Bach performance. Bach. Keyboard concerts. Bach's organ works

A new genre of concert for keyboard music, the creator of which is rightly considered to be J.S. Bach, arose on the basis of transcriptions for the clavier of Italian violin concertos (primarily Vivaldi). It is interesting that almost all of Bach's keyboard concertos (7) were originally created as violin concertos, and only then arranged for the clavier by him. The main result of the composer’s quest in this area was the “Italian Concerto,” created in 1735.

This name, given by Bach himself, indicates the origin of the concert genre, which originated in Italy. The work was written for clavier with two manuals, without orchestral accompaniment. The concert principle is manifested in the great development of keyboard voices.

Composition draws on tradition - it is a three-part cycle with fast, effective outer parts and a lyrical, slow middle part.

The musical style and main mood of the “Italian Concerto” is determined by its opening theme - energetic and cheerful. It is presented in a clear and simple form, consisting of two 4-bar sentences. Their tonal relationship (F-dur and C-dur) is reminiscent of the comparison of theme and response in a fugue exposition.

The influence of polyphonic thinking is also revealed in the further development of the topic. After the presentation of the initial 8-bar (the “core” of the theme), the characteristic intonations “dissolve” in the general forms of movement. Music acquires the fluidity characteristic of polyphonic forms: there are no separate parts delimited from each other. The transitions from motive to motive are smooth; material that has already been heard practically does not return (in contrast to the thematic themes of the Viennese classics).

At the same time, the general composition of the first movement outlines the features of the future sonata form. It has three sections. First contains an exposition display of thematic material. Second represents its development. Third contains a reprise repetition of the main theme.

The exhibition section includes, in addition to the main one, another theme - softer and more transparent, presented in a more modest texture. It is built similarly to the first, on the comparison of the “core” and the development, and the new intonations that appear in the process of this development turn out to be extremely close to the intonations of the first theme. Unlike the secondary theme in classical sonata form, this second theme is set out in the main key of F-dur, and only in the process of development does it modulate into the dominant key - C-dur.

Part 1

The development section in the first part of the concert is distinguished by its scale and intensity of development. The writing techniques that Bach uses here are characteristic of both homophonic-harmonic and polyphonic forms. This is the isolation of motives, their sequencing, imitations, and variation of individual turns of the melody. Used both themes, each taking on the intonations of the other. The periodically repeated thematic core of the main theme (it is carried out three times) is compared with intonationally more neutral episodes of melodic development, which is typical for instrumental concert forms of the Baroque era. The result is some resemblance to a rondo.

In the reprise, the first theme runs in its entirety, but the second is absent (probably because it was its major version that completed the development).

part 2

In Part II of the concert, efficiency is replaced by contemplation. This is a lyric Andante in parallel minor. The Andante theme, sounding in the upper “flute” register against a background of rhythmically even accompaniment, is endowed with improvisational features. Numerous syncopations, smoothing out strong beats, rhythmic freedom, give the music fluidity.

The Andante form is two-part, similar to the structure of many of Bach's arias, preludes and dances in suite cycles. The first part ends with modulation into parallel major, while in the second part d-minor almost reigns supreme. The intonations of the theme, melodious, calm and soft at the beginning, become more intense and declamatory in the second part.

Final

The music of the finale evokes associations with the picture of a national holiday. It embodies not individual feelings, but the general mood of festive fun. The main theme of the ending bears obvious similarities to initial theme Part I - the same sweeping leap at the beginning, the same lively dance rhythms, light major colors. However, the tempo here is not just brisk, but rapid, and there are much more “flying” scale-like passages.

The general contours of the form and the tonal plan in the extreme parts of the “Italian Concerto” are similar. The finale also has a second, “side” theme, which runs throughout the exposition in the main key. As in Part I, the periodic return of the main theme introduces ronda-like features into the composition.

