6th Brandenburg Concert

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Johann Sebastian Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto , BWV 1051, is very unusual not only with two violas and a cello as solo instruments - it is even more striking that these instruments are not faced with a full string orchestra, but only three members of the viol family and basso continuo .

The work is the last in a collection of six concerts that Bach sent to Margrave Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg-Schwedt in March 1721 under the title Six Concerts avec plusieurs instruments - Bach compiled this score from previously composed works.

occupation

The soloists mentioned at the beginning are accompanied by two alto viols as well as violone and basso continuo, which are definitely to be played as soloists , in the order of the score:

  • Two violas solo
  • Two violas da gamba
  • Violoncello solo
  • Violone
  • Basso continuo (harpsichord)

Emergence

No other versions of this composition have survived; Since the two violas da gamba have only insignificant filler parts and are completely silent in the middle movement, it has been assumed that they were added later (although small mistakes in composition were made in some places). So it would originally have been a trio sonata for two violas and continuo. This very obvious thesis is not supported by sources; In the second movement it raises the question of which of the bass parts was the original, and the arrangement of the ritornello in the final movement (with the upper parts in unison and divided middle parts) is not plausible either. Since the final movement requires different pitch ranges from some instruments, one could postulate an independent origin from the other two movements.

Because of the historical instruments used in Bach's time, it has often been assumed that it is the oldest work in the collection. Another explanation for the cast was originally put forward by Friedrich Smend : Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Koethen , Bach's employer, wanted to play a simple part in chamber music as a gambist. Judging by his estate, however, he was primarily a violinist and harpsichordist, and the viol part is certainly too insignificant to offer to his prince. Also, the alto viols used here must not be confused with the bass viols, whose playing was fashionable in aristocratic circles in the 18th century (see article Gamba ).

Certain parallels to the first movement of Tomaso Albinoni's Concerto Op. 7 No. 8, which was published in 1715, led to a corresponding dating after this point in time. Without referring specifically to this concerto, one recognizes Albinoni's compositional techniques today in the developed relationship between ritornello and solo episode: "The audible dissolution or abstraction of their opposites is one of the characteristic features of Bach's concert form around 1719"; This means that the work of Bach's time in Köthen would be attributed to it and it was only created after the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto , which today seems so “modern” .

music

The work follows the form of an Italian overture consisting of a concert movement, a slow middle movement and a stylized dance:

  • Allegro ¢ B flat major
  • Adagio ma non tanto 3/2 in E flat major - G minor
  • Allegro 12/8 in B flat major

The noticeably dark overall sound due to the lack of violins, the use of viols (often associated with the aristocracy) and some strangely “old-fashioned” harmonic turns make today's listeners think of consort music, especially in the first and second movements . On the other hand, the corner movements arouse clear associations with rural dance music, which underlines the complexity of this concert.

First sentence

The overall impression of the first movement is strongly influenced by the tutti ritornello, which is very unusual for today's terms. It consists of a closely led canon of the two violas. Bach only wrote something comparable in the final movement of the concerto for two violins ; with the Italian composers, however, the same thing happens. The other instruments support with pulsating eighth notes, obviously the harmonic development has clear primacy over melodic-motivic processes. This ritornello appears four times in a greatly abbreviated form before it completely closes the movement at the end.

In between, five episodes provide the modulation and introduce their own, more clearly structured material. The first episode already consists of two clearly distinguishable sections, the motifs of which are also taken up in the following episodes. Here the viols also have the opportunity to briefly highlight the topic.

Second sentence

The slow movement dispenses with the viols, but uses an unusual composition technique in the bass: while the violon and continuo usually move in halves, the cello decorates this line with inserted nuances, i.e. plays quarters, which creates a lot of dissonant friction in the lower register. The sentence is clearly in two parts; the first part is in E flat major and represents a Passacaglia , structured by an eleven bar bass theme, over which the violas develop a four bar theme, which is answered like a fugue in the fifth and then continued to the end.

In the second part, the continuo first takes up the topic. The instruments start three times in different registers, only the third time does the theme sound completely. After briefly taking up the opening section, there is a fallacy and a coda with two cadenza-like insertions of the cello; Dissonances, chromatic passages and diminished chords create a painful expression. This part modulates from G minor to C minor, on whose dominant it ends - without any real connection to the following movement.

The harmonic progression, which is not very complete, is reminiscent of early Italian concertos, and the entire structure of the movement is reminiscent of the Largo from Giuseppe Torelli's Concerto op. 8 No. 9 (1709). The heterogeneity of the two halves of the sentence has led to the assumption that the second part was added later; this is also suggested by the details of the notation, but has not yet been conclusively proven. It can be assumed that Bach integrated earlier composed material here.

Third sentence

The final movement is a stylized jig and is in clear contrast to the first movement in style and time signature. The delightful theme lets the two violas constantly push forward in syncope; In contrast, the rest of the instruments act as a sluggish, retarding element. The set is in three parts with identical frame sections and a contrasting half-length middle section. Bach blurs the internal structure of the sections by including ritornello motifs in the solo passages; only the third solo episode introduces completely independent material.

The middle section is in the minor parallel and begins with virtuoso viola figures over an organ point ; he thus brings new motivic material, even if this is subtly related to what has already been heard. After the longest solo episode of the whole movement, the end of the ritornello leads back to the repetition of the first part.

Aftermath

An unusual homage to Bach and his Sixth Brandenburg Concerto has only recently been discovered: The three-movement Concerto in D major TWV 51: D6 for solo oboe, violin, viola and continuo by Georg Philipp Telemann . The middle movement begins with four chords with the tones D - C sharp - E - D flat in the upper part. This suggests an early version of the work a major third lower, because then these notes would become b - a - c - b and should thus be understood as a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. The unfavorable position for the oboe, the narrow pitch range of the violin, the completely identical treatment of oboe and violin, and the low voicing of the tutti also speak against the fact that we have the first version of the work before us. For an early version in B flat major, an instrumentation of two violas da braccio , one viola da gamba and continuo can easily be assumed. Then Telemann would have written a work that should represent a reflexion to the sixth Brandenburg Concerto.

Unfortunately, like most of Telemann's works, this composition cannot be dated with current knowledge, and further details have not been passed down. Telemann was good friends with Bach and was the godfather of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel (* 1714). Contrary to the above stylistic considerations on dating, one might tend to associate the composition with Telemann's stay in Eisenach from 1708 to 1712, where he could easily keep in touch with Bach in nearby Weimar .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ares Rolf: JS Bach - The sixth Brandenburg concert . Dortmund 2002, ISBN 3-932676-09-2 .
  2. ^ Friedrich Smend: Bach in Koethen. 1951.
  3. ^ Gregory G. Butler: JS Bach's Reception of the Mature Concertos of Tomaso Albinoni. In: Cambridge Bach Studies. 2, 1995, p. 25.
  4. ^ Siegbert Rampe, Dominik Sackmann: Bach's orchestral music . Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1345-7 , p. 223.
  5. ↑ Peter Schleunig: Bach's sixth Brandenburg Concerto - a pastoral. In: Martin Geck (Her.): Bach's orchestral works. Report on the 1st Dortmund Bach Symposium 1996. Witten 1997, ISBN 3-932676-04-1 .
  6. ^ Siegbert Rampe, Dominik Sackmann: Bach's orchestral music . Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1345-7 , p. 240.
  7. ↑ Klaus Hofmann: A BACH quote from Georg Philipp Telemann. In: Bach Yearbook 2016. 2017, ISBN 978-3-374-04898-4 , p. 187.

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