ORIGINAL AND COUNTERFEIT

The oeuvre of three major composers was of great influence in determining the Baroque style: namely, the compositions of the Germans Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Händel, as well as the works of the Italian Antonio Vivaldi. Despite the fact that they each achieved personal success in varying genres, all three of them wrote magnificent solo concertos. The recording at hand contains concertos for various instruments written by Bach and Vivaldi. The Piano Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach play a special role in the history of music: on the one hand, they represent the beginning of this genre, which was to experience its first major successes during the Classical Period in Vienna, especially thanks to the works by Mozart; on the other, they were not originally created for the harpsichord. All 15 of Bach’s harpsichord concertos (including the fragment BWV 1059 and the two concertos written for 2 or more instruments) are either transcriptions or arrangements of his own or other composers’ concertos for solo instruments and strings. During his Weimar period (1708-1717), Bach had already studied and arranged concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, thus creating the first piano concertos. Later, during his Köthen period (1717-1723), he wrote the majority of his concertos, mostly for violin and strings, which later served as role model for his harpsichord concertos.
In fact, his commitments as conductor of the Leipzig ‘Collegium Musicum’ from 1729-37 and again from 1739-41 were the real reason why Bach decided to arrange his numerous solo concertos for one or more harpsichords. The ‘bourgeois’ job of Kapellmeister demanded an extensive and regular supply of orchestral and choral works. As Bach was fully occupied by his obligations as Thomaskantor, he fell back on his own substantial repertoire – a highly popular method at the time.
In its musical structure, the Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings in D minor, BWV 1052 clearly reveals the transcription processes of a violin concerto in the same key that has not survived the passing of time, without causing any hitch in the music. The range of the violin formed a problem for Bach: at the time, it exceeded the possibilities of the harpsichord by more than a fifth. However, Bach retained the original key and replaced the high notes with lower octaves. The harpsichord part contains a conspicuous number of typical violin passages. The three-movement work is introduced by a grave and powerful movement. The strings present a closely knit theme, with plenty of rhythmic syncopation, which returns eight times in the tutti. The tutti in the second movement, which refers to Bach’s Sacred Cantatas BWV 188 and 146, introduces a peaceful quaver motif, with a characteristic seventh leap that reappears throughout the entire movement. Above this figure, which also functions as foundation for the bass, the harpsichord develops the richly ornamented melody. The final movement, which is characterized by a basic rhythm consisting of a quaver with two semiquavers, has a cheerful and dancelike character.
The Triple Concerto for Flute, Violin, Harpsichord and Strings in A minor, BWV 1044 is probably the last concerto Bach wrote, according to musical sources. It dates from the 1740’s, and once again, Bach falls back on earlier compositions as role models.
The outer movements refer to the Prelude and Fugue BWV 894, which he probably composed in 1717; the middle movement, an Adagio ma non tanto e dolce, is based on the Organ Sonata in D minor, BWV 527. The apparently effortless manner in which Bach succeeds in presenting previous role models as new compositions is most impressive. In his work “Der vollkommene Kapellmeister” (The perfect Kapellmeister) dating from 1739, Johann Mattheson described this ability as follows: “Borrowing is permitted: however, the borrowed material must be reimbursed with interest; i.e., the imitations must be arranged and elaborated in such a way as to present a more attractive and better image than the movements from which they were borrowed.”
Thus in the middle movement, for instance, both the flute and the violin (which are subordinate to the harpsichord in the opening movement) emancipate themselves from the keyboard instrument, leading to a true ‘dialogue’ between individuals, containing commentary, replies, statements and motifs. The orchestra keeps quiet while the trio is playing, and not until the Finale does it build up the rich tonal base, above which the virtuoso soloists give a sparkling performance.
At the pinnacle of his career, Antonio Vivaldi was one of the most famous composers in Europe. Topping the scale of his most well-known works –more or less the quintessence of his art – are the concertos, with which he “filled (almost)half the world,” as Quantz stated in 1752. As maestro di violini at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, Vivaldi gave musical instruction to the girls living there, in a conservatoire annexed to the orphanage. The concerts were held on Sundays and consistently offered high-quality performances. Vivaldi was not just responsible for rehearsals and performances, but also for the supply of (his own) compositions – especially solo concertos featuring an instrument waging battle with the string orchestra, accompanied by the harpsichord. From his Op. 6, onwards Vivaldi’s preferred concerto structure consists – almost without exception – of three movements (fast – slow – fast); only a few works are preceded by a slow introduction. His concerto movements are based on the alternation of orchestral ritornelli and solo sections, in which he – always according to the structure of the form employed – either treats the themes of the soli and tutti in the same manner, or differentiates between the thematic material of the soloists as opposed to the orchestra. This method can also be alternated within a work following each movement.
However, the well-nigh unmanageable vastness of Vivaldi’s oeuvre of various hundreds of concertos also contains more than 230 violin concertos. Thanks to this, Vivaldi is faraway the most significant individual contributor to the genre of the violin concerto. The reason for this enormous – and not just from a contemporary viewpoint – number of concertos was on the one hand the expansion in the repertoire containing typical technical motifs for the violin, for which Vivaldi always ensured new refinements, and on the other, the above-mentioned great need of music for the concerts held at the Ospedale. The 12 concertos of Op. 7 (which contains the two Oboe Concertos Nos. 1 & 7, as well as 10 violin concertos) were printed by Vivaldi’s usual publisher Roger in Amsterdam, probably just before 1717, immediately following the Six Violin Concerto Op. 6. Michael Stegemann suspects that Roger might well have published both editions without the composer’s knowledge. After all, Op. 6 and Op. 7 do not share a title and neither are they provided with a dedication (which in Vivaldi’s time was rather usual). Besides, both volumes contain a large number of printing errors and inaccuracies. As do some concertos from Op. 7, the concertos on this recording – RV 208a and RV 214 – have alternative versions, for which Vivaldi at the time composed a new movement. That may well have to do with the above-mentioned unauthorized edition by Roger – thus Vivaldi would quite possibly have been able to sell the adapted versions as new compositions. A common practice in the definitely businesslike era of the Baroque.

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