Air

in D major

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
D major
Key

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Themes & character
Air on the G String·From Orchestral Suite No. 3·The nickname came later·Composed around 1730

At a glance

Key
D major

About the piece

The second movement of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, composed around 1730, and one of the most recognizable melodies ever written. Its long, arching line unfolds over a steady walking bass. The familiar nickname Air on the G String dates from the late nineteenth century, when the violinist August Wilhelmj arranged it transposed so that the melody could be played entirely on the violin's lowest string. Bach wrote no such instruction.

The composer

Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
1685–1750

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

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