Brandenburg Concerto no.

3: A Step Away from the Traditional

Concerto
MUS 301
Ben Mesches
While many of his contemporaries may have been more famous for
their compositions during the span of his life (he was much more famous for
his work as an organist than he was for his composition), Johann Sebastian
Bach carved out a legacy that puts him in the top tier of composers
throughout music history. Bach is famous for his compositional work in many
genres. He wrote great pieces for keyboard, orchestra, and vocals alike and,
in that respect, is one of the most versatile composers who ever lived. His
work became the basis for much of music theory and his influence lives on
today both through his music and through what can be learned from it from a
theoretical standpoint. Its truly a shame that many of Bachs compositions
went virtually (and in some cases literally) un-played during his lifetime and
the 100 years following his death, but the wealth of musical material that he
produced eventually made its way into the public eye and greatly benefitted
the world of western music.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 (Wolff). He was the
fifth and final child in a fairly musical family. He grew up learning music from
his father (who was a court musician) and from his uncle, the organist for the
local church. He was well educated throughout his childhood, attending
schools in his home town of Eisenach, in Ohrdruf where his brother lived, and
in Luneburg. When his parents died, he moved to Ohrdruf to live with his

brother. While he was there, he studied organ under his brother who was
being taught by Pachelbel at the time (Wolff). After he finished his studies,
Bach found work as an organist at Arnstadt. Unfortunately, the musicians
there were not up to his standards and he had many conflicts both with them
and with those who were in charge of the church. He soon found himself in a
new job in Mhlhausen. There he played organ and his abilities began to
become very well known. He was invited to play in the court of the Duke of
Weimar and he finally found a job where he was able to flourish. His playing
duties were relatively light and he received a great salary. This allowed him
to focus more heavily on writing. Many of his organ works were written
during his time in Weimar (Wolff). Again, Bach ended up thumbing his nose
at authority, and, again, he ended up finding a new job. This time he moved
to Cthen. Here he found one of the happiest work relationships that he
would have in his whole career. The noble in charge of Cthen was a young
man named Prince Leopold. Leopold was a musician himself and had a good
understanding of what went into the preparation and performance of
beautiful music. Bach was the second highest paid official in the court, and,
with Leopolds blessing, built an 18 man orchestra that really gave him the
opportunity to experiment with his composition (Chee). Bachs time in
Cthen helped facilitate the writing of some of his best works. For example,
while on a trip to Berlin with Prince Leopold, Bach made the acquaintance of
one Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg.

The Brandenburg Concertos are some of Bachs best known

instrumental works. After meeting the Margrave of Brandenburg in Berlin,
Bach played the organ for him and promised him that he would send him
some of his compositional work. Meanwhile, Bachs employer Prince Leopold
got married to a woman who didnt much like music and created a division
between her husband and Bach. Soon, Bach found himself looking for a new
place of work and remembered his promise to the Margrave. He put together
a few pieces that he had written both during his time at Cthen and the tail
end of his time in the court at Weimar to send to Brandenburg (Wolff).
Despite the fact that the performance forces at Brandenburg were too small
to actually perform any of them, these pieces would become some of the
best examples of concerti grossi.
The Brandenburg Concertos were an important step in the history of
music for several reasons. He takes the model for the concerto grosso that
was established by people like Vivaldi and tweaks it in certain ways that
make it very much his own. Most concerti grossi, used nuances of texture,
tone coloration and novel figurations to contrast the ensembles ritornello
and the solo episodes, (Gutmann) however, Bach does something different.
Rather than trying to create a contrast between the tutti sections and the
concertino sections, he does everything he can to blend them. As a matter of
fact, Brandenburg Concertos no. 3 and no. 6 dont really have any
distinguishable solis at any point. Bachs choice to write in that way is ahead
of its time. Most orchestral and chamber music of the time was being written
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in either the solo concerto or the concerto grosso format with definite
distinctions between the solo sections and the tutti ritornello sections.
Between the Baroque and the Classical period, the transition was made
between the concerto as the main orchestral genre for expressing emotion
and the symphony in that role. I would argue that Bachs choice to blend the
ritornello with the solo sections in the Brandenburg Concertos makes them a
direct precursor to the symphony and its rise to dominance.
The Brandenburg Concerto I find most interesting for the
aforementioned reasons is probably no. 3. Texturally, it is a much more
interesting and complex piece than other concerti grossi of its time. It
creates contrast between sections not by having tutti and concertino parts,
but by having interplay between each of the several instruments. Bach wrote
this piece for three violins, three violas, three cellos, and basso continuo.
Other than the fact that the piece really isnt a concerto grosso in terms of
the tutti vs. concertino structure that most works in the genre follow, it
certainly follows many of the conventions of other pieces of its time.
In the first movement of the piece, Bach starts out with a ritornello that
is very much within the style of the Baroque concerto. The playful, allegro
feel is similar to that of the first movement of Vivaldis Spring. Bach
establishes a rhythmic motive early on that involves two 16th notes and an
eighth note. This motive is used throughout the entire movement and really
gives a strong sense of unity (even after the key changes). Another
interesting choice that Bach makes early on in the ritornello is illustrated in
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the first violin starting on beat four of measure five and continuing through
the end of measure six. In order to build tension, the violin plays a 16th note
passage that alternates between an ascending scalar line and a G, and then
another ascending line and a B. The dissonances created in this short part of
the phrase really propel the piece forward and create a sense of urgency and
emotion. This technique and the use of a short-short-long rhythmic motive
are two compositional choices that Ive noticed a lot in Baroque music
(especially in ritornellos), and Bach definitely uses them quite a bit in this
piece.
While those are two things that make the first movement of concerto
no. 3 very Baroque, there are definitely things that make it different from
most other concerti. Its very structured in terms of groupings of instruments.
The violins are a unit, the violas are a unit, and the cellos are a unit. For the
purpose of this paper, Ill be referring to those units as groups or sections.
The three groups cover their respective ranges and really dont have much
overlap when it comes to pitch. Rather than having a noticeable solo
instrument or grouping for any length of time (or in any way similar to the
usual concertino section), Bach chooses to alternate quickly between having
the bulk of the melody heard from different instruments and having a
mixture between the different groupings of instruments. For example, in
measures 24 and 25, first violin and first viola are playing 16th note parts
with a lot of scalar movement in them while the rest of the instruments
accompany them. However, if you look at measure 29, youll see that each
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section is back to playing almost exactly the same thing together. By

