Bach 1052 variations

[i_am_joey_jo]

Hi there,

How is it that a same piece of music can have so many variations.  I've heard the Harpsichord Concertos and then the same thing with Oboe L'Amour and the Harpsichord playing Continuo.  Then a violin concerto of the same piece of music, is this normal?

[cygnusdei]

The other versions are reconstructions based on a conjecture, that the harpsichord concertos are transcriptions of earlier, existing concertos for other instruments.

There are at least three pairs of surviving manuscripts that fit the bill:

Violin concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 --> Harpsichord concerto in G minor, BWV 1058
Violin concerto in E, BWV 1042 --> Harpsichord concerto in D, BWV 1054
Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043 --> Concerto for 2 harpsichords in C minor, BWV 1062

The popular Concerto for Oboe & Violin in C minor, BWV 1060 is a reconstruction of the surviving manuscript of the concerto for 2 harpsichords.