Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) wrote 4 Overtures (as he called them), known as his four Orchestra Suites between 1724 and 1731. Each of these suites consists of several movements that are dance-pieces. The form was extremely popular in Bach’s time, with Telemann’s 135 leading the pack. This, however, is supposed to be only a small fraction of what he actually wrote but which has been lost. Other composers also wrote large number of these orchestral suites: Johann Friedrich Fasch wrote nearly 100 and Christoph Graupner wrote 85. We can compare this to the more than 500 concertos that Vivaldi (1685–1741) left in Italy. If the concerto was the Italian genre, the orchestral suite was the German genre.

Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, was written around 1730. The movements are: Overture, Air, Gavotte, Bourrée. and Gigue, to be performed by 2 oboes, 3 trumpets, violins, violas, cello, harpsichord, and timpani. For the second movement Air, however, only the violins and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) play.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra; Ton Koopman, cond.)

The two violins’ lines interweave while the viola stays lower. The basso continuo holds everything together with a driving and constant line of broken arpeggios.

In 1871, the violinist August Wilhelmj (1845–1908) took this second movement, transposed it down a step (from D major to C major), made the first violin part into a solo part, and, with the transposition, made it possible to play the entire solo line on its lowest string, the G string.

Wilhelmj also added Romantic era dynamics to the work. In creating the first violin part, Wilhelmj transposed it down an octave (so it could use the lowest G string). Forcing the violin onto its lowest notes reduces its volume, so the other instruments also have to play much more quietly. Wilhelmj specified that the cello, double bass, and keyboard part was to be played staccato and pianissimo, while the violins and violas played muted. As a result, Bach’s interweaving lines get lost.

Critics of Wilhelm’s version said he vandalised Bach’s original and annihilated its polyphony. Another heard the C major version as a work ‘of contralto depths’, far from the original key of D major’s ‘angelic soprano’ line.

Critics aside, Wilhelmj’s concentration on the suite’s second movement has been followed by dozens of other arrangers. Which is your favourite? We’ll take these in alphabetical order by instrument!

As arranged for accordion, the lack of dynamic difference between the voices wipes out Wilhelmj’s dynamic changes.

J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for accordion) (Alexander Sevastian, accordion)

The version for cello and piano succeeds better, but the keyboard part has been changed to broken chords.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. S. Karparov for cello and piano) (Raphaela Gromes, cello; Gabriele Bagnati, piano)

The group 2Cellos did their own arrangement eliminating much of the middle voicing, making it a work for solo cello and a cello that functions as the bass line.

2CELLOS – Air on the G string (J. S. Bach)

The arrangement for 4 cellos, with four equal voices, is more successful but tends towards a more lyrical reading than Wilhelmj’s staccato setting called for.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for 4 cellos) (La Quartina)

When arranged for cello ensemble, the song-like quality of the cello comes to the fore. Although multiple cellos are the ‘soloist’, the pizzicato setting of the other cellos differentiates their lines from the leaders’.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air (arr. for cello ensemble) (Yale Cellos; Aldo Parisot, cond.)

When arranged for flute and orchestra, we lose the low voice that Wilhelmj wrote the solo part for.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for flute and orchestra) (Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute; McGill Chamber Orchestra; Alexander Brott, cond.)

The guitar arrangement can capture the solo line and the bass line, but misses the middle voices.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. Xuefei Yang for guitar) (Xuefei Yang, guitar)

One of the best-known versions for orchestra was arranged by Leopold Stokowski. He kept closer to Bach’s original, removing Wilhelmj’s staccato. He also took the melody Bach gave to the first violins and rewrote it so that both the upper and lower strings played it, with the melody most often in the cellos. As in the original, each section is repeated and in Stokowski’s arrangement, each repeat is different.

Air on the G string (from Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) (Remastered 2021)

When transcribed for the organ, we get a work with great dignity.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for organ) (Virgil Fox, organ)

This version for piano, arranged by Russian pianist Alexander Siloti, was done by one of the masters of transcription. He made more than 200 arrangements of the music – both for piano and for orchestra – of the music of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. A. Siloti for piano) (Hamish Milne, piano)

In her arrangement of the work for piano 4 hands, pianist Eleanor Bindman redistributes the ‘solo’ notes between the two performers.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 (arr. E. Bindman for piano 4 hands) – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (Susan Sobolewski and Eleonor Bindman, piano)

The recorder virtuoso Michala Petri arranged the work with guitarist Lars Hannibal and produced a work that preserves the solo line and the bass, but, again, discards all the internal voices. This is where a great deal of Bach’s counterpoint occurred, and this stripped-down version isn’t quite satisfactory if you’re looking for the real Bach writing.

J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. L. Hannibal and M. Petri for recorder and guitar) (Michala Petri, recorder; Lars Hannibal, guitar)

The Japanese group, the Hardi Saxophone Quartet, used the many voices available in the different sizes of saxophone to create their version of Bach’s Air.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. K. Tomioka) (Hardi Saxophone Quartet)

When arranged for string quartet, we can return to the delicate lines of Bach.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air (arr. for string quartet) (Lumiere String Quartet)

The fabulous invention of Leon Theremin, the Theremin was the first instrument that you played by NOT touching it. It was patented in 1928 and lived in the 1920s and 1930s. Its use in science fiction in the 1950s and 60s, usually in the hands of Theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, brought it back to life. Here, Clara Rockmore and 8 cellos take on Bach.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 (arr. for theremin and 8 cellos) – II. Air, “Air on the G String”) (Clara Rockmore, theremin; Violincello Society)

What happens when you cut out all the voices except the soloist? In this arrangement for solo violin, we are left to imagine the rest of the ensemble. Arrangements for violin and organ, violin and piano, and violin and orchestra bring us closer to Bach’s original.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for violin) (Kyoko Ogawa, violin)
J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. for violin and organ) (Roberto Noferini, violin; Marcello Rossi, organ)
J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. A. Wilhelmj for violin and piano) (Masamichi Yokoshima, violin; Hiroshi Yokoshima, piano)
J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on G String” (arr. for violin and orchestra) (Takako Nishizaki, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Oliver von Dohnányi, cond.)

Finally, we come to the arrangement that seems to work best of the modern ones. Arranged by the soloist for cello and orchestra, we have a mix of Bach’s original and Wilhelmj’s ‘contralto’ setting. The cello sings beautifully and blends well with the middle voices. They’re low in dynamics but not reduced to the pizzicato and staccato of Wilhelmj’s version and are able to sing with the solo cello.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. S. Hauser for cello and orchestra) (Hauser, cello; London Symphony Orchestra; Robert Ziegler, cond.)

And finally, we’ll close with an interpretation that starts out very Bach-like and then becomes much more modern.

J.S. Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. B. Stark) (Shigenori Kudo, flute; Brent Nussey, piano; Bruce Stark, double bass)

From an incidental movement in an orchestral suite to a work that became a vehicle for some interesting sound experiments, it all started with Bach (as it always does).

For more of the best in classical music, sign up for our E-Newsletter