I often feel a sense of Bach’s music as being almost “Holy”. There is a sense among musicians that the genius of this master’s works, unlike those of his contemporaries, must be understood and respected in the context of complete and perfect compositions.
However, this is not the way Bach himself would have seen it. Bach saw music as a science and himself as a researcher. Like some of his contemporaries, he would re-use his own material as a way to further explore the material’s potential.
Even when Bach studied a score by Vivaldi or Pergolesi, he would inevitably pick up Italian musical traits and link it in with his own personal style.
Inspired by Bach’s own practice, the performance group called “Bergen Barokk” has for many years arranged several of Bach’s works and adapted them to specific performance situations.
That’s the music we hear in this recording.
Performed by Bergen Barokk.
Here is an example of Bergen Barokk’s arrangements:
And one more: