Bach: Violin Concerto in E major [Hilary Hahn]

Accompanied by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, American classical violinist Hilary Hahn performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042. Conductor and harpsichord: Omer Meir Wellber.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concerto E major, BWV 1042

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 is based on the three-movement Venetian concerto model, albeit with a few unusual features as each movement has “un-Italian characteristics”. The concerto was written when the German composer worked for the court of Köthen or when he was in Leipzig.

The concerto is written for violin, strings, and continuo in the following movements:

1. Allegro, meter of 4/4 in ritornello form in E major
2. Adagio, 3/4, with a ground bass in C-sharp minor
3. Allegro assai, 3/8, with an overall structure of a rondo in E major

While there are two 18th-century scores, neither is autographed; however, Bach re-used the concerto as the model for his Harpsichord Concerto in D major, BWV 1054, found in his 1737-39 autographed manuscript of these works.

Sources

• Violin Concerto in E major (Bach) on Wikipedia