Few musical works are as loved and as often performed as the six "Brandenburg" Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. These 6 works (BWV 10461051) display a lighter side of Bach's imperishable genius. Yet they came into being as an unexpected gift. That's what happened in 1721 when Bach presented Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of BrandenburgSchwedt, with a bound manuscript containing six lively concertos for chamber orchestra. The Margrave never thanked Bach for his work or hired him but Bach could never have known that this unnamed gift (later called the “Brandenburg Concertos” 150 years later when Bach's biographer, Philipp Spitta coined their title) would become a benchmark of Baroque music and still have the power to move people almost three centuries later.

Even though he didn't name them the "Brandenburgs," originally, Bach still thought of them as a set. What he did was compile them from short instrumental sinfonias and concerto movements he’d already written, then rework the former, often rewriting and elaborating where he saw fit. In doing so, Bach created something of a dramatic arc from the brilliant first concerto to the last, which evokes a spirited chase.

Bach even later reworked components of the Brandenburgs into other compositions: the Polacca from the final movement, appears to have been intended as the opening of the cantata “Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd,” BWV 208. The 1st movement can also be found as the Sinfonia of a later Cantata “Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht,” BWV 52, but in a version without the piccolo violin. The 3rd movement was used as the opening chorus of the Cantata “Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten,” BWV 207, where the horns are replaced by trumpets.

Like all of Bach's concertos, the style is indebted to the methods of the Italians. Vivaldi was particularly attractive to the German composer, who eagerly copied out Vivaldi's scores in order to understand his use of contrast, rhythmic propulsion, and orchestration. The Brandenburg Concertos were not as unusual as was once thought; Italian composers created concertos for widely varying combinations of instruments, and Bach's shifting textures have their parallels in works by other composers. But the handling of the Italian concerto material went unmatched throughout the Baroque era. One unique, perhaps nonItalian idea in Concerto No. 1 is Bach's use of hunting horns. The concerto also calls for three oboes and a bassoon, as well as continuo strings and the violino piccolo. The sound of the horns stands out, but the composer manages to make them blend into the ensemble through the use of multiple winds.

BWV 1046 is rich in tonal colour and the most elaborate of the 6 concertos in respect of layout. Its juxtaposed elements of concerto and dance suite suggest that it may have been one of the earliest to have been composed. Yet, despite its immediate appeal to conservative ears, each movement has a remarkable feature typical of Bach's irrepressible sense of invention.

The 1st movement is jaunty & infectious, yet there's a subtext of discomfort. The two horns appear to be making their first solo appearance in a concerto. Yet, their raucous sound (more strident than our mellower modern valved horns) disturbs the otherwise carefullybalanced texture and their insistent bellowing hunting calls disrupt the overall rhythm.

The mournful melody of the 2nd is not only traded in canon between the oboe and violino piccolo but descends all the way down into the bass to augment its standard role as pure accompaniment. The most astounding touch is saved for the very end as each note of a conventional descending bass is first supported by the oboes but then cancelled by unexpected chords in the strings.

The 3rd is the closest approach to a standard concerto format, although the violino piccolo, amid its florid solos, is given many emphatic slashing triplestopped figures, perhaps struggling to assert itself. As if to avoid fatigue, the insistent 6/8 rhythm is broken by a twobar adagio at measure 82 (of 120) and then resumes to the rollicking end.

Although the concerto proper appears to conclude at that point, Bach adds a set of four international dances in which all members of the ensemble are displayed – a (French) minuet for the full band is heard four times, enfolding a trio for oboes and bassoon, a (Polish) polacca for strings (absent from the original 1713 sinfonia version: BWV 1046a composed during Bach's years at Weimar) and a second trio for horns and oboes. The overall structure, alternating the full minuet with the softer interludes, evokes the ritornello form, yet there are a few surprises here, too – in the first trio the bassoon emerges from its role buried in the continuo, the polka erupts into a jaunty triplet sprint and the second trio (German hunting style) is in 2/4 time, although the shift is barely apparent as the horns and oboes preserve the overall rustic mood.