitas. The final movement is virtuoso in technique and rich in echo effects and artistic depth. The Partitas (or Partia, as they are called in Bach’s manuscript) are essentially Suites, a meaning that German composers had relatively recently adopted for their collections of instrumental dance music, with or without additional movements of a non-dance nature. Where the four dances of the First Partita and five of the Second are primarily Italianate (and this is reflected in the titles Bach gave to the movements), the six dances of the Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV1006 are predominantly French. The partita opens with one of the finest of Bach’s preludes – a joyous, virtuoso movement in which Bach, a master of the art of illusion, creates a rich polyphonic texture with many voices from what is, essentially, a solo melody instrument. (Bach later transcribed this solo movement for orchestra in two of his cantatas; Stokowski also had fun with it). Five dance movements follow, beginning with the Loure, a stately court dance, and a calming movement to balance the brilliance of the opening Preludio. Then comes a Gavotte en rondeau, in which the elegant dance section has brief episodes interspersed between what has become one of Bach’s favourite dance melodies. The two Minuet movements are well contrasted and are followed by a purposeful Bourrée and an invigorating Gigue. The opening movement of the Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV1005 has the character of a meditative, improvisatory prelude, rich in polyphony (multiple instrumental voices) through the generous use of chords spread across two or more strings of the violin. It leads to a monumental, richly drawn and intricate fugue whose theme is based on the chorale melody Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott. In the fugal writing of this sonata, as in the earlier Second Sonata, the violin alternately lays out a single contrapuntal line and then moves seamlessly from one voice to another in an implied intricate multi-voice texture which, despite Shaw’s rant to the contrary, creates the striking effect and cumulative tension of a multi-voice fugue. The graceful, restrained slow third movement acts as a foil and leads to a buoyant Allegro assai of great momentum. - Program notes © 2018 Keith Horner

Hilary Hahn Violin Three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn is renowned for her virtuosity, expansive interpretations, and creative programming. Her dynamic approach to music making and her commitment to sharing her musical experiences with a broad global community have made her a fan favourite. Hahn’s 16 feature recordings have received every critical prize in the international press and have met with equal popular success. Her 17th album will be a retrospective collection that also contains new live material and art from her fans, in keeping with a decades- long tradition of collecting fan art at concerts. Hahn’s distinct stylistic choices honour the traditional violin literature while delving into the unexpected. In the past two seasons in recital tours across the United States, Europe, and Japan, she premiered six new partitas for solo violin by composer Antón García Abril. The works were Hahn’s first commissioning project for solo violin and her first commission of a set of works from a single composer. García Abril was also one of the composers for “In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores,” Hahn's multi-year commissioning project to revitalize the duo encore genre. In 2017-18, Hahn returned to repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries, performing the Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, and Prokofiev violin concertos, in addition to Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato's “Symposium”) for Bernstein’s centennial season. As part of recent residencies at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seattle Symphony, and National Orchestra of Lyon, Hahn piloted free – and sometimes surprise – concerts for parents with their babies, as well as a knitting circle, a community dance workshop, and a yoga class. She continued to create these community- oriented concerts as the 2017-18 Artist-in-Residence at the Philadelphia Orchestra, encouraging music lovers to combine live performance with their interests outside the concert hall and providing opportunities for parents to enjoy live music with their infants. She also played a free concert to promote a college membership program and participated in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s ongoing educational activities. Other 2017-18 engagements included a tour in Australia and New Zealand, and sitting on the jury of the Bach Competition in Leipzig. Hahn is an avid writer, having posted journal entries for two decades on her website, hilaryhahn.com, and published articles in mainstream media. On her YouTube channel, youtube.com/hilaryhahnvideos, she interviews colleagues about their experiences in music. Her violin case comments on life as a travelling companion, on Twitter and Instagram at @violincase. In 2001, Hahn was named America’s Best Young Classical Musician by Time magazine, and in 2010, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Hahn was featured in the Oscar- nominated soundtrack to The Village and has participated in a number of non-classical productions, collaborating on two records by the alt-rock band …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, on the album Grand Forks by Tom Brosseau, on tour with folk-rock singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, and on the album Silfra with experimental prepared- pianist Hauschka, which they entirely improvised following an intensive period of development.

Hilary Hahn made her Royal Conservatory debut on March 1, 2011.