Of the 16 instrumental concertos by other composers
that J.S. Bach transcribed for harpsichord alone during
the early 1710s (BWV 972-987), six are originally works
of Antonio Vivaldi, and three are from the pen of Duke
Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. And if we include the
concerto transcriptions for solo organ (BWV 592-597),
Vivaldi and the Duke hold an even more persuasive
monopoly on Bach's transcription sources: just one of
the organ transcription sources is the work of a
composer other than Viv...(+)
Of the 16 instrumental concertos by other composers
that J.S. Bach transcribed for harpsichord alone during
the early 1710s (BWV 972-987), six are originally works
of Antonio Vivaldi, and three are from the pen of Duke
Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. And if we include the
concerto transcriptions for solo organ (BWV 592-597),
Vivaldi and the Duke hold an even more persuasive
monopoly on Bach's transcription sources: just one of
the organ transcription sources is the work of a
composer other than Vivaldi or Ernst, and the
authenticity of that one has been doubted. So when we
learn that the Concerto for keyboard No. 3 in D minor,
BWV 974, is based on an oboe concerto composed by
Alessandro Marcello, it seems most curious -- Marcello
was not the skilled, stylish, and innovative composer
Vivaldi was, nor was he the nephew of Bach's employer,
as was young Duke Johann Ernst. And the fact of the
matter is that, though Marcello had a certain influence
in Italian music circles, he was not really a
particularly fine composer (he was as much
mathematician as musician), and, unlike Vivaldi, cannot
be said to have exerted any real influence on Bach. One
is therefore tempted to speculate that Bach chose to
transcribe the Marcello oboe concerto perhaps even just
to test his own skill -- with an inferior source, his
adaptive acumen would have to be all the sharper. And
as he was not at all averse to altering Vivaldi's music
when making the transcriptions, imagine how much more
willing he would be to edit, refine, and rewrite the
music of a really second-rate composer!
The Marcello-Bach concerto is in the usual three
movements of an Italian instrumental concerto. Here
they are: 1. unmarked (Allegro assumed), 2. Adagio, 3.
Presto. The shell of the first movement is very clearly
Marcello's work; but Bach is quick to thicken the lean,
open textures of the original -- at the center of the
movement things grow very dense indeed, with imitative,
hand-against-hand sixteenth notes building up to
eight-voice chords. The Adagio has a limber solo line
atop steady eighth notes, while the Presto finale is a
3/8 time romp in near-continuous sixteenth notes, and
almost exclusively in two contrapuntal voices.
Although originally written for Harpsichord. I created
this Arrangement of the Concerto in D Minor (BWV 974)
for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION