Concerto for Two Violins (Bach)


Concerto for Two Violins (Bach)


The Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto, is a violin concerto of the Late Baroque era, which Johann Sebastian Bach composed around 1730. It is one of the composer's most successful works.

History

Bach composed his Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043, around 1730, as part of a concert series he ran as the Director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig.

Structure

The concerto is characterized by a subtle yet expressive relationship between the violins throughout the work. In addition to the two soloists, the concerto is scored for strings (first violin, second violin and viola parts) and basso continuo. The musical structure of this piece uses fugal imitation and much counterpoint.

The concerto comprises three movements:

  1. Vivace in D minor
  2. Largo ma non tanto in F major
  3. Allegro

Performance time of the concerto ranges from less than 13 minutes to over 18 minutes.

Reception

Around 1736–1737 Bach arranged the concerto for two harpsichords, transposed into C minor, BWV 1062.

1734–1738 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach performed the concerto in Frankfurt an der Oder. After his father's death in 1750, Carl Philipp Emanuel inherited some of the original performance parts, likely doubles, of the concerto (surviving: parts for soloists and continuo), and likely also the composer's autograph score (lost). The extant original parts were later owned by Georg Poelchau, and were added to the Royal Library at Berlin (later converted to the Berlin State Library) in the 1840s. After the Second World War they were lost for several decades, eventually resurfacing in Poland.

Manuscript copies of (parts of) the concerto were produced around 1730–1740, in 1760, around 1760, around 1760–1789, and in the early 19th century. The concerto was first published in 1852, by Edition Peters, edited by Siegfried Dehn. In the first volume of his Bach biography (1873), Philipp Spitta describes the concerto as a product of the composer's Köthen period (1717–1723). After describing Bach's other extant violin concertos, those in E major (BWV 1042) and A minor (BWV 1041), he adds:

The Bach Gesellschaft published the concerto in 1874, edited by Wilhelm Rust. The Neue Bachgesellschaft reports around 25 known public performances of the concerto in the period from late 1904 to early 1907: most of these in Germany, but also performances in other European cities, including London, Madrid, Paris, Riga, St. Petersburg and Vienna, are mentioned. Outside of Europe, there was for instance the performance by Eugène Ysaÿe and Fritz Kreisler in New York in 1905. In London, Bach's Double became a repertoire piece, for instance regularly performed at the Proms.

After commenting that the "A minor and E major concertos are beginning to win a place in our concert halls," Albert Schweitzer writes, in the 1911 English-language edition of his book on Bach:

The concerto for two violins, in D minor, is perhaps more widely known still. It can be played at home, as its orchestral part can be easily transcribed for the piano. Every amateur should know the wonderful peace of the largo ma non tanto in F major.

Johannes Umbreit's piano reduction of the orchestral score was published by Henle.

Research by Andreas Glöckner, published in 1982, dispelled prior assumptions that Bach would have composed the concerto in Köthen: Bach's extant autograph parts indicate that the concerto was composed in Leipzig, likely in 1730 or the earlier part of 1731. The New Bach Edition published the concerto in 1986, edited by Dietrich Kilian. According to Peter Wollny, writing in 1999, "The Concerto for two violins in D minor BWV 1043 is today one of the best-known and most frequently performed works of the composer, above all by virtue of its soulful, song-like middle movement."

According to Michael Miller, writing for Penguin's Complete Idiot's Guides, the concerto is one of Bach's eleven most notable compositions. In the Rough Guides, the Double Concerto is described as "one of Bach's very greatest works." The BBC website describes the concerto as "one of Bach's best loved instrumental works." According to the British Classic FM website, "the 'Bach Double' is one of the most famous of his works." The uDiscover Music website lists it among ten essential pieces by the composer.

Recordings

Recordings of the concerto include:

References

Collection James Bond 007

Sources

By title:

  • "Bach - Concerto in D minor for Two Violins". Classic FM (UK). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  • "Best Bach Works: 10 Essential Pieces By The Great Composer". uDiscover Music. Universal Music Group. 1 March 2019.
  • "Concerto, c BWV 1062". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 16 April 2020.
  • "Concerto, d BWV 1043". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 15 April 2020.
  • "D-Bhm H 729". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 3 October 2018.
  • "D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 254". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 4 March 2020.
  • "D-B Mus.ms. Bach St 147". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 4 March 2020.
  • "D-B Mus.ms. Bach St 630". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 12 January 2020.
  • "PL-Kj Mus.ms. Bach St 148, Fascicle 1". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 7 February 2020.
  • "PL-Kj Mus.ms. Bach St 148, Fascicle 2". Bach Digital. Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 7 February 2020.
  • "Übersicht der Aufführungen J. S. Bachscher Werke von Ende 1904 bis Anfang 1907" [Overview of the performances of works by J. S. Bach from the end of 1904 to early 1907]. Bach-Jahrbuch 1906 [Bach Yearbook 1906]. Bach-Jahrbuch (in German). Vol. 3. Breitkopf & Härtel. 1906. pp. 115–129. doi:10.13141/bjb.v1906 – via Qucosa.

