In this post, I'll rank the 6 solo Bach sonatas and partitas in order of difficulty.

The six solo Bach Sonatas and Partitas are pieces that every serious violinist must play because they are almost always asked for auditions for schools and orchestras. These pieces have several characteristics that make them extremely difficult. First, they are works for solo violin, so unlike concertos or sonatas, there is really nowhere to hide. Second, many movements are comprised of multiple series of double and triple stops, many of which have perfect intervals in them, which makes intonation very challenging. Third, performers must deeply understand the harmonic structure of the work, which will inform their phrasing.

#6: Partita No. 3 in E Major

This Partita has six movements, but the most difficult are the first two: the Preludio and Loure. The Preludio is pretty long-about four pages- and is comprised of a steady stream of running 16th notes. There is also a very famous, but challenging, sequence of string crossings. The Loure's difficulty comes from its double stops. The remaining movements are all very short and relatively simple, especially in comparison to the first two. The key of E Major is also very challenging for intonation, as it is very easy to play sharp.

#5: Partita No. 1 in B Minor

When compared to the rest of the works, this Partita is not too double stop heavy, which makes it on the easier side. The structure of this Partita is unique-each movement comes with a "double", which means that instead of learning 1 movement, you would have to learn 2, instead of learning 2 movements, you would have to learn 4, and so on.

#4: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor

Each of the three sonatas in this collection follow this pattern: a slow first movement, a fugue second movement, a slow third movement, and a fast fourth movement. The first movement of this Sonata is incredibly beautiful, but the rhythm and timing can be quite challenging. This is Bach's example of written out ornamentation, which was very common in the Baroque Era. The fugue of this Sonata is arguably the "easiest" because it is shortest (only 3 pages)-but it's definitely not easy! The third movement is a beautiful Sicilienne and the final movement, the Gigue isn't too technically difficult. Fun fact-I played this entire sonata for my senior recital in high school

#3: Partita No. 2 in D Minor

If the first four movements of this piece were looked at by themselves, this Partita would have been ranked #5 on the list. The Allemande is a popular choice for first movements of solo Bach because the notes are straightforward and there's only 2 double stops. The Courrente does go quite fast but isn't too technically difficult. The Sarabande does have some tricky double stops which can be hard for the intonation, and the Gigue's challenge is the speed. However, the last movement (my all time favorite Bach movement), the Chaconne is extremely difficult, thus moving this to #3 on the list. The Chaconne is long-ranging from about 12-17 pages depending on the edition, and taking about 13-17 minutes to perform. I also personally found the Chaconne very difficult for the memory, as there are lots of places where it's easy to get turned around.

#2 Sonata No. 2 in A Minor

This piece follows the same structure as Sonata No. 1. It starts with a slow, lyrical first movement with complicated rhythms and timing issues, followed by a fugue, which is significantly longer than Sonata No. 1. The third movement, the Andante, is my second favorite movement of Solo Bach, but it is very difficult to play. There are two voices sounding at all times-the bottom is pulsing and the top should be played smoothly. This requires a ton of bow control! The last movement is fast and joyful, but nothing in comparison technically to the first three.

#1 Sonata No. 3 in C Major

The Fugue from this Sonata is the most difficult movement of solo Bach in my opinion, which is why this piece is ranked first. If we took the fugue out of the piece and were just left with the Adagio, Largo, and Allegro Assai, it would probably be number 4 or 5 on the list. The double stops in the Fugue are incredibly difficult, and it is the longest Fugue of the set.

Do you agree or disagree with my rankings? What are your favorite movements of Solo Bach? Leave a comment and let me know!