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The organ concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach are solo works for organ, transcribed and reworked from instrumental concertos originally composed by Antonio Vivaldi and the musically talented Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. While there is no doubt about the authenticity of BWV 592–596, the sixth concerto BWV 597 is now probably considered to be spurious. Composed during Bach's second period at the court in Weimar (1708–1717), the concertos can be dated more precisely to 1713–1714.

Bach also made several transcriptions of Vivaldi's concertos for single, two and four harpsichords from exactly the same period in Weimar. The original concertos were picked from Vivaldi's Op.3, L'estro armonico, composed in 1711, a set of twelve concertos for one, two and four violins. The publication of these Bach transcriptions by C.F. Peters in the 1850s and Breitkopf & Härtel in the 1890s played a decisive role in the Vivaldi revival of the twentieth century.

Weimar concerto transcriptions

In his Weimar period Bach transcribed concertos by, among others, Antonio Vivaldi and Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar for organ and for harpsichord. Most of the harpsichord transcriptions probably originated between July 1713 and July 1714. The organ concertos, BWV 592–596, are scored for two manual keyboards and pedal, and probably originated from 1714 to 1717.

Weimar concerto transcriptions (organ)
BWV	Key	Model
592	G major	Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Violin Concerto in G major, a 8 [scores]
593	A minor	Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 8: Concerto in A minor for two violins, RV 522 [scores]
594	C major	Vivaldi, RV 208: Violin Concerto Grosso Mogul in D major
595	C major	Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar: Violin Concerto in C major [scores], first movement, and/or BWV 984/1
596	D minor	Vivaldi, Op. 3 No. 11: Concerto in D minor for two violins, cello and strings, RV 565 [scores]

Concerto in G major, BWV 592

This concerto is a transcription of Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar's Violin Concerto a 8 in G major [scores]. Bach arranged the same concerto for harpsichord (BWV 592a).

Movements:

Grave (E minor)

Concerto in A minor, BWV 593

This concerto is a transcription of Antonio Vivaldi's double violin concerto in A minor, Op. 3 No. 8, RV 522 [scores].

Movements:

Adagio (senza pedale a due claviere) (D minor)
Allegro

Concerto in C major, BWV 594

Concerto in C major, BWV 595

A transcription of the first movement of a lost concerto by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, which has been reconstructed as a Concerto for Two Violins in C major [scores].

Only one movement, without tempo indication, but also indicated as Allegro.

Exists in a variant for harpsichord, BWV 984 (first movement).

Concerto in D minor, BWV 596

Autograph manuscript of first movement of BWV 596

Autograph manuscript of third movement and beginning of fourth movement of BWV 596

Pieno. Grave – Fuge
Largo e spiccato

This transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto in D minor for two violins and obbligato violoncello, Op.3, No.11 (RV 565), had the heading on the autograph manuscript altered by Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach who added "di W. F. Bach manu mei Patris descript" sixty or more years later. The result was that up until 1911 the transcription was misattributed to Wilhelm Friedemann. Despite the fact that Carl Friedrich Zelter, director of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin where many Bach manuscripts were held, had suggested Johann Sebastian as the author, the transcription was first published as a work by Wilhelm Friedemann in 1844 in the edition prepared for C.F. Peters by Friedrich Griepenkerl. The precise dating and true authorship was later established from the manuscript: the handwriting and the watermarks in the manuscript paper conform to cantatas known to have been composed by Bach in Weimar in 1714–1715.

The autograph manuscript is remarkable for its detailed specifications of organ registration and use of the two manuals. As explained in Williams (2003), their main purpose was to enable the concerto to be heard at Bach's desired pitch. The markings are also significant for what they show about performance practise at that time: during the course of a single piece, hands could switch manuals and organ stops could be changed.

First movement. From the outset in the original piece, Vivaldi creates an unusual texture: the two violins play as a duet and then are answered by a similar duet for obbligato cello and continuo bass. On the organ Bach creates his own musical texture by exchanging the solo parts between hands and having the responding duet on a second manual. For Williams (2003), Bach's redistribution of the constantly repeated quavers in the original is "no substitute for the lost rhetoric of the strings."

