List of chamber music works by Johann Sebastian Bach

Lists of
Compositions by
Johann Sebastian Bach

Chamber music by Johann Sebastian Bach refers to the compositions in the tenth chapter of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, catalogue of Bach's compositions),[1] or, in the New Bach Edition, the compositions in Series VI.[2] Chamber music is understood as containing:

Works for solo violin, cello or flute

Sonatas and partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006)

See also: Sonatas and partitas for solo violin

Suites for solo cello (BWV 1007–1012)

See also: Cello Suites (Bach)

Partita for solo flute (BWV 1013)

Two or more instruments

Six sonatas for violin and harpsichord (BWV 1014–1019)

See also: Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014–1019
  • BWV 1014 – Sonata in B minor for violin and harpsichord
  • BWV 1015 – Sonata in A major for violin and harpsichord
  • BWV 1016 – Sonata in E major for violin and harpsichord
  • BWV 1017 – Sonata in C minor for violin and harpsichord
  • BWV 1018 – Sonata in F minor for violin and harpsichord
    • BWV 1018a – Adagio in F minor for violin and harpsichord (early version of movement 3 from BWV 1018)
  • BWV 1019 – Sonata in G major for violin and harpsichord
    • BWV 1019a – Sonata in G major for violin and harpsichord (earlier version of BWV 1019)

Other works for accompanied violin (BWV 1020–1026)

  • BWV 1020 – Sonata in G minor for violin (or flute) and harpsichord (now attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – H 542.5)[3]
  • BWV 1021 – Sonata in G major for violin and basso continuo
  • BWV 1022 – Sonata in F major for violin and harpsichord (doubtful, possibly by C. P. E. Bach)[3]
  • BWV 1023 – Sonata in E minor for violin and basso continuo
  • BWV 1024 – Sonata in C minor for violin and basso continuo (doubtful)
  • BWV 1025 – Suite in A major for violin and harpsichord (after a sonata by Sylvius Leopold Weiss) (doubtful, possibly by C. P. E. Bach)[3]
  • BWV 1026 – Fugue in G minor for violin and basso continuo (doubtful)

Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV 1027–1029)

See also: Viola da Gamba Sonatas (Bach)

Sonatas for accompanied flute (BWV 1030–1035)

Trio sonatas (BWV 1036–1040)

Chamber music works in the 10th chapter of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (1998)

Legend to the table
column content
01 BWV Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (lit. 'Bach-works-catalogue'; BWV) numbers. Anhang (Annex; Anh.) numbers are indicated as follows:
  • preceded by I: in Anh. I (lost works) of BWV1 (1950 first edition of the BWV)
  • preceded by II: in Anh. II (doubtful works) of BWV1
  • preceded by III: in Anh. III (spurious works) of BWV1
  • preceded by N: new Anh. numbers in BWV2 (1990) and/or BWV2a (1998)
02 2a Section in which the composition appears in BWV2a:
  • Chapters of the main catalogue indicated by Arabic numerals (1-13)
  • Anh. sections indicated by Roman numerals (I–III)
  • Reconstructions published in the NBE indicated by "R"
03 Date Date associated with the completion of the listed version of the composition. Exact dates (e.g. for most cantatas) usually indicate the assumed date of first (public) performance. When the date is followed by an abbreviation in brackets (e.g. JSB for Johann Sebastian Bach) it indicates the date of that person's involvement with the composition as composer, scribe or publisher.
04 Name Name of the composition: if the composition is known by a German incipit, that German name is preceded by the composition type (e.g. cantata, chorale prelude, motet, ...)
05 Key Key of the composition
06 Scoring See scoring table below for the abbreviations used in this column
07 BG Bach Gesellschaft-Ausgabe (BG edition; BGA): numbers before the colon indicate the volume in that edition. After the colon an Arabic numeral indicates the page number where the score of the composition begins, while a Roman numeral indicates a description of the composition in the Vorwort (Preface) of the volume.[4]
08 NBE New Bach Edition (German: Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA): Roman numerals for the series, followed by a slash, and the volume number in Arabic numerals. A page number, after a colon, refers to the "Score" part of the volume. Without such page number, the composition is only described in the "Critical Commentary" part of the volume. The volumes group Bach's compositions by genre:[5]
  1. Cantatas (Vol. 1–34: church cantatas grouped by occasion; Vol. 35–40: secular cantatas; Vol. 41: Varia)
  2. Masses, Passions, Oratorios (12 volumes)
  3. Motets, Chorales, Lieder (4 volumes)
  4. Organ Works (11 volumes)
  5. Keyboard and Lute Works (14 volumes)
  6. Chamber Music (5 volumes)
  7. Orchestral Works (7 volumes)
  8. Canons, Musical Offering, Art of Fugue (3 volumes)
  9. Addenda (approximately 7 volumes)
09 Additional info may include:
  • "after" – indicating a model for the composition
  • "by" – indicating the composer of the composition (if different from Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • "in" – indicating the oldest known source for the composition
  • "pasticcio" – indicating a composition with parts of different origin
  • "see" – composition renumbered in a later edition of the BWV
  • "text" – by text author, or, in source

