Partita for Violin No. 3 (Bach)

The Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006.1 (formerly 1006),[1] is the last work in Johann Sebastian Bach's set of Six Sonatas and Partitas. It consists of the following movements:

1. Preludio
2. Loure
3. Gavotte en Rondeau
4. Menuets (I and II)
5. Bourrée
6. Gigue

It takes about 20 minutes to perform.

Bach transcribed the Partita as a Suite, cataloged as BWV 1006.2 (formerly 1006a).[2] The music critic Wilhelm Tappert claimed in 1900 that this arrangement was for lute solo, but present research indicates that it was for an unspecified instrument.[3]

The most commonly found recordings are usually of the Preludio. The Preludio consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes). The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for use in two cantatas:

• the sinfonia which opens the second part of the 1729 cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a.
• the opening sinfonia, scored for obbligato organ, oboes, trumpets and strings, of the 1731 cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, in D major

The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is famously included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs.

In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN 111/1).