Rachel Podger

Like his cello suites, the three partitas and three sonatas for violin 'sensa basso' are among the masterpieces Bach wrote in Köthen. He composed them partly for his pupils, partly as a finger exercise for himself - Bach was also an excellent violinist - and partly for such renowned violin virtuosos of the time as Johann Georg Pisendel. Bach's works for solo instruments are not only high points of the genre, but also test a musician's artistic skill. They are moreover meditations in pure music, both virtuoso and with great depth. The British Baroque violinist Rachel Podger opted to combine a partita and a sonata by Bach with solo pieces by Telemann and Biber. One can certainly hear that both composers were also violinists. Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), an entertainer, was only too aware of how to make his instrument sing and dance with great charm. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704) was the Paganini of his day and in his fifteen 'Mystery Sonatas' and other works made use of some very daring 'scordaturas'. To these sonatas he added a sixteenth part, a monumental and extravagant 'Passacaglia', this time in a more normal vein.