Johann Sebastian Bach was renowned as a keyboard virtuoso, but he was also a skilled violinist. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, had been a professional violinist in Erfurt and Eisenach (where Johann Sebastian was born), so our composer surely grew up with the sound of that instrument in his ear. It was as a violinist that Sebastian obtained his first professional appointment, at Weimar in 1703 and when he died 47 years later in Leipzig, he left in his estate a violin built by Stainer - probably the luthier Jacob Stainer whose instruments remain prized today.

Bach's essential works for solo violin and orchestra are the four concertos: BWV 1041 (this video), BWV 1042, BWV 1043 and BWV 1060. Scholars have traditionally maintained that BWV 1041-43 were composed in Cöthen and revived for the Leipzig Collegium musicum. Judging from the Bach's handwriting, these concertos originated in Leipzig and were prepared around the year 1730. Also, stylistically, it presupposes Bach’s familiarity with the concertos of Vivaldi and hence cannot
have been written prior to his years in Weimar (1708–1717). The impressive maturity of its remarkably concentrated language suggests, however, that it was composed as mentioned previously, at a relatively late date, i. e. in the Köthen or early Leipzig period. There is no doubt that Bach's keyboard arrangements of these three pieces date from his Collegium musicum years, when he turned the A minor violin concerto (BWV 1041 - this video) into a G minor harpsichord concerto, the E major violin concerto (BWV 1042) in a D major harpsichord concerto, and the D minor double violin concerto (BWV 1043) into a C minor concerto for two harpsichords.

The principal source of the concerto BWV 1041 is located today at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Mus. ms. Bach St. 145). As far as the musical text is concerned, it is clear and virtually free of errors.

Composing orchestral music was not really a principal focus of Bach's work. From 1717 to 1723 he was in charge of secular music for the court at Cöthen, but the 13-member instrumental ensemble available to him there, fell short of what we would consider a modern orchestra. Thus his ostensibly orchestral pieces of the period, such as the three of violin concertos BWV 1041-43, still stand with one foot firmly in the realm of chamber music. The ensemble supporting the soloist(s) consist here only of strings, with a harpsichord to realize the continuo line. In this connection, it is noted that all of Bach's music is chamber music, whether it's written for a solo instrument or a large ensemble. In solo works the performer creates chamber music on one instrument, by balancing and phrasing many different lines at once. On the other hand, when more musicians are involved, the chamber-music structure is more standardized and interpretations are formed through interaction with the other instrumentalists.

Performed by:
● Julia Fischer violin
● Kristjan Järvi conductor
● Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic orchestra




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