JS Bach, Keyboard Concerto in A major

Bach, an applicant for Kantor in Leipzig

"Magdalena, we will have to leave Köthen and go somewhere else. There is no longer a place for a musician here".

These are words Magdalena Bach puts in Johann Sebastian's mouth to describe the moment when her husband confessed to her that he had had enough of the court in Köthen, He urgently needed to get a new position at another court, hopefully a more prestigious one, which, needless to say, was not at all easy.

But as in general terms luck was always on the master's side, right around that time the post of Kantor of St. Thomas' church in Leipzig became vacant due to the death of its incumbent in June 1722. When Bach heard of this, he hastened to send in his application for admission. However, a little ordeal awaited him.

Bach, a recently known portrait

At the first convocation – which Bach possibly did not know about – Georg Philipp Telemann applied and was elected. But Telemann was just making a play. As music director of Hamburg's five main churches, his aim was to force the authorities to raise his salary. When he succeeded, he resigned from the post he had just obtained. The Thomaskirche was once again without a Kantor.

For the second convocation, it is said that Bach did not send his application in time, or if he did, he was unlucky because the favored candidate was another candidate, Christoph Graupner, at the time Kapellmeister of the court of Darmstadt. But to take office, Graupner had to request permission from his employer, the landgrave (the prince, or count) of Darmstadt. Weeks passed and the permission did not come. The Leipzig City Council had to meet again... the Thomaskirche was still without a Kantor.

Obligations

The church's greatest difficulty for filling the vacancy was that the candidate, in addition to being in charge of church music, was to teach singing to the children of the Thomasschule, the school run by the church since before the Lutheran reformation. Aware of this, Bach – in case he got the appointment – undertook "to conform to the curricula, as they are currently ordered or as they will be ordered in the future, and in particular to teach singing to the children who are admitted to the school, not only during the normal established hours, but also privately and free of charge".

At the end of April 1723, the final session of the Council took place. All the councilors present gave their vote to Bach. After accepting the terms of his new job and having passed a short examination in theology, Johann Sebastian Bach took up the post of Kantor of the Thomaskirche on May 15. He was 38 years old.

Concerto IV for keyboard and orchestra in A major - BWV 1055

Except for Brandenburg concertos, all of Bach's concertos for keyboard and orchestra were originally written for another solo instrument, possibly in Köthen, and "arranged" for keyboard in Leipzig, around 1738. It is believed that this concerto was originally written for oboe d'amore. In any case, only the keyboard versions have survived. 

Compared to the "original" version for harpsichord and strings, the one presented here shows some modernization, if the term fits. Instead of harpsichord, piano; and as for the orchestra, it has grown a bit from the original violins I and II, viola and continuo.

Movements:

00       Allegro

04:01  Larguetto

08:50  Allegro ma non tanto

The rendition is by Concerto Köln, a Baroque music chamber ensemble formed in 1985, one of many groups associated with the surging interest in period instruments.