Wednesday 13 May 2009
Sunday 11 August 2024
Tune of the Day: Air on the G String
from J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3
Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, for his patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt sometime between the years 1717 and 1723.
The name “Air on the G String” comes from violinist August Wilhelmj's late 19th-century arrangement of the piece for violin and piano. By transposing the key of the piece from its original D major to C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string. The name “Air on the G String”, however, has today more or less taken the meaning of any arrangement of Bach's Air.