David Kraus: The Listening Room
Prelude to Partita No. III (excerpt)
David Kraus ~ classical guitarReturn to Tunes
Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin" are some of the most well known pieces to the public along with his "Six Cello Suites." They were composed between 1703 and 1720 and through the centuries since his death have been transcribed for almost every instrument. The "Partita No. III" heard here is only an excerpt from the prelude or first section of the partita which, like a suite, is made up of several sections which were originally dances but like many of these became vehicles for composers to create extemporaneous instrumental music with, because of the variety of rhythms and variations found in each dance. Like a suite, a partita is made up of a prelude followed by an allamande, courant, gavotte, two minuets, a bouree, and more, and always ending with a gigue, which is the dance form I used to compose "Rebecca's Child" on my "Some Sort of Angel" CD, where you can find more information. This particular prelude is very well known and has become a staple in the classical guitar repetoire. The entire partita with all inclusive parts would take about twenty minutes to perform, hence most only play the preludes of most partitas and suites. Here, I even shortened the prelude because it is long and doesn't fit into my purpose for creating this music section of my website called "Chronicles" which is indeed a chronicle of my musical life and history and presents samples of the variety of musics I have studied and played, and still do. Also, in order that the piece could be heard by someone who would like to hear it played for their wedding, it is more concise because the original is far too long for this purpose. I chose a place in the composition where I wrote an ending in the style of the piece so it sounds complete as if this was how it was originally composed. Stopping in the middle of a musical piece because of its length is not satisfactory for the listener and loses its musicality. I often shorten pieces like this for this very reason. I think this version works. Enjoy.
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