Yehudi Menuhin described the Ciaccona from the D minor violin partita (BWV 1004) as ‘the greatest structure for solo violin that exists’. His praise is amplified in the numerous keyboard versions that have come down to us. These include arrangements for solo piano by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann and Ferruccio Busoni, and other versions have appeared for one hand, piano duet and, more recently, for four hands and feet at the same organ (Lyrebird Music, LBMP–038). Remarkably, few versions have been published for the harpsichord, which Pieter-Jan Belder addresses in this astonishing arrangement, which he first recorded on his CD Basso Ostinato: Passacaglias and Chaconnes (Brilliant Classics 95656). Belder’s version is here provided twice, allowing performers a choice of using basso continuo or fully realised passages for the chaconne’s highly rhetorical arpeggiated sections.
Pieter-Jan Belder studied recorder with Ricardo Kanji at the Royal Conservatorium of The Hague and harpsichord with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatorium. Since graduating from both schools, Belder has undertaken a flourishing career as a harpsichordist, clavichordist, organist, forte-pianist and recorder player, appearing at numerous international festivals in the Netherlands and abroad. He has also been awarded prizes at the Hamburg NDR Music Prize and the Leipzig Bach harpsichord competitions In 2007, Belder completed a well-received integral recording of the Scarlatti keyboard sonatas, part of a steadily growing catalogue of CD recordings consisting of Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier (2009), the complete harpsichord works by Rameau (2009) and Soler (2011), and the Kenner und Liebhaber series by C.P.E. Bach. (2012). Recently, Brilliant Classics released the first-ever integral recording of the famous The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (2020), a project Belder had worked on for over a decade. He is currently working on recording the harpsichord works by J.S. Bach, Daquin and newly discovered additions to the Soler cycle. Reviewers characterised Belder as ‘playing intelligibly and expressively so consistently, alternating sorrowful intensity, tenderness, wit and virtuoso dash as required’ (Diapason, 2017); ‘reliably spry, intelligently phrased, lucid and expressive’ (American Record Guide, 2023).
