Violin and Harpsichord Alone and Together

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Photo via Great Lakes Baroque Facebook

Great Lakes Baroque, co-founded last year by internationally acclaimed harpsichordists Jory Vinikour and Philippe Leroy, ends its first performance season by welcoming the eminently talented violinist Rachel Barton Pine for a concert of music by the composer who, for many, defined the Baroque Era: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Together, Pine and Vinikour will perform two of Bach’s six sonatas for violin and harpsichord—pieces that, quite uniquely for their time, provide the harpsichord equal footing with its instrumental partner (more commonly, the harpsichord would have remained largely in the background). The scheduled works are the Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No. 2 in A Major, BWV 1015 and No. 4 in C minor, BWV 1017.

Pine and Vinikour each get to perform a solo work for their instrument as well. Vinikour takes on the Partita for Harpsichord No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828—one of six partitas that, collectively (as Vinikour puts it) “represent the apotheosis not only of Bach’s unique keyboard language and the expressive possibilities of the harpsichord, but in the inherent range of colors and contrasts within the confines of a suite.” Pine’s solo piece is the Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004—a work most famous for its amazing Chaconne finale. The violin was likely Bach’s first instrument, evinced by works such as this—a tour de force of polyphonic technique. The Chaconne (or Ciaconna) was a 17th-century dance often employed as a ballet ender. Herein, Bach uses every known sleight of hand for the violin in constructing magnificent, soaring arches of counterpoint. 

This Great Lakes Baroque all-Bach concert takes place at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 17 at North Shore Congregational Church, 7330 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Fox Point. For tickets, call 414-395-2535 or visit www.greatlakesbaroque.org.