Patterns of culture: A re-examination of Baroque ornamentation in Bach’s Italian Concerto

Johann Sebastian Bach is considered one of the most versatile composers of the German baroque period. His works encompass masses, passions, cantatas, sonatas, chorales, French-style suites and partitas and Italian-style concertos. However, among his numerous concertos, Bach named only one after its national origin—his Italian Concerto. By doing so, Bach was possibly guiding music connoisseurs and amateur music lovers to perform this composition according to its cultural identity. Nevertheless, Bach’s wish remains unfulfilled because modern performances of the Italian Concerto are almost exclusively based on the French interpretation of ornamentation. Consequently, trills are often performed in the French manner, with appoggiaturas being a tone or a semitone above the written sound. Therefore, drawing on the cultural theories of Raymond Williams, this thesis re-examines the ornamentation in the Italian Concerto from a broader cultural context, contributing to the field of knowledge.