brandenburg-all

What instrument is first heard in this piece?

The solo violin

Which instrument do we hear second in this piece?

The solo flute

What is the term for the short melodic motif that is played by the solo violin?

The subject

How long is the subject?

2-bars

What is the range of the subject?

One octave

Identify three rhythmic features of the subject motif

Dotted rhythms, triplets and it starts with an anacrusis

What term is used for what the flute plays?

The answer

There are two types of 'answer' that can be played in this type of style. What are they?

A tonal answer - this is where the melody is imitated but not exactly the same - possibly moved higher or lower than the original.

A real answer where the imitation is exact. We only have tonal answers in this piece.

There are two types of 'answer' that can be played in this type of style. What are they?

A real answer where the imitation is exact. We only have tonal answers in this piece.

What material is played by the violin while the flute is playing the answer?

The countersubject

Identify two rhythmic features of the countersubject material

Straight quavers separated by quaver rests

What is the third instrument to play the subject/answer?

harpsichord

What typical Baroque structure is this opening based on?

A fugue

As this piece is not an exact fugue, but in the style of a fugue at the start, what is the term for this fugue-like style?

A fugata

What features of the music indicate that this fugue-like style is being used?

A solo statement of the subject. Replied with a tonal answer while countersubject material is being played. This subject/answer material is passed between all the main instruments before the music moves on to the next section. Here we have the violin - then the flute - then the harpsichord before the music moves on to include the ripen section

What term is used to describe this style of opening?

Fugal exposition

What is the opening key of the piece?

D major

In bars 15 and 16, the harpsichord has played the subject and answer and then plays two bars of semiquaver passagework. As this ends at bar 17 we have reached. new key. What is this new key?

A major

Why does the harpsichord need to use trills while it waits fore the flute and violin parts?

Because a harpsichord cannot sustain a long note. The only way to keep the sound going is to use a trill

What is the opening texture?

Monophonic as only the violin plays at the very start

What is the term for the texture when the flute joins in?

2-part counterpoint, contrapuntal or polyphonic

What term can be used for the texture once the left hand of the harpsichord joins in?

3-part counterpoint, contrapuntal or polyphonic

What term can be used once the right hand of the harpsichord joins in?

4-part counterpoint, contrapuntal or polyphonic

The section at the end of the opening, while we still only have soloists, is where the flute and violin take turns with the harpsichord. What melodic feature is this?

Dialogue or antiphony

At the end of the brief dialogue section, bars 22-24, the harpsichord plays constant triplets as the flute and violin hold long notes. Here the music briefly changes key. To what?

E major (the dominant of the dominant) but this is very brief as one bar later it returns to A major

As the ripeno enter, at the end of the opening, the key moves to where?

Back to D major

Which movement of the concerto is this piece?

Third

How many Brandenburg Concertos are there?

Six

Which of the Brandenburg Concertos is this piece?

Concerto No.5

What is the home or tonic key of this work?

D major

How many sections is this piece structured in?

Three (ABA)

What type of concerto is this piece?

A Concerto Grosso

What Baroque dance piece is this final movement in the style of?

A Gigue (Jig)

What features of the music create the dance-like feel of the music?

The fast/lively tempo (allegro), the two beats in a bar (2/4), the use of triplets (which help create a compound time feel - same as a gigue), the dotted rhythms ands the passages of fast semiquavers

What else links this movement with the gigue?

They are both final movements. This work is the final (third) movement of the concerto and a gigue is the final movement of the dance suite.

What features of the music indicate it as being a concerto grosso?

The use of more than one soloist. A group of soloists is used (in this case 2 main ones - flute and violin - with the harpsichord also making a third soloist in places). The use of a string ensemble as the accompaniment section and the use of a basso continuo (which places this in the baroque era and therefore helps indicate this as a concerto grosso as the grosso fell away during the Classical era)

What is the name for the group of soloists used by Bach in this piece?

Concertino

What is the name for the string ensemble accompanying the soloists in this work?

Ripieno

Which instruments are responsible for playing the basso continuo in this work?

The cello, double bass and harpsichord

When the harpsichord is playing as part of the basso continuo, there are small numbers written below the harpsichord bass line. What are these numbers known as?

Figured bass

What do the small numbers below the harpsichord part indicate?

They tell the performer which notes to add on top ion the bass line. These indicated notes create the chords or harmony needed at that moment. The numbers indicate the interval above the bass note that needs adding.

When the harpsichord adds chords based on the figured bass - the part produced is known as what?

A realisation

What melodic features are used in this work that indicate it to be written in the Baroque era?

Ornaments such as trills and mordents. Sequences and imitation of parts.

What harmonic features of this work indicate that it was written in the Baroque era?

The use of perfect cadences, functional harmony, suspensions and pedal notes.

Why is there no dynamics written on the music in Baroque pieces?

In this case, the harpsichord was unable to change the dynamics of what it was playing. Therefore, the dynamics were changed by how many players were playing at any one time. This meant that to play quiet you had less instruments and to play loud - more. Baroque dynamics were therefore either quiet or loud. Very black and white. No use of gentle changes such as crescendos and diminuendos. These only came about after the decline of the harpsichord.

What are the typical Baroque dynamics of just loud and quiet known as?

Terraced dynamics

What is the predominant texture of this piece?

Polyphonic or contrapuntal

Describe the different ways the harpsichord is used throughout this piece.

There are sections within the piece where the harpsichord is the only instrument playing (a true solo) and the harpsichord player would more than likely be conducting the performance from the keyboard.

When the ripeno enter at bar 29, which are the first two instruments to play the subject/answer theme?

Viola then violin

What is the term for every instrument playing together?