Second movement. The dense chordal writing in the three introductory bars of the Grave is unusual and departs from Vivaldi's specification of "Adagio e spiccato". Bach adapted the fugue to the organ as follows: the pedal does not play the bass line of the original allegro but has an accompanying role, rather than being a separate voice in the fugue; the writing does not distinguish between soloists and ripieno; parts are frequently redistributed; and extra semiquaver figures are introduced, particularly over the prolonged pedal point concluding the piece. The resulting fugue is smoother than the original, which is distinguished by its clearly delineated sections. Williams (2003) remarks that the way Vivaldi inverts the fugue subject must have appealed to Bach.

Third movement. The scoring for organ in the ritornello and solo episodes of this movement—a form of Siciliano—is unusual in Bach's writing for organ. The widely spaced chords that accompany the solo melody in the original are replaced by simple chords in the left hand. For Griepenkerl, the sweetness of the melody reflected the tender personality of Wilhelm Friedemann.

Fourth movement. The last movement of Op.3, No.11 is composed in ritornello A–B–A form. In the opening bars the first and second violins play in tutti the opening theme with its repeated quavers and clashing dissonances. Bach used the same theme for the opening chorus of his cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, first performed on 17 June 1714, shortly before ill health forced Prince Johann Ernst to leave Weimar for treatment in Bad Schwalbach.

Although each return of the theme with its chromatic falling bass accompaniment is instantly recognizable, Bach's allotting of parts between the two manuals (Oberwerk and Rückpositiv) can occasionally obscure Vivaldi's sharp distinction between solo and ripieno players. Various elements of Vivaldi's string writing, that would normally be outside Bach's musical vocabulary for organ compositions, are included directly or with slight adaptations in Bach's arrangement. As well as the dissonant suspensions in the opening quaver figures, these include quaver figures in parallel thirds, descending chromatic fourths, and rippling demisemiquavers and semiquavers in the left hand as an equivalent for the tremolo string accompaniment. Towards the end of the piece, Bach fills out the accompaniment in the final virtuosic semiquaver solo episode by adding imitative quaver figures in the lower parts. Williams (2003) compares the dramatic ending—with its chromatic fourths descending in the pedal part—to that of the keyboard Sinfonia in D minor, BWV 779.

Concerto in E-flat major, BWV 597

Probably neither composed nor transcribed by Bach, and rather a trio sonata, by a composer of a later generation, than a concerto.

Movements:

Gigue

Table

Organ concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach
BWV	Key	Movements
592	G major	– Grave –
593	A minor	– Adagio – Allegro
594	C major	– Recitativ, Adagio – Allegro
595	C major
596	D minor	- Grave - Fuga – Largo e spiccato –
597	E-flat major	– Gigue

Discography

BWV 592–597

Hans Fagius (2000). Bach Edition, Boxes 6 (CDs 41 and 45) and 22 (CDs 151–153 and 155). Recorded 1985–1986 and 1988–1989. Brilliant Classics 99365/3, /7; 99381/4, /5, /6, /8.
Karl Richter (1974). Die Orgelkonzerte, Archiv Production 431119-2 digitally remastered from Polydor International.

Orchestral organ concertos

André Isoir and Le Parlement de Musique [fr] conducted by Martin Gester (1993). L'œuvre pour orgue et orchestre. Includes BWV 29/1 and reconstructions BWV 1052a, 1053a and 1059a. Calliope CAL 9720.
Bart Jacobs and Les Muffatti (2019). Concertos for Organ and Strings. Includes Concerto in D major after BWV 169 and BWV 49, Concerto in D minor after BWV 146, BDW 188 and BWV 1052, Sinfonia in G major after BWV 156, Sinfonia in F major after BWV 75, Sinfonia in D major after BWV 29 and BWV 120a, Concerto in D moner after BWV 35 and BWV 1055, Concerto in G minor after BWV 1041 and BWV 1058. Ramée (Outhere Music) RAM 1804.

