An Analysis and transcription for guitar of J.S. Bach's Chaconne in D Minor

Includes bibliographical references.Includes music.Johann Sebastian Bach's Chaconne in D Minor from the Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Violin Solo is considered by many to be a monumental instrumental work and one of the finest examples of the chaconne as a form of continuous variations. An analysis of this work provides insights to the construction of a well developed set of variations. A new transcription for guitar is presented as an alternative to the transcription by Andrea Segovia. It is hoped that this transcription remains faithful to the original, not adding more than is needed, while remaining idiomatic to the guitar. This thesis is in four parts. The first part is a formal analysis of the Chaconne, variation by variation. The second part is a harmonic analysis of the Chaconne. The third part is the new transcription for guitar. The Segovia transcription is presented in the appendix for purposes of comparison. It is hoped that this analysis and transcription of Bach's Chaconne in D Minor will shed new light on the construction of this piece and reinforce its important place in the body of Baroque literature.M. Mus. (Master of Music