Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German
composer and musician of the Baroque period. He
enriched established German styles through his mastery
of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and
his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from
abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's
compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the
Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions,
and over three hundred cantatas of which approximately
two hundred survive.His ...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German
composer and musician of the Baroque period. He
enriched established German styles through his mastery
of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and
his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from
abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's
compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the
Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions,
and over three hundred cantatas of which approximately
two hundred survive.His music is revered for its
technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual
depth. While Bach's abilities as an organist were
highly respected during his lifetime, he was not widely
recognised as an important composer until a revival of
interest in his music during the first half of the 19th
century. He is now generally regarded as one of the
greatest composers of all time.
Far less famous than Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for
unaccompanied violin are the six Sonatas for violin and
harpsichord composed at roughly the same time. And yet
these works are among the finest treasures that High
Baroque chamber music has to offer. BWV 1016, the
Sonata in E major for violin and harpsichord was, like
the others, composed sometime during his years as
Kapellmeister at the court of Cöthen; it shows how
well Bach had absorbed the Italian sonata da chiesa
tradition, and even better how well able he was to bend
that tradition to his own creative will.
The four movements of BWV 1016 follow the same basic
pattern in the typical Corelli or Handel sonata da
chiesa: slow-fast-slow-fast. The opening Adagio, with
its very Italianate style of ornamental melodic
writing, is in two, nearly equal sections. A
slowly-pulsing bassline supports a shining, rising
melody in the violin.
A kind of Baroque concerto form (really concerto-fugue
hybrid) is laid out in the following Allegro, shooting
forth on a joyous melody in the harpsichord right-hand,
so inviting that that the violin cannot help but
imitate it, followed by the bass. During the second
portion, a new motive in eighth notes is introduced,
occupying the player's thoughts to the near-exclusion
of all else. The subject, countersubject, and new
motive are all thrown together into one, stunning C
sharp minor phrase. With the return to E major, the
subsidiary motive is finally completely dispelled.
Passsacaglia is the fuel for the third movement, Adagio
ma non tanto. Atop a repeating four measure bass
pattern rides a florid melody in triplets that, along
with some steady accompaniment and a secondary gesture,
is developed by the violin and piano treble in the
usual give-and-take manner. The movement, with its C
sharp minor tonality, is a statement of real, but
eminently restrained pathos.
Bach sets up a large three-part form (or perhaps
four-part, as the middle section falls easily into two
halves) in the concluding Allegro, setting two
contrasting themes against each other. A running
sixteenth-note idea, very similar to the kind
frequently found in the keyboard Inventions, fills the
opening section, but moves on to triplets as the second
begins. At the movement's exact midpoint, the
sixteenths return, and a false cadence to E major
immediately slides into C sharp minor, allowing the
developmental middle section to continue. The movement
ends with a exact reprise of the opening section.
Source: AllMusic
(http://www.allmusic.com/composition/sonata-for-violin-
keyboard-no-3-in-e-major-bwv-1016-mc0002658189).
Although originally written for Violin & Harpsichord, I
created this Arrangement of the Sonata No. 3 in E Major
(BWV 1016) for Viola & Piano.
SHEET MUSIC