The ''Italian Concerto'',
BWV 971, originally titled ''Concerto nach Italiænischen Gusto'' (''Concerto in the Italian taste''), is a three-movement
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
for two-
manual
Manual may refer to:
Instructions
* User guide
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Other uses
* Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ
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harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
solo composed by
Johann Sebastian Bach and published in
1735
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Alexander Pope's poem ''Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot'' is published in London.
* January 8 – George Frideric Handel's opera ''Ariodante'' is premièred at the Royal Opera House in Covent G ...
as the first half of
Clavier-Übung II
Johann Sebastian Bach's ''Clavier-Übung II'' was published in 1735, containing two works written for performance on a two- manual harpsichord. In the publication, Bach contrasted a work in Italian style – a '' Concerto nach Italienischem Gus ...
(the second half being the ''
French Overture
The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythms and fast in f ...
''). The ''Italian Concerto'' has become popular among Bach's keyboard works, and has been widely recorded both on the harpsichord and the piano.
Context
An Italian
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
relies upon the contrasting roles of different groups of instruments in an ensemble; Bach imitates this effect by creating contrasts using the ''forte'' and ''piano''
manuals of a two-manual
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
throughout the piece.
Related works
Along with the ''
French Overture
The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythms and fast in f ...
'' and some of the ''
Goldberg Variations'', this is one of the few works by Bach which specifically require a 2-manual harpsichord. However, it is not unusual in being a solo keyboard work based on Italian concertos. Long before the publication of the ''Italian concerto'', Bach produced a number of
concerto transcriptions while working at Weimar. These are of music by
Vivaldi and others, reflecting the court's interest in Italian music. They are for harpsichord (BWV 972–987), and for
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
or
pedal harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...
(BWV 592–596).
Movements
The ''Italian Concerto'' consists of three movements:
#
Allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
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* L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton
* ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...
#
Andante
Andante may refer to:
Arts
* Andante (tempo), a moderately slow musical tempo
* ''Andante'' (manga), a shōjo manga by Miho Obana
* "Andante" (song), a song by Hitomi Yaida
* "Andante, Andante", a 1980 song by ABBA from ''Super Trouper''
* ' ...
#
Presto
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The two lively
F major outer movements, in
ritornello style, frame a florid
arioso-style movement in
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major.
The D natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for t ...
, the
relative minor.
Discography
Harpsichord
*
Wanda Landowska recorded the first movement in 1908.
*
George Malcolm recorded the work twice in the 1950s.
Piano
*
Alfred Brendel included the work in a Bach album he recorded for Decca.
*
Andras Schiff has also recorded the work for Decca.
References
External links
''Italian Concerto'', BWV 971 performance by the
Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
*
{{Authority control
1735 compositions
Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach
Compositions for harpsichord