Johann Sebastian Bach

   German composer and organist

   born: 1685, Eisenach; died: 1750, Leipzig

             Concerto for Two Violins, No. 3, in D minor, BWV 1043

                          Vivace

     J.S. Bach is regarded as the greatest master from the period of the Late Baroque, an era marked by ornateness of fashion, decor and style. Today, Bach is best known for the weight and depth of his great sacred oratorios and cantatas. However, his catalog otherwise contains a wealth of secular instrumental work - partitas, sonatas, concertos, et al, of which his Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor is exemplary. The work was composed between 1717 and 1723 in Cöthen, along with the six Brandenburg concertos and other important works, all requested by Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg.

     Bach's choice of D minor as a key center is doubly radiant as the soloists join with the orchestra through an extended introduction. In a moment the solo lines begin a spirited but angelic dialog, as if we are eavesdropping on a celestial channel. In Bach's all-for-glory manner, the music offers serious but joyful themes and an exquisite development, all with lyrical grace on the wing.

     As an aside, we note that after his passing, Bach's major scores slipped into oblivion. Only his keyboard music for organ and harpsichord made it through the din of disinterest. He became regarded simply as a master of counterpoint, as his preludes and fugues became a reference for basic harmony and keyboard technique to aspiring composers and pianists, including young prodigies like Frederic Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn.

     For his part, Chopin carried a volume of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier wherever he went, writing:

     "Bach will never become old. His works are structured like those ideally conceived geometric figures in which everything is in its proper place and not a line is superfluous. When playing or listening to his music I can not imagine how even a single note might be changed."

     But Mendelssohn was able to go much further. He had virtually "rediscovered" Bach's neglected St. Matthew Passion, and conducted the first performance of the oratorio since it had been premiered under Bach's direction in Leipzig in 1729, exactly a century before. The enormous success of the resurrected Passion soon led to a reevaluation of Bach's entire catalog across the whole of Europe.

program notes by Edward Yadzinsky