Violin, Min-Young Kim
Cello, Thomas Kraines 

Commissioned by the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival 2020.

Dance Variations on a Theme by J.S.Bach (2020, rev. 2021)

I- Theme: Odd Gavotte
II- Animal Dance at a Carnival
III- Irish Step Dance
IV- Mode Swing Oberek
V- Walking on a Frozen Lake
VI- Late Autumn Waltz
VII- The Final Tango

Inspired by the theme of the Gavotte I from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite no. 6 in D Major, this piece is a set of theme and variations that consists of contrasting character dance miniatures. It is a dance suite within a (baroque) dance suite also centered around the tonality of D that extends beyond social dances. From standard ballroom to national dances of Ireland and Poland, and from little animals frolicking at a carnival to slowly tiptoeing and sliding on a frozen lake, the piece aims to depict different types of physical motions through contrasting meter, accents, tempi, and of course, dances.

Dance Variations on a Theme by J.S. Bach for violin and cello (2020-21)

Ania Vu