Concerto for harpsichord in f, BWV 1056

The European Bach revival initiated by Mendelssohn was well underway when Brahms came to maturity. Contrapuntal technique particularly captivated Brahms’ imagination in his study of Bach; it inspired not only the powerful passacaglia movement in the Fourth Symphony but also various transcriptions and smaller etudes. Equally compelling was Bach’s ability to merge counterpoint with the rhythmic and melodic dimensions of solo concerto form, which—in the hands of Bach’s Italian predecessors—was not regarded as a vehicle for complex part writing. By making keyboard arrangements of Venetian string concertos, Bach found ways to adapt the idiom to suit his penchant for taut motivic development. Consider the F-minor keyboard concerto, BWV 1056 (ca. 1738?). Bach focuses attention in the first movement on the head motive, which is built on a recurring neighbor-note figure. In addition, the choice of key contributes to the emotional mood, for F minor is a rich, dark, at times imposing key. Form recedes in significance behind the more attractive aspects of development and imitation. The second and third movements both exhibit Italianate features. The idyllic Largo soars on the keyboard’s florid melodic line, given only token harmonic support by the strings. The spirited Finale stays comfortably within the conventions of concerto form as defined by Bach’s Italian predecessors. Instead, it is the details that matter: a poignant suspension here, a striking key change there. Clearly this is not Bach’s last or most profound word on the concerto genre; the piece is almost certainly a version of an earlier (lost) violin concerto. Still, its balance between the tense F minor outer movements and the serene A-flat major meditation are enough to recommend it to later generations.

(c) Jason Stell