- This work’s complete title is Concerto nach italiänischem Gusto (Concerto according to the Italian taste). Bach published this work in his Clavier-Übung Book II (Leipzig, 1735).1
- This work is a concerto for one instrument only. It uses the large-scale structure of a concerto (three movements, fast-slow-fast), and its outer movements use ritornello form, the standard form used in the fast movements of concertos by Italian composers like Vivaldi.2
- Ritornello means “little return.” In ritornello form, a theme is stated at the opening of the movement, and then portions of that theme recur throughout the movement, sandwiched between other musical episodes. In a solo-and-orchestra concerto, these episodes are feature the soloist. In Bach’s Italian Concerto, the contrast between the ritornellos and episodes can be marked by changing manuals on the harpsichord.
- If Bach had an arch-nemesis, it might have been composer and writer on music J.A. Scheibe. In 1737 Scheibe wrote an intense critique of Bach’s compositional style in his journal on music, Der critische Musikus. Schiebe’s accusation of Bach’s works: “by his bombastic and intricate procedures deprived them of naturalness and obscured their beauty by an excess of art.” Bach was very upset by this, and several of Bach’s friends printed rebuttals defending Bach’s style. Eventually, in 1745, Scheibe seemed to change his mind about Bach: he wrote a review of the Italian Concerto, and stated, “I did this man a great injustice.”3
Sources
- Christoph Wolff and Walter Emery, “Bach, Johann Sebastian,” Grove Music Online (2001), Accessed January 5, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278195.
- “Italienisches Konzert, BWV 971 (Bach, Johann Sebastian),” IMSLP, accessed January 5, 2020, https://imslp.org/wiki/Italienisches_Konzert%2C_BWV_971_(Bach%2C_Johann_Sebastian)
- Wolff and Emery, “Bach, Johann Sebastian,” Grove Music Online.
Cut IDs
40015 40113 21273 23014