What pieces have a similar feel to Bach Double Violin Concerto in D minor 1st Mvmt
I'm very new to classical music. Aside from having to listen to The Nutcracker ad nauseaum while my sister who's a dancer practiced when we were little, all of my listening to classical music has happened since I started playing the violin. I'm really beginning to develop an appreciation. Which is funny since I wanted to learn the violin to play some fun Irish reels and jigs and nothing else.
I'm trying very hard to narrow in on what I enjoy listening to since a lot of classical still doesn't do it for me. I bought my first album, Bach Violin Concertos by Perlman, recently. And there is something inescapably appealing and entrancing about the Concerto for 2 Violins 1st Mvmt. I can listen to it on a loop for hours. But the other movements don't have the same appeal. There feels like a type of controlled chaos in the 1st movement, almost a disorienting rollercoaster. I want to find more music like this! What other music is like this? I really want to find more!
Replies (10)
"the close canonical and fugal treatment"
I have zero music theory knowledge. What does that mean? I'd like to understand. Or is there another piece of music you can think of with the same thing. If I listen to it I can probably hear what they have in common and understand what you mean that way.
And the opening theme really is quite brilliant. That and the part where the 2nd violin jumps from the D string to the shifted position on the E is actually exciting. Is that like the secondary theme? It doesn't appear the first violin ever gets to play it. :\
A "canon" in music is where a tune starts off on its own, and then a few notes later it starts again but being played by a different voice or instrument while the first playing is still going on. This works when the tune is written so that it plays along with a copy of itself but a few notes out of phase. A simple example is the nursery song "Frere Jacques" (see the Wikipedia entry). Needless to say, the tune has to be carefully constructed so that everything fits together and sounds well when you do this.
A fugue (as in "fugal treatment") is a much more elaborate kind of canon, where the tune is repeated canonically at different pitches and alterations to the tune are allowed. Writing a good fugue has always been a severe test of a composer's technical skills. Bach, Handel, Mozart and Beethoven were pretty good at it, to say the least.
The Bach Double is beautifully crafted, the way the parts weave together. Nothing in it is particularly virtuosic. Part of what you may respond to is that most violinists find it really, really fun to play, and can't do it without a huge smile, which often comes through in recordings.
Try the Telemann concerto for two violas, the Telemann or Vivaldi for four violins, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola. None of them may be able to quite compare to the Bach, but all are good in somewhat the same way.
By the way, while the second and third movements of the Bach may not be quite as infectious, they're both incredible. Check out the You Tube videos of either Rachel Podger & Andrew Manze or David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin playing the gorgeous second movement.
Vivaldi for Four Violins is brilliant! Thank you for the recommendation. It gave me chills. It definitely does have a similar feel to the Bach double. Is it difficult to play? I'd like to set it as a goal to play but I'm not sure how far off a goal I should make it.
The violas were nice too, but I didn't get into it until they sped up a little.
Trevor, thank you for explaining the terms. I think I understand them now. It's like a song you can sing in rounds then. That makes sense.
Bach Brandenburg 3 comes to mind; great fun to play
There is also a Bach concerto for 3 violins. It is basically the same as his concerto for 3 harpsichords. Not sure if it is Bach or someone else who transcribed it. I love the second movement but the first is more like the Bach Double first movement
slightly different musical form from Partita 3-
and a more mellow fuga from Sonata 1
Bach's concerto for violin and oboe can be played on two violins. Great stuff.
I think you might like Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 violins in A minor and his concerto for 4 violins (sorry I don't know the key signature off the top of my head) why not try listening to some classical and romantic music to not just Baroque. some of my favourites are the Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor Tchaikovsky's violin concerto in D major and Sibelius's violin concerto in D minor. they are many more I could list. So you might like to listen to Classical/ Romantic!
Hope this helps!!!!
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October 2, 2010 at 05:26 PM ·
Two things in the 1st movement of the Bach Double that come to mind - the upward drive of that superb opening theme, and the close canonical and fugal treatment Bach gives it (that's probably the explanation for the "organised chaos"!).