JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

 

Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6

BWV 1046-1051

 

Il Giardino Armonico

Giovanni Antonini

 

When Bach arrived at Cothen in December 1717, he assumed Kapellmeister responsibilities that, for the only time in his life, required nothing from him in the way of church music.  His new employer, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, was a keen amateur musician and a capable bass singer also able to play the violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord.  By the time of Bach’s arrival the court orchestra boasted 18 players, plus the musical prince and Bach himself.

 

The orchestral cornerstone of Bach’s Cöthen years is a collection of six so-called Brandenburg Concertos assembled, as the result of a “command” from Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. The concertos make demands far in excess of the modest musical resources of the Margrave’s own musical establishment in Berlin. It is therefore likely that the composer intended them to be played by the excellent band at Cothen.

 

In each of these pieces, we witness a musician absorbed in and inspired by the almost infinitely varied possibilities afforded by concerto principles laid down by Italian composers, developed thereafter in Italy, and quickly disseminated throughout Europe.

 

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