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The Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006.1 (formerly 1006),[1] is the last work in Johann Sebastian Bach's set of Sonatas and Partitas. It consists of the following movements:
It takes about 15–18 minutes to perform.
Bach transcribed the Partita as a suite, cataloged as BWV 1006.2 (formerly 1006a).[2] The music critic Wilhelm Tappert claimed in 1900 that this arrangement was for lute solo, but present research[by whom?] indicates that it was for an unspecified instrument.[3]
The Preludio consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes). The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for use in two cantatas:
- the sinfonia which opens the second part of the 1729 cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a.
- the opening sinfonia, scored for obbligato organ, oboes, trumpets and strings, of the 1731 cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, in D major
The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs.[4]
In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN 111/1).[5] An arrangement of the Preludio for jazz trio by Jacques Loussier appeared on his Reflections of Bach album of 1987[6] and was used as the theme of the BBC Radio 4 music quiz show Counterpoint.[7] Eugéne Ysaÿe's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor also quotes the Preludio in the first movement.
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