If I was ever asked to select my "desert island discs", top of my list would be Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. (I wonder if there's a category in the ciao café?. . . ) The six Brandenburg concertos, each with their distinct quality and sound requiring a different combination of instruments, ... Read review
Boston Baroque and Martin Pearlman recorded a splendid set of the Brandenburg Concertos on ... more
period instruments in 1993 and 1994. Made entirely in the US, these snappy, crisply articulated, and fluent performances rely heavily on the talents of violinist Daniel Stepner (who doubles as one of the two solo violists in Concerto No. 6). Among the highlights are the joyous finale to Concerto No. 4 and the superb cembalo cadenza in No. 5, played by Pearlman. Along with outstanding sound, there's a winning sense of freshness and discovery in these performances. --Ted Libbey
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Advantages: Beautiful relaxing music. Rich instrumentation. Played with passion. Disadvantages: Not all instruments are from the period.
If I was ever asked to select my "desert island discs", top of my list would be Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. (I wonder if there's a category in the ciao café?. . . ) The six Brandenburg concertos, each with their distinct quality and sound requiring a different combination of instruments, are not only a delight to listen to but exemplify the intellectual musical genius of their composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. All six are composed in major ... ...of key demanded by the baroque conventions are skilfully completed and Bach's predilection for numbers and ornate touches are evident. I could say more but this isn't a musical analysis . . .
I am not alone in my high estimation, The Brandenburg concertos are now probably the best loved and most frequently performed works by Bach. This was not always the case however. They were originally not very well received. Johann Sebastian Bach, ... more
If I was ever asked to select my "desert island discs", top of my list would be Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. (I wonder if there's a category in the ciao café?. . . ) The six Brandenburg concertos, each with their distinct quality and sound requiring a different combination of instruments, are not only a delight to listen to but exemplify the intellectual musical genius of their composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. All six are composed in major keys creating and maintaining a cheerful, vivacious collection. The modulations of key demanded by the baroque conventions are skilfully completed and Bach's predilection for numbers and ornate touches are evident. I could say more but this isn't a musical analysis . . .
I am not alone in my high estimation, The Brandenburg concertos are now probably the best loved and most frequently performed works by Bach. This was not always the case however. They were originally not very well received. Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the giants of the baroque period, presented the set of concertos as a gift to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg in 1721. The Margrave never even acknowledged the gift let alone thanked Bach for his work. For the next thirteen years, the concertos were to languish in the marquis' library untouched. It was only on his death, that they were then released and shared with the public.
There are many, many recordings of the Brandenburg concertos. This particular album is a 1959 recording of Yehudi Menuhin and the Bath Festival Orchestra published in May, 1995 by Emi Classical. Can a recording from nearly 50 years ago possibly stand the test of time? The simple answer is yes it can and does so superbly.
Baroque works are best heard (in my opinion) on the period instruments for which they were originally intended. Whilst Menuhin and his Bath Festival orchestra do not entirely use period instruments, the continuo is performed on the harpsichord and Menuhin uses a piccolo violin in the first.
Before I go on to say a little about the individual concertos, I think maybe I should just describe what a concerto actually involves. A concerto is a form of music in which a solo instrument or instruments are contrasted with a larger body of instruments.
The main body of instruments of the baroque period is the string section and a continuo instrument usually a harpsichord or organ plays the underlying harmony. The usual format for a concerto is three movements (a fast tempo movement followed firstly by a slow movement and then by another fast movement). Bach, in the main, followed these conventions in his Brandenburg concertos but varied the instrumental arrangements to produce six dazzling and unique compositions.
The first concerto has four movements instead of the usual three. However, the additional fourth movement, a stylish dance movement - a minuet, is often omitted from many recordings - not so in Menuhin's, the work remains just as it did when Bach presented his gift. The opening movement has a contagious sense of fun with rousing hunting horn calls carrying anyone and everyone along for the ride. Deep, sonorous bassoons create a wonderful rustic quality (rather than the pretty pastoral quality of many musical works depicting the countryside). The minuet rounding up the concerto creates an overall feeling of dazzling sophistication - how could anyone leave it out!!
