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Chaconne from Partita No. 2 by J.S. Bach, arr. for wind ensemble

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Wind Ensemble
2021
15 min.

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Program Notes
The catalyst for this piece was my discovery of a piano transcription of the Chaconne from Bach's Partita in D minor by the composer Feruccio Busoni. I was aware of the Chaconne prior to this, but it was through this transcription that I really grasped what a monumental artistic achievement it truly was. I was also somewhat stunned by Busoni's transcription: It's a very pianistic reinterpretation (or even re-composition) that explodes the technical brilliance and emotional intensity of the original onto a much larger canvas. This sense of the music expanding to fill a larger space is what led me to consider a transcription for wind ensemble. The fleshed-out voicing of chords in Busoni's version (which are often merely implied in the original) made it much easier for the music to map onto the terrain of a large ensemble. Aside from a few simplifications of pianistic flourishes - including one passage I borrowed from Johannes Brahms's own transcription of the Chaconne for left-hand piano - the music stays faithful to Busoni's transcription.
Recording Notes
Dorico playback with NotePerformer

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