J.S. Bach, Concerto for oboe and violin, BWV 1060R

Maybe Bach composed a concerto for violin and oboe, and maybe he didn’t. What we have is the manuscript of a concerto in C minor for two harpsichords that Bach wrote for himself to perform with the collegium musicum in Leipzig. This concerto is listed in the catalog of Bach’s works (Bach Werke Verzeichnis) as BWV 1060. We know that many of Bach’s multiple-harpsichord concertos are arrangements that he made of concertos for other instruments. The striking differences between the first and second harpsichord parts in BWV 1060 suggest that the supposed original was a concerto for two treble instruments of quite different character. People have guessed that the original instruments were oboe and violin. At least two editors have tried to reconstruct this hypothetical original, turning the 2-harpsichord concerto into an oboe-violin concerto (labeled BWV 1060R). One reconstruction is in C-minor; one is in D-minor. The score is the C-minor reconstruction, but the version on the CD is the one in D-minor.

The piece is laid out in three movements, fast-slow-fast, like a Vivaldi concerto. The first and last movements are forceful and virtuosic, the middle movement is lyrical. Outer movements are organized in ritornello form. Because Bach has two soloists instead of just one, he can create interest with counterpoint as well as virtuosity. In addition Bach ripieno instruments (i.e. the instruments that aren’t soloists) tend to interact more constantly and more closely with the soloists than Vivaldi’s do.