Keyboard concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

The harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052–1065, are concertos for harpsichord, strings and continuo by Johann Sebastian Bach. There are seven complete concertos for a single harpsichord (BWV 1052–1058), three concertos for two harpsichords (BWV 1060–1062), two concertos for three harpsichords (BWV 1063 and 1064), and one concerto for four harpsichords (BWV 1065). Two other concertos include solo harpsichord parts: the concerto BWV 1044, which has solo parts for harpsichord, violin and flute, and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, with the same scoring. In addition there is a nine-bar concerto fragment for harpsichord (BWV 1059) which adds an oboe to the strings and continuo.

Most of Bach's harpsichord concertos (with the exception of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto) are thought to be arrangements made from earlier concertos for melodic instruments probably written in Köthen. In many cases, only the harpsichord version has survived. They are among the first concertos for keyboard instrument ever written

Compositional history

The concertos for one harpsichord, BWV 1052–1059, survive in an autograph score (now in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Mus. ms. Bach P 234); based on the paper's watermarks and the handwriting, scholars have dated it to 1738 or possibly 1739. The manuscript is not a "fair copy" but a "first draft containing an extraordinary number of corrections to certain passages." Two theories have been proposed for why Bach created this manuscript. One centers on his work as director of the Collegium musicum in Leipzig, a student musical society, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1703, which often gave performances at Zimmermann's coffee house; Bach served as director from spring 1729 to summer 1737, then again from October 2, 1739 though 1740 or 1741. This theory holds that the manuscript was intended for concerts given when Bach resumed leadership of the Collegium musicum in 1739; evidence for the theory is that the manuscript remained in Leipzig. However, Peter Wollny (director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig) argues that "the carefully laid-out fair copy does not quite fit into the context of that student ensemble, which did not enjoy much in the way of formal organization." Wollny prefers an alternate theory, arguing that "it seems more plausible to link [the autograph manuscript] to the visit we know Bach made to Dresden in May 1738, in the course of which he certainly performed at court or in private aristocratic circles."

As for the concertos for multiple harpsichords, there is less doubt that these date from Bach's first period directing the Collegium musicum in Leipzig; the parts from the Concerto for four harpsichords BWV 1065 (Bach's arrangement of the Concerto for Four Violins, RV 580, by Antonio Vivaldi ), have been dated to around 1730. The first biographer of Bach, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, reported in 1802 that performance of the multiple-harpsichord concertos involved his sons C. P. E. Bach and W. F. Bach (both excellent keyboard players, and both informants to Forkel), who were living at home until 1733 and 1734, respectively, which would mean that these concertos were completed before their departure. It is possible that Johann Ludwig Krebs, who studied with Bach until 1735, also played harpsichord in the Collegium musicum.

Bach's harpsichord concertos were, until recently, often underestimated by scholars, who did not have the convenience of hearing the benefits that historically informed performance has brought to works such as these. For instance Albert Schweitzer believed "[t]he transcriptions have often been prepared with almost unbelievable cursoriness and carelessness. Either time was pressing or he was bored by the matter." Recent research has demonstrated quite the reverse to be true; he transferred solo parts to the harpsichord with typical skill and variety. Bach's interest in the harpsichord concerto form can be inferred from the fact that he arranged every suitable melody-instrument concerto as a harpsichord concerto, and while the harpsichord versions have been preserved the same is not true of the melody-instrument versions.

Concertos for single harpsichord

The works BWV 1052–1057 were intended as a set of six, shown in the manuscript in Bach's traditional manner beginning with 'J.J.' (Jesu juva, "Jesus, help") and ending with 'Finis. S. D. Gl.' (Soli Deo Gloria). Aside from the Brandenburg concertos, it is the only such collection of concertos in Bach's oeuvre, and it is the only set of concertos from his Leipzig years. The concerto BWV 1058 and fragment BWV 1059 are at the end of the score, but they are an earlier attempt at a set of works (as shown by an additional J.J.), which was however abandoned.

Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052

1. Allegro	2. Adagio	3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 22 minutes

Original version

Bach scholarship generally assumes this harpsichord concerto is based on a lost violin concerto by Bach, because, as John Butt writes: "it contains many passages suggestive of string-crossing and of figuration based around open strings." Butt adds: "if this is indeed the case, it [was] Bach's most virtuoso violin concerto," which is "generally assumed to have been a very early concerto."

Nonetheless, both Butt and Peter Wollny have suggested the possibility that there was no violin original, and instead that, to quote Wollny, "one cannot but conclude that the work was conceived from the outset for keyboard instrument ... many features of this composition – including the repeated intrusion of the solo part into the tutti sections – can only be explained if one starts from the fundamental precedence of the keyboard instrument." Wollny qualifies the violin concerto reconstruction attempts as unconvincing.