Johann Sebastian Bach Sebastian Bach, 1685–1750) - German composer, organist. During his lifetime he was famous as an organist and harpsichordist; his composing work was perceived by his contemporaries in connection with the practical activities that took place in the typical manner of a musician of the 17th–18th centuries. the setting of the church, courtyard and city. He spent his childhood in Eisenach and studied in Ohrdruf and Lineburg from 1695–1702. At the age of 17, he played the organ, clavier, violin, viola, sang in the choir, and was an assistant cantor. In 1703–07, the organist Neykirche in Arnstadt, in 1707–08 organist Blaziuskirskh in Mühlhausen, in 1708–17 a court organist, a mushroom chamber, from 1714 a court concertmaster in Weimar, in 1717–23 a court dropmer of a Clevberry, in 1723–50 Kantor Kantor Cantor Cantor Cantor Cantor Cantor Cantor Thomaskirche and city music director in Leipzig (1729–41 head of the Collegium musicum).

Bach is one of greatest representatives world humanistic culture. The work of Bach, a universal musician, distinguished by the inclusiveness of genres (except opera), summarized the achievements musical art several centuries on the verge of Baroque and Classicism. A brightly national artist, Bach combined the traditions of Protestant chorale with the traditions of Austrian, Italian, French music schools. For Bach, unsurpassed master polyphony, characterized by the unity of polyphonic and homophonic, vocal and instrumental thinking, which explains the deep interpenetration of various genres and styles in his work.

The leading genre in Bach's vocal and instrumental work is the spiritual cantata. Bach created 5 annual cycles of cantatas, which differ in their belonging to church calendar, according to textual sources (psalms, chorale stanzas, “free” poetry), according to the role of the chorale, etc. Of the secular cantatas, the most famous are “Peasant” and “Coffee”. The dramaturgy and principles developed in the cantata were implemented in the masses and the Passion. The “High” Mass in h-minor, “St. John’s Passion,” and “Matthew’s Passion” became the culmination of the centuries-long history of these genres. Central location Organ music occupies Bach's instrumental work. Synthesizing the experience of organ improvisation inherited from his predecessors (D. Buxtehude, I. Pachelbel, G. Böhm, I. A. Reincken), various variational and polyphonic composition techniques and contemporary principles of concertoing, Bach rethought and updated traditional genres organ music- toccata, fantasia, passacaglia, chorale prelude. Virtuoso performer, one of the greatest experts of his time keyboard instruments, Bach created an extensive literature for the clavier. Among the keyboard works, the most important place is occupied by the “Well-Tempered Clavier” - the first experience in the history of music of artistic application developed at the turn of the 17th–18th centuries. tempered system. The greatest polyphonist, in the fugues of HTC Bach created unsurpassed examples, a kind of school of contrapuntal mastery, which was continued and completed in the “Art of Fugue”, on which Bach worked during the last 10 years of his life. Bach is the author of one of the first keyboard concertos - the Italian Concerto (without orchestra), which fully established the independent significance of the clavier as a concert instrument. Bach's music for violin, cello, flute, oboe, instrumental ensemble, orchestra - sonatas, suites, partitas, concertos - marks a significant expansion of the expressive and technical capabilities of instruments, reveals a deep knowledge of instruments and universalism in their interpretation. 6 Brandenburg Concertos for various instrumental compositions, which implemented the genre and compositional principles of the concerto grosso, were important stage on the way to a classical symphony.

During Bach's lifetime, a small part of his works was published. The true scale of Bach's genius, which had a strong influence on the subsequent development of European musical culture, began to be realized only half a century after his death. Among the first connoisseurs are the founder of Bach studies I.N. Forkel (published an essay on the life and work of Bach in 1802), K.F. Zelter, whose activities in preserving and promoting Bach’s heritage led to the performance of the St. Matthew Passion under the baton of F. Mendelssohn in 1829. This is a performance that had historical significance, served as an impetus for the revival of Bach's work in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1850 the Bach Society was formed in Leipzig.

