Volume 3
Heavenly Strings

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACHThe greatest Baroque Composers:

Johann Sebastian Bach
- Violin Concerto, BWV 1041
- Violin Concerto, BWV 1042
- Concerto for 2 Violins, BWV 1043
- Partita No. 2, BWV 1004

GIDON KREMER, violin & conductor
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS (BWV 1041-1043)

CD 454 405-2 DDD
PHILIPS

- For a good six years Bach felt on top of the world in Cöthen. His master Prince Leopold, nine years his junior, was himself a solid amateur musician and liked to sit down with his 17 musicians. He would scratch away at the gamba or hammer at the harpsichord, and submit entirely to Bach's artistic will. Bach had finally made it to the top of the ladder, was addressed as "Herr Kapellmeister," exercised power over his subordinates, and produced during these years at Cöthen the most beautiful of his instrumental works. We do not know whether he himself played the solo part in his violin concertos, or whether he allowed his leader to dazzle the audience. But we do know why he left the town in spite of these optimal conditions: the prince married an unmusical woman, who quickly persuaded her husband that clothes and jewellery were a far better investment than live music.