Bach's concertos for solo instruments were so often rearranged by his own hand for other instruments that only three concertos for violin have come down to the present day in their original form. This one in E Major is not only much the most popular of the three, but quite easily one of the favourites among all his instrumental music. The other two are in A Minor and in G. All three have slow movements which are among the most beautiful of Bach's instrumental pieces, and while the other movements in the A Minor are perhaps a little more stern than some of his purely orchestral pieces, the whole of this E Major one is joyous and in the brightest of spirits.