brandenburg concerto

Question 1

Type of music

Answer 1

secular,(non religious), chamber music, baroque, fugal/contrapuntal composition
- 1711

Question 2

performance and instruments

Answer 2

• extended virtuoso solo part for harpsichord (scalic runs, both hands playing trills)
• Harpsichord only occasionally plays continuo chords
• ripieno only has one violin part
• concertino consist of flute, violin and harpsichord
• TECHNICALLY a concerto grosso

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

Ternary structure A B A

Question 4

Texture

Answer 4

• The texture is polyphonic/contrapuntal (i.e. contains several independent melodic strands
  sounding together).
• The movement begins in fugal style. A fugue is a complicated piece which uses imitation
  almost throughout.
• This piece is not an actual fugue, but uses fugal characteristics (the
  opening four bars are a good example).
• The subject (main theme first statement) in the solo violin is followed by an answer in the
  flute at a distance of two bars. We now have two-part imitation.
• There are then four additional bars before the harpsichord left hand enters with the subject,
  which is then answered two bars later by the right hand.
• The harpsichord plays in two-part counterpoint.
• Once both hands are playing, the music is in four-part counterpoint.
• Occasionally the flute and violin play in thirds. The harpsichord also does this.
• When the ripieno is playing, the flute and violin sometimes double each other in unison (e.g.
  bar 33).
• The bass line for the new middle section theme has a tonic pedal on B.

Question 5

Melody

Answer 5

• Much of the music is in conjunct (stepwise) style (e.g. bar 2), though there are leaps (e.g.
  fourths in bar 1).
• Often the conjunct music is extended to scalic runs, especially in the harpsichord part.
• There is a rising sequence at bar 137 (same short phrase repeated several times, going up
  one note each time).
• There are occasional ornaments, with trills (e.g. bar 19) in the harpsichord part.
• There are appoggiaturas in the main middle section theme when it returns in A major (e.g.
  bar 148).

Question 6

Tonality

Answer 6

• The music is in D major.
• This key is used for most of the two A sections.
• The B section modulates to the dominant (A major) and relative minor (B minor).
• The music is diatonic.

Question 7

Harmony

Answer 7

• The harmony uses the standard chords of the time (i.e. predominantly chords I, IV and V,
• with occasional use of II and VI), including dominant sevenths in various inversions.
• The harmony is functional.
• The harmony uses mainly root position and first inversion chords.
• Perfect cadences announce the ends of sections.
• Suspensions are used occasionally (i.e. 9–8 suspension at bar 130).

Question 8

Tempo, metre and rhythm

Answer 8

• The metre is 2/4, duple time – two beats to the bar – but the music could also be notated in
• 6/8 compound time. It is essentially a Baroque gigue (a dance in compound duple time).
• It uses triplets and dotted rhythm throughout.
• The dotted quaver-semiquaver grouping (as in the first bar) would have been performed in
• triplet rhythm – so the dotted quaver would be two-thirds of a beat, and the semiquaver
• would be one-third of a beat.
• The harpsichord part in particular has many semiquaver runs.