Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Complete Orchestral Works Originals; Transcriptions; Reconstructions Volume 4: Harpsichord Concertos II It seems that...
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750): Complete Orchestral Works
Originals;
Transcriptions; Reconstructions
Volume 4: Harpsichord
Concertos II
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 concertos are
set about with more unanswered questions and stubborn problems than most of the
other genres in his ceuvre. In the very first catalogue of his works,
published in 1754 in the context of the obituary drawn up by Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Agricola, one entry merely mentions
"Various Concertos for 1, 2, 3 and 4 harpsichords" and concludes with
the sweeping generalisation "a large amount of other instrumental works of
all kinds and for all manner of instruments", which presumably means all
Bach's chamber music and orchestral works which were available at the time. If
one takes into consideration that, during his years as chamber musician and
later as concert-master to Duke Wilhelm Ernst and Duke Ernst August of
Saxe-Weimar (1709-1717) and above all as master of music at the court of Prince
Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen (1718-1723), Bach was responsible for many years for
the repertoire of first-class ensembles, then it is astonishing that hardly any
compositions have been proved to originate from this time, for the concertos
known today - apart from the Brandenburg Concertos - belong for the most part
to the Leipzig period (1723-1750). However, many of the lost concertos have
been preserved, at least in substance, in the concertos for one or several
harpsichords; for it seems that Bach exclusively used concertos for melody
instruments composed earlier for these works.
The Concerto in
D major BWV 1054 is based on the Violin Concerto in E major BWV 1042,
which was presumably written during Bach's term of office at the court of
Cothen. In the later version Bach changed numerous details of the solo part as
well as of the accompanying parts. The variety of motivic ideas, some of them
used for development and some for contrast, which are worked into a compact
texture and dominate above all the first movement, is conveyed to the listener
in the harpsichord transcription in a very singular way. Thus the harpsichord
version can be seen on equal terms with the violin version as a realization of
the same musical material. The analagous transcription of the A minor
Violin Concerto can be found in the Harpsichord Concerto in G minor
BWV 1058. This version also makes certain structural characteristics appear in
a new light. In listening to and comparing both versions one is led to a deeper
understanding of Bach's concept of creativity.
The Concerto in
D minor BWV 1063 for three harpsichords is an extremely individual work.
The history of its composition is completely obscure, and there are extremely
divergent hypotheses about possible works on which it could be based. According
to an older tradition, which can possibly be traced back to Bach's school or
family circles, Bach is said to have written the work for himself and his two
eldest sons, in order to give them the opportunity "to train themselves in
all manner of performance". This would suggest a date of composition
around 1730, i.e. immediately before Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach left their father's home. This information does not however, explain the
strange heterogeneity of the composition and the way the solo instrument is
treated differently in all three movements, which leads one to think of a
pastiche made up of works of different origins, as is the case with the Triple
Concerto BWV 1044. Bach displays in this work his sovereign mastery and at
the same time free treatment of the concerto form perfected by Vivaldi, which
expresses itself in the first movement in a motivically dense development which
in several places breaks down the boundaries between solo episode and
ritornello; at the entry of the last ritornello, the climax of the
movement the ritornello themes and the virtuoso figurations of the first
harpsichord are interwoven with one another. The second movement - uniquely in
Bach's concerto ceuvre - is a simple binary dance movement with varied
recapitulations, whereas the final movement displays the more frequently found
form of the concerto fugue.
The Concerto BWV 1064 - the sister work to BWV 1063 - has
likewise survived only in a version for three harpsichords and orchestra (in C
major), but today it is unanimously accepted that this is the arrangement of a
lost concerto for three violins in D major. Since the harpsichord part in this
concerto still allows the presumed original work to shine through in many
places, its reconstruction did not present unconquerable difficulties. In both
its versions the concerto is a work of extraordinary intensity and almost
symphonic dimensions. The three soloists, who in the outer movements are
allotted difficult parts which in places demand extreme virtuosity, already
come to the fore in the ritornello with an obbligato part they all play
together. In the middle movement the cantilenas of the solo instruments unfold
over a repeated bass formula in the style of an ostinato and thus create a
quiet balance to the complexity of the first movement. The third movement takes
up the character of the first movement again, whereby the fugal ritornello and
the harmonically far-reaching episodes are particularly remarkable.
Peter Wollny
Translation: Diana Loos