Essays:
For soloists, choir and orchestra - St. John's Passion (1724), St. Matthew's Passion (1727 or 1729; final edition 1736), Magnificat (1723), High Mass (H minor, circa 1747–49; 1st edition 1733) , 4 short masses (1730s), oratorios (Christmas, Easter, around 1735), cantatas (about 200 sacred, over 20 secular have survived); for orchestra - 6 Brandenburg concertos (1711–20), 5 overtures (suites, 1721–30); concertos for instruments and orchestra - for 1, 2, 3, 4 claviers, 2 for violin, for 2 violins; chamber instrumental ensembles - 6 sonatas for violin and clavier, 3 sonatas for flute and clavier, 3 sonatas for cello and clavier, trio sonatas; for organ - 6 organ concerts(1708–17), preludes and fugues, fantasies and fugues, toccatas and fugues, passacaglia in C minor, chorale preludes; for clavier - 6 English suites, 6 French suites, 6 partitas, Well-Tempered Clavier (volume 1 - 1722, volume 2 - 1744), Italian Concerto (1734), Goldberg Variations (1742); for violin - 3 sonatas, 3 partitas; 6 suites for cello; spiritual songs, arias; works without indication of the performing composition - Musical Offering (1747), The Art of Fugue (1740–50), etc.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the most talented composer of the 18th century. More than 250 years have passed since his death, and interest in his music has not waned to this day. But during his lifetime the composer never received the recognition he deserved. Interest in his work appeared only a century after his departure.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the most remarkable member of the famous musical family Bakhov and one of greatest composers of all times and peoples. Having lost his father, Johann Ambrose Bach (1645 - 1695), at the age of 10, Johann Sebastian was placed in the care of his older brother Johann Christoph, an organist in the city of Ohrdruf (Thuringia), who laid the foundation for his music lessons. After the death of his brother, 14-year-old Johann Sebastian went to Lüneburg, where he entered the gymnasium choir as a treble singer and received a higher school education. From here he often traveled to Hamburg to get acquainted with the playing of the organist Reincken, as well as Celle, and listen to the famous court chapel. In 1703, Bach became a violinist at the court chapel in Weimar. In 1704 he became an organist in Arnstadt, from where in 1705 he went to Lübeck to listen to and study with the famous organist Buchstegude. In 1707, Johann Sebastian became an organist in Mühlhausen, in 1708 - court organist and chamber musician in Weimar, a position he held until 1717.

Start of independent life

At the age of 15, Bach entered the prestigious Luneburg School of Church Choristers, which was located at the Church of St. Michael, and at the same time, thanks to his beautiful voice, young Bach was able to earn a little extra money in a church choir. In addition, in Luneburg the young man met Georg Böhm, a famous organist, communication with whom influenced early work composer. He also traveled to Hamburg several times to listen to the playing of the largest representative of the German organ school, A. Reincken. Bach's first works for clavier and organ date back to the same period. After successfully completing school, Johann Sebastian receives the right to enter the university, but due to a lack of cash he had no opportunity to continue his education.

Johann's abilities were not limited only to composing skills. Among his contemporaries he was considered best performer playing the harpsichord and organ. It was for his improvisations on these instruments that he received recognition (even from his rivals) during his lifetime. They say that when the harpsichordist and organist from France Louis Marchand heard Bach performed on these instruments on the eve of a competition in Dresden, he hastily left the city.

Life path

Johann began his career in Weimar, where he was accepted into the court chapel of Duke Johann Ernst of Saxony as a violinist. However, this did not last long, since such work did not satisfy creative impulses young musician. In 1703, Bach, without hesitation, agreed to move to the city of Arnstadt, where he was in the church of St. Boniface was initially offered the position of organ keeper, and then the post of organist. A decent salary, work only three days a week, a good modernized instrument tuned to the latest system, all this created conditions for expanding the creative capabilities of the musician not only as a performer, but also as a composer. During this period he creates large number organ works, as well as capriccios, cantatas and suites. Here Johann becomes a true organ expert and a brilliant virtuoso, whose playing aroused unbridled delight among listeners. It was in Arnstadt that his gift of improvisation was revealed, which the church leadership really did not like. Bach always strived for perfection and never missed an opportunity to get acquainted with famous musicians, for example with organist Dietrich Buxtehude, who served in Lübeck. Having received a four-week vacation, Bach went to listen to the great musician, whose playing impressed Johann so much that he, forgetting about his duties, stayed in Lübeck for four months. Upon returning to Arndstadt, the indignant management gave Bach a humiliating trial, after which he had to leave the city and look for a new place of work.

