For information on the visualization, please read the 1st pinned comment.

Few musical works are as loved and as often performed as the 6 "Brandenburg" Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. These 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 the Margrave of Brandenburg with a bound manuscript containing 6 concertos for chamber orchestra, works based on an Italian Concerto Grosso style. The Margrave never thanked Bach for his work or paid him! There's no way he could have known that this unnamed gift would become a benchmark of Baroque music and still have the power to move people almost 300 years later.

Even though he didn't call 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 had already written. Then he reworked the old music, 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: for example, the 1st movement of Concerto No. 1 can also be found as the Sinfonia to Cantata 52 and its 3rd movement was used as the opening Chorus of Cantata 207.

The 2nd Brandenburg may have been one of the last to be written, and it certainly seems like a specialoccasion piece, perhaps the most popular of the 6. The writing is virtuosic and brilliant; the high trumpet part, in particular, is written to employ a performance style known as "clarino playing," in which the trumpeter played in the highest range of the instrument, and used quicklychanging lip pressure to change the pitch of the instrument.

The work basically follows the Italian concerto grosso pattern, punctuating the solo group's music with tutti outbursts for the strings, although here the soloists are often more integrated into the musical fabric than in the Italian model. A concerto grosso utilizes 2 ensembles, one large and one small. The large one is called the “ripieno” or tutti; this includes the orchestra. A group of soloists comprise the smaller group, entitled the “concertino” (meaning little concerto group). Bach's ripieno includes solo flute [originally recorder], trumpet, violin, oboe, and continuo. (The continuo is never omitted, as it provides the harmonic foundation of the entire piece.)

The strongly rhythmic 1st movement, deploys the soloists both as members of the overall ensemble and as outfront players, in varying combinations. The orchestra introduces an energetic eightbar theme, then, two at a time and separated by restatements of the opening melody, the soloists jump in with their own twobar motif. From this point on, the soloists rarely recede completely, constantly toying with their short motif and picking up fragments of the initial theme as well. The trumpet retires from the plaintive Andante (as it can only be played in major keys due to its construction), leaving the other three soloists, with bare continuo accompaniment, to focus on a sighing phrase. One instrument's entrance overlaps another's last notes in a sort of counterpoint that, despite several efforts, never gets off the ground. Revamping a theme from the first movement, the Allegro assai takes counterpoint more seriously. In the earlier movements, Bach had passed a melody from one instrument to another, fully exploiting their contrasting colors. Now, in this final movement, the soloists each provide different voices in a fullfledged fugue, with the string orchestra merely reinforcing key moments. This fugue is no academic exercise; the music is bright and festive.

Interesting note: the third movement served as the theme song for William F. Buckley, Jr.'s Firing Line, and is currently the theme for Masterpiece on PBS. It was also chosen as the first to be played on the "Golden Record," a phonograph album containing a broad sample of Earth's common sounds, languages and music, sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes.

In homage to Wendy Carlos' original realization (recorded in part, oh her "By Request" of 1975, and completed on her "SwitchedOn Brandenburgs" of 1979), I scored this updated version with newly created presets, using semiimitative synthesis to bring the instruments, especially the "soloists" to life. The whole thing is meant to be reminiscent of Carlos' but not as an attempt to duplicate her work. I've only done some minor layering here and there (especially in the Andante) as the real magic here is all in Bach's brilliant arranging the many permutations of the lead melody and the underlying counterpoint. By placing the "musicians" in specific positions within the sound panorama, Bach genius shines through in the stereo interplay within the concertino and in combination with the ensemble.