The darkest and most ambitious of the three gamba sonatas, cast in three movements rather than the usual four and closer in scale to a concerto. The opening Vivace is built on a driving figure passed between the instruments; the Adagio is a plaintive siciliana; the closing Allegro is a rigorous double fugue. The cellist and keyboardist are true equals throughout, and the writing rewards chamber-music-level rehearsal rather than soloist framing.
Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord No. 3 in G minor BWV 1029
celloharpsichordbaroquesonata~15 minvirtuoso
Difficulty
Technical
Advanced
Concerto-like driving figure; double fugue in the finale.
Stamina
Moderate
Fifteen minutes at higher density than BWV 1027/1028.
Interpretive
Advanced
Darkest of the three; siciliana Adagio; architectural finale.
Ensemble
Professional
Concerto-scale, the keyboardist and cellist are genuinely co-soloists.
Performer's notes
Structural landmarks
I. Vivace
II. Adagio
III. Allegro
Interpretive schools
Editions
Bärenreiter
Neue Bach-Ausgabe critical edition, the standard scholarly source.
Henle Verlag
Urtext edition with separate parts. Includes both the keyboard realisation and the gamba part with minimal editorial additions.
Recordings
Pedagogical arc
Prepare with
Natural next
External references