alternating like that, Bach maintains interest in whats going on while also
giving different instruments short parts that stand out a little bit from
everything else. While there are very few parts where its clear that certain
instruments are accompanying there are definitely parts where one
instrument or section is taking the lead on the melody.
Additionally, something that is interesting about this first movement is
that despite the Baroque obsession with the outer voices, both the viola and
the cello carry the melody at several points throughout this piece. It is true
that the violins get a lot of the melody, but listening to this piece while
looking at the score, I was surprised to see how much the violas and cello
had it as well. They spend so much time with the melody because, in order
for there to be real contrast in terms of texture, the melody has to jump
around between the various sections. This is an effect that is very effective,
but definitely a little bit surprising to find in a Baroque piece.
The second movement of this piece is by far the most enigmatic thing
about it. Bach chose to simply write out an orchestrated Phrygian cadence.
Two half notes are all that are written for the movement. Performing forces
have interpreted this choice in several different ways. According to Malcolm
Boyd,
Some conductors (though not many nowadays) solemnly play
the two chords unadorned, just as they stand in the score. Others
insert a movement from another Bach work, the third movement
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of the G major Violin Sonata, BWV 1021, and the second of the G
major Organ Sonata, BWV 530, being among those most
favoured. A solution more often adopted is to precede the two
chords with an improvisatory few bars on a chord progression
such as that which Handel provided for the ad libitum fourth
movement of his Organ Concerto in A major, HWV 296a, (Boyd
81).
However, from a historical standpoint, its an interesting subject. It would
seem unlikely that Bach would choose to leave an entire movement of his
piece up to the performers. Bach isnt alone in having an entire movement
be one cadence either. Corelli and other Baroque composers did the same at
times (Gutmann). This really leads to two possibilities. One is that he meant
for the cadence to be played as it is and the other is that he meant for the
performers to improvise the movement and end with the cadence. While any
comment I make on which one I think it is would be pure conjecture, I can
say that, after listening to recordings of it played both ways, I like the
improvised versions better so long as they dont feature the harpsichord as a
solo instrument. That was the one interpretation that I really disliked because
it doesnt fit with the rest of the piece at all.
The third movement of this piece contrasts greatly with the first one. It
is similar in terms of tempo, but its in 12/8 and has 16th notes happening at
almost all times. It feels like a huge rush to the end of the concerto. This
change is actually something that really strengthens the techniques that
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Bach used in the first movement. The constant 16th notes make the
constantly changing texture much easier to hear than in the first movement.
The entire thing sounds less cluttered and the instruments taking the lead
are much easier to hear. Where the first movement was all about interlocking
parts and playing with the texture that way, this one definitely puts more
emphasis on the sound of the 16th notes moving around through different
instruments. Instead of using a more melodic approach like the first
movement does, the third movement is entirely based on texture. It has a
simple binary form that Bach usually reserved for suites, and both sections
maintain the same rhythmic pattern (Boyd 82). The two sections are really
defined by the harmonic choices Bach made. In the A section, he moves from
A to D. He then goes on to move from D to e to b to C and finally back to G.
Like in the first movement, everything in this one is held together and unified
through the use of a rhythmic motive.
The overall form of the piece is