“Few musical works are as loved--and as often performed--as the six "Brandenburg" Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach”(npr). The full title of the piece, by Johann Sebastian Bach, on autograph score is “Concerto 3zo a tre Violini, tre Viole, è tre Violoncelli col Basso per il Cembalo.” Bach wrote the piece in 1718, but its first publication was in 1851. This section of the six orchestral pieces composed by him is the only one with a more conservative musical design. This piece exemplifies the period that it’s from because it
“…is the absolutely equal division of parts between the three groups of strings, sometimes combining to play the ripieno in unison and at other times, holding a varied and musical dialogue among themselves. Very rarely does one of the individual parts actually play solo. On the other hand, at the conclusion of a major division, the entire ensemble is massed in octaves on a single phrase - a device which Bach borrowed from Vivaldi, sort of a musical equivalent of the Shakespearean rhyming couplet marking the end of a scene or act.”(Ink) …show more content…
Given these instruments, the piece has a clear melodic outline and a clarified harmony. Quoting from allmusic.com on the piece, “The Concerto No. 3 in G major may have been written while Bach was at Weimar, given that it (along with Nos. 1 and 6) is reminiscent of the Italian concerto, a genre with which Bach was fascinated at the time. The motoric rhythm, clear melodic outline, and motivic construction owe a lot to the comparable works of Vivaldi, but the clarified harmony and more interesting counterpoint are unmistakably
“…is the absolutely equal division of parts between the three groups of strings, sometimes combining to play the ripieno in unison and at other times, holding a varied and musical dialogue among themselves. Very rarely does one of the individual parts actually play solo. On the other hand, at the conclusion of a major division, the entire ensemble is massed in octaves on a single phrase - a device which Bach borrowed from Vivaldi, sort of a musical equivalent of the Shakespearean rhyming couplet marking the end of a scene or act.”(Ink) …show more content…
Given these instruments, the piece has a clear melodic outline and a clarified harmony. Quoting from allmusic.com on the piece, “The Concerto No. 3 in G major may have been written while Bach was at Weimar, given that it (along with Nos. 1 and 6) is reminiscent of the Italian concerto, a genre with which Bach was fascinated at the time. The motoric rhythm, clear melodic outline, and motivic construction owe a lot to the comparable works of Vivaldi, but the clarified harmony and more interesting counterpoint are unmistakably