Harpsichord concerti were written throughout the Baroque era, particularly by J.S. Bach. However, this “Allegro” from Bach’s Concerto for 4 Harpsichords & Strings (BWV 1065) is based on Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins in B minor (RV 580). For one composer to “borrow” material from another during Bach’s time was considered a flattering gesture.

Mallet instruments have much in common with the attack and decay properties of harpsichords, making arrangements such as this a natural choice. Slawson’s orchestrations bring this piece to life, and it will make an excellent addition to the repertoire of any percussion ensemble wishing to highlight a Baroque selection for mallet instruments.

This arrangement of Concerto in A Minor has been heard worldwide on the popular CD "Bach on Wood," which helped garner Brian Slawson a Grammy nomination for “Best New Classical Artist.

This piece comes with a full, bound score and includes a CD-Rom containing an audio recording and all individual parts available for printing.

*All sounds used in this recording were generated from Virtual Drumline software also by Tapspace.

User Submissions

Cto. in A Minor Reviews

Joshua D. Smith Reviewed in Percussive Notes July 2010 “This transcription scored for a percussion sextet requires a glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, and three marimbas no larger than 4.3 octaves. This piece can also be performed with one 4.3-octave and one 4.0-octave marimba with two parts sharing one instrument. This is a lively 2½-minute piece that is full of beauty and harmonic depth as only Bach can produce. Slawson does a wonderful job of translating Bach’s music into an appropriate idiomatic rendition for mallet percussion instruments. While there is demand from all the voices, the marimba 1 part requires a player who can effectively “take the reins” by executing virtually unending sixteenth-note runs and multiple dynamic shifts. Slawson’s arrangement provides musical interest for each voice and treats each part with equal weight in terms of textural contribution, variety, and effective use of each instrument’s respective range and tessitura. This piece will challenge players and conductors alike to fine-tune their ensemble listening skills. This arrangement could prove an effective opener for a percussion ensemble concert at the high school and college level.” Add your review here Your name: * Your message: * Maximum review length is 2000 characters Type the characters you see in the picture. (If you do not see any picture here, please enable images in your web browser options and refresh this page): Get a different code Add review

Instrumentation

NOTE: Two marimba players can also share a 4.3 octave (low A) marimba if instruments are limited.