Bach wrote two concertos for solo violin and orchestra, one in a minor, and this one, in E major. Since no autograph exists for the E major concerto, dating its origin is difficult to impossible. Many scholars believe, however, that the work, along with the a minor concerto and d minor concerto for 2 violins, comes from Bach’s years in Cöthen. Bach wrote several concertos in both Weimar and Cöthen, including some harpsichord concertos, and it is possible that he wrote even more concertos for solo violin, though only these two survive.

The solo violin concertos show Bach’s affinity for the Italian concerto design: a three-movement scheme, fast-slow-fast; with frequent use of an orchestral ritornello. This is something most closely associated with an Italian composer only a few years older than Bach, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), who composed literally hundreds of concertos for solo violin. (Vivaldi spent a good portion of his career as the music instructor at the Seminario musicale dell’Ospedale della pieta in Venice. At this home for indigent and orphaned girls, Vivaldi instructed the girls in music, directed their orchestra, and wrote numerous pieces for the girls to perform.)

The first movement of the E major concerto draws on another Italian art form, the da capo aria. The movement also makes ample use of sequencing, especially in the tutti or ripieno sections. The movement is outlined below:

• ms. 1-11, tutti
• E major solidly throughout
• Introduces the main theme, which will serve as a ritornello throughout the entire movement. Main theme has three primary motives, as shown below:

• ms. 12-14
  • Begins in E major
  • soloist begins with the rising triad motive, followed by ornaments
    
    
• ms. 15-17
  • tutti returns with the ritornello
  • still in E major
    
    
• ms. 18-20
  • Solo again, in sequential passage
  • E major

1. Move to the Dominant Key (B major)

• ms. 21-34
  • move to the dominant established by the tutti with a return to ritornello material
  • after a measure of tutti, the soloist takes over, with the tutti reinforcing on motive c
  • reaches the first strong internal cadence since m. 11, giving some closure to the A section of the work

• ms. 35-52
• dominated by the soloist, with tutti support in reinforcing motives from the ritornello
• Begins in E major, A major tonicized for several measures, B major hinted at; E major reestablished at m. 43, held to m. 52

• ms. 53-69
  • double bar line in the music makes a visual separation from the previous section, even though the descending bass line connects the two
  • soloist dominates the first part of this section with passagework reminiscent of Vivaldi and Corelli–string crossings, triadic, repeated notes
  • orchestra plays an entirely supportive role; virtually no trace of the ritornello

1. Return of opening ritornello, transposed; ‘development’ section

• ms. 70-95
• E major solidly throughout
• C# minor still holds initially, then quick move in m. 73 to B major; A major in m. 75; hints at other keys with sequential passage until A major returns in m. 81; b minor established at m. 85, then the section cadences in f# minor
• More tutti here than in the previous section, with again strong reinforcement of motives from the ritornello
• Relative melodic and tonal instability of this section is more akin to a ‘development’ section in sonata form, which would not be invented for at least another 25 years

1. Further development and instability

• ms. 96-122
• Main function is to get the music back to E major, but every time Bach approaches that, he deflects the tonality elsewhere
• The bulk of this section is in the minor mode
• Closes with an adagio, ‘cadenza’-like passage
• Cadences weakly in g# minor

What separates this ABA form from others in instrumental works of the time is the strict repetition of A at the end. Some variation, designated A’, is far more common, but since Bach followed the da capo model, where the first section is self-contained in a key, the return to that material later means that there is no key change to avoid. In other works of the time, and of succeeding generations, the first A section leads to a key change, usually to the dominant key. Thus, an exact repetition of that material again leads to a key change; in order to avoid that second key change and bring closure the movement, a composer normally alters the music somehow to keep the tonic key. That is not necessary here.

* * * * * * * *

The second movement is an expressive adagio, set in the relative minor key of c# minor. This key was also an important secondary key in the first movement, so our ears are well attuned to it. In an unusual twist the first melodic material of the movement is presented, rather somberly, by the continuo, rather than the upper strings.

The first entrance by the soloist, then, occurs with a long sustained G#, virtually imperceptible as the melodic fabric moves upward in the orchestral strings; two measures later, the violins of the ripieno pass the melodic baton to the soloist, and they then retreat into an accompanying role. Unlike the alternating ritornello (tutti) and solo passages found in the opening movement, the slow movement is a vehicle for the soloist above all else, though the continuo is quite insistent in its numerous statements, in various guises and keys, of the opening melody, and ultimately, they have the last say, closing the movement with a complete restatement of this theme, back in c# minor.

* * * * * * *

The joyous final movement is too swift to be a dance, though its triple meter (here, 3/8) and flow may evoke thoughts of such. Not a dance movement per se, the movement is a rondeau, with a 16-measure theme opening and recurring throughout the movement (unchanged in any appearance).

Like the first movement, this movement is based on the ritornello idea, with alternating statements of that orchestral theme by the entire orchestra and solo passages accompanied by continuo. In this movement, there are four such sections, something common in Vivaldi’s works as well, though Vivaldi rarely followed the rondeau idea of including the main theme unchanged; in Vivaldi’s works, in fact, the ritornello statements tend to get smaller which each subsequent appearance, until the final one, which is stated in full. Bach, then, is a more cosmopolitan composer, incorporating the Italian da capo design, Italian concerto format, and a French form in this concerto.

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©2002 Carol Traupman-Carr