"Brandenburg Concerto" #6 (B-flat)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Bach simply entitled this music the "Six Concertos for several Instruments"; but, Philipp Spitta, 160 years after they were composed, named them the "Brandenburg Concertos", after Christian Ludwig, the margrave of Brandenburg, the most prominent patron of music in Berlin and Prussia. The author points out that the "Sixth Brandenburg Concerto" is distinctive because it features no violins and is scored for two violas, a cello and continuo (which is a bass part usually performed by a harpsichord), which gives it a far darker tone than the other five concerti. The paper states that this version performed by the "Classic Music Studio" Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Alexander Titov conducting, has a muffled sound and is too "Slavic" an interpretation to be appropriate for the Baroque Bach.

From the Paper:

"While each concerto features a different set of instruments, all put together represent what music historians consider the synthesis of Baroque concerto styles. This was, of course, long before the concerto was created as a solo instrument playing its own melody, accompanied by an orchestra (Haydn, and of course, Mozart, perfected that style). Here they are considered as concerti grossi, in which a small body of "solo" instruments, called the concertino, contrasts with a larger orchestral group called the ripieno."

More papers on "Brandenburg Concerto" #6 (B-flat):

• Essay # 71391 : "Bach's First Brandenburg Concerto"
• Term Paper # 131661 : "The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia"
• Comparison Essay # 95435 : "The "Hit Man" v. Brandenburg"

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