Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major Flashcards
What it a Concerto Grosso?
A concerto for two or more solo instruments with orchestral accompaniment.
What is a gigue?
Lively dance with a regular beat in compound duple time. Bach wrote this score in 2/4 but every bar is based on two groups of three quavers, which makes it feel like 6/8.
What is the concertino?
The solo instruments - Principal Violin, Flute, Harpsichord.
What is the ripeno?
The accompanying ‘orchestra’ of stringed instruments - Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass.
What is the basso continuo?
Made up of harpsichord, cello and double bass. Plays a mostly continuos bassline.
What are the 5 roles of the harpsichord?
Soloist, part of the continuo, realising figured bass, completing the harmony, directing the ensemble.
What is ‘figured bass’?
Numbers written below the LH notes of the harpsichord that indicate which chords the harpsichordist should play in their right hand.
What are features of the harpsichord part?
Very virtuosic, include fast scalic passages, trills in both hands and a cadenza.
What is the structure of the piece?
Ternary, ABA. The start is also a fugue.
What is a fugue?
A polyphonic work with strict rules that the composer must follow. Bach follows the rules of the fugue at the start, but then modifies them. A fugue starts with the subject in one instrument, followed by the answer in the other.
What is the structure of the piece?
Almost entirely polyphonic or contrapuntal with several lines of melody interweaving. The first two bars are monophonic. Can also be described as a fugue.
How are the melody lines very typical of baroque?
They include lots of sequences, scalic passages and ornaments.
What is the tonality of the piece?
D major but the B section is the the relative minor B minor.
What is a feature of the B section?
Several pedal notes (sustained notes or repeated notes) played in lower instruments.
What are terraced dynamics?
No crecendos or diminuendos only loud and soft. He uses virtually no dynamics, only alternations between solo instruments/ full intstrumentation to create loud and soft passages.
