When playing the final note in Bach's Chaconne for solo violin, at least the way Arthur Grumiaux performed it during the 1960s (heard on a recording), it's an open D string and then a fingered D on the G string, it's not played with any vibrato on the fingered D. Is that a pretty much universal practice?
2 Answers
Well, there is no other way to play these notes on a violin. And about vibrato: In early music reception it is widely accepted that vibrato would have been used similar to some kind of ornament and not in the modern manner of a wide, continuous vibrato. So it is usually considered good practise to use vibrato sparely in baroque music.
In addition to Lazy's answer: If the question is "why is it played as a unison double-stop," that's because it's notated that way by Bach.
This is less because he necessarily wanted the sound of a double stop and more for reasons of counterpoint. The preceding chord is a double stop of an E above an A, and he wants to show them as two "voices" converging on the D.
answered Mar 4, 2022 at 15:37
-
1