JS Bach Photo: Public Domain
JS Bach's towering 'Chaconne' is the fifth and final movement of his 'Partita No 2 in D minor'.
Bach wrote his unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas while employed at the Court in Köthen, where the Prince appreciated his talents. Bach enjoyed a period of greater creative freedom to compose secular music there.
The chaconne dance form has a basic theme stated at the beginning which is then restated in variations - in this case 64 of them.
Of Bach's 'Chaconne', Johannes Brahms is said to have commented in awe: "... on a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feeling ..."
Recorded in Nelson Cathedral by RNZ
Sound engineer: Graham Kennedy
