Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 6

Scored for two violas, two violas da gamba, cello, double bass and continuo

 

Brandenburg Concerto No. 1

Scored for solo violin, three oboes, bassoon, two hunting horns and 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.

The sixth Concerto is believed to be the first of the Brandenburgs written. It is one of the few works of the past four hundred years to omit violins from the ensemble, which consists of viola, viola da gamba, cello, double bass and continuo. It is also believed that the work, in its original version for smaller forces, was written with Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen in mind. The Prince was quite a good musician fluent in the technique of the harpsichord, violin and viola da gamba, the latter being Bach’s choice for Leopold’s music making pleasure. The gamba is an instrument held between the legs like a cello, but smaller and fretted like a guitar. The composer probably played the viola part himself.

The absence of violins naturally gives the work a slightly darker timbre than the other concerti in the set. One gets the impression that Bach, not for the first time, is setting himself a challenge to create interesting yet pleasing instrumental color without the benefit of the versatile, singing tones of the traditional lead instrument. But Bach does just that, and in the concerto’s brilliant use of counterpoint and the flawlessly interwoven solo passages, the composer causes us to feel no regret over the omission.

In contrast to the sparer textures of the sixth concerto, the first is a festive affair and Bach supplements the usual ensemble with three oboes and two hunting horns. In an earlier version, this work had three movements instead of the now-familiar four.

The first movement concentrates more heavily on a full orchestral sound with the solo passages shorter and more dependent on the ensemble as a whole. The traditional practice of alternating small groups or soloists with the full orchestra is much less apparent. The lovely second movement seems the complete antithesis of the first, this time allowing each of the soloists to take center stage.

The lively third movement returns to a largely orchestral texture, but Bach allows various solo groups to stand out in its midst. This movement was added by Bach especially for the version he presented to the Margrave of Brandenburg. The finale is an extended minuet with two trios, the first for the oboes and continuo, the second for the hunting horns and oboe. Separating the two trios is a polonaise for strings.