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During the lifetime of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), the composer had occasion to publish four volumes entitled Clavier-Übung. This outstanding work lays out, in a relatively short space, the sum total of Bach's knowledge about style.

The first volume deals with the French suite of stylized dances as they were expressed on the harpsichord during the Baroque Era. The third volume, for organ, is devoted to music for the Lutheran service and comprises both Mass movements and complex Chorales based upon those utilized within the Lutheran Catechism. These works are enveloped in one of Bach's most-impressive examples of the Prelude and Fugue, the so-called 'St. Anne'. The final volume is the masterful Goldberg Variations.

In the second volume of the Clavier-Übung (1735), Bach turned his attention to music for orchestra. There are but two works, the Concerto in the Italian style and an Ouverture in the French tradition. The Italian Concerto is well-known to every fledgling pianist around the globe. How many of us have had to sit through juries at our universities where youngsters try to unravel the intricacies of the long ornamented line within its slow movement! I remember Leonard Bernstein once saying on TV how difficult that movement was for him.

Therefore, in the second volume of the Clavier-Übung we actually have scores of two works meant to instruct musicians in the art of Concerto and Ouverture. The only thing missing is the orchestration. And that is what this edition of the Italian Concerto is meant to do. I have chosen the bassoon as the ideal solo instrument for this work. After all, Bach relied heavily upon for information about concerto construction from the published works of Antonio Vivaldi. And Vivaldi, as we know, adored the bassoon, composing a sizable number of concertos for this noble instrument.