Chaconne Variations are now published!

‍

Chaconne Variations live: Anders Paulsson & Roland Pöntinen

Anders Paulsson - Soprano Saxophone

Roland Pöntinen - Piano

Recorded live November 11th, 2023 in Musikens Hus, Gustavsberg, Sweden

by Stellan Särlefalk

Sheet Music: https://gehrmans.se/en/products/xx10993-chaconne-variations

‍

These Chaconne Variations are inspired by a 4-bar harmonic sequence and a few
melodic fragments from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne in D-minor BWV 1004.
My general idea was to create increasingly virtuosic variations within this 4 bar
format colored by contemporary harmony. However, unlike Bach’s masterpiece
with 32 variations, I yearned for harmonic release much sooner so the gradual
buildup lands after 5 variations in a contrasting A-major section with harmonies
reminiscent of Piazzolla and Lord of the Rings. An ambiguous harmonic resolution
on a single note A leads back to 5 more increasingly virtuosic variations and an
embellished release in A-major. The process repeats again but now it builds into
a fiery cadenza that leads us back to the a-minor theme followed by a jubilant
A-major section and a melancholy epilogue that concludes the piece with a single
lonely A fading into silence.

https://gehrmans.se/en/products/xx10993-chaconne-variations

‍