Today the three violin concertos, BWV 1041–1043, are among Johann Sebastian Bach’s best known and most popular instrumental works and enjoy a permanent place in the concert repertoire.

The blending of ritornello and episode that typifies Bach’s concertos as a whole is especially evident in the densely contrapuntal first movement, where the concise main theme regularly recurs to accompany the solo violin. This somber opening movement is followed by a harmonically far-reaching Andante which develops an expressive cantilena above an almost ubiquitous theme in the bass. The finale is a fugal gigue dominated by a madcap 9/8 rhythm and ever-increasing virtuosity from the soloist.

This Urtext edition is based in the “New Bach Edition”. The revised violin and piano reduction includes an Urtext solo part as well as a second solo part with bowing, fingering and comments on performance by Andrew Manze.