Chaconne BWV 903 by J.S. Bach, edited for lever harp by Anne-Marie O'Farrell

Preface
Transcribing Bach’s D minor Chaconne BWV 1004 for Lever Harp

Introduction
The towering stature of certain compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) is well known, and among these the Chaconne in D minor, as it is popularly named, stands out. Lasting around fifteen minutes, this final movement of his second violin partita explores theme and variation form overlaid with elements of fantasia. It is woven into a single movement containing contrasting tempi and tonalities, creating a cohesive and substantial thematic discourse. It brings the listener from the declamatory to the intimate, to the brightly atmospheric, to the inwardly probing, until finally it leads to a majestic conclusion.
The ubiquity of the chaconne as a genre resonates with the prominence of theme and variation form in the canon of harp repertoire, from the famous renaissance ground, Les Folies d’Espagne, to Edward Jones’ (1752–1824) Twenty-Four Variations on a Welsh Ground , and the Variationen über der Karneval von Venedig by Wilhelm Posse (1852–1925), in addition to numerous well-known baroque passacaglias. One reason for the abundance of such pieces is the chromatically limiting nature of the harp in its various forms, whether pedal, lever, or triple strung, the latter inherently favouring white note keys. Theme and variation form partners well with such relative chromatic confinement. The chaconne form in particular features a repeated bass line, and in terms of its chromatic demands, it can resemble those of theme and variation form. Bach’s Chaconne is so varied in harmonic colour, melodic invention and instrumental timbres, that it tears apart any notions of predictability of chromatic patterns which are so characteristic of theme and variations for harp before and since.
Several transcriptions of this piece have been created for a wide variety of other instruments, including for classical guitar , mandolin , for twelve recorders , for organ , and harpsichord , to name just some. Its range of colouristic expression is such that even orchestrators Leopold Stokowski and Maksimilian Steinberg could not resist.

Source and title
The question of source manuscript for Bach’s violin partitas is considerably more straightforward than for his cello suites, for which no manuscript in Bach’s own hand is extant. My transcription is based on the composer’s manuscript dated 1720 and housed in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin . While the work is popularly referred to as ‘Chaconne’, Bach in fact used the Italian title, Ciaccona for his Partia Seconda a Violino solo BWV 1004, in his collection entitled Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso Accompagnato.
Considerations and parameters in transcription
This preface outlines the significant questions which arise in the process of transcription. Decisions are required concerning the choice of key; dealing with the absent bass register of the original; and approaches to the idiomatic violin writing, for example, sustained sound, perpetual motion and bariolage. In addition to these, there are the expected considerations relating to harp levering and notation. Much has been written about J.S. Bach’s solo instrumental writing and specifically on this piece and so it is unnecessary to duplicate such work here. Equally, many fine recordings of the original version and of transcriptions are available , and substantial treatises providing harmonic and thematic analysis can also be found .

Suitability for lever harp
The lever harp semitone mechanism makes it particularly suitable for transcriptions of renaissance and baroque music, in which key changes take place frequently in just one register, rather than simultaneously across several octaves. Since the texture of solo violin music is comparatively light, it is possible for entire passages to be played by the right hand alone, while the left hand changes levers:
Example 1. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 38–40:

This example highlights the advantage of the lever harp over the pedal harp: the material bypasses the challenge for pedal harpists of damping resonating bass strings during pedal changes, since the pedal mechanism alters one note in every octave, while the lever alters only one string.
Issues of resonance, sustain and arpeggiation are important considerations; these arise especially in the long chordal section of bars 89–121. Here is the original notation of the first few bars:
Example 2. Bach, Chaconne, bars 89–91 as notated for violin:

It is normally played on the violin as follows:
Example 3. Bach, Chaconne, bars 89–91, execution on violin:

