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Program Notes

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

Scored for three violins, three violas, three cellos, double bass and continuo

 

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

Scored for solo harpsichord, solo violin, solo flute and strings

In March of 1721 Johann Sebastian Bach sent Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg a meticulously copied score containing six concerti for various instruments. Also included was an appropriately servile letter copied out in flowery French:

Two years ago I had the good fortune to perform before Your Royal Highness at your command, and I noticed then that you showed some pleasure at the small talent for music which heaven has given me. When I took my leave, Your Royal Highness did me the great honor of ordering me to send him some pieces of my own composition: therefore, and in accordance with His gracious order, I have taken the liberty of fulfilling my very humble duty to Your Royal Highness with these concertos, which I have scored for several instruments.

Bach goes on to write:

Further, Sir, I beg very humbly that Your Royal highness will continue to have the goodness to hold me in His good favor and be convinced that I have nothing nearer to my heart than to be employed on occasions more worthy of You and Your service.

Bach had become unhappy in his current position as Kappelmeister to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen. His wife had died the previous year and the great composer had become restless. He had met the Margrave of Brandenburg two years previously, and now decided to carry out the commission given him by Christian Ludwig. The fact is, though, that the works which Bach sent the Margrave were not suitable for performance at Brandenburg, which housed a smaller orchestra than the one Bach had at his disposal. It is likely that the concertos were written for performance at Cöthen, and only in 1721 did Bach dedicate and send them to the Margrave. Therefore, it seems that one of the greatest collections of musical works known to man was offered as an elaborate job application.

Knowledge of this fact in no way diminishes their greatness. On the contrary, it should rather heighten their value. Bach would no doubt have wanted to offer the best he had to Christian Ludwig. In any case, if Bach had not ingratiated himself in this way these works may have been lost forever. The copy that Bach sent to the Margrave is the only one known to exist.

Perhaps it is a little ironic that the man for whom these concertos are named never acknowledged their receipt, nor were they ever performed for him. There is not even evidence that he ever laid eyes on them. We do know that they were not listed in the Margrave’s catalogue of musical scores, and lay forgotten in his library until 1734, when they were sold for a paltry sum.

The Brandenburg Concertos are astonishingly diverse and there is something to satisfy every musical palette. With solos for flute, oboe, bassoon, horn violin, trumpet, recorder, viola and harpsichord, the possibilities of timbral variety is limited only by the skill and imagination of the composer. In Bach’s case the possibilities were limitless. Quite apart from their beauty, their excitement and their elegance, the fact that they were graced with Bach’s supreme gift for instrumental color has long been considered their greatest asset.

Concerto No. 3 is an unusual one. It is scored for three violins, three violas, three cellos and basso continuo. No single instrument is specifically designated as soloist. But in its lively and remarkably inventive Allegro movements, the instruments of each group act as soloist at some point, and Bach’s brilliant counterpoint is shared either within the three groups, or between the groups. The virtuosity is breathtaking.

Another unusual feature of this concerto, not repeated in any of the others, is the absence of a slow middle movement. The first and last movements are simply bridged by a pair of chords. It is obvious that something more was intended here and it is likely that Bach (and the harpsichordists to come after him) would have improvised something suitable.

The fifth concerto is essentially for harpsichord with flute and violin. Normally the harpsichord would fill an important, yet secondary role by filling in the harmonies and thickening the textures. Here it provides this service, but only when it isn’t taking charge. Although the violin and flute have much to say here, the harpsichord is given a considerably more substantial position than was generally assigned to the instrument before, including a magnificent cadenza to end the first movement. It is likely that this concerto inspired Bach to write the many concerti for solo and multiple harpsichords that were to come a short time later.