The next city on life path Bach was Mühlhausen. Here in 1706 he won a competition for the position of organist in the Church of St. Vlasiya. He was accepted with a good salary, but also with a certain condition: the musical accompaniment of the chorales must be strict, without any kind of “decoration”. The city authorities subsequently treated the new organist with respect: they approved a plan for the reconstruction of the church organ, and also paid a good reward for the festive cantata “The Lord is My King” composed by Bach, which was dedicated to the inauguration ceremony of the new consul. Bach's stay in Mühlhausen was marked by a happy event: he married his beloved cousin Maria Barbara, who later gave him seven children.

In 1708, Duke Ernst of Saxe-Weimar heard the magnificent performance of the Mühlhausen organist. Impressed by what he heard, the noble nobleman immediately offered Bach the positions of court musician and city organist with a salary significantly higher than before. Johann Sebastian began the Weimar period, which is characterized as one of the most fruitful in creative life composer. At this time, he created a large number of compositions for clavier and organ, including a collection of choral preludes, “Passacaglia in C-moll”, the famous “Toccata and Fugue in D-moll”, “Fantasy and Fugue in C-dur” and many others greatest works. It should also be noted that the composition of more than two dozen spiritual cantatas dates back to this period. Such effectiveness in Bach's compositional work was associated with his appointment in 1714 as vice-kapellmeister, whose duties included regular monthly updating of church music.

In 1717, Bach left Weimar to take a job in Köthen as a court conductor for Prince Anhalt of Köthen. In Köthen, Bach had to write secular music, since, as a result of the reforms, music was not performed in the church, except for the singing of psalms. Here Bach occupied an exceptional position: as a court conductor he was well paid, the prince treated him as a friend, and the composer repaid this with excellent works. In Köthen the musician had many students, and for their training he compiled the “Well-Tempered Clavier.” These are 48 preludes and fugues that glorified Bach as a master of keyboard music. When the prince married, the young princess showed dislike for both Bach and his music. Johann Sebastian had to look for another job.

Establishment in Leipzig

Bach moved to this city in 1723 and remained there forever. At the Church of St. Thomas, he received the position of director of the choir. Conditions for Bach were again cramped. In addition to many responsibilities (educator, composer, teacher), he was ordered not to travel outside the city without the permission of the burgomaster. He also had to write music according to the rules: not too operatic and long, but at the same time, something that would evoke awe in the listeners. But, despite all the restrictions, Bach, as always, continued to create. Their best compositions he created it in Leipzig. The church authorities considered Johann Sebastian's music too colorful, humane and bright, and allocated little funds for the maintenance of the school. The composer's only joy remained creativity and family. His three sons also turned out to be excellent musicians. Anna Magdalena, Bach's second wife, had a magnificent soprano voice. His eldest daughter also sang quite well.

Bach's organ works

The composer created excellent works for the organ. This instrument is a real force of nature for Bach. Here he was able to liberate his thoughts, feelings and emotions and convey all this to the listener. Hence the enlargement of lines, concertity, virtuosity, and dramatic images. The compositions created for the organ resemble frescoes in painting. Everything in them is presented predominantly close up. In preludes, toccatas and fantasies, the pathos of musical images in free, improvisational forms is observed. Fugues are characterized by special virtuosity and extraordinary powerful development. Bach's organ work conveys the high poetry of his lyrics and the grandiose scope of his magnificent improvisations. Unlike keyboard works, organ fugues are much larger in volume and content. Movement musical image and its development proceeds with increasing activity. The unfolding of the material is presented in the form of layering of large layers of music, but there is no particular discreteness or breaks. On the contrary, continuity (continuity of movement) prevails. Each phrase follows from the previous one with increasing tension. Also built climaxes. The emotional upsurge eventually intensifies to highest point. Bach is the first composer to demonstrate the patterns of symphonic development in large forms of instrumental polyphonic music. Bach's organ work seems to split into two poles. The first is preludes, toccatas, fugues, fantasies (large musical cycles). The second is one-part chorale preludes. They are written mainly in chamber style. They reveal predominantly lyrical images: intimate, mournful and sublimely contemplative. The best works for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach are the toccata and fugue in D minor, the prelude and fugue in A minor and many other works.

