Sonata No.4 in C minor for violin and keyboard BWV 1017 (1718-22)

Bach’s six Sonatas for violin and keyboard, written at Cöthen at some time between 1718 and 1722, were counted by his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, “among the best compositions of my dear departed father.” He was impressed no doubt by the fact that, like the Flute Sonatas and the Gamba Sonatas written at much the same time, they treat the two instruments as equal partners rather than, as was conventional in their time, restricting the keyboard part to a merely harmonic accompaniment. His description of these works as “trio sonatas” is a broadly accurate reflection of the textural thinking in scores where the violin, the right hand of the keyboard and the left hand each has a distinct role to play.

While most movements of the Violin Sonatas fit the trio-sonata idea, some do not. The opening Largo of No.4 in C minor, furnished with a bass line that has litle interest in itself, is basically a violin solo. The keyboard right hand is by no means inactive but it is occupied almost exclusively with undulating arpeggios and has nothing to do with the lovely siciliano melody presented (in a startling anticipation of the obbligato to “Erbarme dich” in the St Matthew Passion) by the violin in the opening bars. The following Allegro, on the other hand, is a clearly defined three-part conception, a highly developed fugue in which the left hand is scarcely less favoured than the right hand and the violin. Like the first movement, the Adagio is virtually a violin solo obediently accompanied by the keyboard until the right hand joins the violin in a little cadenza leading directly into the final Allegro – another fugue in three distinct and equal parts

Like most of his chamber music, Bach’s six Sonatas for violin and keyboard were written at Cöthen at some time between 1718 and 1722. As Kapellmeister to a Prince who played violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord – and who required little church music from him – Bach seems to have found conditions specially favourable for work of this kind. Certainly, his second son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, considered the Violin Sonatas “among the best compositions of my dear departed father.” He was impressed no doubt by the fact that, like the Flute Sonatas and the Gamba Sonatas written at much the same time, they treat the two instruments as equal partners rather than, as was conventional in their time, restricting the keyboard part to a merely harmonic accompaniment.

Carl Philipp Emmanuel’s description of these works as “trio sonatas” is a broadly accurate reflection of the textural thinking in scores where the violin, the right hand of the keyboard and the left hand each has a distinct role to play. In fact, some of the early sources – the composer’s autograph versions do not survive – suggest the use of a viola da gamba to support the bass line in the left hand. A useful precaution with a harpsichord, it would be superfluous with a modern piano.

While most movements of the Violin Sonatas fit the trio-sonata idea, some do not. The opening Largo of No.4 in C minor, furnished with a bass line that would make a less than interesting gamba part, is basically a violin solo. The keyboard right hand is by no means inactive but it is occupied almost exclusively by undulating arpeggios and has nothing to do with the lovely siciliano melody presented (in a startling anticipation of the obbligato to “Erbarme dich” in the St Matthew Passion) by the violin in the opening bars. The following Allegro, on the other hand, is a clearly defined three-part conception, a highly developed fugue in which the left hand is scarcely less favoured than the right hand and the violin. Like the first movement, the Adagio is virtually a violin solo obediently accompanied by the keyboard until the right hand joins the violin in a little cadenza leading directly into the final Allegro – another fugue in three distinct and equal parts.