Westhoff: Sei Partite À Violino

Gunar Letzbor (violin) Arcana A354***

The solo violin suites of Johann Paul von Westhoff (1656-1705), published in 1696, were the first of their kind. These fascinating and still little-known precursors of the solo violin output of Bach are a bit too severe and earnest for their own good. They often strive for effect by introducing too much double-stopping.

It’s as if Westhoff, who was renowned as a violinist, was determined to demonstrate how completely he had mastered the technical problems involved, and wanted to show how playing on two strings or more at once had to be better than playing on just one. Unfortunately, that’s not actually the case, as Bach later demonstrates. Bach’s solo violin works may well be more difficult, but they’re also actually a lot more sparing of technical display for its own sake. See arcana.eu