Personal life

Johann Sebastian belonged to the largest German musical dynasty, whose pedigree is usually traced back to Veit Bach, a simple baker, but very music lover and beautifully performing folk melodies on his favorite instrument - the zither. This passion was passed on from the founder of the family to his descendants, many of them became professional musicians: composers, cantors, bandmasters, as well as a variety of instrumentalists. They settled not only throughout Germany, some even went abroad. Over the course of two hundred years, there were so many Bach musicians that any person whose occupation was related to music began to be named after them. The most famous ancestors of Johann Sebastian, whose works have come down to us, were: Johannes, Heinrich, Johann Christoph, Johann Bernhard, Johann Michael and Johann Nikolaus. Johann Sebastian's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was also a musician and served as an organist in Eisenach, the city where Bach was born.

Johann Sebastian himself was the father of a large family: he had twenty children from two wives. He first married his beloved cousin Maria Barbara, daughter of Johann Michael Bach, in 1707. Maria bore Johann Sebastian seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Maria herself also did not live a long life; she died at the age of 36, leaving Bach with four young children. Bach took the loss of his wife very hard, but a year later he again fell in love with a young girl, Anna Magdalena Wilken, whom he met at the court of the Duke of Anhalt-Kethen and proposed to her. Despite the large age difference, the girl agreed and it is obvious that this marriage was very successful, since Anna Magdalena gave Bach thirteen children. The girl did an excellent job with the housework, cared for the children, sincerely rejoiced at her husband’s successes and provided great assistance in his work, rewriting his scores. Family was a great joy for Bach; he devoted a lot of time to raising his children, playing music with them and composing special exercises. In the evenings, the family often organized impromptu concerts, which brought joy to everyone. Bach's children had excellent talent by nature, but four of them had exceptional musical talent - Johann Christoph Friedrich, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann and Johann Christian. They also became composers and left their mark on the history of music, but none of them could surpass their father either in composing or in the art of performance.

Death of the composer

In 1749, the composer's health deteriorated. Bach Johann Sebastian, whose biography ends in 1750, suddenly began to lose his sight and turned for help to the English ophthalmologist John Taylor, who performed 2 operations in March-April 1750. However, both were unsuccessful. The composer's vision never returned. On July 28, at the age of 65, Johann Sebastian died. Contemporary newspapers wrote that "death occurred as a result of unsuccessful eye surgery." Currently, historians consider the cause of the composer’s death to be a stroke complicated by pneumonia. Carl Philipp Emmanuel, son of Johann Sebastian, and his student Johann Friedrich Agricola wrote an obituary. It was published in 1754 by Lorenz Christoph Mitzler in music magazine. Johann Sebastian Bach, short biography which is presented above, was originally buried in Leipzig, near the Church of St. John. The grave remained untouched for 150 years. Later, in 1894, the remains were transferred to a special repository in the Church of St. John, and in 1950 - to the Church of St. Thomas, where the composer still rests.

