Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068

• Bach composed this suite around 1731 in Leipzig, for his Collegium Musicum.¹
  • The Collegium Musicum was an instrumental group founded by Telemann in 1702. Bach began directing the group in 1729. The Collegium was composed of professional musicians and university student musicians
  • The Collegium gave weekly concerts at coffeehouses in Leipzig, famously Zimmermann’s Coffee House, and welcomed frequent guest artists. The audience was mostly middle class listeners.
  • Bach enjoyed directing the Collegium because the group gave more artistic freedom and stronger musicians than his church work.

Movement 2, “Air”

• This movement is sometimes known as “Air on the G String” because violinist August Wilhelmj arranged it in 1871 for solo violin, to be played on the G string only.[enf_note]Ibid.[/efn_note]

1. Christoph Wolff and Walter Emery, “Bach, Johann Sebastian,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 15, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278195.