In spite of its popularity, Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto for Oboe,
Violin and String Orchestra in D minor BWV 1060 is actually a
reconstruction, since the original version was lost. Our work was
reconstructed by Max Schneider from Bach's Concerto for two harpsichords in
C minor. Besides the key change, the transcription primarily involved the
transposition of both right-hand harpsichord parts to the violin and oboe
respectively. The original work was possibly written in Köthen or in Bach's
early Leipzig years. Its virtuoso solo writing and three-movement
fast-slow-fast structure reflect the influence of Antonio Vivaldi. In a
typically Baroque manner, the tutti opening theme of the first movement
provides the material out of which the episodes are spun. In the elegiac
slow movement, the two solo instruments dialogue lovingly over a discreet
pizzicato bass. The closing Allegro, with its aggressive jagged theme, is
still more ebullient and energetic than the first movement.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt was born in Berlin in 1929. His dissatisfaction with
conventional interpretations of early music led him to found the Concentus
Musicus with his wife Alice in 1953. The unusual, radically different
musical style of the ensemble, combined with its insistence on using only
historical instruments, quickly earned it a prominent reputation. Its
international concert tours met with triumphal acclaim. In addition to
leading his ensemble, Harnoncourt regularly conducts such prestigious
orchestras as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Concertgebouw Orkest
Amsterdam, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and others. Together with
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, he produced a universally acclaimed cycle of operas
by Mozart and Monteverdi at the Zurich Opera House.
