If art imitates life, then it’s not surprising that the music we listen to is being performed at an increasingly fast pace. To prove that point, researchers at two record labels -- Deutsche Grammophon and Decca -- studied how recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s lively Double Violin Concerto have changed over the past 50 years. The study looked at a 1961 recording that lasted 17 minutes, a 1978 rendition that was over in about 15 minutes, and a 2016 performance that only lasted about 12 minutes. Those recordings illustrate how Bach's famous piece has been sped up and condensed by nearly five minutes; the concerto is now performed around 30% faster than it was in the 1960s.
Allegro, vivace, presto:
- “It’s a basic change in taste from the rather weighty concert style of previous years towards something that is more light, airy and flexible,” explained music scholar Nicholas Kenyon.
- The New York Philharmonic has called Bach’s three-movement composition, which features two violinists playing in harmony, “a magical tapestry from threads of poignancy, resignation and tenderness.”
- The study coincided with the October 2018 release of Bach 333, a box set that marked the composer’s 333rd birthday, featuring 280 hours of music.