In late spring 1713, the young prince Johann Ernst
returned from his studies at the University of Utrecht
to his home at the court at Weimar, where Johann
Sebastian Bach was employed as organist. At this time,
the prince is believed to have commissioned a series of
keyboard works from Bach based on preexisting concertos
by other composers. He had heard, during a recent visit
to Amsterdam, organist Jan Jacob de Graaf realize solo
works and several Italian concertos. Bach subsequently
transcribed ...(+)
In late spring 1713, the young prince Johann Ernst
returned from his studies at the University of Utrecht
to his home at the court at Weimar, where Johann
Sebastian Bach was employed as organist. At this time,
the prince is believed to have commissioned a series of
keyboard works from Bach based on preexisting concertos
by other composers. He had heard, during a recent visit
to Amsterdam, organist Jan Jacob de Graaf realize solo
works and several Italian concertos. Bach subsequently
transcribed 16 concertos for various instruments as
solo keyboard pieces, using as his source material
compositions by Torelli, Marcello, and even Prince
Johann Ernst himself -- and of course, the acknowledged
master of the genre, Antonio Vivaldi. The latter
composer's work provided the basis for the lion's share
of the concerto transcriptions from this period,
including the work under consideration here, Bach's
Concerto No. 2 in G major (BWV 973). Bach based the BWV
973 solo concerto on Vivaldi's Concerto for violin and
strings, Op. 7/2, from the second volume of the
Concerti a 5 stromenti. (Johann Ernst appears to have
gone to the trouble of acquiring a manuscript copy of
the work, since the Op. 7 did not appear in print until
1720.) Bach retained the key of the original and left
Vivaldi's structure more or less intact. The piece is
cast in the three characteristic movements of modest
length, two outer fast movements framing the central
Largo. The opening movement is built of running
sequences based on thirds and fourths, its linear drive
idiomatic to the violin but certainly not foreign to
the harpsichord; the tutti and solo sections of the
original are observed through contrasting chordal and
contrapuntal textures. The voice of the original violin
can be detected most distinctly in the rapid rising and
falling arpeggios of the third solo passage, the jagged
melodic contour evoking nimble bowing motions. The
non-sustained tone of the harpsichord compels Bach, in
the slow E minor movement that follows, to substitute
for the violin's inherent fluidity and lyricism the
languorous ornamental effects afforded by the
keyboard's action. The final movement, returning to the
bright G minor key, has more energy and insistence. The
solo line builds upon quick, repeat rising gestures and
reiterated notes, weaving its way through the keyboard
texture as the piece progresses toward its close.
PARTITION