CHACONNE for 4 Violas (Transformation I) （1999）

This edition contains two works based on the Chaconne that concludes Bach’s Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004. Both are scored for four violas. I composed the first in 2000 in response to a commission from VIOLA SPACE 2000. The second dates from 2001 and was commissioned by VIOLA SPACE 2001. Both works were premiered in the Casals Hall in Tokyo by the four violists Nobuko Imai, Mazumi Tanamura, Masao Kawasaki and Junji Suganuma.
Although the two pieces are based on the same Chaconne, the earlier work is essentially a classical arrangement of Bach’s piece, in contrast to which the later work has a more contemporary orientation and, although based on Bach’s original, inhabits a sphere in between composition and arrangement. If possible I would like to see these two pieces with their different approaches being played, ideally in succession, in the same concert in order to highlight their differences. I chose the titles, Transformation I and Transformation II, of these compositions-cum-arrangements in order to focus on these differences.
The two pieces may of course be played separately on their own and not just by four violas but also by a four-part viola ensemble with several players allocated to each part.

Titles:
2000 work:
　J.S. Bach(arr. by Ichiro Nodaira): Chaconne for four violas(Transformation I)
　　 2001 work:
　Ichiro Nodaira: ‘Transformation II’ based on the Chaconne by J.S. Bach, for four violas