Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Complete Orchestral Works Originals; Transcriptions; Reconstructions Volume 3: Harpsichord Concertos I It seems that only...
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750): Complete Orchestral Works
Originals;
Transcriptions; Reconstructions
Volume 3: Harpsichord
Concertos I
It seems that only a relatively small part of Bach's orchestral ceuvre
has been preserved for posterity. Much has been speculated about the
reasons for the above-average losses in this particular field, but up till now
no really conclusive reasons have been found. The fact that so few works for
instrumental ensemble have survived particularly from the Weimar and Cothen periods,
during which the composer directed so many excellent ensembles, has led many
researchers to the hypothesis that Bach was obliged to leave the majority of
his compositions in these places when he moved on to another post - a common
custom for which much evidence can be found in many eighteenth century
documents; other considerations establish a connection with the distribution of
Bach's compositions to his heirs after his death. Whatever the case, only one
thing is certain: that at the latest with Bach's death a veil of oblivion began
to sink over his orchestral works - partly caused also by a profound change in
taste which began in the middle of the eighteenth century. Thus great effort
was necessary in the course of the Bach renaissance at the beginning of the
nineteenth century to win back these works, which by then were completely
unknown even to Bach connoisseurs, into the performance repertoire.
Today Bach's orchestral works enjoy an enduring popularity once more.
Intensive study of this repertoire, which in spite of the regrettable gaps is
in many ways incomparable, has led to the realization that only a part of the
works can be regarded as original compositions, whereas many of the concertos
in the form in which they are known today represent transcriptions of pieces
written earlier. Among the works of the first-named category are the Brandenburg
Concertos and the three Violin Concertos, among the transcriptions
are all the concertos for one to three harpsichords, which are presumed to be
based on lost works for various melody instruments. The Concerto for four
harpsichords, BWV 1065 is a special case in that Bach did not take one of
his own works as a basis but, exceptionally, a work by Antonio Vivaldi.
Comparative studies on Bach's technique of rearranging works have led again and
again to speculations about the possible form and structure of the lost works
on which the arrangements are based, and as a consequence to attempts at
reconstruction which have resulted in pieces which are stylistically convincing
and which have proved their worth in practice; within the context of this
recording these works are intended to help fill the gaps mentioned above.
The present complete recording of Bach's orchestral works illustrates
graphically the enormous musical variety and compositional quality of this
sphere of his creative work. We meet the composer for the first time around
1715 on his first pinnacle of mastery (Brandenburg Concerto No. 5) and
accompany him for approximately a quarter of a century up to the sublime works
of his maturity - the Overture BWV 1067 and the Triple Concerto BWV
1044.
Bach's cycle of seven
concertos for harpsichord with orchestral accompaniment has survived in the
form of a valuable fair copy of the score in Bach's own hand, which -in view of
the fact that most of the other original manuscripts have been lost -represents
one of the most significant sources of his instrumental ensemble music. The
more detailed circumstances of how and for what occasion this jewel was
composed have not yet been fully researched. However, on the basis of
investigation of the handwriting and the watermarks it can be established that
the score probably originated from the year 1738, or perhaps 1739. If the later
date is favoured, it could be assumed that the works were written in connection
with Bach's taking up the post of director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum
once again after a two-year break on 2nd October 1739; but the scrupulously
laid-out fair copy does not really seem to fit into the picture of the works
with the less formally organized student ensemble. It seems more plausible to
connect them with a visit of Bach in Dresden which written evidence proves took
place in May 1738, during which he was sure to have been musically active in court
circles or at private aristocratic gatherings, for example with concerts at the
home of Count Keyserlingk, who was a music-lover. But no matter where Bach
appeared in public with his harpsichord concertos, he would have succeeded in
drawing his audience's attention to his mastery as composer and virtuoso.
The cycle begins with
a piece which is unusual in every way, the Concerto in D minor BWV 1052.
The history of this work is to a great extent obscure; however, the
technical style of certain figures tells us that the original work must have
been a violin concerto of which the young Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach started
making a transcription as early as 1734. The first movement takes its
unmistakeable character from the concise unison theme of the ritornello, a
theme which in the course of the movement turns up again at regular intervals.
The solos in between are characterized by an unusually dense motivic treatment
of the accompaniment, in which hardly a bar is without a reference to the
theme. The second movement displays a similarly dense texture; the theme, also
introduced in unison at the beginning, acts as an accompaniment in ostinato
style to the elegiac and richly ornamented solo cantilena of the
harpsichord. A brilliant Finale, the mood of which is as intensive as
that of the previous movements, ends the work.
In contrast to the
gloomy D minor Concerto, the following Concerto in E major BWV 1053
displays a charming, cheerful mood. The first movement - like that of
some of the Brandenburg Concertos - is in large-scale da capo form
and thus displays similarities to an overdimensional aria. The transparent
polyphonic texture, elaborate but at the same time seeming to have been
effortlessly composed, allows every orchestral part in the accompaniment to
become the harpsichord's dialogue partner, as it were. The harpsichord part,
which is notated in detail from the first to the last bar, is so intimately
interwoven with the filigree texture of the orchestra that in one place it is also allowed
to play a single note of the ritornello theme for once. The same
principles of composition technique apply to the two movements which follow, a
tenderly restrained Siciliano in C sharp minor and a cheerful Allegro
in dance-like 3/8 time.
The Concerto in A major BWV 1055 is characterized by the
particularly cantabile quality of its solo part; for this reason it has
been generally accepted for a long time that the original work was a concerto
for oboe d'amore. In the first movement the ritornello themes clearly
take second place to the solo part, which is allowed to develop unimpeded; thus
at the beginning of the movement only sonorous broken chords are heard, between
which the solo part already draws attention to itself with material of its own
before the episode begins. The second movement, marked Alla siciliana, is
in the relative minor, as in the E major Concerto, which, apart from a short ritornello
which serves as introduction and conclusion, is dominated completely by the
quietly flowing semiquaver figurations of the harpsichord. The final movement
is in the rhythm of a fast minuet; the dance-like metre and the strict four-bar
periodic structure bring about the lovely peaceful mood of this Finale, in
spite of occasional more rapid figurations.
The Concerto BWV 1056 presents numerous problems as far as the
original work is concerned. Possibly it was originally in G minor; when Bach
put the works together into a cycle he may have decided to avoid a doubling of
this key, which also appears in BWV 1058. The form of the three movements
creates in this work an even more simple and concise effect than in the other
concertos and could therefore be interpreted as an indication that the
composition is a relatively early one. But even here essential elements of
Bach's concerto style are already clearly recognizable; among these are above
all the motivic development of the accompaniment in solo sections as well as
the integration of the soloist into an interwoven polyphonic texture,
surpassing as an aesthetic concept even the traditions of the concerto form
genre
Peter Wollny
Translation: Diana Loos