Italian concert
The Italian Concerto (original title Concerto according to Italian gusto ), Bach Works Directory 971, is a three-movement work for two-manual harpsichord in F major by Johann Sebastian Bach . It appeared in 1735 as part II of his piano practice and plays an exceptional role both in Bach's complete works and in terms of genre . As one of the few instrumental concerts without orchestral accompaniment, this should be imitated by using the manuals or timbres . The work is strongly influenced by the music of the Italian Baroque and is the result of Bach's long-standing occupation with this style.
background
Johann Sebastian Bach moved to Weimar in 1708 , where he was first employed as a chamber musician at the court of the Dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August , but then soon became ducal organist. There Bach got to know the works of Italian contemporaries such as Antonio Vivaldi , Arcangelo Corelli and Benedetto Marcello . The form of the solo concert, which emerged from the Concerto grosso , was developed by them and their environment towards the end of the 17th century . At the Concerto grosso, smaller solo groups were initially juxtaposed with the orchestra. Later these were increasingly replaced by a single solo instrument, in the beginning especially the violin , and this solo took on more and more a virtuoso character. This also went hand in hand with the further development of the instruments, whose sound volume had only developed at that time to be able to keep pace with the orchestra in terms of sound.
Bach arranged such concerts (“Six” or “Sixteen Concerts after Different Masters”, BWV 592–597 and 972–987), for example for organ or harpsichord solo or - as in the case of the Concerto in B minor op. 3 No. 10 by Vivaldi - for other solo instruments and orchestras. Vivaldi combined both concerti grossi and solo concerts in this work, which is an example of this transition. When editing, Bach retained the structural organization and structure. He tried to imitate the individual voices precisely and only intervened in the piece to change it where the character of the instrument did not allow it to be retained. Later, especially after Bach's move to Köthen in 1717 and the associated employment as court conductor and during his time in Leipzig , he also composed his own concerts, which further developed the form, such as the harpsichord concerts and the Brandenburg concerts .
The work
In the Italian Concerto, Bach reverts to the “Italian style”, but clearly links it to the contrapuntal tradition in which he stands as a composer. It was published in 1735, so it was written a good twenty years after Bach first studied the Italian Baroque masters, at least the second and third movements. Finds from sketches indicate that Bach had dealt with the themes and motifs used in the first movement earlier, possibly even during the Weimar period, and has now taken them up again.
The work was published as the second part of what ended up being four-part “Clavierbeispiel”, a series of works for keyboard instruments that he had written with the aim of “teaching” a wider audience while providing entertainment that was easily accessible. The relatively easy-to-understand Italian music was much more popular at the time than Bach's intellectually demanding counterpoint, the polyphony of which was increasingly beginning to fall out of fashion. Stylistically, the work is also closer to the compositions of the then more popular German-speaking composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann and Georg Friedrich Handel .
Also included in the second part of the keyboard exercise is the overture in the French style in B minor, which, as the title shows, was stylistically based on the also very popular French court music, which Bach also got to know very early on and which he had for a lifetime influenced by them. With this juxtaposition, which is also expressed in the tritone interval of B minor and F major, Bach also wanted to prove his mastery in both styles that were popular at the time. In contrast to the concerts for solo instruments without orchestral accompaniment , which Bach created by transcribing works by other composers for harpsichord and imitating the voices of orchestras and solo instruments, the Italian Concerto is an original “concert” for harpsichord solo and thus almost unique. Manuscripts and notes found on copies from Bach's time leave open the assumption that Bach wrote the concerto as a transcription of a solo concerto that is now lost.
analysis
As was customary in the concert form at the time, the work consists of three movements: A first movement is without a tempo indication, but today it is usually overwritten with " Allegro ". On unpublished sketches the indication “Allegro assai” can be found, which basically corresponds to this and is done by the majority of interpreters nowadays. This is followed by an “Andante” and the concert ends with a “Presto”. Bach explicitly names “a clavicymbel with two manuals” as the target instrument, which is special insofar as in other works, for example in the Well-Tempered Clavier , an instrument for execution is not explicitly mentioned. The instruction takes full account of the character of the concerto, for example, performing it on the clavichord would not produce the same expression at all.
The dynamic names given in the work stand for the respective manuals: “ forte ” means that the first is played, “ piano ” stands for the second. By changing the manuals, the one between “Tutti” and “Solo” is imitated in the instrumental concert. On the modern piano , this manual change is partly imitated by changing the timbre, which is extremely demanding, and modulating the volume, partly differently loud / quiet in the left and right hand.
The main key of the work is F major. The first and third movements are in this key, while the second is in the parallel key of D minor . Other keys that play an important role in the course of the concert are B major ( subdominant ), C major ( dominant ), D minor ( parallel key of the tonic) and A minor (parallel key of the dominant). The movements are - atypical for Bach - kept almost entirely homophonic, in "solo" parts the orchestra acts as an accompaniment to the main voice.
