Brandenburg Flashcards
Brandenburg Concerto
Bach,
1721,
Late Baroque,
Concerto Grosso, Group of Soloists.
Brandenburg Concerto Melody
Based on triadic and scalic ideas heard in the first few bars,
Start of B is A moved from D major to B minor,
Rippling quavers in B copied from bar 5,
Frequent use of sequences,
Trills e.g. 19,
Appoggiatura e.g. 149, mostly in B,
All instruments play melodic material.
Brandenburg Concerto Articluation
Suspensions e.g. 129-30,
Terraced dynamics.
Brandenburg Concerto Dynamics
Few dynamic markings,
Relies on texture changes,
Gradual Crescendos and diminuendos.
Brandenburg Concerto Tonality
Textures used to create contrast,
D major with modulation to A major in A,
B minor with modulations to A major and F# minor in B.
Brandenburg Concerto Structure
Ternary Form,
ABA,
A = 1-78 and 233-310,
Fugato,
Imitation,
B = 79-232,
Ritornello structure, episodes based on the first 4 notes.
De capo form.
Brandenburg Concerto Harmony
Simple diatonic chords,
Mainly triad root position or first inversion,
Dominant 7ths,
Frequent melodic decoration,
Tonic and dominant pedals in B e.g. 139,
Each section ends with a perfect cadence.
Brandenburg Concerto Instrumentation
Flute, violin and harpsichord are the solo instruments,
Harpsichord also plays the basso continuo, playing a figured bass, a bassline with harmonies shown as figures.
Basso also played by a bass instrument e.g. a cello.
Brandenburg Concerto Rhythm
Allegro (fast),
2/4 time (simple duple metre) but sounds like 6/8,
Triplets and dotted rhythms dominate,
Semiquavers in the harpsichord part.
Brandenburg Concerto Texture
Contrapuntal apart from bars 1 and 2,
Imitation in bar 64,
The double bass plays in unison with the cello,
Largely independent,
Flute and violin sometimes play in unison e.g. 33-34 or parallel 3rds e.g. 107-114.
A canon starts in 193.
