Vivaldi & Bach: Violin Concertos Accademia Bizantina & Carlo Chiarappa Classical 1998 Preview SONG TIME Le Quattro Stagioni, Concerto No. 1 in E Major 'La Primavera': I. By Antonio Vivaldi Accademia Bizantina. An Italian master whose compositions had significant impact on Bach was Antonio Vivaldi. In 1713-1714, Bach transcribed at least nine concertos of Vivaldi, three for solo organ (BWV 593-4, 596), and six for solo harpsichord (BWV 972-3, 975-6, 978, 980).
A Vivaldi edition from Amsterdam was to mark music history. On discovering the Italian concerto, Bach was immediately sold on it.
Already at the age of fifteen, Johann Ernst, son of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, was studying law in the Netherlands. As a music-lover – and creditable composer – he could really indulge himself there. For instance, he got Vivaldi’s brand-new opus 3 L’estro armonico hot off the press, which caused a true sensation once back in Thüringen. After receiving the score from Johann Ernst and being blown away by the virtuoso concertos of ‘the red priest’, Bach lost no time in setting his own hand to the revolutionary genre. When the young prince fell fatally ill shortly after his return, Bach incorporated a bit of a theme from Vivaldi’s concerto grosso in D minor into his cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis; a reference that the future duke would have recognised immediately. A few years later, Johann Ernst’s own violin concertos in the style of Vivaldi were published.
Performed by Martha Goldstein (harpsichord) Performed by Martha Goldstein (harpsichord) Performed by Martha Goldstein (harpsichord) | |
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Performed by Radek Materka (piano) Performed by Radek Materka (piano) Performed by Radek Materka (piano) | |
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The Italian Concerto, BWV 971, originally titled Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto (Concerto in the Italian taste), is a three-movement concerto for two-manual harpsichord solo composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and published in 1735 as the first half of Clavier-Übung II (the second half being the French Overture). The Italian Concerto has become popular among Bach's keyboard works, and has been widely recorded both on the harpsichord and the piano.
Context[edit]
An Italian concerto relies upon the contrasting roles of different groups of instruments in an ensemble; Bach imitates this effect by creating contrasts using the forte and pianomanuals of a two-manual harpsichord throughout the piece. In fact, along with the French Overture and some of the Goldberg Variations, this is one of the few works by Bach which specifically require a 2-manual harpsichord.
Bach also transcribed Italian concertos by Vivaldi and others for solo harpsichord (BWV 972–987), and for solo organ or pedal harpsichord (BWV 592–596).
Movements[edit]
The Italian Concerto consists of three movements:
The two lively F major outer movements, in ritornello style, frame a florid arioso-style movement in D minor, the relative minor.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Bach E Vivaldi Wikipedia
- Italian Concerto, BWV 971: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
- Italian Concerto, BWV 971: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Differenze Tra Bach E Vivaldi