Ringing

Listening to Hilary Hahn play the Allemande to the D-minor partita, I'm hearing the way her violin rings more than I ever did before. In an earlier post, I talked about listening for the ringing of my own violin as I played the Allemande. This ringing is amazing. It's like her notes were bell chimes. The ringing of one note does linger in the air as she plays the next. The ringing of the bass notes is like the bass part that Bach didn't include in the "Six Solos For Violin without Bass Accompaniment," as he originally titled them. Sometimes, when I tune into the ringing, I imagine another note that isn't in the music that seems to follow in the bass line.

Arnold Steinhardt, a concert violinist and chamber musician, says he has been pursuing the elusive Ciaccona his whole life. I can imagine why. There's always more to hear in Bach.