Air on the G String
"Air on the G String", also known as "Air for G String" and "Celebrated Air", is August Wilhelmj's 1871 arrangement of the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. The arrangement differs from the original in that it is transposed down into C major so the part of the first violins can be played entirely on the violin's lowest string, which gave the piece its popular title.
Bach originally composed the "Air" in the early 1730s during his tenure in Köthen as part of a five-movement suite for orchestra, in which only strings and basso continuo participate in the second movement. Wilhelmj's adaptation emphasizes a Romantic-era sensibility, with muted accompaniment and subdued dynamics, contrasting with Bach's original Baroque texture.
The arrangement's popularity grew steadily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially after performances at the Promenade Concerts in London. Critics and musicians offered mixed responses—some praised its lyrical reinterpretation, while others, such as Joseph Joachim and Donald Francis Tovey, dismissed it as a distortion of Bach's intent.
Since then, "Air on the G String" has become a cultural staple: featured in films like Se7en and The Spy Who Loved Me, used in advertising campaigns, and frequently recorded in diverse arrangements, ranging from saxophone ensemble to metal reinterpretations, all preserving the name regardless of the original G‑string solo concept.
Bach's original
Bach's third Orchestral Suite in D major, composed in the first half of the 18th century, has an "Air" as second movement, following its French overture opening movement. The suite is composed for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings, and basso continuo. In the second movement of the suite however only the strings and the continuo play. This is the only movement of the suite where all other instruments are silent.The music of the "Air" is written on four staves, for first and second violins, viola, and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrast with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass.
Wilhelmj's arrangement
In 1871, violinist August Wilhelmj arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, piano or organ. On the score he wrote auf der G-Saite above the staff for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname.In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original key to C major. Then the part of the first violins is transposed further down an octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string. The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are more in line with a Romantic interpretation than with the Baroque original.
As the violin is unable to play with much volume in its lowest register, all the other parts of Bach's music were firmly reduced in Wilhelmj's version: the keyboard part is to be played staccato and pianissimo, causing the effects of interweaving melodies and of drive in the bass part to get lost. The accompanying violins and violas play muted, and the bass part for cellos and double basses is to be played pizzicato and sempre pianissimo, with the same change in effect compared to Bach's original.
Later, a spurious story circulated that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone. The solo violin part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello.
Wilhelmj's arrangement greatly popularized the piece and although his version is rarely played anymore, his original title on the G string or Air on the G string has been retained as the commonly used name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string is involved. Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the material of the other parts of Bach's piece, although occasionally versions that stay more in line with Bach's original can go by the same name.
Further arrangements of Wilhelmj's arrangement
This arranged piece was itself arranged countless times, in key or instrumentation, for orchestra, saxophone, accordion, synthesizer, recorder ensemble... paralleling and overlapping other arrangements of the same original.Reception
In a period that stretched over three decades, and started in 1905, Henry Wood regularly programmed Wilhelmj's arrangement at the London Proms. Wood recorded his orchestral rendering of the Bach/Wilhelmj "Air" in the early 1930s.Early recordings
Recordings of Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String" arrangement, from the era preceding the Second World War, include:| Rec. | Soloist | Accompaniment or Ensemble | Company Matrix | Title |
| 1902 | Hartmann, Leopold | Gramophone 2155B | Air auf der G-Saite | |
| 1903 | Gramophone 1528x | Air auf der G-Saite | ||
