With my younger son, who is now 11, now in his fifth year of violin, I have begun to enjoy something of the artistry of the violin. I am thankful he has a good ear and a healthy love for good music. As many would attest, hearing a beginner practice this instrument is a purgatory of its own unique kind; however, hearing a master perform it is nearly heaven on earth. Indeed, master violinist Arnold Steinhardt, though a non-practicing Jew, commenting on his 2006 recording of the tremendously difficult Bach Chaconne, noted something divine about it:
“I decided to put past considerations aside for the moment and try to look at the bigger picture. The Chaconne was divided into three large sections. The dark and brooding outer sections flanked a hymnlike inner one that evoked peace, gratitude, and optimism. Was it far-fetched to think that Bach, a devout Christian, might have offered the Chaconne as an expression of the Holy Trinity, its bedrock spiritual principle? The first section, in D minor, would represent the Father; the next, in D major, the Son; and the final section, in D minor, the Holy Spirit. This line of thought intrigued me, even though I was on shaky footing as a secular Jew with only the flimsiest knowledge of Christianity. The more I looked, however, the more “threes” I found. The Chaconne’s basic building block was a three-beat bar, the initial theme appeared three times — at the beginning, the middle, and the end — and then there were those evocative three-note groups that appeared over and over again. Was the Chaconne some kind of message in a bottle destined for (dare I think it?) God?” from Violin Dreams, by Arnold Steinhardt (Houghton Mifflin).
You can read more about this and hear two of Steinhardt’s performances of it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6888973.
From what I have read of the robust Christian life of its composer, the Chaconne might be more a message in a bottle from God to us through His servant.
