Analyzing Difference in Recordings of Bach’s Violin Solos with a Lead from Gilles Deleuze

Through a case study of recordings of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, I argue that enlisting Deleuzian concepts when analyzing multiple performances of the same piece is useful for the exploration of individual differences and practices of performance. Such analysis reveals a continuously shifting-transforming performance style and provides a rich tapestry of diversity within and across nominally agreed upon stylistic trends and characteristics such as Romantic-modernist, Classical-modernist, or historically informed.