Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Cembalo

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Konzertmeister for almost two decades in the ducal chapel of Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach waited patiently to be summoned for the position of Kapellmeister, when the musician in service was due to be replaced. In 1717, on the death of the holder of the office, Bach was not, however, approached, and decided to look for a new appointment. This he found under Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen, who was himself a competent musician, and kept at his service an excellent musical chapel. The Duke of Weimar, however, refused to accept Bach’s resignation as Konzertmeister and imprisoned him for a month before allowing the musician to join his family in Köthen. The new court was of Calvinist confession (and therefore music in church was not required), which led Bach to dedicate himself to producing exclusively instrumental music. This took the form of overtures and concertos for the court Collegium musicum, as well as pieces for soloist instruments, the sonatas and suites, or partitas. Bach reserved special attention for the violin. This was evident in the high profile he afforded the instrument in concerto production, but most of all in two collections: Six Solos for Violin without accompanying Bass (BWV 1001-1006) and Six Sonatas for Harpsichord and solo Violin with an optional accompanied bass for viola da gamba (BWV 1014-1019). The series of Six Sonatas for Obbligato Harpsichord sees two different types of stylistic approach: that of the Italian school, which is prevalent, and that of the Northern school. The harpsichord, in fact, is not limited to the continuo, but “concerts” with the violin, as in a trio sonata by Arcangelo Corelli, in a constant, interwoven dialogue. The reference to the church Style is also Italian, where at least the first five Sonatas follow the sequence Slow-Fast-Slow-Fast (with the first, second and fourth movement in the main tonality and the third in a parallel key). This is typically corellian in form, although contrapuntally rich even in the cantabile and dance movements. In general, the Six Sonatas open with an introductory Adagio developed in a cantabile style, rich with melismatic embellishment. The second movement is written in a compact fugue style (Sonatas n° 3 and 4) or as actual Fugues (Sonatas n° 1, 2 and 5). The third is instead a broader and more intense cantabile than the first (but in Sonata n.2 it is conceived in a canonic style and in Sonata n. 5 in four written parts). The final movement is a brilliant and energetic Allegro da concerto (Sonatas n. 1 and 3) or Fugato (Sonatas n.2 and 5). A special case is represented by Sonata n. 6, certainly the most enigmatic piece of the collection, both for its overall formal structure and for the aesthetic conception that governs it. Of this composition, in fact, there are three different versions, one dating from the Köthen period and two from the Leipzig period (the latter of which is dated 1749 and, as such, is considered the definitive version, according to the majority of scholars). The basic structure of Sonata n. 6 is that of a “chamber sonata” in five movements, the third of which is for solo harpsichord (although the second of the three cited versions has six movements, given that the last is the repetition of the first). In the version proposed here, the first movement is a flourishing Fugato, marked Allegro, in concerto style and in ternary form, while the concise Largo that follows depicts a reflective, contrapuntal cantabile, that exalts the melos of the violin; the third movement is an Allegro for solo harpsichord, in concerto style. The following Adagio is a free canon in three voices, made complex by the chromatic language and syncopated rhythms, with an ending that prepares for the start of the final Allegro, a dynamic and brilliant fugue in Gigue time.

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