This episode opens with the music of Antonio Vivaldi, from his opus 3 collection of violin concertos, L’estro armonico. Bach adapts this piece, for 4 solo violins, for 4 harpsichords, BWV 1065. I believe Bach arranged this, and likely other works by Vivaldi, not so much for learning as for a pragmatic desire to offer this popular Italian music to Leipzig audiences.

What provides difficulty in performing this piece to take full effect of a ‘4 person’ concerto is the stereo dynamics that helps us hear the dynamics among the 4 participants. As discussed, pulling the instruments apart makes performing together challenging, especially in acoustic spaces like churches or larger concert halls.