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- They redefined the concerto and took it to new heights. These concertos are in concerto grosso, literally ‘big concerto’, form, which is when a large number of instruments takes on solo roles.
- They were subversive and spoke truth to power. Johann Sebastian Bach composed these pieces during his years spent as a court composer to the music-loving aristocrat, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen.
- They have a deeply beautiful two-chord movement. These concertos, with inventive harmony, complex counterpoint, multi-layered fugues and interweaving textures, showcase Baroque music at its most intricate, detailed and mind-bogglingly intellectual, extreme.
- They fought fascism. Adolf Busch was a very famous violinist in 1920s Germany, In 1927, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Busch denounced Nazism and emigrated to Switzerland and then to America.
- The Concertos as Job Application
- The Concertos Lost and Found
- The Performances
One of the explanations that the concertos provide such breadth and depth of musical variety is because Bach compiled them as a job application to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, younger brother of the King. As such, it’s one of the few manuscripts that Bach wrote out himself, rather than give to a copyist. He also included an in...
The Margrave’s apparent disinterest in the concertos risked having them lost entirely, but kept them sufficiently preserved so that when they were eventually rediscovered – the manuscript was in great shape. The Margrave died in 1734, at which time the manuscript was sold for roughly the equivalent of $24. Eventually, it ended up being found by the...
Due to the concertos inauspicious beginnings, it’s unclear exactly when they were first performed. While it’s widely believed the Margrave’s court orchestra never performed them, it’s also widely believed that Bach’s provincial orchestral did. The King of Prussia at the time wasn’t a great fan of the arts. When he ascended the throne shortly before...
The Brandenburg Concertos. The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051, original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments ) are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). They are widely regarded as some of ...
Brandenburg Concertos. The Brandenburg Concertos are a set of concertos written by Johann Sebastian Bach. They were written for Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. The original title was Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments, six concertos for several instruments. In each of the concertos, there are several solo instruments ...
In 1721 Johann Sebastian Bach presented a score of six concertos to the Margrave of Brandenburg. Bach was working in Cöthen at this time, a Calvinist town where instrumental music was not performed in church, writing instrumental music and solo cantatas at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhält-Cöthen. Some discussions of these “Brandenburg ...
Nearly three centuries after Bach sent six "Concertos with Several Instruments" to Christian Ludwig, Margraf of Brandenburg, the Concertos stand as a monument of instrumental music, and as a monumentally inept piece of self-promotion. Bach's path first crossed the Margraf's in 1719, when Bach traveled to Berlin to buy a harpsichord for the ...
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Feb 3, 2014 · Of the small number of J. S. Bach manuscripts at the Library of Congress, a rather unassuming viola part from the cantata Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüthe, BWV 174, contains a delightful surprise. In this cantata for the Monday after Pentecost, first performed on June 6, 1729, Bach drew on the music of a concerto from his time in ...
