Apart from concertos which came to be seen as orchestral pieces, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote concertos for unaccompanied harpsichord, such as the Italian Concerto. Comparably, the original version of BWV 1061, a concerto for two harpsichords, lacks ripieno strings. The largest group of Bach's concertos for an unaccompanied harpsichord are transcriptions of concertos by other composers.
Transcriptions
In his Weimar period, Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed Italian and Italianate concertos. Most, if not all, of the concerto transcriptions for unaccompanied harpsichord were realised from July 1713 to July 1714. Most of these transcriptions were based on concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Other models for the transcriptions included concertos by Alessandro Marcello, Benedetto Marcello, Georg Philipp Telemann and Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar.[1][2][3][4][5]
| BWV | Key | Model |
|---|---|---|
| 592a | G major | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Violin Concerto in G major; BWV 592 |
| 972 | D major | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 9: Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230; BWV 972a |
| 972a | D major | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 9: Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230 |
| 973 | G major | Vivaldi, RV 299: Violin Concerto in G major (published as Op. 7 No. 8) |
| 974 | D minor | Marcello, A.: Oboe Concerto in D minor[6] |
| 975 | G minor | Vivaldi, RV 316 (variant RV 316a, Violin Concerto in G minor, published as Op. 4 No. 6) |
| 976 | C major | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 12: Violin Concerto in E major, RV 265 |
| 977 | C major | |
| 978 | F major | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 3: Violin Concerto in G major, RV 310 |
| 979 | B minor | Vivaldi, RV 813: Violin Concerto in D minor (formerly RV Anh. 10 attributed to Torelli)[7][8] |
| 980 | G major | Vivaldi, RV 383: Violin Concerto in B-flat major, (variant RV 383a published as Op. 4 No. 1) |
| 981 | C minor | Marcello, B.: Concerto Op. 1 No. 2 |
| 982 | B♭ major | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 |
| 983 | G minor | |
| 984 | C major | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Violin Concerto in C major and possibly BWV 595 |
| 985 | G minor | Telemann: Violin Concerto in G minor, TWV 51:g1 |
| 986 | G major | |
| 987 | D minor | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Concerto Op. 1 No. 4 |
Concerto in G major, BWV 592a
After Violin Concerto in G major by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, and organ version BWV 592
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Grave
- Presto
Concerto in D major, BWV 972
After Violin Concerto in D major Op. 3 No. 9 (RV 230) by Antonio Vivaldi and early version BWV 972a
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Larghetto
- Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 973
After Violin Concerto in G major, RV 299, by Antonio Vivaldi (later version published as Op. 7 No. 8)
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Largo
- Allegro
Concerto in D minor, BWV 974
After Oboe Concerto in D minor by Alessandro Marcello[6]
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Presto
Concerto in G minor, BWV 975
After Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 316, by Antonio Vivaldi (variant RV 316a, published as Op. 4 No. 6)
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Largo
- Giga Presto
Concerto in C major, BWV 976
After Violin Concerto in E major Op. 3 No. 12 (RV 265) by Antonio Vivaldi
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Largo
- Allegro
Concerto in C major, BWV 977
After an unidentified model
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Giga
Concerto in F major, BWV 978
After Violin Concerto in G major Op. 3 No. 3 (RV 310) by Antonio Vivaldi
Movements:
- Allegro
- Largo
- Allegro
Concerto in B minor, BWV 979
After Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 813, by Antonio Vivaldi (formerly RV Anh. 10 attributed to Torelli)[7][8]
Movements:
- Allegro – Adagio
- Allegro
- Andante
- Adagio
- Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 980
After Violin Concerto in B-flat minor, RV 383 (variant RV 383a published as Op. 4 No. 1)
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Largo
- Allegro
Concerto in C minor, BWV 981
After Violin Concerto in C minor Op. 1 No. 2 by Benedetto Marcello
Movements:
- Adagio
- Vivace
- [no tempo indication]
- Prestissimo
Concerto in B-flat major, BWV 982
After Violin Concerto in B-flat major Op. 1 No. 1 by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Allegro
Concerto in G minor, BWV 983
After an unidentified model
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Allegro
Concerto in C major, BWV 984
After Violin Concerto in C major and/or BWV 595
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio e affettoso
- Allegro assai
Concerto in G minor, BWV 985
After Violin Concerto in G minor, TWV 51:g1 by Georg Philipp Telemann
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 986
After an unidentified model
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Adagio
- Allegro
Concerto in D minor, BWV 987
After Concerto Op. 1 No. 4 by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar
Movements:
- [no tempo indication]
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Vivace
Original compositions
Bach composed unaccompanied keyboard concertos for one and two harpsichords.[2][9]
Italian Concerto included in Clavier-Übung II
Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971, was published in 1735, as first of two compositions included in Clavier-Übung II. An early version of the concerto's first movement survives in an 18th-century copy.[10]
Early version of Concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061
BWV 1061a, a concerto for two harpsichords without accompaniment, is Bach's original version of the Concerto for two harpsichords and strings, BWV 1061.[11]
Doubtful works
Several concertos for unaccompanied harpsichord are listed as doubtful in Anhang II of the 1998 edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis:[12]
- BWV 909 – Concerto and Fugue in C minor
- BWV Anh. 151 – Concerto in C major
- BWV Anh. 152 – Concerto in G major
References
- ^ Jones 2007, pp. 140–153
- ^ a b Boyd 2006, pp. 80–83
- ^ Williams 2003, pp. 201–224
- ^ Schulenberg 2013, pp. 117–139 and footnotes pp. 461–3
- ^ Butler 2011
- ^ a b D935 in Selfridge-Field 1990
- ^ a b Talbot 2011, pp. 28–29 and p. 54
- ^ a b Schulenberg 2016
- ^ Breig 1997, p. 131
- ^ Beißwenger 2006
- ^ Bach Digital Work 01247
- ^ Schmieder, Wolfgang, Alfred Dürr, and Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.). 1998. Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe (BWV2a). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 978-3765102493, pp. 459–466 Template:Link language
Sources
- Kirsten Beißwenger. "An early version of the first movement of the Italian Concerto BWV 971 from the Scholz collection?" pp. 1–19 in Bach Studies 2 edited by Daniel R. Melamed. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780521028912
- Malcolm Boyd. Bach. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195307719
- Werner Breig, translated by Steward Spencer. "The instrumental music", pp. 123–135, and "Composition as arrangement and adaptation", pp. 154–170, in The Cambridge Companion to Bach, edited by John Butt. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780521587808
- H. Joseph Butler. "Emulation and Inspiration: J. S. Bach’s Transcriptions from Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico" in The Diapason, August 2011.
