Piano Literature Sept. 16, 2003

MUSC 4325 Chrystal Morris

Professor Korevaar

Bach - Harpsichord Concerto in D minor - BWV 1052

The words "piano concerto", for me, evoke thoughts of grand pieces which showcase virtuoso

piano playing accompanied by an orchestra; the solo piano being a gemstone whose setting can be

ornate or simple, serving only to frame and compliment it. I picture a nine-foot grand piano

surrounded by a hundred-piece symphony orchestra, all in a concert hall seating hundreds, if not

thousands, of people. And that is what modern audiences have come to expect. But wait! This

music was not written for modern audiences, nor for modern grand pianos, nor for huge concert halls.

We'd better go back in time to the year 1729. That was the year that Johann Sebastian Bach

became leader of the Telemann Collegium Musicum in Leipzig, Germany. The society was

supported by university students, professional musicians, family members. Meetings were held in a

coffee house owned by a man by the name of Gottfried Zimmermann on Friday evenings in the

winter months. In the spring, they met in his garden on the outskirts of town. The public was invited

to hear music by the society's members. It is thought that Bach arranged his harpsichord concertos

for these concerts of the Collegium Musicum. So much for the huge concert hall. A garden and a

coffee house do not call for huge orchestral sounds to fill their rather intimate settings.

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his seven concertos for solo harpsichord with orchestra

between 1734 and 1739. BWV 1052 in D minor was the first. The concerto was coming into

its own as a genre. It was probably an inevitable outcome of growing exploration of musical forms

at that time. In Italy, Corelli and Vivaldi, among others, had explored the concerto grosso for

orchestra and had written concertos for solo violin and other instruments. Apparently, though, Bach

was the first composer to write keyboard concertos. Because of his own excellence at the keyboard,

it would have been natural for him to do so. Several sources state that BWV 1052 was a

transcription of a "lost" violin concerto. Edwin Hughes, in his preface to a Schirmer edition of the

work, stated that perhaps only one of the seven concertos was originally composed for the key-

board. There are features of the music that point to its being a showcase for the violin. The solo,

starting in measure 62, a cadenza starting in measure 112, and a very long trill in measures 137-138,

are not especially difficult to play on a keyboard but require a virtuoso to do them justice on the

violin. Each passage would require difficult bowing techniques and mutiple stops as well as

speed and agility. Measures 149-174, in particular, remind me of passages from Bach's Chaconne

for violin which Brahms arranged for the piano to be played using only the left hand.

The concerto had by then evolved into a standard three-movement form: a fast first

movement, a slow middle movement, and a fast third movement. BWV 1052's and most of Bach's

other keyboard concertos' movements are Allegro, Adagio, Allegro. ( It is interesting to note that

BWV 1056 is Allegro, Largo, Presto; the Presto perhaps making up for time lost in the Largo.) The

main tutti ritornello theme in D minor is repeated in its entirety at the end of the piece. In the

intervening measures, it modulates to A minor, C major and G minor. The ritornello interludes lead

into the solo passage-work.

The instrumentation was harpsichord, strings and basso continuo.

A two-piano edition in our library was published by the Wilhelm Hansen publishing company of

Copenhagen, Denmark in 1955. It was arranged by the celebrated pianist Edwin Fischer for two

pianos. He wrote extensive performance notes and indicated which instructions were from Bach's

own hand and which were his own taste in execution. The performance notes could stand alone

as a lesson on performing Bach keyboard works. Mr. Fischer draws attention to the limitations of

the harpsichord in its inability to "sing" like the violin for which the work was originally

intended. Also, the piano is limited in its ability to sound as crisp and bright as a harpsichord.

Mr. Fischer's stated intention in the introductory notes was "to keep the solo piano part as Bach

wrote it." He indicated that the second piano part was a transcription of "the string quintet accom-

paniment."

Another edition, published by G. Schirmer, Inc. in 1928, was edited by Edwin Hughes. It is full of

indications for tempi, dynamics and....PEDALING. It was Mr. Hughes contention that since it was

to be played on a piano, the indications should be for the piano. In his preface, however, Mr. Hughes

points out that Bach left virtually no instructions for interpretation.

There appear to be many recordings of this piece. I heard part of a CD of Mr. Fischer's

performance of the work. Since Mr. Fischer died in 1960, the 2000 release of the CD is probably a

digitalized remake of the original performance. Although the sound quality is not good, Mr.

Fischer's virtuosity still manages to shine through. In listening to the music, one can easily hear

how it might sound played on a violin and it really is too bad the original work was lost.

Another interesting bit of recycling was done on this music. The first movement was used as a

basis for the Sinfonia of Bach's Cantata number 146 and the second movement was used in the

chorale of the same work.

Bibliography

1. Bach, Johann Sebastian. Concerto for Klavier in d minor

Copenhagen: Wilhelm Hansen publishers - Ed. Edwin Fischer, 1955.

2. Bach, Johann Sebastian. Concerto in D minor for Piano

New York: G Schirmer, Inc. -Ed. Edwin Hughes, 1928.

3. Boyd, Malcolm. Bach

New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

4. Grout, Donald Jay. A History of Western Music

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1973.

5. Schonberg, Harold C. The Great Pianists From Mozart to the Present

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

6. Wolff, Christoph. Johann Sebastian Bach The Learned Musician

New York-London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. .