Violin Concerto in A minor: II. Andante (opening)

What is it that makes some magical moments of music feel like freefall or floating? What is it that makes some moments feel like firm, steady ground? The key is in the bass -- the lowest part of the music, which (by Bach's time) had developed a foundational role in all current musical styles. Listen here how Bach takes a firmly grounded bass line and toys with it -- pushes and pulls it. After a magical feeling of floating, Bach employs the wonderful trick of "dropping" the bass back in; this trick is going strong in the present day in musical styles like EDM.

In a second moment from this wonderful opening to the slow movement of this violin concerto, we hear a strange and sudden "cross relation." These two moments occur in just five measures of slow music!

 

Netherlands Bach Society performs the concerto under the leadership of the soloist Shunske Sato: https://youtu.be/VSwLeKWKtis?t=244