Virtuosi Thüringer Bach Collegium

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Concert for 3 Violins and Orchestra in D Major, BWV 1064r:
• 1Bach: Concert for 3 Violins and Orchestra in D Major, BWV 1064r: I. Allegro05:54
• 2Bach: Concert for 3 Violins and Orchestra in D Major, BWV 1064r: II. Adagio05:37
• 3Bach: Concert for 3 Violins and Orchestra in D Major, BWV 1064r: III. Allegro04:08
• Johann Gottfried Walther (1684 - 1748): Concert for Organ in D Minor (Fragment after Giuseppe Torelli):
• 4Walther: Concert for Organ in D Minor (Fragment after Giuseppe Torelli): Allegro03:08
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Concert for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060r:
• 5Bach: Concert for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060r: I. Allegro05:23
• 6Bach: Concert for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060r: II. Adagio05:00
• 7Bach: Concert for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra in C Minor, BWV 1060r: III. Allegro03:28
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 8Bach: Concert for Organ in C Major, BWV 595 (Fragment after Prinz Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar)04:19
• Johann Ernst IV. von Sachsen-Weimar (1696 - 1715): Concert for Violin and Orchestra in B-Flat Major, BWV 983 (Reconstruction by Gernot Süßmuth):
• 9Sachsen-Weimar: Concert for Violin and Orchestra in B-Flat Major, BWV 983 (Reconstruction by Gernot Süßmuth): I.02:37
• 10Sachsen-Weimar: Concert for Violin and Orchestra in B-Flat Major, BWV 983 (Reconstruction by Gernot Süßmuth): II. Adagio02:24
• 11Sachsen-Weimar: Concert for Violin and Orchestra in B-Flat Major, BWV 983 (Reconstruction by Gernot Süßmuth): III. Allegro02:22
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Concert for Organ in G Major, BWV 592 (After Prinz Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar):
• 12Bach: Concert for Organ in G Major, BWV 592 (After Prinz Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar): I.03:29
• 13Bach: Concert for Organ in G Major, BWV 592 (After Prinz Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar): II. Grave02:54
• 14Bach: Concert for Organ in G Major, BWV 592 (After Prinz Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar): III. Presto02:09
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Concert for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043:
• 15Bach: Concert for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043: I. Vivace03:22
• 16Bach: Concert for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043: II. Largo ma non Tanto06:09
• 17Bach: Concert for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043: III. Allegro04:21
• Total Runtime01:06:44

Info for Virtuosi

​Musical Debating Culture at its Finest - Bach's Adaptation of the Italian Concerto Style: The continuation of the celebrated recording series with the Thüringer Bach Collegium provides remarkable insights into Bach’s adaptation of the Italian concerto style: the concertos for one to three solo instruments by the young Bach are sparkling disputes about the best musical argument – musical debating culture at the highest level. Nobody can escape the pull of this gripping contest of virtuosos.

It was a momentous encounter: around 1714, the Weimar court organist Johann Sebastian Bach came across Antonio Vivaldi's opus 3 L'Estro armonico, hot off the press, and soon nothing would be the same for him musically. Bach eagerly appropriated the Venetian Red Priest's modern concerto style. And true to the meaning of the word "concertare", which in Italian means "to unite", but in Latin means "to argue" or "to fight", Bach rapidly entered into a competition, first with his Italian models and then with himself. At the outset, he arranged Vivaldi's violin concertos for his (main) instrument, the organ. But then he transferred Vivaldi's principles into his own instrumental concerto style. The results were his immortal Köthen concertos for one to three solo instruments and orchestra, blending the concerto principle of structural tutti ritornellos and interspersed imaginative solo episodes with Bach's unique polyphonic style - highly virtuosic works in which all participating instruments connect with one another at eye level, and also enter into fierce competition with each other.

All this can be heard on the third audite album of the Thüringer Bach Collegium: a good 70 minutes of competition for the best musical arguments, presented with irresistibly sparkling virtuosity.

Thüringer Bach Collegium
Gernot Süssmuth, violin, direction

No biography found.

Booklet for Virtuosi