Playing

Session report: Bach unravelled

By 22 July 2021

Kyung large

With her long-awaited recording of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas finally here, Korean violinist Kyung Wha Chung discusses her special affinity with the works and explains how 50 years of playing them has shaped her approach

I began playing unaccompanied Bach when I was 13, while studying at the Juilliard School under Ivan Galamian. The first thing he gave me was the Prelude from the E major Partita; then the G minor Sonata, and I didn’t know what I was doing – the Fugue was beyond me. By the time I was 17 I could play all six of the Sonatas and Partitas. The last one I learnt was the C major Sonata, which was a big challenge. I love the opening Adagio, but to sustain the bass-line and then create the melodic line take quite a bit of technical training…

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