Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, The Netherlands Bach Society

In 1711, a collection of violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi was published in Amsterdam under the title, L’estro armonico (“The Harmonic Inspiration”). It was a prime example of the Baroque concerto grosso form, in which a solo instrument, or small group of instruments, engage in continuous dialogue with a larger ensemble. The British musicologist Michael Talbot has called L’estro armonico “perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the eighteenth century.”

J.S. Bach was one composer who was profoundly influenced by the publication of the set. Around 1713 while employed at Weimar, Bach studied Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor RV 522. He transformed it into the Organ Concerto in A minor BWV 593. Then, he proceeded to take Vivaldi’s model in a bold new direction. While Vivaldi’s “Double” Concerto feels open and breezy, with sunny, virtuosic solo lines often soaring above a sonic expanse, Bach’s Concertos are filled with dense, exhilarating counterpoint and layers of intricate moving parts.

This high octane contrapuntal conversation is what we experience in Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV 1043. The first movement (Vivace) springs to life with a vigorous fugue statement, heard first in the second violin, then in the first violin, and finally deep in the basso continuo. The first solo statement spins seamlessly out of the concluding cadence of the opening ritornello (a recurring tutti section). As the vibrant drama unfolds, these spirited instrumental voices seem to be pulling us along on a thrilling adventure. Listen carefully, as themes emerge in one voice, and then are taken up by another.

Violinist Emily Deans describes the second movement (Largo ma non tanto) as “a kind of spiritual love cantilene between the two violins.” Shunske Sato, her partner in the performance below, compares its melodic breadth and dignity to the music of Handel. (Coincidentally, Handel’s majestic aria, Ombra mai fubegins with the same descending four notes before moving in a much different direction). Propelled forward by the “heartbeat” of the continuo, the movement begins with a sensuous and lamenting statement in the second violin. The first violin’s answer moves the dialogue to a new world, harmonically. These moments of transcendent modulation occur throughout the movement. A new harmonic vista is always opening up.

The final movement (Allegro) explodes with ferocious, unrestrained energy. The solo voices follow closely on each other’s heels in a snarling and playful game of musical “tag.” In the final moments, the solo violins revel in the pure ecstasy of the harmony, while the orchestra lines rise to the forefront.

This performance, recorded on October 7, 2016, features violinists Shunske Sato and Emily Deans and The Netherlands Bach Society:

This clip is part of the Netherlands Bach Society’s ongoing All of Bach initiative. The project will conclude with a complete catalogue of J.S. Bach’s works in time for the Netherlands Bach Society’s centenary in 2022.

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

3 thoughts on “Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, The Netherlands Bach Society”

  1. The Double Concerto. If it starts, I stop what I am doing (well, I continued to let the oatmeal boil) to hear it. My friend Ray Tischer and I would play it, he on the violin, me playing the other violin and continuo on his upright piano, one eye on the score and the other on his rather dangerous Siamese cat. This piece is a world unto itself. Bach themes are so strong! (this helped me get the F Minor prelude from WTC #2 out of my head). The lullaby, the second movement, or “it’s all right, my friend, it’s all right” must be the tenderest, warmest thing ever written. And then he rips us out of our reverie into the final allegro, practically in the middle of a measure (I’ve got to see the score and find out). I’ve long been intrigued by the A minor organ fugue, which he starts and ends in the middle of a measure; and various ritornellos which he pours out upon us when we are not quite expecting it, because 99% of everything is utterly logical. As a theologically sound Lutheran, I am sure he did not believe his music will exist anywhere but on earth, but perhaps there is a coffee shop just beyond the gates where we can hear it a few times more!

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