J S Bach: 3rd Movement from Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D major Flashcards
Brandenburg: Rhythm, metre, tempo
- 2/4 single duple time (feels like compound due to triplets) - Triplets
- Demisemiquaver triplets
- Sixteenth note runs
- Pauses
- Rhythmic fragments
- Ritardano (played, not scored)
Brandenburg: Tonality
Closely related keys (due to ‘rules’ of Baroque)
A:
- D major
B:
- b (relative) minor
- f# minor
- A major
- e minor
A1:
- D major
Brandenburg: Timbre (Instrumentation/Orchestration)
- Concerto Grosso (Concertino and ripieno)
- Concertino: Solo violin, solo flute, solo harphsichord
- Ripieno: Violin, viola, cello, double bass, Harpsichord
- (Harpsichord serves double role as solo and basso continuo)
Brandenburg: Melody
- Short monophonic melody in subject
- Conjunct, Fugato style
- Scalic runs
- Triadic melodic flourishes
- Melodic and decorated sequences
- Call and response
- Minor and major transformations of first subject
- Stretto
- Fragmentation of subject
- Ornamentations
Brandenburg: Harmony
- Functional harmony and diatonic chords
- Perfect cadences
- In thirds and tenths
- Harmony in traids
- Chromatic bass
- Doubling
- Tonic pedal and dominant pedal (B section)
- Suspensions
- Circle of fifths
Brandenburg: Structure
- A A1 B A (Ternary)
- Riternello form in B section (little returns of the theme)
- B section - motivic development of main theme
Brandenburg: Articulation
- Terraced dynamics by varying texture of ripieno
- Trills on harpsichord
- Ties on triplets
- Appoggiaturas
- Legato section in the B section
- Acciacaturas
- Upper mordents
Brandenburg: Texture
- Monophonic for first four bars (Alliteration skills right there)
- Contrapuntal
- Fugal/fugatto elements but NOT a fugue
- Doubling solo instruments with accomp.
- Tutti
- Mainly polyphonic
- Stretto (Subject in canon)
- Imitation
Brandenburg: Genre/period features
BAROQUE ERA:
- Composed 1721
- Concerto Grosso
- 3rd movement is the fastest
- In the style of a gigue
- Performed in courts
- Baroque pitch (Semi-tone lower)
- Terraced dynamcis
- Functional harmony
- Heavy (over-the-top ornamentation)
Brandenburg: Main theme
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Why is the harpsichord part in Brandenburg so unusual?
While a harpsichord was a common feature of baroque music, it was uncommon for it to feature as a solo part. It was usually the basso continuo. (In this, the RH part plays solo and LH plays continuo)
What is a figured bass?
The little numbers on the harpsichord part. The harmonies would not be scored in and so the player would have to ‘realise’ them themselves
Why could the harpsichord player in Bach be considered virtuosic?
They have a lots of scalic passages and semi-quavers aswell as lots of ornamentation
Why are the dynamics in Brandenburg terraced?
They are terraced dynamics. This means it can be loud or quiet with no gradual changes. This is because of the fact that harpsichords weren’t able to express dynamics only loud/quiet
Dynamics were also varied by adding/removing instruments
What is an extended cadenza?
An unaccompanied solo part (In Brandenburg, the harpsichord has this in the B section)
