Bach Violin Concerto in A Minor BWV 1041: Transcribed For Cello

Here is the sheet music and some audio play-along accompaniments for a cello transcription of Bach’s Violin Concerto in A Minor BWV 1041. The entire concerto has been transposed down by a tone into G Minor for reasons explained below. The accompaniment parts will also soon be available in our new “cello key”.

IN WHICH KEY?

Finding the best key in which to play this concerto on the cello is a little problematic. It would be very convenient to play it in the original key because no accompaniment parts would need to be rewritten, but this is (almost) impossible because of Bach’s long upside-down string crossing passage using/requiring the violin’s open E-string from bar 105 till 117 in the third movement.

When faced with passages like this, we would normally take the key down a fifth in order to be able to play the problematic passage in exactly the same way as it is played on the violin, using the cello’s open A-string.

We do however have another possibility here, which requires taking the accompaniment parts down by only a tone. In this alternative version, the pedal high E is replaced by a pedal open D-string, one octave lower than what would have been our perfect equivalent. The use of the open string allows us to maintain a somewhat bizarre, freaky pitch effect, similar to the upside-down string crossings of Bach’s original composition.

This option also has the advantage of keeping a higher “concerto” register than if were to take the entire concerto down by a fifth. This higher register is much more appropriate when playing with an orchestral accompaniment.

In conclusion, it is this problematic 12-bar passage that has ultimately determined the key in which we will play this concerto on the cello in this cellofun transcription.

FIRST MOVEMENT: (Allegro?)

There is no tempo marking given in the earliest available manuscript copies.

Here is a downloadable play-along “orchestral” accompaniment with thanks to JRV Violin Studio and their YouTube channel. The orchestral entry is preceded by a one-bar click track to give us both the speed and our entry.

SECOND MOVEMENT: Andante

This Andante definitely needs to be counted in eight pulses per bar.

Here is a downloadable play-along “orchestral” accompaniment with thanks to JRV Violin Studio and their YouTube channel.

THIRD MOVEMENT: Allegro assai

With Bach’s articulations (bowings), as indicated in “Urtext” editions, this movement falls into the category of “the sewing machine“. Every triplet eighth-note figure is given the same, uniform, unvarying, ultra-predictable bowing/articulation:

There are a total of 208 of these triplet figures in this movement, and we may want to experiment with the many different possible ways to create more variety in their bowings.

Here is a downloadable play-along “orchestral” accompaniment with thanks to JRV Violin Studio and their YouTube channel. The orchestral entry is preceded by a two-bar click track to give us both the speed and our entry.