Conducted by Izabella Shareyko, Vienna Philharmonic Women’s Orchestra performs the second movement, Aria, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s orchestral suite in D Major, BWV 1068, commonly known as “Air on the G String” or simply as “Bach’s Air”. Performed at St. Thekla Church, Vienna Wieden.
The original orchestral suite was generally believed to have been written by Bach for his patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt sometime between the years 1717 and 1723. The title comes from violinist August Wilhelmj’s late 19th-century arrangement of the piece for violin and piano. By transposing the key of the piece from its original D major to C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string – hence the name “Air on the G String”.