J.S. Bach - Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in D Major BWV 1054 - movement 2 : Adagio e piano sempre

Johann Sebastian Bach's Harpsichord (keyboard) concerto in d major. The surviving violin concerto in E major, BWV 1042, was the model for this work, which was transposed down a tone to allow the top note e''' to be reached as d''', the common top limit on harpsichords of the time. The transcription process was based on the same principles as BWV 1053.

The harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052-1065, are concertos for harpsichord, strings and continuo by Johann Sebastian Bach. There are seven complete concertos for a single harpsichord, (BWV 1052-1058), three concertos for 2 harpsichords (BWV 1060-1062), two concertos for 3 harpsichords (BWV 1063-1064), and one concerto for 4 harpsichords, (BWV 1065). Two other concertos include solo harpsichord parts: the concerto BWV 1044, which has solo parts for harpsichord, violin and flute, and Brandenburg concerto no.5, BWV 1050, with the same scoring. In addition there is a single 9 bar concerto fragment for a single harpsichord (BWV 1059) which adds an oboe to the strings and continuo.
All of Bach's harpsichord concertos (with the exception of the Brandenburg concerto) are thought to be arrangements made from earlier concertos for melodic instruments probably written in Köthen. In many cases, only the harpsichord version has survived.

The score for this piece may be found here:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Harpsichord_Concerto_No.3,_BWV_1054_(Bach,_Johann_Sebas...)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Johann
• Sebastian
• Bach
• keyboard
• harpsichord
• piano
• orchestra
• baroque
• concerto
• major
• bwv
• 1054
• adagio
• allegro

[hattube]

This is one of my favorite Bach pieces. Unlike most of Bach's work this is a very slow piece- like a dark lullaby or like the 2nd movement of the Beethoven's moonlight Sonata. I could imagine this playing at a wedding or even funeral. The Counterpoint is very subtle. I've listened to this over 100 times and keep hearing something new and try to incorporate it into the playing as I dont have the sheet music. Thanks for posting this video!

[lars517]

@hattube Thanks for watching. I have added a link to the score (sheet music) in the video description.

A bit of advice: IMSLP free sheet music library is a great place to get scores and sheet music, so you might want to check there first before trying to learn anything by ear. While listening to a piece is extremely important, it is just as important that you have the sheet music also. Good luck and have fun learning it, this really is a wonderful piece to hear and play.

[thefrias]

Fantastic piece. There's nothing left to say, but 'amazing'...

[hattube]

@lars517 Thanks Lars! I have it printed and ready to use.