Shownotes
Bach's sixth and final sonata for violin and harpsichord is organized in a very different format: it is flanked by two allegro movements in the key of G major, but the third movement at the "apex" of the sonata is for solo keyboard! The second and fourth feature a slower tempo and are written in a contrasting minor modality.
In the podcast I speculate why this is the case, and part of that speculation is fueled by the existence of additional movements that were supposedly part of an earlier construction of the piece.
Look for recordings that serve up "alternates," sometimes labeled as "BWV 1019a." They allow us to explore Bach's compositional journey, in a way, and we can also try programming our own versions of the sonata using playlists.