List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach
's Violin Concertos, BWV 1041–1043, and his six Brandenburg Concertos survive in their original instrumentation. His harpsichord concertos are mostly adaptations of concertos originally written for other solo instruments.
In his early career Bach transcribed concertos by other composers for solo organ and for solo harpsichord. Bach's Italian Concerto, composed in 1735, was one of his few works that he published during his life-time: it is an example of an unaccompanied concerto for two-manual harpsichord.
Early encounters with the concerto genre
The earliest documentary traces of Bach's involvement with the concerto genre include:- In 1709 Bach helped copy out the performance parts of a concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann
- Around 1710 or earlier Bach copied the continuo part, BWV Anh. 23, of a concerto included in Tomaso Albinoni's Op. 2, which had been published in 1700.
Weimar concerto transcriptions
BWV | Key | Instr. | Model |
592 | G major | organ | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: |
592a | G major | harpsichord | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: ; BWV 592 |
593 | A minor | organ | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 8: Concerto in A minor for two violins and strings, RV 522 |
594 | C major | organ | Vivaldi, RV 208: Violin Concerto in D major "Grosso Mogul" |
595 | C major | organ | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar:, first movement, and/or BWV 984/1 |
596 | D minor | organ | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 11: Concerto in D minor for two violins, cello and strings, RV 565 |
972 | D major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 9: Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230; BWV 972a |
972a | D major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 9: Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230 |
973 | G major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, RV 299: Violin Concerto in G major |
974 | D minor | harpsichord | Marcello, A.: Oboe Concerto in D minor |
975 | G minor | harpsichord | Vivaldi, RV 316 |
976 | C major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 12: Violin Concerto in E major, RV 265 |
977 | C major | harpsichord | |
978 | F major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 3: Violin Concerto in G major, RV 310 |
979 | B minor | harpsichord | Vivaldi, RV 813: Violin Concerto in D minor |
980 | G major | harpsichord | Vivaldi, RV 383: Violin Concerto in B-flat major, |
981 | C minor | harpsichord | Marcello, B.: Concerto Op. 1 No. 2 |
982 | harpsichord | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 | |
983 | G minor | harpsichord | |
984 | C major | harpsichord | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar:, and/or BWV 595 |
985 | G minor | harpsichord | Telemann: |
986 | G major | harpsichord | |
987 | D minor | harpsichord | Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Concerto Op. 1 No. 4 |
''Brandenburg Concertos'', BWV 1046–1051
Violin concertos, BWV 1041–1043
Concerto form in other compositions
''Sonate auf Concertenart''
The Sonate auf Concertenart format appears for example in Bach's organ sonatas.In vocal compositions
Apart from adaptations of movements of his earlier concertos into his cantatas, Bach also directly composed movements of his vocal works in the concerto form: for example the opening chorus of his cantata BWV 7 has been described as having the format of an Italian violin concerto movement. Another example is the opening choral movement of Bach's Magnificat, the form of which only becomes, in Spitta's words, "thoroughly intelligible" when analysed as a concerto form.Harpsichord concertos
Concertos for three to four harpsichords and orchestra, BWV 1063–1065
Concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061a
BWV 1061a, a concerto for two harpsichords without accompaniment, is Bach's original version of the Concerto for two harpsichords and strings, BWV 1061.''Italian Concerto'', BWV 971
Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971, was published in 1735, as first of two compositions included in Clavier-Übung II.Concertos for two harpsichords and orchestra, BWV 1060–1062
Harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052–1059
''Triple Concerto'', BWV 1044
Concerto as a vocal composition
Bach rarely used the name "Cantata" to indicate a vocal composition. Instead, "Concerto", closer to names of cantata precursors such as geistliches Konzert and Choralkonzert, is the name he used most often to indicate those compositions which later became known as his cantatas.Sinfonia in D major, BWV 1045
, a movement in concerto form for violin and orchestra, is the opening of a cantata titled "Concerto" in Bach's autograph. The music breaks off before the vocalists enter. In the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis it appears as "Konzertsatz in D", in the range of the orchestral concertos.Doubtful and spurious
For organ:- BWV 571 – Fantasia in G major
- BWV 597 – Concerto in E-flat major
- BWV 909 – Concerto and Fugue in C minor
- BWV Anh. 151 – Concerto in C major
- BWV Anh. 152 – Concerto in G major
- BWV Anh. 188 – Sonata in F major for two harpsichords by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
- BWV 525a – Concerto in C major for violin, cello and continuo
- BWV Anh. 22 –
- BWV Anh. 155 – Concerto in A major for keyboard, strings and continuo
- BWV Anh. 189 – Concerto in A minor for keyboard, strings and continuo by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Reconstructions
The 5th Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1050, always was a concerto for flute, violin and harpsichord, also in its earlier version BWV 1050a. Earlier versions for unaccompanied keyboard instruments of all three movements of the Triple Concerto, BWV 1044, are extant. Other harpsichord concertos, and related cantata movements if available, have been the basis for several reconstructions. The letter "R", abbreviation of "Reconstruction", can be added to the BWV number of an extant Bach concerto to indicate a conjectured original of such concerto.
BWV 1052R
Based on BWV 1052, 1052a and/or on cantata movements BWV 146/1 and /2, and/or on what is known regarding the lost opening Sinfonia of BWV 188 :- Violin Concerto in D minor
- Organ Concerto in D minor
BWV 1053R
- Oboe d'amore Concerto in D major
- Oboe Concerto in F major
- Organ Concerto in D major
BWV 1055R
- Oboe d'amore Concerto in A major
BWV 1056R
- Violin Concerto in G minor
- Oboe Concerto in G minor
BWV 1059R
- Harpsichord Concerto in D minor
- Oboe Concerto in D minor
- Organ Concerto in D minor
BWV 1060R
- Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor
- Concerto for Violin and Oboe in D minor
- Concerto for Two Violins in C minor
BWV 1063R
- Concerto for Violin, Oboe and Flute in D minor
- Concerto for Three Violins in D minor
BWV 1064R
- Concerto for Three Violins in D major