Transcription has always been a widespread musical practice: the desire to arrange pieces requiring an ensemble of instruments and/or voices for a single instrument like the organ, harpsichord or, later, piano, influenced the musical world in previous centuries, expanding the repertoire and providing composers with new ideas for formal structures and performance techniques.
The 18th century was a very fertile period for transcription, and the practice reached its pinnacle among members of Johann Sebastian Bach’s circle. In his Weimar period Bach transcribed the works of others for both organ (three concertos by Vivaldi and two by Ernst) and harpsichord (an astonishing 14 pieces by various Italian composers), but he also adapted his own works for instrumental/vocal forces to the keyboard.
The aim of these recordings is to offer listeners a series of works by J.S. Bach that in one way or another were originally written for instruments other than the organ. This includes the artist’s own contribution to the genre in seven tracks on CD 1.
BWV539 is taken by Bach (or one of his children or pupils) from his Sonata No.1 in G minor for solo violin.
The Sinfonia from the Cantata BWV29 and the first movement of the Trio Sonata BWV528, meanwhile, were certainly his own work. His ‘entourage’ was definitely responsible for the three trios BWV1014, BWV21 and BWV1027. The first of these is the third movement of the Sonata for harpsichord and violin BWV1014 (originally in D), while the second is an arrangement of the Sinfonia for oboe, strings and continuo from the cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV21. BWV1027 contains three movements that may originate from a lost sonata in G for two violins and continuo – the same material is used in the Sonata for two flutes and continuo BWV1039 and the Sonata for viola da gamba with obbligato harpsichord BWV1027. The second movement of the Trio Sonata BWV528 has a previous version in E minor, while the third movment has similar features to the Allegro ma non presto of the Sinfonia from Cantata BWV152 and was likely first composed in Bach’s youth as a sonata for oboe, viola (da gamba?) and continuo.
The Trio Sonata BWV525 offers a similar scenario. In this case, the 1978 discovery of an incipit from an organ trio in a catalogue suggests that there may be an earlier version (in B flat) of at least the first movement. It is almost identical to the start of the first movement of BWV525, and the entire sonata could derive from a sonata for alto recorder, oboe and continuo. It comes from a single source written out by Benjamin Cooke (1734–93), who was organist at Westminster Abbey in London. The transposition of BWV545b into B flat (BWV545 is in C) and the transcription of the piece’s various movements were probably carried out by Bach’s pupil Johann Tobias Krebs. The Prelude, Trio & Fugue are Bach’s own work, interpolated with an anonymous Adagio and Tutti (possibly also transcribed by Krebs). The Trio movement is an arrangement of the third movement of the Sonata for viola da gamba & obbligato harpsichord BWV1029.