Tutti

How would this section naturally change the dynamics?

Because we now have all the instruments playing rather than just three, the dynamics are suddenly louder

What is the term used for this type of dynamics that are either loud or quiet with no in between?

Terraced dynamics

Following the brief subject and answer from the ripen, the solo flute and violin play the subject theme together using exactly the same notes. What is the term for this playing?

Unison

What are the remaining instruments playing while the soloists play the theme?

Countersubject material

The triplet figures played by the ripeno violins in bars 35-36 are then echoed by the solo flute and violin. What is the term for this kind of imitation?

Antiphonal

To finish this section, just before the harpsichord plays 7 bars of rapid semiquaver runs, we have the subject played by the harpsichord left hand, cello and double bass (bar 39) but it is interrupted by the answer half way through by the harpsichord right hand. What is the term for this?

Stretto

Following some more antiphonal dialogue between the solo flute and violin against the harpsichord (bars 52-55), all three soloists play patterns that move by a step each time. What is the term for this?

Sequence

This section concludes with another brief moment of stretto starting with the ripeno viola in bar 64 followed by the ripieno violin, then the cello, basses and harpsichord. There is then a final dialogue section mainly between the solo flute and the harpsichord (from bar 68). But what key does the section end in?

D major

What key does this section begin in?

B minor

What is the relationship of this key to the home key of the piece?

It is the relative minor

Describe two ways that Bach has varied the original subject to create a new theme.

It is now an 8 bar theme rather than 2. It uses longer note values with appoggiaturas for decoration and is much more lyrical rather than dance-like

What harmonic device is used at the start of this section?

Tonic pedal (as we are now in B minor and the repeated note is a B)

Which instrument is first to play the new varied theme?

The solo flute

How does Bach use the section A subject theme to help structure section B?

At the end of each solo section, he uses the original 2-bar subject in the ripieno to mark the end of one solo and the start of the next (see bars 87-88 in the ripeno violin and viola)

Which is the second instrument to play the new varied theme?

The solo violin

What key is the music in during this second solo section?

B minor

What harmonic device is used throughout this second solo?

The same tonic pedal (in B minor)

Does Bach use the original 2-bar subject theme to mark the end of the second solo section?

Yes

Does the second solo section end in the same key it started?

No, at the end of the section (as we hear the original 2-bar subject theme in the ripieno) the music modulates (changes key) to F# minor

What is the relationship of F# minor to the opening key of the second section?

It is the dominant minor

Which instrument plays the third solo section of the varied theme?

The harpsichord (right hand)

Is there a third use of tonic pedal during the third solo section?

Yes. Even though it is now playing F#, the key is in F# minor so it is still a tonic pedal.

Does Bach use the A section 2-bar subject theme to end the third solo section?

No

What happens after the third subject section?

There is a dialogue section between the solo flute and violin which play in 3rds and the harpsichord which lasts for 4 bars before the harpsichord takes over and both hands play in 3rds just like the two solo instruments were doing. The ripieno drop out at this point to lighten the texture.

The harpsichord moves into playing a series of rising sequences throughout 114-118. What do the other two soloists do at this point?

They have a series of tied minims which create a chain of suspensions.

At bar 118, the two soloists change to alternating falling figures. What words could be used to describe this?

Dialogue

Notice at bar 123, the falling figures end with the solo flute and violin playing stretto. What does this term mean?

Stretto is when the subject theme is interrupted by the answer half way through rather than waiting until after the subject has been played in full. This causes tension in the music by creating a feeling of gathering momentum, or of rushing forward.

From bar 128, the ripieno join back into the texture and the ripieno violin plays the subject which is answered by the solo flute and violin in unison. What do the rest of the ripieno and harpsichord play at this moment?

They all play a rising scale using the separate quaver idea of the countersubject material

At bar 136, the ripieno violin and the solo flute and violin play rising sequences. How has the countersubject changed now?

It is still based on a rising scale but alternates between octaves. Bars 134-136 have a simple rising scale but then the F leaps down an octave before moving to G which then leaps up the octave before moving to A and so on.

At bar 148, we hear the varied subject theme again but this time in the ripieno violin and viola. What key is the music now in?

A major

How does this new key at 148 relate to the previous key of F# minor?

It is the relative major (up 3 semitones)

What harmonic device is used throughout the first 8 bars of this section?

A tonic pedal (now on an A in the key of A major)

The end of this section is created by alternating two bar sections of dialogue between which parts?

The harpsichord against the solo violin and flute with the violin and viola from the ripieno too.

What melodic device is used by the harpsichord while the other instruments have their turn in the dialogue section?

A trill (because it is the only way of holding the sound while it waits for the others to play)

Act the start of this dialogues section (bar 155), the key moves to the dominant minor of the previous key. What is the new key?

E minor

Bach then uses a falling sequence in the harpsichord to move the music back to the opening key of the section before the extended harpsichord solo begins. What is the key of the music before the extended solo?

B minor

The opening of the extended solo in the harpsichord uses what melodic device?

Canon (a canon is where the music is repeated exactly the same - in this case it is one octave apart but the letter names of the notes and the rhythms remain the same)

Towards the end of the solo, other instruments become involved. How would you describe the effect they create?

Interjections or dialogue

As the harpsichord moves into playing continuous triplets (from bar 193), how would you describe how the two solo instruments (violin and flute) are playing?

2-part counterpoint

The section comes to a close using full tutti texture and a fugal device called what?

Stretto

What key does section B end in?

B minor

How does the repeat of section A differ from the first time we hear it?

It just starts with a D major chord in the basso continuo group to state the new key. It is quite an acceptable (although unprepared key change) as D major is the relative of B minor so they can switch quite effortlessly.