Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019

Featuring

Elizabeth Wallfisch
Richard Tunnicliffe
Paul Nicholson
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Cultural Impact

Bach's Six Sonatas for violin and harpsichord served as models for similar works by his sons, pupils, and followers, and influenced later composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.

Composition History

The Fugue in G minor, BWV1026, was likely one of Bach's first attempts at the Italian ritornello pattern, popularized by Vivaldi, and was copied by Bach's cousin J.G. Walther around 1712.

Compositional Technique

The works on this album divide into two groups: solo sonatas with figured bass continuo, and trio sonatas where the harpsichord typically plays two of the three musical lines.

Composition History

Bach conceived the 'Sei Sounate' (Six Sonatas for violin and harpsichord) as a definitive and self-contained set, similar to his Brandenburg Concertos and Cello Suites.

Composer Biography

The G major Sonata, BWV1021, is attributed to J.S. Bach in a manuscript copied by his second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach.

Compositional Technique

The sixth sonata in the 'Sei Sounate' breaks the pattern of the others by having five movements instead of four, including an Allegro for harpsichord solo, and underwent several revisions.

Historical Context

These sonatas represent a crucial moment in 18th-century music when the keyboard began to take over the primary role from the violin in chamber music.