Air in D Major: from Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068 (Complete Set)
by Johann Sebastian Bach
String Orchestra - Sheet Music

String orchestra (Strings (8-8-6-6-4)) - Band/Orchestra Grade 3

SKU: EC.1.3521

Composed by James Richards and Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by James Richards. Orchestra: Short Work, Galaxy String Orchestra Library Student Series. Secular, Baroque. Score & instrument parts. Galaxy Music Corporation #1.3521. Published by Galaxy Music Corporation (EC.1.3521).

ISBN 600313135217. UPC: 600313135217.

J. S. Bach's hauntingly beautiful "Air" from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, is an expressive masterpiece of the Baroque era. Also known in Wilhelmj's arrangement (in a different key and tessitura) as the "Air on the G String," the movement is one of Bach's most famous and frequently performed works.

 

This edition focuses on the abundant opportunities for melodic embellishment inherent in the simple binary form, incorporating ornamentation, melodic and rhythmic elaboration, and variants of orchestration in each of the string parts in the repetition of each section. Through experiencing a stylistically appropriate treatment of Bach's score, student musicians and their teachers are presented with models for improvisation that may be applied to other similar works (or further elaborated in performing this score). By comparing both visually and aurally each elaborated line to Bach's original notation, students will pursue NAfME national standards relating to composition, improvisation, notation, and analysis as it applies specifically to works of the Baroque period, as well as considering how and if these improvisational techniques extend to compositions of later historical periods.