Moore Plays Bach at Annisquam Village Church

Violinist Scott Moore returns to the Annisquam Village Church for an afternoon of solo Bach. “The two works on this program are both epic and extraordinary," Moore writes. "With these mind-bending, soul-searching, tightrope-walking feats of inspiration, Bach invites us to savor both joy and sorrow, to look toward heaven, to celebrate the beauty of nature, to confront the mystery of death, to stoke the fire of intellect, to map the universe, to love, to embrace the present moment. All of this without a single word, across 300 years, with just four strings and some bits of wood and horsehair."

Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin were published in 1720. Of these, the D minor Partita No. 2 is perhaps the most notorious, with its iconic closing Chaconne, an expansive movement of some fifteen minutes. No less a musician than Johannes Brahms, in a letter to Clara Schumann, described the piece: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.”

The C major Sonata No. 3 comes next in the set, and is perhaps even more monumental. An ever-building opening Adagio gives way to the longest fugue Bach ever composed for any instrument, a massive structure woven of luminous three- and four-part counterpoint. This grandeur is offset by the intimate simplicity of the song-like third movement, tender and heartfelt; and the concluding Allegro assai is an exhilarating moto perpetuo of pure joy.

"This music is like nothing else in the world," writes Moore. "I've been playing these pieces for more than two decades, and every time, they feel utterly fresh to me. There is nowhere to hide, no room for ego or fear or self-congratulation, and no way to approach them other than to be fully present and vulnerable. This, they profoundly reward. I consider them a treasure. To explore them alone is amazing, but doing so with an audience is always truly special."

Annisquam Village Church . 820 Washington Street . Gloucester MA 01930

$40, suggested donation