Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Concerto for Violin in G minor, BWV 1056 Concerto for Oboe d'amore in A major, BWV 1055 Concerto for Violin in D minor, BWV 1052 Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor, BWV 1060

ELIZABETH WALLFISCH violin/director
ANTHONY ROBSON oboe/oboe d'amore
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
performing on period instruments

VERITAS (Virgin) VC5 45095-2
[60:29] full-price

The violin concertos BWVs 1052 and 1056 have been reissued - please see here for details.

by Chia Han-Leon

Bach's concertos were never published when he was alive. As the notes in this album say, that they have survived today is a small miracle, a tremendous and generous gift from the ravages of time.

But of course, as I have outlined in my Inktroduction to the Harpsichord Concertos, not all the 24 surviving works exist in their original form. It is Bach's own harpsichord transcriptions of the originals that exist today more or less complete (except for BWV 1059). Based on these transcriptions, scholars have attempted to retro-transcribe/reconstruct the original, and a bit of intelligence and guessing is involved in determining what was the original part. But we shall not concern ourselves with this.

On this album, we have period performances of four concertos, involving violin and oboe. The two violin concerto retro-transcription of the beautiful Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056 is based on the harpsichord version in F minor. As usual, keys are often transposed according to the range of the solo instrument.

BWV 1056 is one of my favourite of the entire set of concerti, chiefly for the heavenly Largo. It took me a while to get used to the violin version. The melody which sings throughout the movement is quite different, since the violin can sing legato whereas the harpsichord cannot. I find that the former is sweeter, while the latter is more melancholic - but both are amazingly beautiful. Rarely does music from any time fill the air with such hypnotic beauty.

In the fast outer movements, the violin fits into the role perfectly - one finds it hard to argue against the choice to return the part to the instrument. Nevertheless, the harpsichord version has a different effect - less flowing but more rhythmic - and is equally worth any one's attention.

Australia-born Elizabeth Wallfisch, one of the most well-known Baroque violin players in Britain, plays with satisfying conviction. Her articulation and phrasing is neatly detailed without being rigid. If I am to nitpick, it is with her uniformity of colour, though I must grant that her clean tone reveals Bach's wonderful architecture beautifully.

It is the greater sense of momentum that the chugging harpsichord is capable of which outstrips the violin in the majestic Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052. With its brilliant and powerful writing, profuse with notes and dramatically placed trills, this grand invocaton of D minor is arguably the mightiest of the Bach concerti.

The violin version is not uneffective, but I miss the way the harpsichord soloist sweeps the orchestra along from within, whereas the violin solo sticks out clearly in its solo role. I guess what I prefer is the weight of the harpsichord's fused jangle of notes, and not the few strings of the violin. In addition, there is a symphonic quality to this movement, heaven-storming music which seems better on keyboard-storming harpsichord. You take your pick!

The opposite is true for the second movement Adagio. Here, the line obviously needs to be sung, is so much more effective on a bowed string. Wallfisch argues her music with much intensity, heightened by the bright tone of her Baroque violin. The energetic finale works extremely well on violin too, with Wallfisch intoning with strength and lucidity, phrasing with impressive power. Sample this!

It is a bit queer to imagine how we are presented here, with these concertos, as they are, "half-truths". We can never know for sure what was the original form of these concertos; the sheer brilliance of the surviving transcriptions defy the belief that they are but second-rate arrangements. Somewhere between Bach's transcriptions and modern-day retro-transcriptions lies the "original" Bach - and yet everywhere we are surrounded by his supreme genius.

250 Years of J.S.Bach 1750 ~ 2000 There Is No Turning Bach™.

To Bach Is To Be Human The Motets The Magnificat The Brandenburg Concerti The Orchestral Suites The Harpsichord Concerti The Goldberg Variations

Chia Han-Leon grew up on the harpsichord and has never learnt how to get off it.

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368: 4.1.1999 ©Chia Han-Leon

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