- Bach was a recognized expert on organs. He was invited to check and tune instruments in various churches in Weimar, where he lived for quite a long time. Every time he amazed his clients with the amazing improvisations that he played to hear how the instrument in need of his work sounded.
- Johann was bored with performing monotonous chorales during the service, and without holding back his creative impulse, he impromptu inserted his own small decorative variations into the established church music, which caused great dissatisfaction with his superiors.
- Better known for his religious works, Bach also excelled in composing secular music, as evidenced by his “Coffee Cantata.” Bach presented this humorous work as a small comic opera. Originally called "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht" ("Be quiet, stop talking"), it describes an addiction lyrical hero to coffee, and, not by chance, this cantata was first performed in the Leipzig Coffee House.
- At the age of 18, Bach really wanted to get the position of organist in Lubeck, which at that time belonged to the famous Dietrich Buxtehude. Another contender for this place was G. Handel. The main condition for occupying this position was marriage to one of Buxtehude’s daughters, but neither Bach nor Handel decided to sacrifice themselves in this way.
- Johann Sebastian Bach really liked to dress up as a poor teacher and in this form visit small churches, where he asked the local organist to play the organ a little. Some parishioners, hearing the performance, which was unusually beautiful for them, left the service in fear, thinking that the devil himself had appeared in their church in the form of a strange man.
- The Russian envoy to Saxony, Hermann von Keyserling, asked Bach to write a work to which he could quickly fall asleep. This is how the Goldberg Variations appeared, for which the composer received a gold cube filled with a hundred louis d'or. These variations are still one of the best “sleeping pills”.
- Johann Sebastian was known to his contemporaries not only as outstanding composer and a virtuoso performer, as well as a person with a very difficult character, intolerant of the mistakes of others. There is a known case when a bassoonist, publicly insulted by Bach for imperfect performance, attacked Johann. A real duel took place, as both were armed with daggers.
- Bach, who was keen on numerology, liked to weave the numbers 14 and 41 into his musical works, because these numbers corresponded to the first letters of the composer’s name.
- Thanks to Johann Sebastian Bach in church choirs Today it is not only men who sing. The first woman to sing in the church was the composer’s wife Anna Magdalena, who has a beautiful voice.
- In the mid-19th century, German musicologists founded the first Bach Society, whose main task was to publish the composer’s works. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the society dissolved itself and the entire collection of Bach’s works was published only in the second half of the twentieth century on the initiative of the Bach Institute, created in 1950. In the world today there are a total of two hundred and twenty-two Bach societies, Bach orchestras and Bach choirs.
- Researchers of Bach’s work suggest that the great maestro composed 11,200 works, although the legacy known to descendants includes only 1,200 compositions.
- Today there are more than fifty-three thousand books and various publications about Bach on different languages, about seven thousand published full biographies composer.
- Everyone knows that Beethoven suffered from hearing loss, but few people know that Bach became blind in his declining years. In fact, an unsuccessful eye operation performed by quack surgeon John Taylor caused the composer’s death in 1750.
- Johann Sebastian Bach was buried near the Church of St. Thomas. After some time, a road was built through the cemetery territory and the grave was lost. At the end of the 19th century, during the reconstruction of the church, the composer’s remains were found and reburied. After World War II in 1949, Bach's relics were transferred to the church building. However, due to the fact that the grave changed its location several times, skeptics doubt that the ashes of Johann Sebastian are in the burial.
- To date, 150 have been produced worldwide postage stamps, dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach, 90 of them were published in Germany.
- To Johann Sebastian Bach - the great musical genius, is treated with great reverence throughout the world, monuments to him have been erected in many countries, only in Germany there are 12 monuments. One of them is located in the town of Dornheim near Arnstadt and is dedicated to the wedding of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara.

Major works of Bach

Vocal works (accompanied by orchestra):

- 198 church cantatas
- 12 secular cantatas
- 6 motets
- Christmas and Easter oratorios

Works for orchestra and chamber music:

- 4 overtures (suites) and 6 Brandenburg concertos
- 7 concertos for clavier and orchestra

Works for clavier:

- Partitas, French and English suites, inventions for two and three voices, symphonies, preludes, fugues, fantasies, overtures, toccatas, capriccios, sonatas, duets, Italian concerto, Chromatic fantasia and fugue
- Well-tempered clavier
- Goldberg Variations
- The Art of Fugue

Works for organ:

- Preludes, fantasies, toccatas, fugues, canzones, sonatas, passacaglia, concertos on Vivaldi themes
- Chorale preludes
- III. Chorale Variations

Bach's keyboard concertos are concertos written by the composer for the harpsichord (nowadays they are often performed on the piano), string orchestra and basso continuo. Concertos for one to four claviers and orchestra are included in Schmieder's catalog under the numbers BWV 1052-1065, respectively.

The creation of keyboard concertos dates back approximately to the 30s of the 18th century. Since 1729, Bach headed the Musical Student Society at the University of Leipzig, participating in its concerts as a conductor and soloist. It was for these performances that concerts for one, two, three and four harpsichords with orchestra were created. The vast majority of these works are the author's adaptations of previously written works for other instruments (judging by the nature and texture of the solo parts, mainly violin concertos). The content of the music of the keyboard concertos itself, the nature of thematic themes, development techniques, and structural layout clearly and convincingly indicate that they were written by Bach.

