{"id":8404,"date":"2026-03-09T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/?p=8404"},"modified":"2026-03-06T11:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:52:26","slug":"just-a-bit-of-passacaglia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2026\/03\/09\/just-a-bit-of-passacaglia\/","title":{"rendered":"Just a bit of Passacaglia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last fall, I attended a concert in the Dachau Palace. Performed amongst other pieces was Mozart\u2019s Sinfonia concertante<\/em> in E-flat major for violin, viola, and orchestra, K. 364 (320d).\u00a0 The two young solo string players were delightfully good, and it was clear that they wouldn\u2019t be allowed to leave the stage without an encore. So, they both picked up their instruments again, and the violist also took the floor to announce, casually: \u201cAs an encore, we\u2019ll play just a bit of Passacaglia<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This bit of Passacaglia<\/em> is one of the most effective pieces that a string duo can play. Originally composed for violin and viola, the version for violin and cello is no less popular. There are many recordings on YouTube, often featuring here the greatest in their field. Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, Julia Fischer and Daniel M\u00fcller-Schott, the Capu\u00e7on brothers, and others.<\/p>\n

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Passacaglia, original version, Itzhak Perlman (violin) and Pinchas Zukerman (viola), Tel Aviv 1997<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

But who actually wrote this bit of a Passacaglia<\/em>? The composer of the original version is Johan Halvorsen (1864\u20131935), although in it is also a fair amount of Handel, more on that in a moment. The version for violin and cello was subsequently arranged by the Russo-American violinist and conductor Mikhail Press.<\/p>\n

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Johan Halvorsen (1864\u20131935)<\/p><\/div>\n

Halvorsen is one of the most important Norwegian composers of the post-Edvard Grieg generation, and his complete works comprise around 170 compositions \u2013 from lieder and chamber music to three symphonies and stage works. He was one of the most renowned conductors of his time, though he first surfaced in the early phase of his career primarily as a violin virtuoso. He had earned his living with this instrument since the age of 15. As of 1884 he studied initially at the conservatory in Stockholm (there being no significant music academy in Norway at the time) and later in Leipzig with the famous Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky.<\/p>\n

In a way, Halvorsen\u2019s Passacaglia <\/em>is thus a very personal work. Together with his duo partner Karl Johannessen (viola), Halvorsen himself performed the world premiere on 9 January 1894. The piece quickly enjoyed great popularity, and even Edvard Grieg, to whom Halvorsen submitted it for appraisal, apparently nodded his head approvingly. And so, it\u2019s not surprising that the Copenhagen publisher Wilhelm Hansen was happy to publish the Passacaglia<\/em>. Halvorsen\u2019s orchestral work\u00a0Entry March of the Boyars<\/em> had already been very successful, and Hansen sensed another bestseller. He was not disappointed.<\/p>\n

When you first hear the Passacaglia<\/em>, you immediately think: That\u2019s familiar \u2013 only it\u2019s somehow different. And those who think so are quite right. Halvorsen chose the famous passacaglia from Handel\u2019s Harpsichord Suite No. 7 as the basis for his composition. The four-bar theme is taken from this work, making the recognition effect inevitable.<\/p>\n

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Four-bar passacaglia theme in Handel (above) and in Halvorsen (below),
Henle Urtext HN\u00a0336<\/a> and HN 1670<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Classifying Halvorsen\u2019s Passacaglia<\/em> as a mere arrangement would, however, be a mistake. Only the theme and the first three variations could be described as a re-instrumentation of Handel\u2019s original. But then Halvorsen increasingly distances himself from it \u2013 continuing through no fewer than 17 further variations. The music becomes more independent, denser, more virtuosic, more effective.<\/p>\n

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Passacaglia<\/em>, virtuosic finale, Henle Urtext<\/p><\/div>\n

From the eleventh variation onward, Handel\u2019s original work is barely discernible, especially since, in comparison to the model, Halvorsen introduces an important new feature: his Passacaglia<\/i> is not composed for one solo instrument, but for two equal partners, the violin and the viola. The result is a masterfully produced dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Passacaglia<\/em>, intense dialogue between the two parts, Henle Urtext<\/p><\/div>\n

But that is not the only dialogic aspect of this piece. Added here is the fact that with this work, Halvorsen transfers a Baroque theme into the 19th century, thus integrating styles and epochs into a lively network of relationships \u2013 a compositional framework originating in the Baroque period and his own personal romantic-virtuosic tonal language. Musicologist \u00d8yvin Dybsand from the University of Oslo calls this a \u201cfascinating musico-historical dialectic\u201d. He has embellished our Urtext edition with a preface that only he could write, for who else could draw on decades of intensive engagement with Halvorsen\u2019s work? It was with Dybsand, an expert on Halvorsen\u2019s biography, stylistics, and sources, at our side, that made this Urtext edition possible.<\/p>\n

Soon after the project began, the question arose as to whether in our edition the Passacaglia<\/em> should be accompanied by its sister work. In 1898, Halvorsen, riding the wave of the Passacaglia<\/em>\u2019s success, wrote a\u00a0Sarabande con Variazioni<\/em> for the same instrumentation. Again, for violin and viola, modeled again on Handel \u2013 this time on his Harpsichord Suite No. 11 (see HN 472<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Sarabande con Variazioni<\/em>, 16-bar theme, Henle Urtext<\/p><\/div>\n

Halvorsen may not have achieved here quite the Passacaglia<\/i>\u2019s conciseness in his treatment of the 16-bar theme. This is perhaps why the Sarabande<\/i> did not become as popular. But today, that only makes this piece all the more a true discovery \u2013 and in turn an extremely effective repertoire addition, allowing a duo to display immense virtuosity. That\u2019s why we at Henle Verlag have brought these two works together for the first time in an Urtext edition.<\/span><\/p>\n