Conducted by the German conductor, choirmaster, organist, and harpsichordist Karl Richter, the Münchener Bach-Orchester performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051).

The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046-1051, original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments) are a collection of six instrumental works. They considered masterful examples of the balance between assorted groups of soloists and a small orchestra. The collection was composed between 1711–1720 and dedicated in 1721 to Christian Ludwig, the margrave (marquess) of Brandenburg and the younger brother of King Frederick I of Prussia. The Brandenburg concertos are widely regarded as some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.

Conducted by Karl Richter, the Münchener Bach-Orchester performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.

“The best proof we have that life is good, is that to each of us, on the day we are born, comes the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. It comes as a gift, unearned, unmerited, for free.”

J. M. Coetzee, “Diary of a Bad Year”, 2007.

Programme

With starting times in the video:

  1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in Fa major, BWV 1046
    1. 00:28~ Allegro
    2. 04:23~ Andante (in re minor)
    3. 08:12~ Allegro
    4. 12:53~ Menuetto; Trío I (2 oboes and bassoon); Menuetto Polacca (violins and violas); Menuetto Trío II (2 horns y 3 oboes); Menuetto.
  2. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in Fa major, BWV 1047
    1. 20:50~ Allegro
    2. 26:00~ Andante (en re minor)
    3. 29:44~ Allegro assai
  3. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in Sol major, BWV 1048
    1. 32:35~ Allegro
    2. 38:38~ Adagio
    3. 39:41~ Allegro
  4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 en Sol major, BWV 1049
    1. 45:06~ Allegro
    2. 52:44~ Andante (in mi minor)
    3. 56:44~ Presto
  5. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 en Re major, BWV 1050
    1. 1:01:48~ Allegro
    2. 1:11:44~ Affettuoso (en si minor)
    3. 1:16:38~ Allegro
  6. Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 en Si♭ major, BWV 1051
    1. 1:22:00~ Moderato
    2. 1:28:22~ Adagio ma non tanto (in Mi♭ major)
    3. 1:33:07~ Allegro

Brandenburg Concertos

The Brandenburg Concertos are a highlight of one of the happiest and most productive periods in Bach’s life. At the time he wrote them, Bach was the Kapellmeister -the music director- in the small town of Coethen, where he was composing music for the court.

Since the Margrave of Brandenburg seems to have ignored Bach’s gift of concertos, it’s likely that Bach himself presided over the first performances at home in Coethen. They didn’t have a name then; that didn’t come until 150 years later when Bach’s biographer Philipp Spitta called them “Brandenburg” Concertos for the very first time, and the name stuck.

Even though he didn’t call them the “Brandenburgs,” Bach still thought of them as a set. What he did was compile them from short instrumental sinfonias and concerto movements he had already written. Then he re-worked the old music, often re-writing and elaborating where he saw fit. In doing so, Bach created something of a dramatic arc from the brilliant first concerto to the last, which evokes a spirited chase.

Each of the six concertos requires a different combination of instruments as well as some highly skilled soloists. The Margrave had his own small court orchestra in Berlin, but it was a group of mostly mediocre players. All the evidence suggests that these virtuosic Brandenburg concertos perfectly matched the talents of the musicians on hand in Coethen. So how did a provincial town get so many excellent musicians? Just before Johann Sebastian arrived in Coethen in 1717, a new king inherited the throne in Prussia.

Friedrich Wilhelm I became known as the “Soldier King” because he was interested in the military strength of his kingdom, not in refined artistic pursuits. One of his first royal acts was to disband the prestigious Berlin court orchestra. That threw many musicians out of work, and as luck would have it, seven of the best ones were snatched up to work in Coethen by its music-loving Prince Leopold.

That’s why Bach found such a rich music scene when he started to work there. It gave him the luxury of writing for virtuosos and they let him push the boundaries of his creativity. Concerto No. 2, for example, has the trumpeter play high flourishes. No. 4 allows the solo violin to soar.

When Bach played chamber music, he usually took the viola part so he could sit–as he wrote in a letter, “in the middle of the harmony.” But for the Concerto No. 5, he had a real inspiration. He switched to the harpsichord, gave it a knock-out part, and, in the process, invented the modern keyboard concerto. The writing is so advanced and so intricate for its time that scholars assume the Fifth Concerto is actually the last Brandenburg Concerto Bach wrote.

If the dazzling writing style of the Fifth Concerto points to a late composition date, the Sixth Concerto probably came first in chronological order. It’s got a simple part for the viola da gamba, a forerunner of the cello, which Bach probably put there for his employer, Prince Leopold, to play.

The Prince was a wealthy man and a serious music lover but probably a performer of only modest talent. The Sixth is also unique in the set because Bach omitted the violins from the ensemble; the violas take the highest string part. All six Brandenburg Concertos reveal the ebullient side of Bach, and they’re one of the most welcome gifts he left us.

“See how we in the twenty-first century still play your music, how we revere and love it, how we are absorbed and moved and fortified and made joyful by it,” I would say. “In the name of all mankind, please accept these words of tribute, inadequate though they are, and let all you endured in those bitter last years of yours, including the cruel surgical operations on your eyes, be forgotten.”

Diary of a Bad Year, J. M. Coetzee (“On J. S. Bach”)

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

Published by M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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