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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 Scored for solo violin, two flutes, strings and continuo
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Scored for solo flute, solo oboe, solo trumpet, solo violin, strings and continuo
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. 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, that meant that they 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. 4 is a traditional Baroque Concerto Grosso, with soloists alternating the themes with the orchestra. In addition to solo violin, Bach calls upon the services of a pair of instruments that are named in the score as flauti d’echo (echo flutes). What these instruments are, modern scholarship has yet to determine conclusively. Experts are still divided, but some have suggested that they aren’t specific types of instruments at all, but may refer to the way Bach intended them to be played, sounding slightly off in the distance. A later arrangement of this work as a harpsichord concerto includes two recorders. In any case, modern flutes played right at center stage do quite admirably in this wonderful music. The flutes play in harmony through most of the work, but Bach here is clearly singling out the violin, giving the instrument a suitably glittery solo role, especially in the stirring fugal finale. Like No. 4, Concerto No. 2 is also in the traditional Concerto Grosso style. Trumpet, flute, oboe and violin take on the solo roles, but it is the trumpet part that commands the most attention due to its magnificent brilliance and considerable difficulties. In the outer movements, Bach creates unsurpassed beauty and variety not only in the traditional way, featuring each instrument in turn, but also by pairing off the various soloists in every possible combination. Their main themes are also famous Bach creations that overwhelm the listener with uninhibited joy. In recognition of the great demands he has placed on the trumpeter, Bach lets him sit out the lovely middle movement. |