Podcast No. 101
Point of Departure (40.07MB)
Works for solo violin and string quartet performed by violinist Ray Chen and the Borromeo String Quartet.

•Bach: Chaconne from Partita in D minor
•Bartók: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Music is an art of variation. From the cantus firmus masses of medieval Europe to the 12-bar-blues of early 20th century America, the art of the varying and building upon a set theme has a long history.  Bach’s famous Chaconne is regarded as the apotheosis of the genre—a four-bar ground bass, repeated some 64 times with incredibly rich variation. In Bartok’s second String Quartet, the mournful first and third movements draw on intervals from Hungarian peasant music. The contrasting second movement is a driving rondo—another classic form based on a returning, repeated theme. The folk music that inspired this movement was from North Africa. Listen for the rhythmic, repetitive ostinato inspired by Arabian drumming.