Harpsichord Concerto No.2 in E major

In early 1729 Bach became director of the so-called »Scottish Collegium Musician« a music organization of students and local citizens. The remarkable results of this undertaking are the concertos for harpsichord. Today it isalmost certain that practically all of these concertos were transcribed from concertos for melody instruments (mostly violin or oboe).

BWV 1053 is the second piece in the autograph score of harpsichord concertos that Bachprepared in or around 1738 (Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Mus. ms. Bach P 234). It was probably transcribed from a concerto for a solo woodwind instrument, although opinions differ on the original key and instrument. Bach hadalreadyreworked the original concerto in two church cantatas in the autumn of 1726 (BWV 49 and BWV 169), at which time he assigned the solo part to the organ. Perhaps the original concerto is not much older than these cantatas,for the siciliano slow movement is closely related in expression to many numbers from his great Passion settings.