Provenance of standard texts and tunes, such as Lutheran hymns and their chorale melodies, Latin liturgical texts (e.g. Magnificat) and common tunes (e.g. Folia), are not usually indicated in this column. For an overview of such resources used by Bach, see individual composition articles, and overviews in, e.g., Chorale cantata (Bach)#Bach's chorale cantatas, List of chorale harmonisations by Johann Sebastian Bach#Chorale harmonisations in various collections and List of organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach#Chorale Preludes.

10 BD Bach Digital Work page
Legend for abbreviations in "Scoring" column
Voices (see also SATB)
a A b B s S t T v V
alto (solo part) alto (choir part) bass (solo part) bass (choir part) soprano (solo part) soprano (choir part) tenor (solo part) tenor (choir part) voice (includes parts for unspecified voices or instruments as in some canons) vocal music for unspecified voice type
Winds and battery (bold = soloist)
Bas Bel Cnt Fl Hn Ob Oba Odc Tai Tbn Tdt Tmp Tr
bassoon (can be part of Bc, see below) bell(s) (musical bells) cornett, cornettino flute (traverso, flauto dolce, piccolo, flauto basso) natural horn, corno da caccia, corno da tirarsi, lituo oboe oboe d'amore oboe da caccia taille trombone tromba da tirarsi timpani tromba (natural trumpet, clarino trumpet)
Strings and keyboard (bold = soloist)
Bc Hc Kb Lu Lw Org Str Va Vc Vdg Vl Vne
basso continuo: Vdg, Hc, Vc, Bas, Org, Vne and/or Lu harpsichord keyboard (Hc, Lw, Org or clavichord) lute, theorbo Lautenwerck (lute-harpsichord) organ (/man. = manualiter, without pedals) strings: Vl I, Vl II and Va viola(s), viola d'amore, violetta violoncello, violoncello piccolo viola da gamba violin(s), violino piccolo violone, violone grosso
Background colours
Colour Meaning
green extant or clearly documented partial or complete manuscript (copy) by Bach and/or first edition under Bach's supervision
yellow extant or clearly documented manuscript (copy) or print edition, in whole or in part, by close relative, i.e. brother (J. Christoph), wife (A. M.), son (W. F. / C. P. E. / J. C. F. / J. Christian) or son-in-law (Altnickol)
orange-brown extant or clearly documented manuscript (copy) by close friend and/or pupil (Kellner, Krebs, Kirnberger, Walther, ...), or distant family member
Chamber music works in Chapter 10 of BWV2a
BWV 2a Date Name Key Scoring BG NBE Additional info BD
1001 10. 1720 Sonatas and partitas for solo violin No. 1: Sonata No. 1 G min. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 3
rev 3: 3 		→ BWV 1000, 539/2 01179
1002 10. 1720 Partitas and sonatas for solo violin No. 2: Partita No. 1 B min. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 10
rev 3: 10 		01180
1003 10. 1720 Sonatas and partitas for solo violin No. 3: Sonata No. 2 A min. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 20
rev 3: 20 		→ BWV 964 01181
1004 10. 1720 Partitas and sonatas for solo violin No. 4: Partita No. 2 D min. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 30
rev 3: 30 		01182
1005 10. 1720 Sonatas and partitas for solo violin No. 5: Sonata No. 3 C maj. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 42
rev 3: 42 		after "Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott"; → BWV 968 01183
1006.1 10. 1720 Partitas and sonatas for solo violin No. 6: Partita No. 3 E maj. Vl 271: 3 VI/1: 54
rev 3: 54 		→ BWV 1006.2, 29/1 and 120a/4 01184
1007 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 1 G maj. Vc 271: 59 VI/2: 2 01186
1008 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 2 D min. Vc 271: 59 VI/2: 8 01187
1009 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 3 C maj. Vc 271: 59 VI/2:14 01188
1010 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 4 E♭ maj. Vc 271: 59 VI/2: 22 01189
