Bach specified some instruments that modern symphonic players don't play, or which would be ineffective with modern instruments in a large concert hall. Yet, paradoxically, the Brandenburgs present instrumentation problems that a modern symphony orchestra can cope with only by, as it were, faking it. It was apparently not a common instrument, though its rarity would not have deterred Bach, an enthusiastic instrumental experimenter who elsewhere wrote for such unusual instruments as the viola pomposa (a five-string combination violin and viola), oboe da caccia, slide trumpet, violoncello piccolo, and tenor oboe. The First Concerto calls for a piccolo violin tuned a minor third higher than a normal one. Not every court had three oboes (for the First Concerto), or three cellos or violas (for the Third). Horns were new to the orchestra in 1721, and not available everywhere. What is less obvious to the modern concertgoer, accustomed to 100-piece orchestras supported by industrial wealth and cities with populations of millions, is that it would have been a major project for the Margraf's musicians just to cover all the parts, let alone play them well. The trumpet part in the Second Concerto, written for the valveless Baroque trumpet, is still a major challenge for players on the valved piccolo trumpet (which makes for surer execution but creates balance problems since, unlike the Baroque trumpet, it is vastly louder than the other instruments in the ensemble). The reason for this is equally clear: the Margraf's small musical establishment could not begin to cope with the Concertos' wide variety of instruments and extreme technical difficulty.įrom a modern vantage point, it is not hard to see that the Concertos require top-flight players for the horn parts in the First Concerto, the violin in the Fourth, and the harpsichord in the Fifth. What is clear is that the Margraf never acknowledged receiving the manuscript and never had the Concertos performed. The Electorate of Brandenburg had for decades been part of the kingdom of Prussia, and the Margraf owed his title to being the Prussian king's younger brother. He might have doubted that his prospects could be advanced much by the Margraf, who was a man of great rank but little power. Satisfaction with his position at Cöthen is less likely, since Bach applied for another position in Hamburg in 1720. The unexpected death of his wife in 1720 is one likely explanation for the delay. But Bach waited two years before actually sending the Concertos, which were all works he had composed at Cöthen, reworked, revised, or recopied. Nor would he have them miss the opportunity: in an era when there were no public concerts, a musician's fortune often depended on impressing the wealthy few who could employ musicians.Īccording to Bach's prefatory dedication of the Concertos, he had played for the Margraf, who "took some pleasure in the small talents which Heaven has given me for music and …deigned to honor me with the command to send your Highness some pieces of my own composition." Commoners always addressed nobility in that obsequious way. In his mid-30s, he was already a legend among German musicians, and music-loving aristocrats were not likely to miss a chance to have him play his music for them. Instead, Bach concentrated on writing music for the elite Cöthen orchestra. Because the court religion was Calvinist, elaborate composed church music was not needed, or even permitted. The Cöthen years were the only time in his 50-year professional career that Bach's job did not consist principally of producing music for Lutheran worship. 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.īach's path first crossed the Margraf's in 1719, when Bach traveled to Berlin to buy a harpsichord for the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen's court, where he was the music director.
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