The piece
Bach wrote the Air of his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, probably around 1730 in Leipzig: a long melody in the first violins over a bass that moves step by step. It is often called the “Air on the G String”, after a violin arrangement published in 1871 by August Wilhelmj, who played it on the instrument's lowest string alone. This easy version, written for Noctave after the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, keeps the first part of the Air, with its repeat and its two endings.
The right hand sings the whole melody, with its quick small notes; the left hand plays Bach's bass, one note per beat, always even. Take a very calm tempo and let the long opening note ring through the whole first bar while the bass walks down. In bar 5, the thirty-second notes fall just before the next beat, without rushing.