- Richard D. P. Jones. "The keyboard works: Bach as teacher and virtuoso", pp. 136–153 in The Cambridge Companion to Bach, edited by John Butt. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780521587808
- Richard D. P. Jones. The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach: Music to Delight the Spirit, Volume I: 1695-1717. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 9780198164401
- Richard D. P. Jones. The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach: Music to Delight the Spirit, Volume II: 1717-1750. Oxford University Press, 2013 ISBN 9780191503849
- David Schulenberg. The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach. Routledge, 2013. ISBN 9781136091469
- David Schulenberg. "Updates for The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach" at faculty
.wagner .edu /david-schulenberg /, 10 August 2016 (retrieved 9 December 2016) - Eleanor Selfridge-Field. The Music of Benedetto and Alessandro Marcello: A Thematic Catalogue with Commentary on the Composers, Repertory, and Sources. Oxford University Press/Clarendon Press, 1990. ISBN 9780193161269
- Michael Talbot. The Vivaldi Compendium. Boydell Press, 2011. ISBN 9781843836704
- Peter Williams. Bach: A Musical Biography. Cambridge University Press, 2016. ISBN 9781107139251
- Christoph Wolff. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton, 2001. ISBN 9780393322569
Further reading
- Sarah Elizabeth Hanks. The German Unaccompanied Keyboard Concerto in the Early 18th Century: Including Works of Walther, Bach, and Their Contemporaries. University of Iowa, 1972 (dissertation).
- Karl Heller. "Zur Stellung des Concerto C-Dur für zwei Cembali BWV 1061 in Bachs Konzert-Œuvre", pp. 241–251 in Bericht über die Wissenschaftliche Konferenz zum V. Internationalen Bachfest der DDR in Verbindung mit dem 60. Bachfest der Neuen Bach-Gesellschaft (1985), edited by Winfried Hoffmann and Armin Schneiderheinze. Leipzig, 1988. Template:Link language
Manuscripts
- 25448 MSM at Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles (RISM 702002232): Fascicles 3 (BWV 972a) and 4 (BWV 981) at Bach Digital website
- D-DS Mus. ms. 66 at Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt (BWV 974; RISM 450001735; D-DS Mus. ms. 66 at Bach Digital website)
- D-LEb Peters Ms. 8 at Stadtbibliothek Leipzig/Bach Archive: Fascicles 14 (BWV 971), 28 (BWV 984) and 29 (BWV 981) at Bach Digital website
- D-LEm Poel. mus. Ms. 29 at Stadtbibliothek Leipzig (BWV 592a, 973 and 983–4; D-LEm Poel. mus. Ms. 29 at Bach Digital website)
- Mus.ms. Bach P 280 at Berlin State Library (BWV 592 and 973–982; RISM 467300717; D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 280 at Bach Digital website)
- Mus.ms. Bach P 801 (28) at Berlin State Library ("Concerto di Marcello", BWV 981; RISM 467300247; D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 801, Fascicle 28 at Bach Digital website)
- Mus.ms. Bach P 804 at Berlin State Library (RISM 467300254): Fascicles 4 (BWV 974), 15 (BWV 976), 28 (BWV 985), 34 (BWV 987), 35 (BWV 983), 46 (BWV 986), 52 (BWV 984), 54 (BWV 973), 55 (BWV 972) and 56 (BWV 977) at Bach Digital website
- Mus.ms. Bach St 139, Fascicle 1 at Berlin State Library (autograph parts of BWV 1061a; D-B Mus. ms. Bach St 139, Faszikel 1 at Bach Digital website)
External links
- At IMSLP website:
- BWV 592a: Violin Concerto in G major (Johann Ernst Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar)
- Italienisches Konzert, BWV 971 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)
- 16 Konzerte nach verschiedenen Meistern, BWV 972–987 (Bach, Johann Sebastian), Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230 (Vivaldi, Antonio), Violin Concerto in G major, RV 299 (Vivaldi, Antonio), Oboe Concerto in D minor, S.Z799 (Marcello, Alessandro), Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 316a (Vivaldi, Antonio), Violin Concerto in E major, RV 265 (Vivaldi, Antonio), Violin Concerto in G major, RV 310 (Vivaldi, Antonio), Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 383a (Vivaldi, Antonio), Violin Concerto in C major (Johann Ernst Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar) and Violin Concerto, TWV 51:g1 (Telemann, Georg Philipp)
- 12 Concerti Grossi, Op.1 (Marcello, Benedetto), L'estro armonico, Op.3 (Vivaldi, Antonio), La stravaganza, Op.4 (Vivaldi, Antonio), 12 Concerti, Op.7 (Vivaldi, Antonio) and 12 Concerti a 5 (Various)
- Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C major, BWV 1061 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)