Adagio

JS Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F major, BWV 1046
Second movement: adagio

In Italian, adagio means ‘slowly’ or ‘with care’, words which bring to mind an image.

Of two new lovers, out walking after a day's lovemaking. They seem not have been together for long, perhaps only hours, the sweet delicacy of their love is apparent in the attention they pay each other, in the way they hold hands. We see them in the English countryside in midwinter, perhaps around three in the afternoon as the light begins to fade. The fertility of the landscape will remain hidden until the spring but for now we can see two people together, strangers this time yesterday but now adored lovers, sharing a secret no-one else can guess. They walk slowly together in the cold, surprised to have found each other and warm in the knowledge that they will be together again as the approaching evening casts it mantle of desire upon them.