Dorotea Dolenec plays the Adagio from the Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, by Johann Sebastian Bach on a cedar double-top guitar by the Hamburg luthier Carsten Kobs.
About the Adagio
The Adagio opens the first of Bach's six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001 to 1006. Bach wrote out the surviving autograph manuscript in 1720 in Köthen, where he was Kapellmeister. The set was not published until 1802, and it was largely ignored until the violinist Joseph Joachim began to perform it. Today these works are a central part of the violin repertoire. The set alternates three sonatas in four movements with three partitas built from Baroque dance movements, and the three partitas include the famous Chaconne.
The sonatas follow the old church sonata pattern of four movements, slow and fast in turn, and the Adagio is the slow opening of the G minor sonata. Bach's manuscript uses a key signature that suggests D minor, which was a common notational convention of his time.
Violin Bach on the Guitar
Bach himself moved this music between instruments. The fugue that follows the Adagio exists in his own versions for organ, BWV 539, and for lute, BWV 1000. For guitarists that is an open invitation. The most famous movement of the set, the Chaconne from the Partita No. 2, has been a cornerstone of the guitar repertoire since Segovia's arrangement. Ana Vidović recorded the same Adagio, BWV 1001, for our channel. Our Bach repertoire guide gives an overview.
About Dorotea Dolenec
Dorotea Dolenec has recorded several times for our channel, from Bach to music rooted in the folk traditions of the Balkans. Her performance of four of the Six Balkan Miniatures by Dušan Bogdanović on a Siccas Luthiers guitar shows a very different side of her playing from this slow Bach movement.
The Guitar
Carsten Kobs works in Hamburg and was one of the first makers in Germany to build double-top guitars. His instruments are known for their lightness, sensitivity to touch and volume, and guitarists such as Manuel Barrueco, David Russell and Aniello Desiderio have played them. The Carsten Kobs Cedar Doubletop in this video has a cedar double top, Indian rosewood back and sides, a French polish finish and Klaus Scheller tuners, and it weighs just under 1.4 kg. Watch our documentary portrait of Carsten Kobs or browse our Carsten Kobs collection.
Watch the Performance
Browse the repertoire in our overview of famous classical guitar pieces.