1st movement, 2/4 time
The first movement begins with the introduction of the head topic, which takes place in the manner of a tutti . The powerful bass chords give the beginning a majestic effect. From this the majestic main clause is formed, which ends again in the tonic after a fallacy . This is followed by the subordinate movement, which is quite different, its character is more of a lyrical nature and is determined by minor keys . With it, the “solo part” begins in the right hand with its theme, which is accompanied by the left, ie by or part of the “orchestra”. After this interplay of solo and tutti, which stretches over about twenty bars , a repetition of the main movement in C major ( dominant ) begins , which is then modulated in D minor ( parallel key of F major). Another side movement follows with a theme in the solo part, the constitution of which, like those of the two previous themes, is essentially determined by the interval of the sixth . Then the main theme starts again, this time in B flat major ( subdominant ). The thus beginning portion could be described as a kind of " performing call," this takes about sixty cycles and in it the previously played themes and motifs are processed and varied until they return from a reprise terminates the main clause. It is identical to the introduction of the main clause. This sequence results in a clear form of the first sentence, shown schematically this is when you designate the main sentence with "A", the side sentence with "B" and the implementation with "C": A - B - A '- B' - C - A.
2nd movement, 3/4 time
The second movement is a fairly long andante in D minor. Its design consists primarily of the ostinato of the left hand in the exclusive role as the accompanying voice. This consists of ascending and descending thirds and two subsequent bass notes, which conveys a certain, almost bleak monotony , but also something like intimacy. The right hand acts as a solo part and comes close to a violin in an Italian solo concert or a pathetic, colored singing voice. The important role she plays in this movement is not unusual; there are comparable concertante works in which the medium of the almost constant orchestral part is used with the constant, ornate use of the solo; so in the largo of the harpsichord concerto BWV 1056, which is embellished in this way. The interplay of solo and tutti takes place separately from the manual: the melody of the solo is played on the first manual, the "orchestral accompaniment" on the second. Formally, the movement is divided into three parts, namely two stanzas and a coda. The two stanzas lead from D minor to F major (first) and to D major (second). The coda ensures that this does not remain like this (major), as is often the case in minor pieces, but ends in the basic key of D minor. This gives the sentence a tragic character.
3rd movement, 4/4 time
The last movement of the concert bears the tempo designation Presto, which is interpreted differently by interpreters today: partly as "as fast as possible" (e.g. the recording of Glenn Gould ), partly only as "lively" (e.g. that of Trevor Pinnock ). What is certain is that the latter tends to be meant in the Baroque era. The movement begins with a fresh and happy head theme, which consists of an initial octave jump and scales in both hands. The side movement that immediately follows counteracts this: The theme is partially characterized as legato and rather modest in terms of extreme changes in pitch. With regard to the relationship between solo and tutti, the movement is similar to the first, namely they alternate and the themes are again linked and repeated, this essentially happens in the keys of C major, A minor (parallel key of the dominant) and D minor. The movement is not only laid out very differently in terms of tempo than the previous one, it is contrary in almost every respect. The stoic constancy is countered by a lively, sparkling spontaneity and in terms of playing technique the third movement is a lot more virtuoso than the second, so it has the character of a final movement in the true sense of the word.
reception
“But who will not continue to admit that this piano concerto is to be regarded as a perfect model of a well-established unanimous concert? But at the moment we will still be able to present very few, or almost no concertos of such excellent qualities and of such a well-ordered elaboration. As great a master of music as Herr Bach is, who in particular has mastered the piano almost entirely by himself [...] it had to be to give us such a piece in this setting. "
grades
- Emery, Walter / Kretschmar-Fischer, Renate (eds.): Italian concert BWV 971. Foreword, practice-oriented fingerings & introductory texts. Bärenreiter Urtext 2018.
- Rudolf Steglich (editor) Hans-Martin Theopold (fingering): Italian Concerto BWV 971. Foreword. G. Henle Urtext.
- Alfred Kreutz (ed.): Italian concert. With an introduction. Schott, Mainz 1950.
Web links
- Italian Concert : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Italian Concerto with Bach Cantatas (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Martin Geck : Johann Sebastian Bach . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2002, p. 35 u. 149.
- ^ A b c Norman Lloyd: Bach, Johann Sebastian . In: Great Lexicon of Music . Orbis Verlag, Munich 1992.
- ↑ Klaus Engler: Foreword . In: Bach, Johann Sebastian: Italian concert . Wiener Urtext Edition, Vienna 1977.
- ↑ a b Yo Tomita: The Clavier-Exercise II . Supplement to: Masaaki Suzuki : JS Bach: Italian Concerto, French Ouverture, Sonata in d-minor. BIS (CD), 2006.
- ↑ a b c d e f Werner Oehlmann: Italian concert . In: Reclam's piano music guide . Volume I: Early, Baroque and Classical . Reclam, Stuttgart 2005.
- ↑ Doc. II, No. 463, here after: Christoph Wolff: Johann Sebastian Bach . 2nd Edition. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-596-16739-5 , p. 406.