By author:

  • Dehn, Siegfried, ed. (1852). Concerto en Ré mineur pour Deux Violons Principaux Avec Accompagnement De deux Violons, Viola et Basse composé Par Jean Sebastien Bach: publié pour la première fois d'après le manuscrit original des parties principaux et du Continuo (in French). C. F. Peters. No. 231 (Plate 3394).
  • Dürr, Alfred; Neumann, Werner, eds. (1968). "Verzeichnis der seit Erscheinen der ersten Bach-Gesamtausgabe verschollenen Originalhandschriften Bachscher Werke" [Catalogue of Bach's original manuscripts which went lost after the first complete edition of Bach's works]. Bach-Jahrbuch 1968 [Bach Yearbook 1968]. Bach-Jahrbuch (in German). Vol. 54. Neue Bachgesellschaft. Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (published 1969). pp. 101–103. doi:10.13141/bjb.v1968 – via Qucosa.
  • Glöckner, Andreas (1982). "Neuerkenntnisse zu Johann Sebastian Bachs Aufführungskalender zwischen 1729 und 1735" [New insights on Johann Sebastian Bach's performance calendar from 1729 to 1735]. In Schulze, Hans-Joachim; Wolff, Christoph (eds.). Bach-Jahrbuch 1981 [Bach Yearbook 1981]. Bach-Jahrbuch (in German). Vol. 67. Neue Bachgesellschaft. Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. pp. 43–76. doi:10.13141/bjb.v1981. ISSN 0084-7682 – via Qucosa.
  • Kennaway, George William (April 2009). Cello Techniques and Performing Practices in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (PDF) (Thesis). University of Leeds.
  • Kilian, Dietrich, ed. (1986). "Konzert für 2 Violinen, Streicher und Basso continuo d-moll, BWV 1043". Konzerte für Violine, für zwei Violinen, für Cembalo, Flöte und Violine [Concertos for Violin, for two Violins, for Cembalo, Flute and Violin]. New Bach Edition (in German). Vol. VII, 3 (Score). Johann Sebastian Bach Institute, Bach Archive. Bärenreiter. pp. V–VI, 71ff. ISMN 9790006463169. BA 5065-01.
  • Miller, Michael (2008). "Bach's Musical Legacy". The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History: From Pre-Historic Africa to Classical Europe to American Popular Music. Complete Idiot's Guides. Penguin. ISBN 9781440636370.
  • Potter, Tully; et al. (2009). BACH, J.S. / TARTINI: Violin Concertos (Szigeti) (1937-1954) (liner notes). Naxos. 8.110979 – via Chandos website.
  • Rust, Wilhelm, ed. (1874). Joh. Seb. Bach's Kammermusik; Vierter Band: Concerte für Violine mit Orchesterbegleitung [J. S. Bach's chamber music; Fourth volume: concertos for violin with orchestral accompaniment]. Johann Sebastian Bach's Werke (in German). Vol. 21. Bach Gesellschaft. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. pp. XVII–XVIII, 39–62.
  • Schweitzer, Albert (1935) [1911]. J. S. Bach. Vol. I. Translated by Newman, Ernest (Reprint ed.). London: A. & C. Black. p. 416.
  • Spitta, Philipp (1873). Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. I. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. pp. 733–735.
  • Spitta, Philipp (1899). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750. Vol. II. Translated by Bell, Clara; Fuller Maitland, John Alexander. Novello & Co. pp. 125–128.
  • Staines, Joe, ed. (2010). The Rough Guide to Classical Music (5th ed.). Rough Guides. p. 24. ISBN 9781848366770.
  • Wolff, Christoph (2002). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. Oxford University Press. p. 357. ISBN 9780199248841.
  • Wollny, Peter (1996). "Zur Überlieferung der Instrumentalwerke Johann Sebastian Bachs: Der Quellenbesitz Carl Philipp Emanuel Bachs" [On the transmission of instrumental compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach: the sources owned by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]. In Schulze, Hans-Joachim; Wolff, Christoph (eds.). Bach-Jahrbuch 1996 [Bach Yearbook 1996]. Bach-Jahrbuch (in German). Vol. 82. Neue Bachgesellschaft. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. pp. 7–21. doi:10.13141/bjb.v1996. ISBN 3-374-01630-8. ISSN 0084-7682 – via Qucosa.
  • Wollny, Peter; et al. (1999). BACH, J.S.: Violin Concertos, BWV 1041-1043 and BWV 1052 (liner notes). Translated by Loos, Diana. Naxos. 8.554603 – via Chandos website.

External links

  • Concerto for Two Violins (Bach) at the Mutopia Project
  • Concerto for Two Violins (Bach): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  • Concert voor violen (2) en strijkorkest BWV.1043 in d kl.t. at Muziekweb website
  • Bach: Double Concerto (CD review) podcast at BBC Sounds website.

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Concerto for Two Violins (Bach) by Wikipedia (Historical)



 


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