In only four cases do the concertos upon which J.S. Bach based his harpsichord concertos of the 1730s survive (there was no such thing as a harpsichord concerto until Bach began transcribing old violin and oboe concertos for performance by the Leipzig Collegium Musicum), and three of them are the famous three violin concertos (BWV 1041, 1042, and 1043, the last for two violins, and likewise for two harpsichords in the adaptation). It is the first of those violin concertos, the Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041, that Bach reshaped into the Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058.

The harpsichord version of the concerto, which is, of course, transposed down a whole tone, offers perhaps the most stunning solo part of all the Bach harpsichord concertos. In each of the concertos, the harpsichord solo part is less an arrangement of the original solo line than it is a newly composed part that simply takes the original as a starting point, but in BWV 1058, and especially in the outer movements (which retain the original tempo indications: none in the case of the first movement, Allegro assai in the case of the finale), the depth and richness of Bach's new take on the solo part are wonderful. The harpsichord's status as tame continuo instrument is left behind altogether during the electrifying virtuoso passagework that begins to creep into the finale just past its midpoint and never leaves.

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