This voicing on violin is not possible to sustain on the lever harp due to the many lever changes required later in the same passage. As part of the transcription process, I explored use of bisbigliando but, as with attempts to maintain the original violin demisemiquaver voicing, the left hand was not sufficiently available for subsequent lever changing.
The challenge with the approaches shown above is maintaining consistency of tone colour and momentum throughout the entire 32-bar section, while also handling the following extent of chromaticism later in the same passage shown here:
Example 4. Bach Chaconne, bars 109–114:

Having explored the application of several different techniques to this passage, I believe the best solution is to make extensive use of left hand harmonics in bars 89–91 and following:
Example 5. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 89–91:

The numerous left-hand harmonics help to fill chords by duplication of notes rather than adding pitches, thus creating an attractive but subtle increase in resonance. Furthermore, the freedom to choose one’s own dynamics is most complementary to the necessary arpeggiation in the longer chordal passage beginning at bar 89. The result is an adjustment of character from conventional interpretations on violin, but it nonetheless succeeds, given the chromatic limitations of the lever harp.
While I find the timbral response of gut strings satisfying in its range of expression, the Chaconne can also be very successfully realised on synthetically strung lever harps. The decision to transcribe the piece for lever harp was confirmed by the current wide availability of generally good semitone levers, almost any of which enable the necessary chromaticism without compromise, albeit with slightly varying levels of ease.

Choice of key
A transcription by its very nature is a transferral from an existing to a new instrumental context; a piece which sounds at home in one key on a particular instrument may be unflatteringly presented in the same key on a different instrument. It is usually with reluctance that I change the key from the original when creating a transcription, as the composer’s choice of key is deliberate: aspects of colour and character may be compromised or lost in an alteration of key. When changing a key is unavoidable, keeping the interval between old and new keys as small as possible helps to retain more of the character and colour of the original.
The first compromise of retaining the original key of D minor on lever harp, would be the slight reduction in resonance, due to there being three or four levers in every octave engaged. Resonance would be further reduced during the passages in D major, when six out of every seven levers would be engaged.
There is also the question of possible thinness of tone at the top of the harp in high florid passages in which the violin sounds extremely brilliant and bright.
Example 6. Bach, Chaconne, bars 86–87:

A solution is to transpose the piece down a tone to C minor, creating more open strings, and greater body in the tone during the very high passages. Furthermore, slightly more of the mid-register of the harp would be heard.
Register and Harmonic Voicing
Having settled on the resonant key of C minor on the lever harp, the problem of confinement to the upper register and consequent lack of resonance remained. Early in the process I had decided that this piece of work was to be a transcription and not an arrangement, ruling out the addition of pitches to the existing and finely balanced chordal voicings of Bach’s original. It seemed therefore that the best way of increasing resonance was to double many of the existing pitches with left hand harmonics, as shown in Example 5 above. The result is more than simply doubling or replicating, but rather the addition of a completely new timbre, still without actual bass pitches but rich in resonance and overtones. This is extremely beneficial to the creation of a distinctive timbre to highlight the shape of the bass line in bars 93-96.
Example 7. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 93–96:

Other solutions to the problem of the absence of a low register have been found in settings for other instruments which are arrangements rather than transcriptions. These feature liberal addition of bass notes, filling out of chordal voicing, and extending the original registers of the piece to exploit, for example, the lower half of the piano in arrangements for that instrument , or of the pedal harp arrangements by American composer and harpist, Dewey Owens (1925–2006) and UK harpist Skaila Kanga . A more literal approach would involve omitting pitches beneath the lowest open G of the violin, but making no use of almost half of the harp’s range would be an unsatisfying prospect for a player.
In transcribing the work for lever harp, I could see no compelling reason to alter the given registers or to thicken the harmonic texture, since the lever harp itself is an instrument beautifully characterised by a lightness and clarity of timbre. The voicing of Bach’s original sits beautifully on lever harp:
Example 8. Bach, Chaconne, bars 8–10:


