Why another edition of the famous Violin-Oboe Concerto of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), particularly now that Bärenreiter has issued the definitive version? Simple: none of the three published editions contain the fascinating obbligato bass parts played by the two harpsichords from which this work has been reconstructed. I have often thought how perfect it would be to pair a solo cello on one of those bass lines, with the solo violin; and a solo bassoon on the other bass line, with the solo oboe in order that these two voices, missing up until now, could be clearly heard.  For my own performances of this work, I had already experimented on two separate occasions with this concept in the slow movement; but my plan there had involved combining the two harpsichord bass lines into one. Now for the first time, all the parts are being made available in order that this work might finally be heard in all of its intricacy.

There is still no information available as to when Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) created this concerto in its orchestration with oboe and violin soloists. There are some music historians who believe that the original key was D minor, the supposition being that Bach would have transposed it down from that key to C minor when he made the version for two harpsichords, in order to avoid the high e3's of the violin and oboe parts which were not available on the harpsichord. The only problem with that assumption, is that the 18th- century oboe did not have the high e3 either, so perhaps c minor has always been the original key, after all. To confuse matters all the more, in a recent paper delivered before the American Musicological Society, the musicologist Jane Stevens, stated that she believes this work to have been actually originally scored just for two harpsichords alone without the four string parts; and only later in Leipzig around the years 1735-42 were those voices added. She views the oboe-violin version as a mere 20th-century arrangement. Whatever the historical sequence, this is a very great work.

First Movement:

The most unusual feature of this ritornello form is that it contains the recapitulation of a substantial section: Ritornello III through Episode VI returns with just a few modifications to form Ritornello VII through Episode X. In this recapitulation, three of the four ritornelli are set a perfect fifth higher than their counterparts.

Very noticeable in this movement is the characteristic figuration for solo violin, such as that found in Episode I, Episode IV, and Episode VIII. Such figuration is not included in the oboe part and it is this fact that led Max Seiffert (in his Peters edition of 1920 in c minor) and Max Schneider (in his rival Breitkopf & Härtel edition of 1924 in d minor) to believe that the original version of this concerto must surely have been designed for violin and oboe, assuming, that is, that oboists of the 18th century did not play works with extensive figuration. One glance at Antonio Vivaldi's Oboe Concerto in C Major, PV 41 would have dispelled that notion, but, of course, that work was unknown to Seiffert and Schneider.

The echo feature in the ritornello is also to be found in the first and final movements of the Harpsichord Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056. Solo inserts such as those seen in Ritornello II of BWV 1060 are also utilized in the first movements of the Violin Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1041 and the Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059.

Second Movement:

The second movement is a fugue in which only the violin and oboe soloists contribute imitative material: their parts are integral to the structure of all ritornelli and all episodes, just as in Bach's ensemble-style concertos such as the Brandenburg Concertos I, II, and IV. In fact, the orchestra parts for violins I & II and viola could easily be dispensed with, since they basically are there reinforce the harmonies of the continuo. On the other hand, the alternation between pizzicato and arco throughout the orchestra lends a special color to the movement. Pizzicato accompaniment of this type can be heard in the slow movement of the Harpsichord Concerto in F-Minor, BWV 1056 which Bach also utilized as the slow movement of the Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059.

The movement includes the recapitulation of Episode I as Episode III, and the re-use of Ritornello II for Ritornelli IV and V. In addition, this slow movement ends on an episode which serves to connect it to the finale. It should be noted that each measure of 12/8 in this movement has the character of four measures of 3/8.

Third Movement:

Thematically, the finale is very tight. First of all, the ritornello is constructed of four sections, three of which share the same motivic material. Secondly, practically all the material utilized in the six episodes is derived from the ritornello. The triplet figuration in the violin part during Episodes III and V is unparalleled in the oboe part.

The internal organization is clever: Ritornello II through Episode III form a single unit which returns as Ritornello IV through Episode V. Both of these large units end with the aforementioned passages in triplets for the solo violin. In addition, there is a recapitulation of materials from Episodes I and II in Episodes IV and VI. In the latter two episodes all the material of the former two episodes is drawn upon, but the material of both Episodes I and II is split in half, and a different half from each of those episodes is utilized to build up Episodes IV and VI.