Item Number: S0.976609

"Air on a G String" is the popular nickname for the "Air" from Orchestral Suite #3 in D Major, BWV 1068 by J. S. Bach. Duration: 5:53 (taking both repeats). Level: Intermediate and up. Programming: Great choice for recitals and very useful for almost any church service, reception, wedding or any event where insightful meditation is desired. This music is very well known and admired by nearly everyone, so you will have an advantage in providing something familiar and well cherished for your audience. This is the piece to demonstrate dynamic control, tone quality and strategic phrasing of long melodic lines.
Air on a G String
Bach: Air on a G String -
Bach: Air on a G String - ~ Bach composed three noteworthy Orchestral Suites. He wrote his third orchestral suite, BWV 1068 in D, for his Collegium Musicum. The Overture of the suite features a double-dotted rhythm in the French style and employs the entire ensemble: trumpet trio, timpani, oboe duet, and strings. The strings were the typical 2 violin parts, viola part, and continuo of cello and harpsichord. ?Air? - the title of the second movement, is, by contrast, scored only for the strings. It seems like this work was entitled ?Air on a G String? not by Bach, but by a nineteenth-century violinist named August Wilhelmj. He arranged the Air such that the first violin part was performed by a single soloist ? and entirely on the G String.

Opus/Catalog Number: Arranged from Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068
Key/Tone: D Major
Movements/Sections: Adagio
Year/Date of Composition: 1731
Difficulty: Grade 5/12 (Intermediate)
Obs.: This piece is arranged from the second movement of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major. It was originally composed for strings and continuo.
It is known under the title Air on the G String, because some arrangements for violin are meant to be played entirely on that string.
This score is an arrangement for String Quartet: Violins 1, 2, Viola and Cello.
Please note that in this score, all ornaments are authentic.
Included: Full score and individual parts.