Why Bach Sinfonia's Bach on April 7 is the Most Beloved Bach

While the Bach Sinfonia is dedicated to performance and education of music from all of the baroque and early classical periods, conductor/artistic director Daniel Abraham and the ensemble members hold a special place in their musical hearts for music from their namesake, J.S. Bach. Therefore, on Sunday, April 7 at 3PM at the Cultural Arts Center at Silver Spring, Montgomery College, Sinfonia performs “Most Beloved Bach.”

In selecting only four great instrumental works by Bach, Abraham decided that this program should offer not only four outstanding masterpieces, but that the performance should reflect some of the variety of instrumental genres in which Bach composed.

Here, he offers this brief look at the history of each of the works he chose for the program, as well as his personal interest and history with the pieces:

Concerto in D Minor of Harpsichord, BWV 1052
The Concerto in D Minor was likely first conceived as a now lost violin concerto while working for the court at Cöthen. In its later reconceived form as a harpsichord work it stands as one of the seven concertos by Bach for a single harpsichord. As director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig from 1729 to 1741, Bach often gave performances at Zimmermann’s coffee house. It is likely that the works reconceived as harpsichord concertos were intended for performance at Zimmermann’s.

In Abraham’s Words, Why this Piece is Important to Me:
While I first heard several of the Bach’s concertos for violin while at Interlochen in my junior high school days, it was not until high school when my neighbor, an extraordinary young pianist, played for me the opening and final movements of the D Major concerto, BWV 1054 that I first heard any of these works in their keyboard version. It was astonishing how rich and stunning these works were in their keyboard conception. I remember buying a Dover score, digesting all of them, and listening to the fabulous recordings with Glenn Gould on piano (after all, I did grow up in Toronto and he was the artist that all youth of the day, at least those into classical music, were listening to).

“Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
In March 1721, Bach selected six works from his corpus of concerti and sent them, in a beautiful calligraphic score, under the title Six concerts avec plusieurs instruments (“Six concertos for various instruments”), to Margrave Christian Louis, the Elector of Brandenburg.  This was an obvious ploy by the composer at self-promotion, with an eye perhaps towards consideration for a future position. The gift may have been with a touch of irony, however, since the court musicians at Brandenburg likely did not possess the skills required to cope with the considerable technical demands imposed by the concerti.

The third Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1048 is scored for just strings, but instead of the standard disposition of two violin parts, one viola and one cello, the score has three parts for each instrument plus continuo. The textures are varied thought the work: like the sixth Brandenburg the third exemplifies an orchestral style that stresses textures and departs from the Italianate concerto model. The effect is like that of a fine black-and-white photograph; its limited palette draws attention to the subtle differences in shading.

In Abraham’s Words, Why this Piece is Important to Me:
I would be hard pressed to tell anyone exactly when I first became familiar with Bach’s Brandenburg concertos, but I can tell you that Brandenburg No. 2 was the first of the set I was exposed to. I think I was in the fourth grade when a relative gave me a cassette tape of “The World of Trumpet.” It was a great cassette—not only did it include the second Brandenburg, but also a Torelli concerto for trumpet (I don’t recall exactly which one) and the Altenburg Concerto for 7 trumpets and timpani (a great piece!) By my early teen years, I recall owning the Karl Richter recordings from the late 1960s on cassette as well as a recording by a New York based group for whom I have forgotten the name and cannot find a reference. Bach Sinfonia has performed all of the Brandenburg concertos on a couple of occasions including a full cycle of all six during our 10th Anniversary season in 2004-2005.

Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067
Bach composed four overtures, each containing a French-style overture followed by a group of instrumental dances. The numbering applied to Bach’s suites is now a matter of convention, as the order does not reveal compositional chronology or publication history. In fact, the first and fourth suites date from Bach’s Cöthen period (1717-1723), his most prolific period of orchestral and instrumental composition. The second and third suites are from the Leipzig period (1723-1750), being likely composed for the Leipzig Collegium Musicum concerts held in Zimmerman’s Coffeehouse. This voluntary association of professional musicians and gifted amateurs gave regular public concerts in the 1730s. The B-minor suite (the Second) is the smallest and most intimate of the four works being scored for flute, strings, and continuo.

In Abraham’s Words, Why this Piece is Important to Me:
I love all of the orchestra suites and Sinfonia has performed all of them over the past eighteen seasons, but the suite in B minor was only performed by us once before—in May 2004. It is both grand as well as intimate. The haunting qualities of the Baroque flute and all of the variety color, diversity of available articulation, and stunning flexibility of this instrument are served so well throughout this extended work. I remember hearing Bach’s four Overtures performed on period instruments in a performance by Andrew Parrott while still an undergraduate. While I was a big fan off the brilliant trumpets in the third and fourth overtures, but the memorable flute playing by Christopher Krueger was mesmerizing.

Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
The work commonly known among musicians and audiences as the “Bach Double” is among the most beloved of all of Bach’s works. It was long assumed that BWV 1043 was written at Cöthen like most of the instrumental works by Bach, but recent examination of the surviving manuscript parts indicate that the work likely dates from around 1730 or 1731. This would suggest that the impetus for this work, like the harpsichord concerto were intended for performance at Zimmerman’s Coffee House in Leipzig. 

In Abraham’s Words, Why this Piece is Important to Me:
The “Bach Double” was part of Sinfonia’s very first program in November 1995. I remember the performance vividly as there is just no way to forget being a part of any performance of this work. Our more recent exploration of this work came as part of a program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in July 2000 for a program of choreographed to modern ballet by Tony Powell. It too was a very memorable performance. I almost neglected to select this work for this program of “Most Beloved Bach”—my first thought was to program Bach’s triple concerto (BWV 1044) so each of our previously featured soloists would join together in a finale performance, but it was Risa Browder who suggested that we consider the Double instead. It did not take much convincing as this work has not been heard in a period instrument performance in the area in many years and it truly is, without question, at the top of my personal list of Most Beloved Bach.

The Bach Sinfonia
Most Beloved Bach

Sunday, April 7, 2013 AT 3PM
Free Pre-Concert Discussion at 2:25PM

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Featured soloists are Kathie Stewart, baroque flute; Dongsok Shin, harpsichord; Risa Browder & June Huang, baroque violins; with The Bach Sinfonia, Daniel Abraham, Conductor and Artistic Director.

More information and tickets at www.bachsinfonia.org