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Violin Concerto in A minor (Bach)

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Violin Concerto in A minor
BWV1041
byJ. S. Bach
The first twelve bars of the third movement
Composed1717(1717)–1723
Duration15 minutes
Movements3
Instrumental
  • Violin
  • strings
  • continuo
Recordings
I. Allegro moderato (U.S. Marine Band)
II. Andante (U.S. Marine Band)
III. Allegro assai (U.S. Marine Band)

TheViolin ConcertoinA minor,BWV1041, is aviolin concertobyJohann Sebastian Bach.It shows the influence of Italian composers such as Bach's older contemporaryVivaldi.

Bach is known to have studied Vivaldi's music from around 1714 when he was working atWeimar.[1]Italian influence can be seen in keyboard music he composed around that time. However, the date of the concerto is the subject of dispute as the original score has not survived. It could have been written at any of three locations:

  • Weimar. Most scholars think it was written after Bach left Weimar in 1717 (the violinist Lina Tur Bonet, who suggests it was written there,[2]adheres to the minority position).
  • Köthen. It is "generally thought to have been composed atKöthen".[3]Bach worked at the court there in the period 1717–23 and his duties included directing a small orchestra.
  • Leipzig. It could have been written atLeipzig,as the only autograph source to survive is a set of parts Bach copied out (along withCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach,Johann Ludwig Krebs,and an unknown copyist) in Leipzigc. 1730from a now lost score or draft.[4]Christoph Wolffhas argued that the work may have been written during Bach's time as director of Leipzig'sCollegium Musicum.[4]John Butttakes a similar view, suggesting that Bach wrote it "probably soon after taking over the Leipzig Collegium Musicum in 1729".[citation needed]

Structure and analysis[edit]

The piece has three movements:

  1. Allegro moderato,inA minor,2
    4    meter;
    The opening movement is inritornelloform. This means that there is a main section that comes back in fragments in both the solo violin and orchestral parts. This 'ritornello' can be found in the first movement up until bar 24. The motifs of the theme appear in changing combinations and are separated and intensified throughout the movement.
  2. Andante,inC major,common timemeter;
    In the Andante second movement, Bach uses an insistent pattern in theostinatobass part that is repeated constantly in the movement. He focuses the variation in the harmonic relations. Butt notes that "Bach seems to have associated" the ostinato scheme "particularly with violin concertos.".
  3. Allegro assai,in A minor,9
    8    meter.
    In the final movement Bach relies onbariolagefigures to generate striking acoustic effects. The meter and rhythm are those of agigue.[5]Butt describes it as "perhaps Bach's most animated and carefree movement in the minor mode."

A typical performance of the concerto takes around 15 minutes.

Publication[edit]

The concerto was published for the first time in 1852.[6]In the 1870sWilhelm Rustedited it for publication in thefirst complete edition of Bach's works.

Instrumentations and transcriptions[edit]

TheKeyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058is an arrangement of this concerto withharpsichord.

References[edit]

  1. ^Vivaldi's influence was discussed by Bach's first biographer Forkel inJohann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work.
  2. ^"Himmelsburg [liner notes]".Glossa.Retrieved29 May2024.
  3. ^Stowell, Robin (1999). "Violin Concertos". In Boyd, Malcolm; Butt, John (eds.).J. S. Bach.Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press. p. 492.ISBN978-0-19-866208-2.
  4. ^abWolff, Christoph (1991). "Bach's Leipzig Chamber Music".Bach: essays on his life and music.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 234–237.ISBN978-0-674-05926-9.
  5. ^Robin Stowell, "Violin Concertos," inOxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach,Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 493
  6. ^"Violin concerto in A minor".Netherlands Bach Society.Retrieved31 May2024.

External links[edit]


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