Inherent differences of instrumental character between violin and harp
The violin yields rich possibilities of distinctive colour including stylistic repetition of notes and bariolage between strings. Repeated notes on the harp, however, and in classical style at least, are much less idiomatic. One response to Bach’s arpeggio marking in the score is the arpeggiando combined with left hand harmonics as shown in Example 5 above. A different use of repeated notes arises later in the central major key section, in which the repeated notes this time are semiquavers rather than demisemiquavers:
Example 9. Bach, Chaconne, bars 171–174:

Use of harmonics on the harp in this passage creates a resonant result which suitably reflects the accumulating timbres of original.
Example 10. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 171–174:

One challenge is representing the inherent sustain in the timbre of the violin, since on the harp, this is difficult, if not impossible to replicate. The harpist is required to judge phrasing and speed with sensitivity to the fading sound of plucked rather than bowed strings in passages such as this:
Example 11. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 133–137:

On the other hand, a highly idiomatic feature for harp is the arpeggiated material shown in Example 12 below.
Example 12. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 156–161:


Notation of thematic and melodic elements
I have endeavoured to adhere within reason to Bach’s own notation of voices and rhythmic duration. The benefit of illustrating the contrapuntal voices exactly as he has written enables the harpist to enunciate different lines more clearly, and to be aware of the violin’s four open strings as the basis of the original layout. This is why, for example, three-note chords are not filled out, even though it would be easy to do so on the harp. By retaining the linear voicing exactly as Bach wrote it, more of the original character of the music is retained. The following chordal passage illustrates a series of four-note chords moving to three-note chords, where it is evident that from bar 118 onwards it would no longer be possible for the violin to include four pitches in these chords:
Example 13. Bach, Chaconne, bars 119–120:

Example 14. O’Farrell, transcription of Bach Chaconne, bars 117–120:

Considerations of levering
In much of the Chaconne, lever changes are straightforward, if numerous. For the most part, they do not require ground-breaking techniques, and they are possible to execute on most levers in current use. It can be advantageous for the player to examine the possibility of changing levers in groups for ease of movement, as well as for convenience of memorising (see Example 1). 
It is possible to reduce the number of lever changes by using a harmonic, as shown here in the D flat harmonic at the end of bar 43 preventing disruption of the D natural at the beginning of the following bar:
Example 15. O’Farrell, transcription of Chaconne, bars 42–44:

All the lever changes in this piece are possible on most current designs available, but they may require more individual lever changes in places where simultaneous lever changes are not possible. No right-hand levering is required.
This edition features lever charts at regular intervals for ease of rehearsal. An extra stave is used for lever changes to enhance the layout of the score, and to distinguish between notes to be played and lever instructions. Lever changes are notated in the clef in which they occur.

Dynamics and Ornamentation, and Instrumental Colour
All dynamic indications are editorial suggestions, as are chordal arpeggiations. Suggestions of ornaments are given at cadential and other points where ornamentation is usual in baroque performance practice. These are normally played on the beat and begin on the upper note. For variation of instrumental colour, près de la table is suggested in places to highlight linear conversation between voices and registers. In more intricate passages fingering is offered as a suggestion. Damping of specific pitches is shown with a line from the pitch to the rhythmic point where that note is to be damped.

Conclusion
My process of transcription documented here is borne of my continuing search for substantial and canonic recital repertoire for lever harp. This is a search for pieces which not only contain thematic discourse, harmonic interest and colour, but which also demonstrate larger structures creating more satisfying interpretative challenges. This Chaconne is therefore in some respects an obvious choice. Its structural scale and inherent contrast of movements, together with vibrant textural contrasts throughout has made its transcription for lever harp a most rewarding endeavour, which I hope will lead members of the harp community to greater enjoyment of this magnificent work.
Dr Anne-Marie O’Farrell, September 2025

A recording of Anne-Marie O’Farrell’s transcription of the Chaconne is recorded on her album Embrace: New Directions for Irish Harp (2021) and can be listened to here: https://annemarieofarrell.bandcamp.com/album/embrace-new-directions-for-irish-harp. An earlier version of this preface first appeared in the Harp Ireland online journal, Harp Perspectives in March 2022.