Italian Concerto, BWV 971
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The Italian Concerto, BWV 971, original title: Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto (Concerto after the Italian taste), published in 1735 as the first half of Clavier-übung II, along with the Overture in the French style, is a three-movement concerto for two-manual harpsichord solo composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Italian Concerto has become popular among Bach's keyboard works, and has been widely recorded both on the harpsichord and the piano.
Movements:
The Italian Concerto's two lively F major outer movements, in ritornello style, frame a florid arioso-style movement in D minor, the relative minor.
Though a concerto relies upon the contrasting roles of different groups of instruments in an ensemble, Bach imitates this effect by creating contrasts using the forte and piano manuals of a two-manual harpsichord throughout the piece. In fact, along with the Overture in the French style and some of the Goldberg Variations, this is one of the few works by Bach which specifically require a 2-manual harpsichord.
Bach also transcribed Italian concertos by Vivaldi and others for solo harpsichord (BWV 972-987), and for solo organ or pedal harpsichord (BWV 592-596).
[edit] Media
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Italian Concerto, movement 1 Performed by Martha Goldstein Italian Concerto, movement 2 Performed by Martha Goldstein Italian Concerto, movement 3 Performed by Martha Goldstein - Problems playing the files? See media help.
[edit] External links
- Italian Concerto was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
