# Vitali’s(?) Chaconne



## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Hi everyone, about a week ago I was going through Heifetz’s discography on Spotify and I saw chaconne. For some reason I didn’t look at the composer so I was expecting Bach’s famous chaconne and then through my speakers I heard a deep organ sound and I was transfixed. What followed was some of the most beautiful and intense 10 minutes of music I have ever heard. What do you think about this piece? If you haven’t heard it yet, I urge you to listen. I would go for Heifetz, old 1950 recording but it’s RCA so it’s the best you can get for that period and trust me the performance makes up for the tape hiss. It’s one of those pieces that you can immediately like on a first listen, I did, and my parents as well which is pretty rare. My dad immediately added it to his ‘classical’ playlist consisting of 5 pieces now, so it’s pretty special. I created this thread to share this story and so that people get a chance to share/receive recordings recommendations


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

It's one of the strangest things I've ever heard, for sure. And in a good way. (Whoever wrote it.)


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## Tarneem (Jan 3, 2022)

ah, very interesting. but I like the version of Sarah Cheng. the piece full of agony and remorse.


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

Respighi made an orchestration of this piece back in the early 20th Century.
Respighi Orchestration


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Thanks for this! A very unique piece, and one that is a bit timeless in that it would be somewhat hard to 'guess' when it was written (although I think I would have said Baroque if pressed). I listened to Heifetz (acc. Organ), Cheng (acc. Orchestra, the Respighi Orchestration, I believe), Oistrach (acc. Piano), and the linked Respighi Orchestration. Of these, Heifetz was my clear favourite, but Oistrach was also quite good.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

The composition is for violin an basso continuo and the earliest manuscripts are from first half of the 18th century. It is strange that no recording for violin and harpsichord continuo seems to exist. All I can find are for violin and piano. Does anyone know a recording with harpsichord?


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

My then violin teacher introduced me to this piece about six or seven years ago. I did muddle my way through it. I played it quite a bit and got to know the piece fairly well. I could never quite manage the ending with the double stops in the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions. I haven't played it for at least five years, so it has slipped from my memory. I'm only an amateur, and I haven't played much at all during the pandemic. I'm rusty and way out of practice. 

It is an impressive piece. However, one thing I did find out while I was learning it, is that there are relatively few recordings of it.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

senza sordino said:


> It is an impressive piece. However, one thing I did find out while I was learning it, is that there are relatively few recordings of it.


Yes i noticed that as well. I feel like it’s very underrated and I feel like more people in general but also the people reading this on TC should really listen to this. It’s amazing. I’ve been playing the violin for about 10 years since I was 7 years old and I’m still not good enough to play this piece. Should have practiced more when I was a little younger. Luckily now I’m getting my hours in because I love playing the violin again


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## erudite (Jul 23, 2020)

EvaBaron said:


> Hi everyone, about a week ago I was going through Heifetz’s discography on Spotify and I saw chaconne. For some reason I didn’t look at the composer so I was expecting Bach’s famous chaconne and then through my speakers I heard a deep organ sound and I was transfixed. What followed was some of the most beautiful and intense 10 minutes of music I have ever heard. What do you think about this piece? If you haven’t heard it yet, I urge you to listen. I would go for Heifetz, old 1950 recording but it’s RCA so it’s the best you can get for that period and trust me the performance makes up for the tape hiss. It’s one of those pieces that you can immediately like on a first listen, I did, and my parents as well which is pretty rare. My dad immediately added it to his ‘classical’ playlist consisting of 5 pieces now, so it’s pretty special. I created this thread to share this story and so that people get a chance to share/receive recordings recommendations


Thank you for this! 

I had completely forgotten about it.

It was one of my starter pieces when I first began listening to classical music as a teenager in the '70s. 

Glad to see a few new recordings have come along since.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

senza sordino said:


> It is an impressive piece. However, one thing I did find out while I was learning it, is that there are relatively few recordings of it.


It seems to have fallen out of favor over the past couple of decades, but back in the day, virtually every major violinist recorded it. There are a couple of commercial recordings by Milstein, and recordings by Szeryng, Heifetz, Francescatti, and Grumiaux. But I can't remember the last time anyone made a commercial recording.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

premont said:


> The composition is for violin an basso continuo and the earliest manuscripts are from first half of the 18th century. It is strange that no recording for violin and harpsichord continuo seems to exist. All I can find are for violin and piano. Does anyone know a recording with harpsichord?


Perhaps this one?:


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

I still have that LP!



wkasimer said:


> Perhaps this one?:
> View attachment 168549


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> Perhaps this one?:
> 
> View attachment 168549


Maybe the only one, but probably difficult to get hold of and secondly my TT has been dismantled for ca. twenty years by now. As far as I can see it has never been re-released on CD. And supposedly the playing style is rather conservative as one can expect from Melkus.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

erudite said:


> Thank you for this!
> 
> I had completely forgotten about it.
> 
> ...


Glad to have helped you rediscover a great piece!


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

wkasimer said:


> It seems to have fallen out of favor over the past couple of decades, but back in the day, virtually every major violinist recorded it. There are a couple of commercial recordings by Milstein, and recordings by Szeryng, Heifetz, Francescatti, and Grumiaux. But I can't remember the last time anyone made a commercial recording.


Yes such a shame, I wish more people would record this


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

EvaBaron said:


> Yes such a shame, I wish more people would record this


Fortunately, the recordings that exist are pretty good...


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

wkasimer said:


> Fortunately, the recordings that exist are pretty good...


Yes absolutely but it means that the work would get more exposure


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Here's a recent recording by Sebastian Bohren. The arrangement is a new one by Peter Petrof.


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