2.1 Concerto No. 1 for keyboard and orchestra (D minor) BWV 1052
2.2 Concerto No. 2 for keyboard and orchestra (E major) BWV 1053
2.3 Concerto No. 3 for keyboard and orchestra (D major) BWV 1054
2.5 Concerto No. 5 for keyboard and orchestra (F minor) BWV 1056

Concerto No. 1 for clavier and orchestra (D minor) BWV 1052
Consists of three parts:
Allegro (¢) ~ 8 min.
Adagio (3/4) ~ 6 min.
Allegro (3/4) ~ 8 min.
The concerto is transcribed from the lost violin concerto BWV 1052R.
This concert belongs to the most popular works Bach. Although the original, which has not survived, was obviously intended for the violin, the keyboard version is impressive in its perfection of writing and, as the German musicologist Philipp Wolfrum points out,
“least reminiscent of its violin origins”
The Concerto in D minor stands out for its breadth of scale and depth of drama. The first movement is based on an energetic, harsh melody, delivered by the powerful unison of orchestra and soloist. Its poignant motif is being actively developed. A new gloomy theme of a “toccata” nature appears twice in the dominant and main keys, like a side part of the sonata form.
Gloomy, concentrated expression distinguishes the second movement, Adagio in G minor, based on the technique of continuous bass.
The third movement, Allegro, as in most Bach concertos, is a kind of figurative reprise of the first movement. Widely developed, mobile and elastic main topic, the “toccata” motifs of the soloist in the episodes evoke direct associations with the thematic theme of the first Allegro, emphasizing the dramatic character common to the entire work.

Concerto No. 2 for clavier and orchestra (E major) BWV 1053
Consists of three parts:
Allegro (c) ~ 9 min.
Siciliano (12/8) ~ 5 min.
Allegro (3/8) ~ 7 min.
The concerto is probably rearranged from the lost oboe concerto BWV 1053R.
The origin of the Concerto for Clavier and Orchestra No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053 is still unclear. The texture of his solo part contains many features that are close to the specifics of Bach’s keyboard and organ writing, so the existence of an earlier violin version is questioned. At the same time, all parts of the concerto are also found in Bach's cantatas.
The second movement, Siciliana in C sharp minor, takes us into the realm of elegiac sadness. Using the Italian Sicilian dance genre with its characteristic “swaying” rhythm, Bach creates an intermezzo.
The structure, dramaturgy and figurative structure of the finale, Allegro, exactly repeat the first part, creating a kind of “arch”. But, as usual in the final movements, the dance element is more clearly revealed here - the rhythmic pulsation of the music is reminiscent of the agile French paspier dance.
Concerto No. 3 for clavier and orchestra (D major) BWV 1054

Consists of three parts:
Allegro (¢) ~ 8 min.
Adagio e sempre piano (3/4) ~ 6 min.
Allegro (3/8) ~ 3 min.
The concerto is an arrangement of the violin concerto BWV 1042
Concerto for Clavier and Orchestra No. 3 in D major, BWV 1054 - adaptation of the Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1043, according to A. Schweitzer,
“full of invincible cheerfulness, which in the first and last movements pours out in triumphant song.”
The main theme of the first movement, opening with a catchy, inviting intonation, combines festivity and energy, brightly set off by the dramatic middle section, ending with a pathetic recitative.
The second movement, Adagio e piano sempre in B minor, belongs to the most stunning pages of Bach's concertos.
The finale of the concert is Allegro - a moving minuet in the form of a simple rondo.

Concerto No. 5 for clavier and orchestra (F minor) BWV 1056

Consists of three parts:
Allegro (2/4) ~ 3 min.
Largo (c) ~ 2 min.
Presto (3/4) ~ 4 min.
The Clavier Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056 is also a transcription of a lost violin concerto. This remarkable work is distinguished by a combination of dramatic tension, which captures the listener’s attention from the very first bars, and the utmost laconicism of expression.
The first movement is permeated by the harsh tread of the main theme with characteristic echoes - “echoes” between the soloist and the orchestra - a magnificent example of Bach’s thematicism.
Second movement - Largo in A flat major - " digression" The creation of the overall color is facilitated by the subtlety and transparency of the instrumentation: a beautiful sublime melody, colored with figurations, is entrusted from beginning to end to the soloist, accompanied by light accompanying string chords.
The third part, Presto, returns again to dramatic images. But in the finale, dance features are also noticeable: a fast motor movement in a three-beat measure is somewhat reminiscent of a paspier (an ancient French dance similar to a minuet)
Text from Wikipedia.

