Bach Violin Concerto in E Major BWV 1042: Transcribed for Cello

Here is the sheet music and some audio play-along accompaniments for Bach‘s Violin Concerto in E Major BWV 1042 in a transcription for cello. Because the original key has been conserved, any standard accompaniment parts (orchestral or piano) can be used. These can be downloaded for free from imslp.org.

Bach’s original manuscript for this concerto has been lost and the most authentic source available is a copy by Altnickol, Bach’s student (and, later, son-in-law). The source for our “Literal Urtext Transcription” was originally the Henle Urtext edition, supposedly based largely on the Altnickol copy. Unfortunately, a comparison of the Henle Edition with the Altnickol manuscript reveals such misleading incompetence that this Henle Edition should basically be thrown into the rubbish.

Henle, faced with the extraordinary ambiguity of the slurs in Altnickol, takes monumental editorial decisions about the slurs’ starting and end points, which completely change the way we might play (bow/articulate) the concerto and consequently, not only its difficulty but also the way it will sound.

For example, in the first movement, the Henle edition very often suggests three notes slurred and the last one separate (for four-note semiquaver groups). But if we look closely at the Altnickol-edition, these same slurs often look like they go over all four notes of each group.

We only include the copy of the Henle Edition “Literal Urtext Transcription” on this page because:

this is the one that we started with, and
it serves as a good example of how dangerous it can be when we put our trust in an Urtext Edition in which major editorial decisions, as bad as in the worst “non-urtext” edition, have been made.

Even when the “urtext” bowings are not ambiguous, many of these “original” bowings have been changed in our Edited Version, as occurs so often in the cellofun transcriptions of Bach’s violin music. The cello just does not respond well to the frequent radical changes of bow speed required for Bach’s violin bowings and also, this transcriber often finds a lack of variety in Bach’s articulations (see “Bach and the Sewing Machine“).

Unfortunately, unlike with piano accompaniments, if we want to change the bowings in the solo cello part, we will also maybe need to change the bowings in the orchestral string parts to make sure they coincide, especially in the “tuttis” (where the solo cello plays in octave unison with the first violins).

FIRST MOVEMENT: Allegro

This is a first draft. Apart from the octave transposition down of the solo part, the only note that has been changed is the very last semiquaver (16th note) of bar 100 in which the doublestop has been removed.

Engraving Files (XML)

Here is a play-along orchestral accompaniment, courtesy of “Goatman Music” and their YouTube channel. A one-bar introduction has been added so that we can know when to start playing.

SECOND MOVEMENT: Adagio

The quaver (eighth-note) speed of this movement is approximately the same as the slow movement of his A Minor Violin Concerto BWV 1041. This is curious because Bach places an “Andante” tempo marking in the A Minor Concerto but uses an “Adagio” marking in this one. This would seem to indicate that we need to feel this movement as a very slow three (crotchet/quarter-note) beats to a bar, whereas for the slow movement of the A Minor Concerto, we will feel the pulse as an “Andante” (walking) pace with eight quaver/eighth-note beats to the bar.

Engraving Files (XML)

Here is a play-along orchestral accompaniment, courtesy of “Goatman Music” and their YouTube channel.

And here is a home recording of the transcriber playing this movement with the above accompaniment:

THIRD MOVEMENT: Allegro assai

Engraving Files

Here is a play-along orchestral accompaniment, courtesy of “Goatman Music” and their YouTube channel. A two-bar introduction has been added so that we can know when to start.