"A triumph of spirit over matter". This statement by Bach's biographer Philipp Spitta to sum up the Ciaconna in Partita No.2 in D minor is in fact true of the entire Sei solo cycle. The sublimity and originality of these compositions can never be emphasised enough. Johann Sebastian Bach extravagantly draws on his rich fund of musical idiom to create harmonies and tone colours that reveal his masterstroke: by applying rigidly entrenched rules he gives free rein to the creative spirit. The rules of "pure composition", which until this cycle were applied only in large-scale polyphonic works for ensembles and in choral and keyboard works, are now being imposed by Bach on the little four-stringed violin in an uncompromising and, at times, awe-inspiring manner. Did I become a violinist to play Bach's solo works or do I play Bach's solo works in order to be a violinist? All I can say for sure is that my inner urge to play and master these pieces has been my motivation for many years, an ambition that continues to push me to the limits and beyond. The Sei solo works are but a small part of Johann Sebastian Bach's phenomenal oeuvre. Yet, their performance is the most important part of my violin-playing career and the tribute to my many hours of practice.

Midori Seiler has established a multifaceted career on the concert stage, appearing as soloist, chamber player, and concertmistress with several major orchestras. She is one of the busier violinists in Europe, not simply because her highly successful concert activity has also led her into the recording studio, but owing to her teaching duties at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar and her schedule of master classes at various European locations.

Not to be confused with Japanese-American violinist Midori Goto, who generally uses just her first name, Seiler typically performs on period instruments and has achieved acclaim for her incisive interpretations of Baroque repertory, particularly works by JS Bach and Vivaldi. But she has also received high praise for her Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and for her solo work in the Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade. Midori Seiler was born to a Japanese mother and Bavarian father in Osaka, Japan in 1969. Her parents, talented pianists both, raised her in Salzburg. Seiler's first advanced studies were in Salzburg with Helmut Zehetmair and Sandor Vegh. She had later studies with Adelina Oprean at the Basel Conservatory of Music, and with Thomas Hengelbrock at the Schola Cantorum, also in Basel. While studying in Basel Seiler was concertmistress in the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra. She had further studies with David Takeno (London) and Eberhard Feltz (Berlin). From 1991, Seiler has served as a member of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, becoming the ensemble's concertmistress in 2000, a post she still holds. In 2005 Seiler appeared in Carnegie Hall in an acclaimed performance of the JS Bach Concerto for two violins, with violinist Georg Kallweit, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, part of the ensemble's first tour of the US. From 2010, Seiler has served as professor of Baroque violin and viola at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar. Among her most important recordings is the highly acclaimed 2011 Berlin Classics CD of the Bach Partitas for violin solo, No.1, No.2, and No.3.