J. S. Bach: Recorder Concerto in C Major (pasticcio) - Max Volbers
https://maxvolbers.de
0:00 1. Allegro
7:54 2. Siciliano. Adagio
13:08 3. Allegro
Max Volbers - recorder / Blockflöte / flûte à bec / flauto dolce
Dimitris Karakantas, Iveta Schwarz - violin
Martin Schneider - viola
Celeste Casiraghi - cello
Arisa Yoshida - double bass
Olga Watts - harpsichord
Sascha Tekale - audio, video
Pasticcio of BWV 169, 1042, 1053 and 1055.
Live recording, Mozarteum University Salzburg 2020, final master recital Max Volbers, class of Prof. Dorothee Oberlinger
Alto recorder in f' after J. Denner (415 hz), Ernst Meyer, Paris 2010
Johann Sebastian Bach left wonderful pieces for the recorder, but unfortunately no solo concerto for the instrument has survived. A huge part of Bach’s œuvre is lost, however, so it is quite possible that he did actually compose such a work. The demanding recorder parts found in the second and the fourth Brandenburg Concertos (as well as in many cantatas) suggest Bach had a number of skilled recorder players at his disposal.
Bach often drew inspiration from existing works when he was writing new pieces, especially when it came to instrumental concertos. Some of these earlier concertos might also be lost. The sinfonia and second aria (‘Stirb in mir’) of the cantata ‘Gott soll allein mein Herze haben’ are probably based on a lost oboe, traverso, or even viola concerto. Later, Bach used this same material for his harpsichord concerto in E Major BWV 1053.
I have tried to ‘reconstruct’ a (frankly, completely speculative!) recorder concerto from these sources, as Bach might have composed it. The third movement comes from the E Major Violin Concerto (BWV 1042) whilst also drawing material from the D Major harpsichord concerto (BWV 1055). That movement resembles the first movement of this pasticcio and also fits the period in which the lost oboe/traverso/viola concerto was likely to have been written.