Cantata movements with solo part for organ

In the second half of the 1720s Bach wrote versions of all three movements of the concerto as organ movements for use in two of his cantatas; the first two movements for the sinfonia and first choral movement of Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen, BWV 146 (1726) and the last movement was used as a lost sinfonia for Ich habe meine Zuversicht, BWV 188 (1728). In these cantata versions the orchestra was expanded with oboes.

Harpsichord versions of the 1730s

Around 1734 C. P. E. Bach started writing down the concerto, with the cembalo part added at a later date. This version is known as BWV 1052a. His father's autograph of the concerto BWV 1052 dates from around 1738. Assuming the original was a violin concerto, the harpsichord transcription was made by transferring the ripieno string parts without alteration and considerably augmenting the solo part for harpsichord to make it as comparatively virtuosic as the original must have been, as well as adding chords to fill in the harmony and figurative developments in the left hand. This is particularly notable in the first and third movements; in the second movement, however, the left hand almost exactly duplicates the ripieno continuo part, and the right hand plays a melody that is probably taken directly from the original violin part.

Structure

The first and third movements share a similar harmonic structure based upon which the movements can be divided into four sections. The opening section of both movements gives the theme in the tonic (D minor) followed by a statement of the theme in the relative major (F major). The second section modulates to the dominant (A minor) and then its relative major (C major). The third section modulates to the subdominant (G minor) and its relative major (B flat major). Finally, the fourth section gives a recapitulation of the theme in the tonic, with no subsequent major key statement.

Reception

The concerto was copied a few times in the 18th century, for instance by Johann Friedrich Agricola around 1740, and by Christoph Nichelmann and an unknown scribe in the early 1750s. In the first decade of the 19th century, some 15 years before the Bach Revival, it was publicly performed by the Berlin Sing-Akademie.

In 1835 Felix Mendelssohn played the concerto in his first year as director of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. The Gewandhaus saw performances of the concerto in 1837, 1843 and 1863. Johannes Brahms wrote a cadenza for it. Its first publication was in 1838 by the Kistner Publishing House. Performances with the solo part played on the piano continued in the 20th century, however with the rise of the historically informed performance practice from the 1960s performances and recordings with harpsichord became more standard again.

Other versions of the concerto are occasionally recorded, for instance in 1993 André Isoir played the organ concerto version on a recording realised by Radio France.

Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053

1. Allegro	2. Siciliano	3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Several prominent scholars, Siegbert Rampe und Dominik Sachs, Ulrich Siegele, and Wilfried Fischer have argued that Bach transcribed this concerto from a lost original for oboe or oboe d'amore (Rampe and Sachs argued for a dating in 1718-19). Alternatively, Christoph Wolff has suggested that it might have been a 1725 concerto for organ An organ version exists, like BWV 1052, in a later transcription in his cantatas Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169 and Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49.

Bach changed his method of arrangement with this work, significantly altering the ripieno parts from the original concerto for the first time, limited much more to the tutti sections. The lower string parts were much reduced in scope, allowing the harpsichord bass to be more prominent, and the upper strings were likewise modified to allow the harpsichord to be at the forefront of the texture.

Concerto No. 3 in D major, BWV 1054

See also: Violin Concerto in E major (Bach)

1. Allegro	2. Adagio e piano sempre	3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 17 minutes

The surviving violin concerto in E major, BWV 1042 was the model for this work, which was transposed down a tone to allow the top note e''' to be reached as d''', the common top limit on harpsichords of the time. The opening movement is one of the rare Bach concerto first movements in da capo A-B-A form.

Concerto No. 4 in A major, BWV 1055

1. Allegro
2. Larghetto
3. Allegro ma non tanto

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 14 minutes

While scholars agree that the concerto is based on a lost original, different theories have been proposed for the instrument Bach used in that original. That it was an oboe d'amore was proposed in 1936 by Donald Francis Tovey, in 1956 by Ulrich Siegele, in 1975 by Wilfried Fischer and in 2008 by Pieter Dirksen. Alternatively, Wilhelm Mohr argued in 1972 that the original was a concerto for viola d'amore. Most recently, however, in 2015 musicologist Peter Wollny (the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig) argued that the "entire first movement" may instead "originate as a composition for unaccompanied keyboard instrument," since the movement "is conceived on the basis of the harpsichord as solo instrument, to such an extent that the strings are not even permitted to deploy a ritornello theme of their own, but from the first bar onwards assume their role as accompanists and thus step into the background to enable the solo part to develop unhindered; in the case of a melody instrument like the oboe such a design would be unthinkable."

Wollny notes that whatever the origins, the final work is the only Bach Harpsichord Concerto for which "a complete original set of parts has survived"; included is a "fully figured continuo part," which scholars agree was for a second harpsichord. Wollny sees the second movement as a siciliana and the finale as having the "gait of a rapid minuet."

Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056

1. Allegro moderato
2. Largo
3. Presto

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 10 minutes

The outer movements probably come from a violin concerto which was in G minor, and the middle movement is probably from an oboe concerto in F major; this movement is also the sinfonia to the cantata Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156.

This middle movement closely resembles the opening Andante of a Flute Concerto in G major (TWV 51:G2) by Georg Philipp Telemann; the soloists play essentially identical notes for the first two-and-a-half measures. Although the chronology cannot be known for certain, Steven Zohn has presented evidence that the Telemann concerto came first, and that Bach intended his movement as an elaboration of his friend Telemann's original.

Concerto No. 6 in F major, BWV 1057

See also: BWV 1049

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Allegro assai

Scoring: harpsichord solo, flauto dolce (recorder) I/II, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 17 minutes

An arrangement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049, which has a concertino of violin and two recorders. Leaving the flute parts unchanged, Bach wrote the harpsichord part as a combination of the violin material from the original concerto and a written out continuo.

Bach probably placed this concerto as the last of the set intentionally, as the pinnacle of the series, due to the richness of instrumental color produced by the three families of instruments, and the extraordinarily varied and effective harpsichord part.

Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058

See also: Violin Concerto in A minor (Bach)

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Allegro assai

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 14 minutes

Probably Bach's first attempt at writing out a full harpsichord concerto, this is a transcription of the violin concerto in A minor, BWV 1041, one whole tone lower to fit the harpsichord's range. It seems Bach was dissatisfied with this work, the most likely reason being that he did not alter the ripieno parts very much, so the harpsichord was swamped by the orchestra too much to be an effective solo instrument.

Bach did not continue the intended set, which he had marked with 'J.J.' (for Jesu juva, "Jesus, help") at the start of this work, as was his custom for a set of works. He wrote only a short fragment of the next harpsichord concerto, the fragment BWV 1059, which was a transcription of a lost oboe concerto.

Concerto in D minor, BWV 1059

See also: Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35

1. No Tempo Indication

Scoring: harpsichord solo, oboe, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 20 seconds

Apparently Bach intended to write a harpsichord concerto but abandoned the endeavor after only 9 bars. The fragment was taken from the opening Sinfonia of the Cantata, BWV 35 “Geist und Seele wird verwirret” (1726). In the cantata, Bach uses an obbligato organ not only in the two sinfonias (which evidently form the first and last movements of this incomplete or lost instrumental concerto, possibly for oboe), but also in the aria No. 1, whose siciliano character likewise points to its original function as a concerto movement. Thus, some modern scholars have constructed a proposed harpsichord or oboe concerto from BWV 35 (sinfonia/aria/sinfonia), and the BWV 1059 fragment.

Concertos for two harpsichords

Concerto in C minor, BWV 1060

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord I/II solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 14 minutes

While the existing score is in the form of a concerto for harpsichord and strings, Bach scholars believe it to be a transcription of a lost double concerto in D minor; a reconstructed arrangement of this concerto for two violins or violin and oboe is classified as BWV 1060R. The subtle and masterful way in which the solo instruments blend with the orchestra marks this out as one of the most mature works of Bach's years at Köthen. The middle movement is a cantabile for the solo instruments with orchestral accompaniment.

Concerto in C major, BWV 1061

1. Allegro
2. Adagio ovvero Largo
3. Fuga

Scoring: harpsichord I/II solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 19 minutes

Of all Bach's harpsichord concertos, this is probably the only one that originated as a harpsichord work, though not in an orchestral guise. The work originated as a concerto for two harpsichords unaccompanied (BWV 1061a, in the manner of the Italian Concerto, BWV 971), and the addition of the orchestral parts may not have been by Bach himself. The string orchestra does not fulfill an independent role, and only appears to augment cadences; it is silent in the middle movement. The harpsichords have much dialogue between themselves and play in an antiphonal manner throughout.

Concerto in C minor, BWV 1062

See also: Concerto for Two Violins (Bach)

1. Vivace
2. Largo ma non tanto
3. Allegro assai

Scoring: harpsichord I/II solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 15 minutes

The well-known Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 is the basis of this transcription. It was transposed down a tone for the same reason as BWV 1054, so that the top note would be d'''.

Concertos for three harpsichords

Concerto in D minor, BWV 1063

1. [no tempo indication]
2. Alla Siciliana
3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord I/II/III solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 14 minutes

Scholars have yet to settle on the probable scoring and tonality of the concerto on which this was based, though they do think it is, like the others, a transcription.

Bach's sons may have been involved in the composition of this work. They may have also been involved in the performances of this particular concerto, as Friedrich Konrad Griepenkerl wrote in the foreword to the first edition that was published in 1845 that the work owed its existence "presumably to the fact that the father wanted to give his two eldest sons, W. Friedemann and C.Ph. Emanuel Bach, an opportunity to exercise themselves in all kinds of playing." It is believed to have been composed by 1733 at the latest.

