Sunday, November 27, 2011

Largo from Concerto in F minor for Harpsichord by J.S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

This is a fine example of Bach's ability to write for the harpsichord.  The accompaniment is sparse to non-existent at the beginning.  There is mostly harpsichord with a touch of bass adding to the sound.  Finally, after the entire piece is played out there are a few swells of strings at the very end.  All of the normal harpsichord-ish things to do are present in this piece, including many trills and flips and ornamental phrases.  The left hand part is only made up of single lines and the tertian harmony is mostly implied (since there are only two voices present most of the piece).  To me, this shows the brilliance of Bach, in being able to write only two voices and still not feel like the piece is missing anything in the way of harmony.  No wonder so many of us emulate Bach's way of doing things as a great way to understand harmony and composition.    

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