Printed set (Score & Parts)
This 2017 edition can be considered the completed version, preceded by a version arranged in the year 1988, which featured only extracts from the original Bach piece.
A great number of composers have arranged the "Chaconne" the final movement of J.S. Bach's "Partita in D minor for solo violin, BWV 1004" into various renditions. Some well-known ones include J. Brahms' (1833-1897) Piano for the Left-Hand, Hideo Saito's (1902-1974) orchestral arrangement, and in particular, F. Busoni's piano arrangement has recreated Bach in a hugely dynamic way. As far as these "arrangements" go, they were newly devised creations, while retaining the essence of the original. Hence, leading to an attractive idea for me to create an arrangement that hails the colorful attributes of a wind ensemble.
The idea of using the trombone ensemble as the introduction of the piece was put forward by Kenichi Watanabe, an esteemed friend of mine. It inspired me to orchestrate the entire work utilizing, to some extent, Schoenberg's Klangfarbenmelodie (sound-color melody) with reference to Busoni's arrangement.
Moreover, this piece is created based on the golden ratio: the ratio between the minor and major in the beginning, the ratio between the major and minor part at the end, all contemplated to be close to the golden ratio (with the part leading to the major being almost half).
In comparison, various parts in the 1988 edition were created shortened, in relation to the golden ratio. It featured a total count of 34 four-bar units. The original features 64. This 2017 edition, being a "complete" version in my terms, actually features 61, still shorter than the original.
A D Minor [1]-[31] (31 counts)
[1]-[19] (19)*
[20]-[31] (12)
B D Major [32]-[49] (18)
[32]-[42] (11)*
[43]-[49] (7)
A D Minor [50]?[61] (12)
[51]-[57] (7)
[58]-[61] (4)*
*Almost similar to the 1988 edition
This piece, including the original Bach piece, tends to be performed with a slightly heavy tempo. However, Chaconne is originally dance music, and should be performed with a rather light tempo, hence the simplified design for the tempo of this piece.
The instrumentation is also similar to the 1988 edition, other than the addition of the contrabass clarinet.
This piece was first performed on 22 June 2017 at Senzoku Gakuen Maeda Hall, by the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Green-Tie Wind Ensemble, conducted by Sachio Fujioka.
