Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D major - Johann Sebastian Bach Flashcards
Which bars are Section A (part1) comprised of?
bars 1-78
What is the speed of the piece?
Allegro - fast.
What key is Section A in?
The tonic, D major. It often modulates to the dominant - A major (e.g. bar 12) and the dominant of the dominant - E major.
How does section A begin (style)?
In a fugal style. A fugue is a complicated piece which uses lots of imitation throughout. It is not an ACTUAL FUGUE, but uses fugal techniques.
What is this piece (instruments)?
A Concerto Grosso - a group of soloists (a concertino) and a main body of accompanying instruments (a ripieno).
The concertino is comprised of a solo flute, a solo violin and the harpsichord.
The ripieno is comprised of a ripieno violin, a ripieno viola, a cello and a double bass.
What is the texture in bar 9?
a 4-part counter part with the solo instruments.
Which instruments are the first to enter in the piece?
the solo flute and the solo violin - bars 1-8 , playing in a two part imitation, the violin being the subject and the flute, the answer a 4th higher.
What is the role of the harpsichord in this piece?
- soloist
- accompanist
- plays basso continuo - the bass - only plays it sometimes e.g. 79-85
Describe the rhythm in section A of the piece.
- triplets - e.g. bar 2
- dotted rhythms - e.g. bar 1
What elements at the start of the piece make it sound lively?
- triplets - give it a 6/8 gigue feel
- dotted rhythms
- create a cheerful mood in the style of a jig
What is a gigue?
A baroque dance.
Describe the melody in section A.
- stepwise conjunct melody - bar 15 (harpsichord)
- some leaps of perfect 5ths - bar 3 - D-A
- scalic runs (notes going up and down a scale) - bar 15
- rising passages - bar 82
- stretto - 64-67 and 220-225
- dialogue (imitation between the violin and flute)
- flute and violin sometimes double in unison - bar 37
- ripieno strings- subject and answer - bar 29
- flute and violin sometimes play in 3rds
- trills - bar 19
What are the ornaments played in this piece?
- trills - harpsichord - bar 19
- appoggiatura - bar 90
What is the time signature throughout this piece?
simple, duple time : 2/4
How do the flute and violin play?
in 3rds - the harpsichord also does this in bars 18-24.
What rhythm does the harpsichord use?
sextuplet semiquavers - bar 15 and scalic passages (right and left hand) - bars 58-61
What is the texture?
The texture is mainly contrapuntal and polyphonic- but the piece does have regions which are more homophonic.
What is the texture in bars 10-29?
4-part counterpoint
What is the texture bar 29 onwards?
tutti - the entire ensemble playing, polyphonic.
What are the ripieno strings playing in bar 29?
subject and answer
What are the standard baroque chords?
I, IV AND V -> occasionally ii + vi including V7 (dominant 7th) chords -> mainly in root/1st inv.
What does the harpsichord have on its score?
figured bass (numbers) which help the harpsichordist to realise/ improvise, e.g. bars 29-36
The flute and the violin often double each other in unison. Give an example of this.
bar 37.
What features are there in Section A which heighten the tension?
stretto- at the end of section a (part1) - 64-67 and at the end of section b when section a (part2) is about to return - 220-225. this makes a thick, contrapuntal and polyphonic texture to heighten the tension and climax.