Bach made a number of transcriptions of Antonio Vivaldi’s concertos, especially from his Op. 3 set, entitled L’estro armonico. Bach adapted them for solo harpsichord and solo organ, but for the Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, Op. 3 No. 10, RV 580, he decided upon the unique solution of using four harpsichords and orchestra. This is thus the only orchestral harpsichord concerto by Bach which was not an adaptation of his own material.
- Allegro
- Largo
- Allegro
Scoring: harpsichord I/II/III/IV solo, violin I/II, viola, continuo (cello, violone)
Length: c. 10 minutes
The concerto for four harpsichords, strings, and continuo, BWV 1065, was the last of six known transcriptions Bach realised after concertos in Vivaldi’s Op. 3. That opus, published in 1711, contains twelve concertos for strings, four of which (Nos. 3, 6, 9 and 12) have a single violin soloist. The accompaniment in these four concertos consists of violins (three parts), violas (two parts), cellos and continuo (figured bass part for violone and harpsichord). Most likely in the period from July 1713 to July 1714, during his tenure as court organist in Weimar, Bach transcribed three of these violin concertos, Nos. 3, 9 and 12, for solo harpsichord (BWV 978, 972 and 976 respectively). Similarly, in the same period, he transcribed two (Nos. 8 and 11) of the four concertos for two violins (Nos. 2, 5, 8 and 11), for unaccompanied organ (BWV 593 and 596). Vivaldi’s Op. 3 also contained four concertos for four violins (Nos. 1, 4, 7 and 10). Some two decades after the over twenty Weimar concerto transcriptions for unaccompanied keyboard instruments, Bach returned to L’estro armonico, and transcribed its No. 10, the concerto in B minor for four violins, cello, strings, and continuo, RV 580, to his concerto in A minor for four harpsichords, strings and continuo, BWV 1065.
| No. | RV | Key | Obligato instr. | BWV | Transcribed for | Key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 310 | G major | violin | 978 | harpsichord | F major |
| 8 | 522 | A minor | two violins | 593 | organ (or Pedal harpsichord) | A minor |
| 9 | 230 | D major | violin | 972 | harpsichord | D major |
| 10 | 580 | B minor | four violins and cello | 1065 | four harpsichords, strings and continuo | A minor |
| 11 | 565 | D minor | two violins and cello | 596 | organ (or pedal harpsichord) | D minor |
| 12 | 265 | E major | violin | 976 | harpsichord | C major |
RV 580 was published with the same eight parts as the other concertos in L’estro armonico: four violin parts, two viola parts, cello and continuo. The differences in instrumentation between the individual concertos in Vivaldi’s Op. 3 only concern which of these eight parts get soloist roles (indicated as obligato in the original publication), and which are accompaniment (ripieno parts, and continuo). For RV 580 the obligato parts are all four violin parts, and the cello part. In the middle movement, Bach has the four harpsichords playing differently-articulated arpeggios in a very unusual tonal blend, while providing some additional virtuosity and tension in the other movements.
