Bach Brandenburg

Context:

• Sent to Berlin to collect brand new harpsichord. While there, he was asked to put a performance on that harpsichord by this person called Margrave for Brandenburg, who was a member of the royal family of Prussia.

• Wrote 6 Brandenburg concertos for Margrave, none of which he was paid for and nobody was are it was ever performed at the time. Not around till 1850 when people discovered it.

Context: Important key words

1. Ripieno

2. Concertino

3. Virtuoso

4. Chamber music

1. Ripieno - The rest of the orchestra ( violins, violas, Chellos, double basses (violones).)

2. Concertino - the 3 main solo instruments (Violin, flute and harpsichord)

3. Virtuoso - Someone who is extremely good on their instrument.

4. Chamber music - a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments

Resources:

Concertino instruments for solo:

• 1 flute, violin and harpsichord

• Harpsichord plays in the concertino part as well as the Ripieno part

• Harpsichord - Couldn't have variation in dynamics so dynamic markings for it

• Flute - wooden with wholes + just 1 metal key

• Basso continuo - bass part in Baroch music. Continuo - chello

Dynamics and instrumentation

• Trills in bar 19 and 21 in the harpsichord

• Figured bass - under the bass notes guided the player as to what type of accompanying chord to play. Here the  harpsichord is accompanying. - bar 29 to 34

• Figured bass in accompanying role (bars 75-77) → Cemb

• Fast scalic runs - virtuosic

Problem with harpsichord - no dynamics and couldn't sustain notes.

Terraced dynamics - Where 1 section or phrase is loud or quite is one or the other. No variation.

• Role of Cemb - filling out harmonies

• Fast scalic runs on the harpsichord

Melody + Structure (just summarise) - pink

• Piece is in ternary form → ABA → In Ritonello Form - when the opening material returns in a shortened form.

• Disjunct leaps in the subject/ answer and conjunct stepwise in the countersubject. → keep looking for the subject/ countersubject throughout.

• Scalic runs in Cemb.

• Ornaments → trills (in 3rds) (bars 19-21)

• More trills in Cemb

• Stretto (bars 39-41)

• More variants of the subject (bars 66-67) → Cemb

• Appoggiaturas (bars 80 and 82) → flute

• imitation off subject (bars 123-125) → flute + violin

• Rising sequences + unison (bars 137-141) → flute + violin

• Cantabile - In singing style (bar 148) → for violin

• Subject at the start of the harpsichord cannon solo.

• Opening 3 notes of subject played by top 3 instruments during harpsichord solo.

• Rising and descending sequences (bars 198-208)

Rhythm (dotted rhythms), tempo and metre (time signature) - green

• Metre is in 2/4

• The tempo is Allegro - brisk speed/ fast

• General Rhythm of the piece - An upbeat and uplifting mood is achieved in this movement through gigue dance rhythms and lively tempo. (It was custom in the Baroque period to have only one mood expressed in any one movement.)

• First bar - Dotted rythms → jumpy feel

• 2nd bar - triplets - gives a gigue/ dance feel

• Semi quaver runs - virtuosic (difficult to play) (bars 15-16)

• Triplets in both hands - rythmic unison (bar 24)

• Rythmic unison - (bars 33-35)

• Long notes held in harpsichord due to continuous trills. Common to elongate the note. - bars 52 and 54)

• Dotted rythms and triplets and distinctive minim - lyrical feel achieved — (bars 80-83) → flute

• Also continuous triplets during (bars 80-83) → violin

• Rythmic unison in Cemb - (bars 106-116)

Texture

• 2 part imitation - A part copying another part (maybe played in a different octave.)

• Fugato  -little structural idea - polyphonic texture

• In 3rds - (bar14

• Flute and violin playing in unison making tune louder - textual - (bars 33 and 34) and (bars 130-132)

• top 2 instruments playing in unison - (bars 37-40)

• top 2 instru. imitation - (bars 38-40)

• Tonic pedal - (bars 79-83) and (bars 100-103) - Cemb

• Subject and answer exampling imitation - (bars 123-125-6)

• Variant of subject on both 3rd and 4th instrument - (bars 151-154)

• Canon - Both hands are playing the same thing but different beats of the bars. - from bar 163 - Cemb

• Opening notes and fragments after the canon

• Passage word, top 2 - (bars 214-219)

Harmony and tonality

• D major

• The music is diatonic (i.e. The notes used belong to the prevailing key. What you expect to hear in peace.

• Passing modulations throughout - e.g. bar12

• Mention 3rds

• Mention Figured bass

• Mention harpsichord filling out harmonies.

• Mention tonic pedals