Concerto in C major, BWV 1064

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro assai

Scoring: harpsichord I/II/III solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 17 minutes

This concerto was probably based on an original in D major for three violins. A reconstructed arrangement of this concerto for three violins in D major is classified as BWV 1064R. In both forms this concerto shows some similarity to the concerto for two violins/harpsichords, BWV 1043/1062, in the interaction of the concertino group with the ripieno and in the cantabile slow movement.

Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords, BWV 1065

See also: L'estro Armonico

1. Allegro
2. Largo
3. Allegro

Scoring: harpsichord I/II/III/IV solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 10 minutes

Bach made a number of transcriptions from Antonio Vivaldi's concertos, especially from his op.3 set, entitled L'estro Armonico; he adapted them for solo harpsichord and solo organ, and for the concerto for 4 violins in B minor, op.3 no.10, RV 580, he decided upon the unique solution of using four harpsichords and orchestra. This is thus the only harpsichord concerto by Bach which was not an adaptation of his own material. The middle movement has the four harpsichords playing differently-articulated arpeggios in a very unusual tonal blend, while Bach provided some additional virtuosity and tension in the other movements.

Concertos for harpsichord, flute, and violin

Concerto in A minor, BWV 1044

1. Allegro	2. Adagio ma non tanto e dolce	3. Alla breve

Scoring: harpsichord solo, violin solo, flute solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)

Length: c. 22 minutes

Though this is a concerto for three instruments (hence it is occasionally called Bach's triple concerto), the harpsichord has the most prominent role and greatest quantity of material; there are several cadenzas and virtuosic passages for the instrument; the scoring is identical to that of Brandenburg concerto no.5, BWV 1050, though the character is quite different. The first and third movements are adapted from the prelude and fugue in A minor for solo harpsichord, BWV 894, which have been developed with added tutti sections. The middle movement is from the trio sonata for organ in D minor, BWV 527, which has been expanded to four voices; only the solo instruments play, and the flute and violin share the melody and accompaniment, switching roles on the repeat of each half.

Concerto in D major, BWV 1050 (Brandenburg Concerto No. 5)

Further information: BWV 1050

1. Allegro
2. Affettuoso
3. Allegro

Concertino: harpsichord, violin, flute

Ripieno: violin, viola, cello, violone, (harpsichord)

The harpsichord is both a concertino and a ripieno instrument: in the concertino passages the part is obbligato; in the ripieno passages it has a figured bass part and plays continuo.

This concerto makes use of a popular chamber music ensemble of the time (flute, violin, and harpsichord), which Bach used on their own for the middle movement. It is believed that it was written in 1719, to show off a new harpsichord by Michael Mietke which Bach had brought back from Berlin for the Cöthen court. It is also thought that Bach wrote it for a competition at Dresden with the French composer and organist Louis Marchand; in the central movement, Bach uses one of Marchand's themes. Marchand fled before the competition could take place, apparently scared off in the face of Bach's great reputation for virtuosity and improvisation.

The concerto is well suited throughout to showing off the qualities of a fine harpsichord and the virtuosity of its player, but especially in the lengthy solo 'cadenza' to the first movement. It seems almost certain that Bach, considered a great organ and harpsichord virtuoso, was the harpsichord soloist at the premiere. Scholars have seen in this work the origins of the solo keyboard concerto as it is the first example of a concerto with a solo keyboard part.

An earlier version, BWV 1050a, has innumerable small differences from its later cousin, but only two main ones: there is no part for cello, and there is a shorter and less elaborate (though harmonically remarkable) harpsichord cadenza in the first movement. (The cello part in BWV 1050, when it differs from the violone part, doubles the left hand of the harpsichord.)

References

• Werner Breig, Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord, ISMN: M-006-20451-9 (1999, Bärenreiter)
• Werner Breig, notes to recordings of the complete harpsichord concertos by Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert (1981, Archiv Produktion); lengths also taken from these recordings

External links

• Harpsichord Concerto No.1, BWV 1052: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.2, BWV 1053: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.3, BWV 1054: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.4, BWV 1055: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.5, BWV 1056: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.6, BWV 1057: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.7, BWV 1058: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Harpsichord Concerto No.8, BWV 1059: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1044: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 2 Harpsichords, BWV 1060: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 2 Harpsichords, BWV 1061: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 2 Harpsichords, BWV 1062: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 3 Harpsichords, BWV 1063: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 3 Harpsichords, BWV 1064: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Concerto for 4 Harpsichords, BWV 1065: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Program notes from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
• Concerto in G minor BWV 1058 by Jozef Kapustka and the Orquestra de Cordas da Grota (Rio de Janeiro)