The second concerto is completely different with an unexpected but delectable quartet of trumpet, recorder, oboe, and violin soloists set against the main body of strings and continuo. The third concerto is more conventional and straightforward using just three violins, three violas and three cellos with harpsichord and bass continuo. Each of the three instruments are given equal dominance and the music flows almost conversationally between rising to a boisterous bursts of energy.
In the fourth concerto, recorders are heard in the distance over the stringed accompaniment. The recorders, played by brothers Christopher and Richard Taylor (famous for playing flutes with the Beatles on Fool on the Hill and Magical Mystery Tour) with clarity and precision, exude an irresistible charm and sweetness. This is often considered to be the lightest and prettiest of the Brandenburg concertos - and probably is.
The harpsichord, normally playing continuo under the melody, suddenly rises to stunning solo prominence in the fifth. Played magnificently by George Malcolm, the effective is superlative. In the final Brandenburg concerto, Bach leaves out the violins (a unique action for a baroque composer), using lower strings only. Menuhin also takes the first viola leading the orchestra in a richness and profound sound that evoke a deep whirlwind-sensation of emotions.
The Marquis of Brandenburg may not have appreciated this, Bach's gift of six concertos, but I certainly do. Bach gave the world a gift to treasure for all time. Yehudi Menuhin, George Malcolm, Christopher and Richard Taylor and the rest of the Bath Festival Orchestra perform them with heart-felt passion.
It may not be the best recording available and I would have personally preferred more period instruments but it is good - very very good and at a budget price is excellent value.
The 2CD album is readily available at most good music shops and also online with a retail price of £8.99. Samples of each of the concertos is available on http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000000UUW/ref=sr_11_1/104-2152696-9047139?%5Fencoding=UTF8.
Lay back, listen and delight.
Now lets see if the café has that desert island category.
Advantages: Wonderful transcriptions of JS Bach's majestic music; sensitive, tender, vivacious, effortless and fluid playing. Disadvantages: Nil.
Her latest CD from EMI Classics, Bach/Works for Trumpet, already tops zerbine28's list for Classical CD of the Year. (I know, I know, it's only April as I post this, but that's how strongly I feel about this recording.)
Readers, if you please, do welcome young British trumpet player Alison Balsom, who now joins the ranks of Mssrs Miles Davis and Herb Alpert in my teeny-tiny list of favourite trumpeters. No, I never heard of her, either, before yesterday, when I first sampled her CD at the local Borders book and music shop.
Released just this past January, the CD is an absolute stunner. The title is a little misleading, because Johann Sebastian Bach never wrote pieces specifically for the instrument (discounting the BrandenburgConcerto No. 2, of course). Besides which, the trumpet in Bachs time ...
Advantages: Everything you could ever want from a classical CD Disadvantages: none
for Piano and Orchestra in A minor
Composed by Edvard Grieg
45. Boléro
Composed by Maurice Ravel
46. Fanfare for the Common Man
Composed by Aaron Copland
47. Die Walküre
Composed by Richard Wagner
48. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B flat minor
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
49. (6) BrandenburgConcertos
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
50. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in D minor
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
51. 1812
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
52. Symphony No. 9, 'Choral' in D minor
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
53. Carmen
Composed by Georges Bizet
54. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5, 'Emperor' in E flat
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
55. Pomp and Circumstance
Composed by Sir Edward Elgar ...
A cracking cd if you loooovvvveeeee clasical sounds like me I can't get enough!
Johann Pachelbel
Canon in D major for strings & continuo
Johann Sebastian Bach
Aria (Goldberg Variations, BWV 988)
Toccata und Fuge D minor, BWV565
BrandenburgConcerto No.3 BWV 1048: Allegro
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Adagio in G minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Adagio (Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major, K. 622)
Andante (Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K.467)
Lacrimosa (Requiem in D minor, K. 626)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegretto (Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral")
Adagio sostenuto (Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op.27 No. 2 -"Moonlight")
Allegro con brio (Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67)
Choral: Ode to Joy (Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125)
Samuel Barber
Adagio for Strings Op.11 ...