This Hybrid SACD presents the multi-award-winning saxophone soloist Raaf Hekkema performing his own arrangements of J.S.Bach’s Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1002, BWV 1004, and BWV 1006. Raaf Hekkema is a founder member of the highly-acclaimed Calefax Reed Quintet.

Raaf Hekkema is known for his versatility as a saxophone soloist, mainly performing his own arrangements of works by other composers. He has appeared with numerous orchestras and has given many international masterclasses. The solo CD 'Paganini Caprices for Saxophone' released on MDG in 2006 earned him the German Echo Klassik “Instrumentalist of the Year” title. Hekkema is co-founder of the Calefax Reed Quintet. Thanks to his long-standing collaboration with the members of Calefax, all of whom studied with prominent wind players from the Concertgebouw Orchestra, his playing has taken on a musical character unlike any other saxophonist working today.

J.S. Bach started work on his Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin around 1703 while at Weimar, and the set was completed by 1720 when Bach was a Kapellmeister in Köthen. The set was completed by 1720 but was only published in 1802. Even after publication, these works were largely ignored until the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim started performing them a couple of centuries later. Today Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are an essential part of the violin repertoire and are frequently performed and recorded in different arrangements.