The opening movement is in
ritornello form. This means that there is a main section that comes back in fragments in both the solo violin and orchestral parts. This 'ritornello' can be found in the first movement up until bar 24. The motifs of the theme appear in changing combinations and are separated and intensified throughout the movement.
In the Andante second movement, Bach uses an insistent pattern in the
ostinato bass part that is repeated constantly in the movement. He focuses the variation in the harmonic relations. Butt notes that "Bach seems to have associated" the ostinato scheme "particularly with violin concertos.".
Allegro assai, in A minor, 9 8 meter.
In the final movement Bach relies on
bariolage figures to generate striking acoustic effects. The meter and rhythm are those of a
gigue.[3] Butt describes it as "perhaps Bach's most animated and carefree movement in the minor mode."
A typical performance of the concerto takes around 15 minutes.
^Stowell, Robin (1999). "Violin Concertos". In Boyd, Malcolm; Butt, John (eds.). J. S. Bach. Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press. p. 492.
ISBN978-0-19-866208-2.
^
abWolff, Christoph (1991). "Bach's Leipzig Chamber Music". Bach: essays on his life and music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 234–237.
ISBN978-0-674-05926-9.
^Robin Stowell, "Violin Concertos," in Oxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 493