Intimate Voices chamber music in an intimate setting
In the time of COVID-19
winter 2022
A Performer's Exploration of Bach's Six Masterpieces for Solo Violin
with violinist Sheila Reinhold
Live on Zoom
Saturday evenings January 15, January 22, January 29
Zoom opens at 8 pm, program 8:15-10:00 pm EST
Free to All
BONUS session! Wednesday February 9, 8:00 pm EST
Follow-up roundtable with Renée Jolles, violin and James Wilson, cello
moderated by Sheila Reinhold
Registration required for all events
for registration information, please write to info@intimatevoices.org
For centuries, Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin have amazed and transfixed audiences and performers alike, as well as some of the world's greatest composers. Johannes Brahms called the Chaconne from Partita #2 "… one of the most wonderful, incomprehensible pieces of music. On a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings." The 20th century's most renowned virtuoso violinist, Jascha Heifetz, frequently declared to students in his master class that these awe-inspiring pieces were "our Bible."
Join Intimate Voices Music Director, violinist Sheila Reinhold, who first studied these works with Heifetz, for three evenings designed to deepen our experience of listening to these six masterpieces. She will delve into topics such as the structure of the pieces, the violinistic techniques they demand, and the evolution of how they have been interpreted and performed, always with the goal of illuminating how all these aspects, and many more, affect how audiences and performers experience those “deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings.”
Each evening will include live demonstrations, a live performance, Q&A, and conversation.
Free to all, but registration is required.
For registration information, please write to info@intimatevoices.org
Come to any or all, one registration covers all three evenings.
Program details
January 15: The exploration will begin with a look at Bach’s life, the state of violin playing at the time of their composition, and the factors that influenced the reception of these works in the first two centuries after their composition.
Demonstrations will include examples of the advanced violin techniques Bach utilized, and a brief guided tour through Partita #3 in E Major.
Performance: G. Pisendel, Sonata (1717); Bach, Partita #3 in E Major (1720)
January 22: The second evening will focus on how mid-19th and 20th century violinists perceived and solved the “problems” presented by the pieces, and how the works entered the repertoire to become "the violinist's Bible,” as well as inspiring later compositions designed to utilize new compositional and violinistic techniques.
Demonstrations will include a comparison of the Baroque bow and the modern bow, and a brief guided tour through Sonata #1 in G Minor.
Performance: Bach, Sonata #1 in G minor (1720); E. Ysayë, Sonata #3, “Ballade” (1923)
January 29: The exploration will conclude with a look at the evolution of “Historically Informed Practice” and its effect on today’s interpreters of the Sonatas and Partitas, and end with some examples of the enduring influence of these Bach works into the present day.
Demonstrations will include comparisons of different styles of interpretations, and a brief guided tour through the Chaconne from Partita #2 in D Minor.
Performance: Bach, Partita #2 in D Minor (1720); J. Montgomery, Rhapsody #1 (2015)