Dances of Sorrow

Bach’s Partita in D Minor for solo violin was written in 1720, which was also the year his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach, unexpectedly passed away. The German music researcher Helga Thoene interprets the work as an expression of grief, and a monumental masterpiece filled with hidden messages in the form of numerology, symbolism and quotations from his own chorales.

According to Thoene, the numerological theme of the chaconne is Bach’s wife’s name and the year of her death. The solo violin’s chords and melodies conceal hidden fragments from many of his own chorales, all containing messages of death and sorrow – but also hope. In this arrangement, the concealed choral fragments dovetail shamelessly with the notes of the solo violin.

Klara Hellgren is employed as a violinist with the Uppsala Chamber Soloists string quartet, and is concertmaster of the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra.

The Ensemble Memento comprises the soprano Marie Alexis, the alto Anna Zander, the tenor Fredik Mattsson and the bass Joakim Schuster, all of whom are choristers in the Swedish Radio Choir ordinarily. The event is hosted by the artist and actress Irma Schultz Keller, who has around 10 album releases to her name.

Together they perform the “hidden” chorales in their entirety, fused with the Partita in D Minor’s individual movements for solo violin, and culminating in a unique arrangement of the chaconne for solo violin and four vocal parts, following an analysis presented by Helga Thoene.