Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and WorkForkel, Johann Nikolaus
History
Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work
Forkel, Johann Nikolaus
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750; Composers -- Germany -- Biography
1. _Six Sonatas for Clavier with Violin obbligato_. Composed at
Cöthen, they are among Bach’s masterpieces in this form and display
fugal and canonic writing which is both natural and full of
character. The Violin part needs a master to play it; for Bach knew
the capabilities of the instrument and spared it as little as the
Clavier. The six Sonatas are in the keys of B minor, A major, E
major, C minor, F minor, and G major.(274)
2. _Several Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin_,(275) _Harpsichord
and Flute_,(276) _Harpsichord and Viol da Gamba_.(277) They are
admirably written and most of them are pleasant to listen to even
today.(278)
3. _Several Concertos for the Clavier and other instruments_. They
contain real gems of art but are antiquated in form.(279)
4. _Two Concertos for two Claviers_, with an accompaniment of two
Violins, Viola, and Violoncello. The first, in C minor,(280) has an
antique flavour. But the second, in C major,(281) is as fresh as if
it had been written yesterday.(282) It may be played without the
String quartet and still sounds admirable. The final Allegro is a
majestic movement and strictly fugal. Compositions of this form
were first perfected, indeed, we may conjecture, were first
attempted, by Bach. At least, I have met with only a single example
by another composer that may perhaps be older—namely, Pachelbel of
Nürnberg’s Toccata, as he called it. Pachelbel, however, was a
contemporary of Bach and may have taken the idea from him. However,
his work is not worth considering. One instrument merely repeats
the other’s phrases without being at all concertante. It almost
seems as if Bach at this period had made up his mind to discover
what could be done with any number of parts. Having already written
for a single solo instrument music which required no accompaniment,
he next experimented in dividing his material between as large a
number of solo instruments as possible. Hence the Concertos for two
Claviers were followed by
5. _Two Concertos for three Claviers_ with an accompaniment of
Strings.(283) These Concertos present a remarkable characteristic:
besides the concertante combination of three Claviers, the stringed
instruments also have concertante parts distinct from the
accompaniment. It is difficult to realise the art involved in this
achievement. For, in spite of their technical skill, the two works
are so delicate, full of character, and expressive, that the
composer might be treating a simple melody (note particularly the
Concerto in D minor). Words are inadequate to express the
admiration they arouse. But Bach was not satisfied. Hence he wrote
6. _A Concerto for four Claviers_ and four stringed
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