Britain's What's On Event Guide
Democratising the Double: BWV 1043 revisited
The “Bach double” has not become one of the most recognisable concertos in modern performance, but possibly the most easily marketable. Why have one of your favourite violinists stood in front of your favourite orchestra, but two violinists starring as friends together as a pair! Add in the music of one of music history's most celebrated figures, and it appears to be the perfect match. Using our modern understanding of concertos, the general picture of performances of Bach's BWV 1043 is to have two violinists towering over a sea of orchestral musicians, often with a conductor in front of the orchestra, which forces somewhat of a divide between the orchestra and the two violins.
However, in Vocatio:Responsio's final concert of our successful debut season, we will set this piece with every part only having one player, which not only breaks this divide between soloists and orchestra, but even immerses the two violins within the rest of the ensemble. Bach's BWV 1043 is not called Double Violin Concerto, or even Concerto for 2 Violins, but he specifically states that it is a Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings & Basso Continuo: this is not unlike that of the concerto grosso format, where the two violins (and cello) weave in and out of the orchestral texture, as solo or tutti. Alongside the Bach, we have chosen concerti grossi by Vivaldi and Corelli as well as concertos by Handel and Wassaener to not only compliment our interpretations, but wet your appetite for the main event!
Join Vocatio:Responsio, and guest soloist Wing Hei Woo (who has given much to V:R as a player and poster designer) for a stunning evening of eighteenth-century chamber music at the highest quality.
Georg Friedrich Handel: Concerto in B-Flat Major, HWV 288
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in D Minor, Op.3 No.11
Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op.6 No.4
Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer: Concerto Armonico No.3 in A Major
Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto in
However, in Vocatio:Responsio's final concert of our successful debut season, we will set this piece with every part only having one player, which not only breaks this divide between soloists and orchestra, but even immerses the two violins within the rest of the ensemble. Bach's BWV 1043 is not called Double Violin Concerto, or even Concerto for 2 Violins, but he specifically states that it is a Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings & Basso Continuo: this is not unlike that of the concerto grosso format, where the two violins (and cello) weave in and out of the orchestral texture, as solo or tutti. Alongside the Bach, we have chosen concerti grossi by Vivaldi and Corelli as well as concertos by Handel and Wassaener to not only compliment our interpretations, but wet your appetite for the main event!
Join Vocatio:Responsio, and guest soloist Wing Hei Woo (who has given much to V:R as a player and poster designer) for a stunning evening of eighteenth-century chamber music at the highest quality.
Georg Friedrich Handel: Concerto in B-Flat Major, HWV 288
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in D Minor, Op.3 No.11
Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op.6 No.4
Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer: Concerto Armonico No.3 in A Major
Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto in
Wednesday 18 June
Wesley Memorial Church
Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 2DH
Wednesday 18th June 2025, 7:30pmTickets: £5
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