Apart from his orchestral keyboard concertos and his solo organ concertos, Johann Sebastian Bach composed keyboard concertos for unaccompanied harpsichord: Most of his Weimar concerto transcriptions, over twenty arrangements of Italian and Italianate orchestral concertos which he produced around 1713–1714 when he was employed in Weimar, were written for solo harpsichord (BWV 592a and 972–987). Two decades later, some ten years after he had become in Leipzig, he wrote a concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061a, which was later orchestrated as BWV 1061. The Italian Concerto, BWV 971, was published in 1735 as part of his Clavier-Übung II.
Weimar concerto transcriptions
In his Weimar period, Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed Italian and Italianate concertos. Most, if not all, of the concerto transcriptions for unaccompanied harpsichord were realised from July 1713 to July 1714. Most of these transcriptions were based on concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Other models for the transcriptions included concertos by Alessandro Marcello, Benedetto Marcello, Georg Philipp Telemann and Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar.
Concerto in G major, BWV 592a
After by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, and organ version BWV 592.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Grave Presto
Concerto in D major, BWV 972
After Violin Concerto in D major Op. 3 No. 9 (RV 230) by Antonio Vivaldi. There is an earlier version of this arrangement, BWV 972a.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Largo- Larghetto Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 973
After Violin Concerto in G major, RV 299, by Antonio Vivaldi (later version published as Op. 7 No. 8).
Movements: [no tempo indication] Largo Allegro
Concerto in D minor, BWV 974
After Oboe Concerto in D minor by Alessandro Marcello.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Presto
Concerto in G minor, BWV 975
After Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 316, by Antonio Vivaldi (variant RV 316a, published as Op. 4 No. 6).
Movements: [no tempo indication] Largo Giga Presto
Concerto in C major, BWV 976
After Violin Concerto in E major Op. 3 No. 12 (RV 265) by Antonio Vivaldi.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Largo Allegro
Concerto in C major, BWV 977
After an unidentified model.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Giga
Concerto in F major, BWV 978
After Violin Concerto in G major Op. 3 No. 3 (RV 310) by Antonio Vivaldi.
Movements: Allegro Largo Allegro
Concerto in B minor, BWV 979
After Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 813, by Antonio Vivaldi (formerly RV Anh. 10 attributed to Torelli).
Movements: Allegro – Adagio Allegro Andante Adagio Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 980
After Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 383 by Antonio Vivaldi (variant RV 383a published as Op. 4 No. 1).
Movements: [no tempo indication] Largo Allegro
Concerto in C minor, BWV 981
After Violin Concerto in C minor Op. 1 No. 2 by Benedetto Marcello.
Movements: Adagio Vivace [no tempo indication] Prestissimo
Concerto in B-flat major, BWV 982
After Violin Concerto in B-flat major Op. 1 No. 1 by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Allegro Allegro
Concerto in G minor, BWV 983
After an unidentified model.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Allegro
Concerto in C major, BWV 984
After the Violin Concerto in C major by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe–Weimar (like BWV 595).
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio e affettoso Allegro assai
Concerto in G minor, BWV 985
After the , by Georg Philipp Telemann.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Allegro
Concerto in G major, BWV 986
After an unidentified model.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Adagio Allegro
Concerto in D minor, BWV 987
After Concerto Op. 1 No. 4 by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar.
Movements: [no tempo indication] Allegro Adagio Vivace
Original compositions
Bach composed unaccompanied keyboard concertos for one and two harpsichords.
Italian Concerto included in Clavier-Übung II
Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971, was published in 1735, as first of two compositions included in Clavier-Übung II. An early version of the concerto's first movement survives in an 18th-century copy.
Early version of Concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061
BWV 1061a, a concerto for two harpsichords without accompaniment, is Bach's original version of the Concerto for two harpsichords and strings, BWV 1061.