Bach Violin Concertos
Do you consider Bach Violin Concerto No. 2 (E Major) standard repertoire?
Is it a good way to do that before hacking the Sonatas and Partitas before college?
Replies (12)
there's a lot involved in the sonatas and partitas. a bit more than in teh concertos. honestly, if you're at that level (ie working on the concerti) i really don't think the sonatas and partitas are much of a choice. it would be like me, im working on the g minor sonata, deciding to try the sibelius violin concerto next.
does this help? i don't want to sound mean...
The texture of the concerti has little resemblance to the solo S & P's....however, the E-Major is a legit concerto and so rewarding to play..it has been the inspiration to take the positive side of the fence for so many students, and each movement is a thrill...whereas, the a minor is less fun...less soloistic and the quaint 3rd movt. bariolage treatment is more theoretical than the great music we expect from Bach...performance problems of the concerti are quite solvable whereas the S & P's are a lifelong immersion.
They are good concerti and easier than the S&P. A good place to start loving Bach. For those who want to start with the cellos suites before doing the S&P, the Werner Icking archive on the web provides a transcription of these for FREE.
I’ve always said that the Telemann Fantasias for solo violin are a great stepping stone to the Bach S&P’s
Christina I agree, the Telemann Fantasias are true gems of the period and are not studied often enough. Certainly great stepping stones if learning to perform Baroque music well.
Work on the Kreutzer double stop etudes very cleanly.
Greetings,
this mean having a bath first, no?
Cheers,
Buri
No dirty jokes here please.
Greetings,
I am a dirty joke,
Cheers,
Burp
bach violin concertos are many levels below the S&P both technically and musically. the only thing they really prepare you for is bach's architectural style of composing and to hear his harmonic sense.
the cello suites are greater preperatory than the concerti as is geminiani's solo sonata or biber's passicaglia. etude wise you're better off working with the kreutzer and rode studies than the bach concerti.
Just play the easier movements of the sonatas and partitas first- the First two movements of the D Minor (Allemande and courente), the Allegro assai (final movement) from the c major sonata and the final movement of the E major (Gigue) are good places to start. After those, the preludio from the E major. Then the whole E major. when you've done that whole partita you have good grounding. Enjoy!
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December 3, 2005 at 09:43 PM · Greetings,
both the Bach concertos are standard repertoire although Auer did not give them to his pupils because he felt they were 'inferior examples' of his work. Are they good preparation for the solo sonatas etc? Not particularly. Godd preparation for the solo sonatas would be scales and bowing etudes. You might even consider working through the cello suites first, a practice recomended by Szigeti.
Cheers,
Buri