Shownotes
- Score, BWV 1044
- Academy of Ancient Music - Manze Recording
- Café Zimmermann - Bach Concertos Recordings - Look at Volume IV
- Gustav Leonhardt - Collegium Aureum
- Bach Cantata Pilgrimage - John Eliot Gardiner
- Le Concert Français - Bach Concertos
- La Stravaganza Hamburg - Bach Brandenburg Concertos
The Triple Concerto in A minor (BWV 1044) I view as a harpsichord concerto with obligato parts for violin and flute. In some ways, it relies less upon the violin and flute than in Bach’s similarly scored work, the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1050. Bach uses the middle movement to move away from the dark mood of the first movement to a very tender duet between two voices set in a major key; the third movement returns to the severe minor mode, using a (typical) contrapuntal framework with the opening theme.
In my appreciation for this work, I’ve noticed ensembles taking a number of different tempi for the outer movements which can support the music, given the proper environment. More acoustically live locations deserve slower tempos. For those adopting slower tempos, there is a great deal of “detail” that’s left for enjoying in the harpsichord part, especially.
Among the recordings featured here, I like the interpretations by Pierre Hantaï and the Concert Français and Café Zimmermann under Pablo Valetti and Céline Frisch best. Of all the performances mentioned, each have some hallmarks and deserve attention.