The Partita No. 3 in E major BWV 1006 by Johann Sebastian Bach for solo violin is the last work in the set of Six Sonatas and Partitas. It consists of the following movements:
- Preludio
- Loure
- Gavotte en Rondeau
- Menuets (I and II)
- Bourrée
- Gigue
It takes approximately 20 minutes to perform.
The entire partita was transcribed by Bach cataloged as BWV 1006a. The organist Wilhelm Tappert claimed in 1900 that this arrangement was for lute solo, but present research indicates that it was for an unspecified instrument.
The most commonly found recordings are usually of the Preludio. The Preludio demands advanced bowing technique and consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes). The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for obbligato organ, oboes, trumpets and strings in the opening sinfonia of the cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, in D major, and was used as an introduction to the second part of the cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a.
The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is famously included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs.
In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN 111/1).