Violin Concerto in A minor (Bach)
Introduction


The **Violin Concerto** in [A minor](/wiki/A_minor "A minor"), [BWV](/wiki/BWV "BWV") 1041, is a [violin concerto](/wiki/Violin_concerto "Violin concerto") by [Johann Sebastian Bach](/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach "Johann Sebastian Bach"). It shows the influence of Italian composers such as Bach's older contemporary [Vivaldi](/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi "Antonio Vivaldi").

Bach is known to have studied Vivaldi's music from around 1714 when he was working at [Weimar](/wiki/Weimar "Weimar").Vivaldi's influence was discussed by Bach's first biographer Forkel in *[Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work](/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach:His_Life%2C_Art%2C_and_Work "His Life, Art, and Work")*. Italian influence can be seen in keyboard music he composed around that time. However, the date of the concerto is the subject of dispute as the original score has not survived. It could have been written at any of three locations:
* Weimar. Most scholars think it was written after Bach left Weimar in 1717 (the violinist Lina Tur Bonet, who suggests it was written there, adheres to the minority position).
* Köthen. It is "generally thought to have been composed at [Köthen](/wiki/K%C3%B6then "Köthen")". Bach worked at the court there in the period 1717–23 and his duties included directing a small orchestra.
* Leipzig. It could have been written at [Leipzig](/wiki/Leipzig "Leipzig"), as the only autograph source to survive is a set of parts Bach copied out (along with [Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach](/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach"), [Johann Ludwig Krebs](/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Krebs "Johann Ludwig Krebs"), and an unknown copyist) in Leipzig  from a now lost score or draft. [Christoph Wolff](/wiki/Christoph_Wolff "Christoph Wolff") has argued that the work may have been written during Bach's time as director of Leipzig's [Collegium Musicum](/wiki/Collegium_Musicum "Collegium Musicum"). [John Butt](/wiki/John_Butt_%28musician%29 "John Butt (musician)") takes a similar view, suggesting that Bach wrote it "probably soon after taking over the Leipzig Collegium Musicum in 1729".


When did Bach study Vivaldi's music?