| 1904-02-01 | Kreisler, Fritz | Gramophone 2087x | ||
| 1905-03-01 | Geyer, Stefi | |||
| 1909-05 | Rosé, Arnold | Gramophone 14680u | Air auf der G-Saite | |
| 1911-01-01 | Vecsey, Ferenc | |||
| 1911-05-17 | Elman, Mischa | Kahn, Percy B. | Victor C-9871 | Air for G string |
| 1913-10-01 | Kubelík, Jan | Falkenstein, George | Victor B-13892 | Air for G String |
| 1913-11-09 | Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra | Gramophone | ||
| 1918-07 | Belov, Joel | Gayler, Robert | Edison 6289 | Air for G string |
| 1919-01-03 | Belov, Joel | Gayler, Robert | Edison 6289 | Air for G string |
| 1919-11-11 | Elman, Mischa | Bonime, Joseph | Victor C-9871 | Air for G string |
| 1921-04-01 | Weißgerber, Andreas | Raucheisen, Michael | Odéon xxB6659 | |
| 1923-01-24 | Royal Albert Hall Orchestra | His Master's Voice Cc2215 | ||
| Soldat-Roeger, Marie | Union A3012 | |||
| 1923-08-10 | Strockoff, Leo | Columbia AX126 | ||
| 1924-01-01 | Příhoda, Váša | |||
| 1927 | Rosé, Arnold | Rosé Quartet | His Master's Voice Ck2847 | |
| 1927-02-14 | Thibaud, Jacques | Craxton, Harold | HMV Cc9913 | |
| 1928 | Rosé, Arnold | Rosé Quartet | HMV Ck2847 | |
| 1929-11-04 | Hubay, Jenő | Budapest Conservatory Orchestra | HMV CV713 | |
| 1930-02-25 | Cassadó, Gaspar | Columbia WAX5416 | ||
| 1930-09-16 | Huberman, Bronisław | Columbia WAX5007 | ||
| 1931-03-05 | Zimbalist, Efrem | Sanderberg, Theo | Columbia 98737 | Air on the G string |
| 1932-06-16 | British Symphony Orchestra | Columbia CAX6441 | Air on G String | |
| 1936-05-20 | Orch. de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire | Columbia CLX1919 |
Soldat-Roeger's recorded performance of the "Air on the G String" was the subject of scholarly analysis.
Appreciation of Wilhelmj's arrangement
In the early 20th century, Joseph Joachim called Wilhelmj's arrangement "a shameless falsification of a work by Bach". In 's XYZ der Muziek :British musicologist Donald Francis Tovey likewise criticized Wihelmj's arrangement, stating that "At my concerts will be heard as Bach wrote it, in its original D major as an angelic soprano strain, not in C major as a display of contralto depths."
In popular music
Source:- The 1967 song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum used a bar or two of "Air on the G String" as its starting point according to its writer Gary Brooker.
- The Dutch group Ekseption recorded a jazz-fusion version titled "Air" which reached No. 1 on the Dutch chart in 1969.
- The German group Sweetbox recorded a rap song "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" backed with music from "Air on the G String" in 1997, which became a world-wide hit.
- Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton used "Air on the G String" as the guitar solo for the song "Hearts of Iron", the tenth track on their 2014 album Heroes.
- The South Korean girl group Red Velvet uses its sample for their song "Feel My Rhythm" taken from their 2022 EP The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm.
- The Japanese girl group Hinatazaka46 sampled the opening of "Air on the G String" for their 15th Single titled "Onegai Bach!".
- The London electronic duo Bassvictim named the first track on their 2024 album Basspunk after "Air on the G String".
In popular culture
In the 1977 James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, the piece is used as villain Karl Stromberg feeds his assistant to a shark.
In the 1995 film Se7en, the piece is used as Detective Mills and Somerset look through crime photographs.
The piece is used in the 1997 Japanese anime apocalyptic science fiction film The End of Evangelion, towards the end of the movie's first half.
The piece is heard in the 3rd Baby Einstein video, "Baby Bach".
The 2000 Japanese action film Battle Royale features the piece in its soundtrack.
In the 7th episode of the 2008 TV anime adaptation of Golgo 13, "Sharp Shoot on the G String", Duke Togo is contacted by a prestigious violinist of the London Symphony Orchestra, who was humiliated while playing the piece due to his violin's G string snapping. Duke is hired to shoot the G string on his rival's violin in order to humiliate him as he plays same piece at a concert in front of a large audience.
The 2022 anime adaption of the manga Record of Ragnarok, which depicts famous mythological and historical human figures fighting against the gods of various cultures and religions, used a rendition of this song, referred to as "massacre in the g battlefield" as the entrance theme for Zeus, one of the fighters.
The 2024 horror/sci-fi film It's What's Inside features a rendition of the piece during the second act, called "It's Way More Fun Not Knowing in D Major".