References

Boyd 2006, pp. 80–83
Breig 1997
Jones 2007, pp. 140–153
Williams 2003, pp. 201–224
Schulenberg 2013, pp. 117–139 and footnotes pp. 461–3
^ Williams 2003, pp. 201–224.
Work 00674 at Bach Digital website
Work 00675 at Bach Digital website
Work 00676 at Bach Digital website
Work 00677 at Bach Digital website
Work 00678 at Bach Digital website
Freiburg Musica Poetica Ensemble; Hans Bergmann, conductor. Cantata, Concerto & Sonata. Hänssler Classic CD98.408, 2007
Williams 2003, pp. 220–224
Williams 2003, pp. 221–222
Williams 2003, pp. 222–223
Williams 2003, p. 223
Williams 2003, p. 223–224
Williams 2003, p. 225.
Work 00680 at Bach Digital website
Williams 2003, pp. 225–226.

Sources

Bach, J.S. (2010), Dirksen, Pieter (ed.), Sonatas, Trios, Concertos, Complete Organ Works (Breitkopf Urtext), vol. 5 EB 8805, Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, ISMN 979-0-004-18366-3 Introduction (in German and English) • Commentary (English translation—commentary in paperback original is in German)
Butler, Gregory (2016), "The Choir Loft as Chamber: Concerted Movements by Bach from the Mid- to Late 1720s", in Matthew Dirst (ed.), Bach Perspectives, Volume 10, Bach and the Organ, University of Illinois Press, pp. 76–86, ISBN 9780252040191
Rampe, Siegbert (2014), "Hat Bach Konzerte für Orgel und Orchester komponiert?" (PDF), Musik & Gottesdienst (in German), 68: 14–22, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-27, retrieved 2018-07-01
Williams, Peter (2003), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–224, ISBN 0-521-89115-9
Williams, Peter (2016), Bach: A Musical Biography, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1107139251
Wolff, Christoph (2008), "Sicilianos and Organ Recitals: Observations on J.S. Bach's concertos", in Gregory Butler (ed.), J. S. Bach's Concerted Ensemble Music: The Concerto, Bach Perspectives, vol. 7, University of Illinois Press, pp. 97–114, ISBN 978-0252031656
Wolff, Christoph (2016), "Did Bach write organ concertos? A propos the prehistory of cantata movements with obbligato organ", in Dirst, Matthew (ed.), Bach and the Organ, Bach Perspectives, vol. 10, University of Illinois Press, pp. 60–75, ISBN 9780252040191, JSTOR 10.5406/j.ctt18j8xkb

External links

At IMSLP website:
Pages at James Kibbie's Bach Organ Works website containing free downloads of recordings on various 18th-century organs in AAC and MP3 format: BWV 592 • BWV 593 • BWV 594 • BWV 595 • BWV 596

v t e Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach
Organ	Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful) Sonatas, BWV 525–530 Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531 Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532 Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537 Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538 Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540 Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544 Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548 Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful) Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562 Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564 Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (doubtful) Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566 Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572 Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578 Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 Concertos, BWV 592–597 Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644 Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650 Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668 Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768 Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769 Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120 Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128
Keyboard	Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801 English Suites, BWV 806–811 French Suites, BWV 812–817 Partitas, BWV 825–830 No. 2 No. 4 No. 6 Overture in the French style, BWV 831 Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893 Book 1 No. 1 in C major No. 2 in C minor No. 3 in C♯ major No. 4 in C♯ minor No. 7 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 16 in G minor No. 21 in B♭ major No. 22 in B♭ minor Book 2 No. 1 in C major No. 2 in C minor No. 3 in C♯ major No. 4 in C♯ minor No. 5 in D major No. 6 in D minor No. 12 in F minor No. 13 in F♯ major No. 18 in G♯ minor No. 22 in B♭ minor No. 24 in B minor Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 906 Toccatas, BWV 910–916 Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938 Italian Concerto Harpsichord solo concertos Goldberg Variations discography Gould recording Aria variata alla maniera italiana Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother
Lute	Suite in G minor, BWV 995 Suite in E minor, BWV 996 Bourrée Suite in C minor, BWV 997 Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E♭ major, BWV 998 Prelude in C minor, BWV 999 Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000
Mixed collections	Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805 Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987 Klavierbüchlein W. F. Bach Notebook A. M. Bach Twelve Little Preludes
List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

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Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach