Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051

The Brandenburg Concertos are a collection of six orchestral works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Unlike any other contemporaneous set of concertos, they were written for six different, unique instrumental ensembles, and count among the most significant and most frequently performed orchestral works of the Baroque era.

Introduction

The six Brandenburg Concertos were dedicated by Bach, in 1721, to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1677–1734), youngest brother of the Prussian King Frederick I. Bach’s original French title Six Concerts avec plusieurs instruments (Six Concertos for Several Instruments) was chosen to underscore the governing idea of the collection: concertos for a variety of instrumental ensembles, involving different solo instruments and instrumental combinations. The nickname “Brandenburg Concertos” was coined in Philipp Spitta’s influential Bach biography of 1873.

History

Bach’s preface to the dedication copy of the Brandenburg Concertos, dated March 24, 1721, addresses the recipient, Margrave Christian Ludwig, properly with “Your Royal Highness,” and refers to an encounter from “a couple of years ago.” In the spring of 1719, Bach had indeed travelled from Cöthen to Berlin to pick up a new harpsichord made by Michael Mietke, Prussian Court Instrument Maker. On this occasion, he performed at the Berlin City Palace, where the Margrave resided and his court capelle (orchestra) was located. As noted in the preface, the Margrave asked Bach to send some of his compositions. But it took the composer two years to fulfill the task since he was facing challenging personal and family circumstances. His first wife, Maria Barbara, had suddenly died in the summer of 1720, during his absence from home with his employer, Prince Leopold of Cöthen. Left with four small children, he did not marry his second wife, Anna Magdalena, until December 1721.

For dedicating a set of concertos for the Margrave of Brandenburg, Bach chose a set of six extant works from the repertoire in use at the Cöthen court with the intention of achieving maximum diversity of instrumentation and form. Four of the Brandenburg concertos combine solo instruments with the standard ripieno (harmonic-background) string ensemble of violins, violas, and a basso-continuo group (consisting of harpsichord and a lower-range instrument): Concerto I requires solos from three different instrumental classes: brass (two natural horns—no valves), winds (three oboes, one bassoon), and strings (violino piccolo—a small violin); Concerto II, four single solo instruments: trumpet, recorder, oboe, and violin; Concerto IV, a concertino (foregrounded ensemble) of solo violin with two recorders; and Concerto V, a concertino of flute and violin with concertato (non-ripieno) harpsichord. The other two concertos use no standard ripieno at all. Concerto III uses no winds but, instead, three violins, three violas, and three cellos, with basso continuo; and Concerto VI likewise uses only strings, but focuses on the lower register: two violas with cello, two violas da gamba with violone (Renaissance/Baroque instruments similar to cellos with bass, respectively), and basso continuo.

The dedication score for the Margrave represents a fair copy. But since no original composing scores for the six concertos have survived, their exact chronology remains unknown. It is likely, however, that the first concerto is the oldest of the set and originated from a three-movement overture to the Hunting Cantata, BWV 208. This work was commissioned for a banquet of a hunting party by the Duke of Weissenfels, and required the exact same instrumentation. Moreover, the fifth concerto, which features a concertato harpsichord, was apparently composed in 1719 to celebrate the arrival of the new harpsichord from Berlin—an extant original set of performing parts confirms this date. There is no comparable evidence for the dates of origin of the other four concertos, but they all fit into the timeframe of 1713–20.

Bach did not keep the six concertos as a separate set (let alone cycle) in his library, but reintegrated them with his other concertos and orchestral suites. Even though there are no specific performing dates available, Bach must have performed them off and on, notably in Leipzig, from 1729 through 1741, when serving as director of the Collegium Musicum—an early forerunner of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 

Several movements of the Brandenburg Concertos were reworked in Leipzig as cantata movements. In 1726, Bach arranged the opening movement of Concerto I (BWV 1046) as an introduction (Sinfonia) to Cantata BWV 52 for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity (the first Sunday after Pentecost). In the same year, two other movements from this concerto were reworked for use in the secular Cantata BWV 207: movement three as opening chorus and movement four as a recurring musical passage in an aria. In 1729, Bach arranged the opening movement of Concerto III (BWV 1048) with additional winds (three oboes, two horns) as instrumental introduction (Sinfonia) to Cantata BWV 174 for Pentecost Monday. Around 1738, Concerto IV was rewritten as the Harpsichord Concerto in F major, BWV 1057.

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051

Analysis

The Brandenburg Concertos reflect Bach’s creative reaction to the early 18th-century Venetian concerto style popularized primarily by Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). During the Weimar years (1708–17), Bach made numerous keyboard arrangements, for both organ and harpsichord, of various concertos by Italian composers, and notably of Vivaldi’s influential concerto collection “L’estro armonico,” Op. 3 (before 1710). Except for the first concerto—whose suite-like multi-movement form likely stems from its origin as cantata sinfonia—the Brandenburgs adhere to Vivaldi’s three-movement concerto form (fast–slow–fast). They also adhere to the Italian ritornello principle. The ritornello is a recurring musical section (for the tutti, or ripieno, orchestra) that establishes the harmonic framework and key structure of a concerto movement. The ritornello alternates with contrasting episodes (for the concertino group or solo instruments) that modulate between, and connect, the different key areas. Elaboration of musical ideas in both the ritornello and episode provide elements of repetition and variation, and contribute to the concept of unity within a concerto movement.

Bach observes the general principles of the concerto structure. At the same time, he breaks with the prevailing traditional genres of solo concerto and concerto grosso (which foregrounds a group of soloists) by blending and modifying the two in various innovative ways. Furthermore, he involves the entire spectrum of musical instruments available at the time, so that each concerto uniquely features a new configuration of ripieno and concertino.

Concerto VI in B-flat major, BWV 1051

For two viole da braccio (violas), two violas da gamba; basso continuo (cello, violone, harpsichord)

Like the third Brandenburg, the sixth also uses an all-string ensemble, but it focuses on the lower-range instruments. The ripieno is led by a pair of concertato violas, and the concertino engages the violas, the two violas da gamba, and the cello, while the violone and harpsichord play basso continuo. The two violas start the opening ritornello with a vigorous theme, presented in the form of a stretto canon (i.e., the second entrance of the theme imitates the first in very close succession—here, after an eighth note). The first episode then presents an elaboration of the ritornello canon in five parts: the cello and both pairs of violas and violas da gamba. As the movement develops, ritornellos and episodes blend into a steady, continuous melodic-rhythmic stream, showcasing the composer's polyphonic expertise.

In the second movement (“Adagio ma non tanto”), both violas da gamba remain silent, resulting in a trio-sonata texture of two violas and basso continuo. The two violas effectively resume the complex scoring characteristic of the first movement by engaging in rigorous polyphonic interaction, supported by a basso continuo part that moves firmly in half and whole notes. However, the cello enhances the continuo bass part by supplying a decorated version in steady, quarter-note pulses.

The concluding Allegro movement resembles a gigue and features an energetic dance rhythm that permeates the entire movement. The virtuosic passagework by the three-part concertino of violas and cello enhances its effect.

Critical Thoughts

Bach’s original French title for the Brandenburgs—Six Concerts avec plusieurs instruments (Six Concertos for Several Instruments)—is actually an understatement that barely captures the remarkable degree of innovation these works represent, notably regarding their diverse and daring instrumental combinations, which were meant to venture into uncharted territory. Every single concerto sets a new precedent in ensemble scoring, as well as in the design of ritornello and episode, the general thematic processes, the textural variety, the application of polyphonic devices, and much more. Every single concerto departed significantly from the norms established by his peers. Even Bach’s colleague and close friend Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)—who composed many more concertos than Bach and similarly experimented with varying concerto formats—never matched the unique originality of the Brandenburgs. Perhaps it was Bach’s long-time, special experience as organist and fugue writer that encouraged him to pull all the virtual stops—to craft such a differentiated and colorful orchestral sound spectrum, and to come up with such manifold contrapuntal ideas.

Legacy

After the Margrave’s death in 1734, Bach’s autograph dedication score, the sole extant manuscript containing the set of Brandenburg Concertos, ended up in the music library of Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia, sister of King Frederick II (‘the Great”). It had previously been in the possession of Bach’s student Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721–83). He was, from 1758 until the end of his life, music director to the princess, but it is unknown when and how he obtained it. The score remained unnoticed until the Bach centennial in 1850, when the music theorist and librarian Siegfried Dehn published it under the heading “Six Concertos” (C. F. Peters, Leipzig). But since, by that time, some of the required instruments (violino piccolo, recorder, viola da gamba, and harpsichord) had long gone out of fashion, a performance tradition of the Brandenburgs commenced only in the 20th century––initially with substitute instruments (as in Max Reger’s 1905 two-piano transcription), and, from the 1950s on, increasingly with period instruments.

The first recording of the complete set was made in 1936 by the Busch Chamber Orchestra, directed by Adolf Busch, and the revival of interest in historically informed performance made the pieces truly popular. Nearly all recognized period-instrument ensembles place value on making their own recordings of the Brandenburgs.

As a tribute of the work’s popularity, a recording of Concerto No. 2 by the Munich Bach Orchestra (dir. Karl Richter) was sent into space on the Voyager Golden Record in 1977. And, in 1993, the complete Brandenburg Concertos were performed at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, marking the beginning of an ongoing holiday tradition.

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Article by Christoph Wolff