Johann_Sebastian_Bach's_Brandenburg_Concerto_No._2

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on March 21st, 1865. His family name had a very wide reputation for musical talent with his father being the court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach and director of the musicians of the town of Eisenach. During his early years, Johann Sebastian was taught to play the violin, the harpsichord by his father and the organ by his famous uncle. Sebastian was a very willing pupil and quickly became very skilled with these instruments. He was also described as having 'an uncommonly fine treble voice'. At a very young age, Johann Sebastian lost a sister and a brother. When he was only 9 years old, his mother passed away and less then 10 months later, his father passed away. This was not uncommon because sewage and germ disposal was not organised. Johann Sebastian lived with his brother who was a great teacher and taught him to master all the pieces he was taught. His excellent soprano voice also found him a place in the choir of the wealthy at Lüneburg, which was known to provide a free place for boys who were poor but had musical talent. He joined and moved through many choirs throughout his life. J.S Bach wrote: works for voice, works for organ, works for harpsichord, works for miscellaneous solo instruments, works for (obligato) harpsichord and other instruments, concertos, orchestral suites, and canons just to name a few. Bach's most famous works include, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Magnificent, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English and French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, organ works, and the Brandenburg concertos. J.S Bach wrote 6 Brandenburg Concertos which are all considered to be masterpieces. The piece I have been given to study is the Brandenburg Concerto number 2, one of greatest works. The Brandenburg Concerto number 2 was composed in 1721. It is a concerto grosso featuring four prominent instruments: the trumpet, recorder, oboe, and violin all against a stable foundation of strings and continuo. There are many ways pitch can be described within this piece. It can be said that this piece has a very wavy contour, has long phrases and a large range between harmonies. Tone Color and Pitch in this piece intersect when it comes to talking about ornaments and harmonies. For example, ornaments such as trills, grace notes, mordents and turns are used quite often in most sections of the piece. These create a more rigid and colorful tone and for harmonies to build upon. The texture in the Brandenburg Concerto 2 is very creative. Some sections of the piece have thick density while other sections have a thin density. Because this piece is a concerto grosso, there are some sections where the ripieno isn’t even playing leaving a thin density because the concertino or solo instruments are the only instruments playing. Parts of the piece have call and response, imitation and parallel harmonies where the instruments will start repeating a previous section but separate into a melody which is seemingly accompanied by itself for several beats. The duration of the Brandenburg Concerto number 2 is usually about 12 minutes long but this movement goes for just over 5 minutes. The beats move in crotchets often accelerating from allegretto to vivace and in some sections, presto. The time signature for this piece is 4-4 leaving it fairly simple to follow. The lengths of the notes in this piece are generally short because the song is very lively and fast paced. There is a lot that can be explored about the dynamics and expressive techniques in this piece. Firstly, the mood of song changes very often. For the most part it seems to be a lively song full of joy with tutti outbursts from the string section. But other sections slow down in tempo and play at mezzo piano with a soft melody creating a part full of emotion, only to accelerate again to the usual lively piece it is while concertino instruments play individual solos and create harmonies from each other. The Brandenburg Concerto number 2 is a concerto grosso. This is characterized by the contrast between a small group of soloists and a larger orchestra. In this piece, the concertino consists of a trumpet, a recorder, an oboe and a violin. In the first section of the song there are 8 bars of ritornello, 2 bars of violin solo, 2 bars of ritornello, 2 bars of oboe solo, 2 bars of ritornello, 2 bars of a recorder solo and then a recorded ritornello. (USE EXAMPLE !) As shown in the first section of the piece, the instruments create a melody, solo off the melody, and join back to the ritornello. In bar 15, the key changes from the tonic key to the dominant key which means; if the piece was played in F Major, in bar 15 the key would go from F, the tonic key, to C, the dominant key. It is plain to see why this piece is one of Bach’s masterpieces. Many of the techniques he used in his pieces are often used in modern day pop, rock and metal songs. Thankyou. (BOOM !) AudioSparx 1996-2010 Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (1st Movement). Retrieved 3rd March, 2010 from: http://www.audiosparx.com/sa/summary/play.cfm/sound_iid.246579 Music Files Ltd. 1999-2010 Johann Sebastian Bach – an overview of the classic composer. Retrieved 4th March, 2010 from: http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Johann-Sebastian-Bach.htm Baroque Composers and Musicians. Retrieved 7th March, 2010 from: http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html#EI A Timeline of J.S Bach’s Life. Retrieved 7th March, 2010 from: http://www.pacem-music.org/bachbminor/bbmLIFETIMELINE.pdf Last.fm Ltd. 2010 Johann Sebastian Bach. Retrieved 7th March, 2010 from: http://www.last.fm/music/johann+sebastian+bach