1011 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 5 C min. Vc 271: 59 VI/2: 32 → BWV 995 01190
1012 10. 1720 (AMB) Suite for cello No. 6 D maj. Vc 271: 59 VI/2:40 01191
1013 10. 1717–1723? Partita for flute A min. Fl VI/3: 3 01192
1014 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 1 B min. Vl Hc 9: 69 VI/1: 83
rev 3: 83 		01193
1015 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 2 A maj. Vl Hc 9: 84 VI/1: 99
rev 3: 99 		01194
1016 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 3 E maj. Vl Hc 9: 98 VI/1: 115
rev 3: 115 		01195
1017 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 4 C min. Vl Hc 9: 120 VI/1: 136
rev 3: 136 		01196
1018.2 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 5 F min. Vl Hc 9: 136 VI/1: 153
rev 3: 153 		after BWV 1018.1 01197
1018.1 10. 1717–1723? Adagio, early version of BWV 1018/3 F min. Vl Hc 9: 250 VI/1: 195
rev 3: 194 		→ BWV 1018.2/3 01198
1019.3 10. after 1729? Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 6 G maj. Vl Hc 9: 154 VI/1: 172
rev 3: 172 		after BWV 1019.2 01200
1019.1 10. 1725 Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 6, early version 1 (partially lost) 9: 252 VI/1: 197
rev 3: 196 		→ BWV 830/3, /6, 1019.2 01199
1019.2 c. 1730–1731 Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 6, early version 2 VI/1: 197
rev 3: 218 		after BWV 1019.1, 120.1/4; → BWV 1019.3 11577
1021 10. 1732–1733 Sonata for violin and continuo G maj. Vl Bc VI/1: 65
rev 3: 65 		→ BWV 1022, 1038 01202
1023 10. c.1714–1717? Sonata for violin and continuo E min. Vl Bc 431: 31 VI/1: 73
rev 3: 73 		01204
1025.1 10. after 1739? Suite for violin and keyboard A maj. Vl Kb 9: 43 VI/5: 67 after Weiss; → BWV 1025.2 11578
1025.2 10. c. 1746–1747? Suite for violin and keyboard (incomplete) A maj. Vl Kb 9: 43 VI/5: 97 after BWV 1025.1 01206
1026 10. c.1714–1717 Fugue for violin and continuo G min. Vl Bc 431: 39 VI/5: 59 01207
1027 10. c.1742 Sonata for gamba and harpsichord No. 1 G maj. Gam Hc 9: 175 VI/4: 3 after BWV 1039; → 1027/1a /2a /4a 01208
1028 10. Sonata for gamba and harpsichord No. 2 D maj. Gam Hc 9: 175 VI/4: 21 01210
1029 10. Sonata for gamba and harpsichord No. 3 G min. Gam Hc 9: 175 VI/4: 36 → BWV 545b 01211
1030.2 10. 1736–1737 Sonata for flute and harpsichord B min. Fl Hc 9: 3 VI/3: 33 after BWV 1030.1 11579
1030.1 10. 1717–1736 Sonata for unknown instrument and harpsichord G min. v Hc VI/3: 89 → BWV 1030.2 01212
1032 10. 1736–1737 Sonata for flute and harpsichord (/1 incomplete) A maj. Fl Hc 9: 32, 245 VI/3: 54 → BWV 525a 01214
1034 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for flute and continuo E min. Fl Bc 431: 9 VI/3: 11 01216
1035 10. 1717–1723? Sonata for flute and continuo E maj. Fl Bc 431: 21 VI/3: 23 01217
1039 10. 1708–1726 Sonata G maj. 2Fl Bc 9: 260 VI/3: 71 → BWV 1027 01221

References

  1. ^ (BWV2a) Alfred Dürr, Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.), Kirsten Beißwenger. Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe, nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe. Preface in English and German. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998. ISBN 3765102490 - ISBN 978-3765102493, pp. 411–423
  2. ^ The New Bach Edition – Series VI: Chamber Music at the Bärenreiter website
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Basso, Alberto [it]. 1979. Frau Musika: la vita e le opere di J.S. Bach, EDT. ISBN 978-88-7063-011-4, p. 702.
  4. ^ Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe, .../Prefaces, .../Thematic Catalogue: documentation and facsimiles at the International Music Score Library Project
  5. ^ Neue Bach-Ausgabe: documentation at the International Music Score Library Project