Oboe Concerto (Marcello)

The earliest extant manuscript containing Johann Sebastian Bach's solo keyboard arrangement of the concerto, BWV 974, dates from around 1715.

In the second half of the 20th century several publications indicated Alessandro again as the composer of the piece, as it had been in its early 18th-century print, and the oboe concerto was again published in its D minor version.

[8] Alessandro Marcello published most of his works under a pseudonym (Eterio Stinfalico): the oboe concerto publication was an exception in that sense as it used his real name.

3, L'estro Armonico had been published in Amsterdam in 1711, and there is little doubt that the Prince brought this edition, containing twelve concertos, to Weimar in 1713, as Bach apparently used this print for five of his solo keyboard arrangements.

[12] The ornamentation as indicated in Bach's keyboard version of the concerto works well on harpsichord, but is less suitable for performance on an early 18th-century oboe.

[6] The concerto has also been recorded played on a piccolo trumpet - a notoriously challenging transcription due to the breath control and tight embouchure required for its sustained passages in the higher register.

[16] Bach's keyboard transcription of the 2nd movement ("Adagio") was adapted by John Williams for inclusion in his score for Steven Spielberg's 2022 semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, heard during the entire three-minute sequence where Sammy Fabelman edits the footage he took of a family camping trip and uncovers the affair between his mother Mitzi and Bennie Lowey, his father Burt's loyal co-worker.