In the 1720-1730s. is developing rapidly in Germany musical life, new forms of music-making are born. Meetings of numerous musical societies require a concert repertoire, and in such conditions the instrumental genre comes to the fore. solo concert. And if the birth of the violin concerto is associated primarily with the activity Italian composers, then the clavier concerto originated in creativity. Heading the Musical Student Society since 1729, the composer created many such works in the 1730s. These were concerts for various numbers of harpsichords, accompanied by an orchestra. Basically, they were talking about reworkings of either Italian violin concertos - in particular, or works of Bach himself, created earlier (not all of them were preserved in the original version, but the nature of the melodies and their development indicates that these were also violin concertos, and modern musicians attempts are being made to recreate them by making transcriptions of Bach's keyboard concertos for violin).

In these concerts, the composer continued the search begun while working on the first volume of "". An important factor, which hampered the development of keyboard technique was the inconvenience of fingering: the musicians used only three fingers - without the thumb and little finger, and they had to unnaturally cross their fingers and play legato it was almost impossible. Bach suggests using all five fingers in keyboard playing, placing the first under the third and fourth. This made it possible to bring the keyboard technique closer to the violin technique, using the technique legato. This prepared the way for the creation of an original keyboard concerto, the first example of which was the Italian Concerto, created in 1735.

This work contains those characteristic features, which the keyboard concerto “inherited” from the violin concerto - for this reason it was called Italian. It is a three-part cycle, organized according to a contrasting principle: fast part, slow, fast. The composer follows the traditions that develop within the violin concerto in the form of each individual movement. Bach's innovation lay in the fact that his creation was not intended for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra, but only for a clavier with two manuals. It does not “compete” with other instruments; in the three-four-voice texture there is a solo part, a bass, and concertoing in the middle voices - thus, the solo instrument turns out to be self-sufficient in the Italian concerto.

For the first part, the composer used the ancient sonata form, which is based on a comparison of the main theme (ritornello) and interludes, built either on its development or on a new one. musical material. The tonality of the ritornello changes from performance to performance, and the main theme in a traditional concert is performed by the entire orchestra as a whole (tutti). Of all the forms that are not polyphonic, this was the most developed in Baroque music. The number of sections varied from five to fifteen, most often from seven to eleven.

The energetic main theme of the first part has a chord structure, and in form it is an eight-bar period of two sentences. Two other themes, close to it in figurative structure, differ from it in texture: the second is motor, the third has a bizarre melodic pattern, in a high register. The relationship between these three themes anticipates the exposition of a classical sonata allegro with the main, connecting and secondary parts, but there is no contrast between them. The second section - the most developed - is similar to sonata development: the isolation and sequencing of motives, the variation of their elements are used, but there are also polyphonic development techniques, for example, imitation. In the reprise, the main theme reappears in its original form, including the key.

The tonality of the lyrical second part is parallel minor. Like the arias and dances in his suites, it is written in the ancient two-part form. The contemplation of the “fluid” melody with its strong beats, veiled syncopations, is emphasized by the even rhythm of the accompaniment and high register, associated with the crystal timbre of the flute. The cantilence of the melody makes it similar to violin concertos. Unusual for clavier music of that era was a homophonic texture with an emphasized isolation of the melody, which is led by the right hand, while the accompanying voices are given by the left.

The third part in its rapid movement is even more dynamic than the first. The genre nature of the melodies and dance rhythms evokes the idea of national holiday. The dynamism of this part, created in a ronda shape, is enhanced by the polyphonic presentation.

The creation of the Italian Concerto became important milestone in the development of the genre instrumental concert. Many features of this work anticipate the classical sonata.

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