Brandenburg Flashcards
(10 cards)
Brandenburg Concerto
Bach,
1721,
Late Baroque,
Concerto Grosso, Group of Soloists.
Brandenburg Concerto Melody
Based on triadic and scalic ideas heard in the first few bars,
Start of B is A moved from D major to B minor,
Rippling quavers in B copied from bar 5,
Frequent use of sequences,
Trills e.g. 19,
Appoggiatura e.g. 149, mostly in B,
All instruments play melodic material.
Brandenburg Concerto Articluation
Suspensions e.g. 129-30,
Terraced dynamics.
Brandenburg Concerto Dynamics
Few dynamic markings,
Relies on texture changes,
Gradual Crescendos and diminuendos.
Brandenburg Concerto Tonality
Textures used to create contrast,
D major with modulation to A major in A,
B minor with modulations to A major and F# minor in B.
Brandenburg Concerto Structure
Ternary Form,
ABA,
A = 1-78 and 233-310,
Fugato,
Imitation,
B = 79-232,
Ritornello structure, episodes based on the first 4 notes.
De capo form.
Brandenburg Concerto Harmony
Simple diatonic chords,
Mainly triad root position or first inversion,
Dominant 7ths,
Frequent melodic decoration,
Tonic and dominant pedals in B e.g. 139,
Each section ends with a perfect cadence.
Brandenburg Concerto Instrumentation
Flute, violin and harpsichord are the solo instruments,
Harpsichord also plays the basso continuo, playing a figured bass, a bassline with harmonies shown as figures.
Basso also played by a bass instrument e.g. a cello.
Brandenburg Concerto Rhythm
Allegro (fast),
2/4 time (simple duple metre) but sounds like 6/8,
Triplets and dotted rhythms dominate,
Semiquavers in the harpsichord part.
Brandenburg Concerto Texture
Contrapuntal apart from bars 1 and 2,
Imitation in bar 64,
The double bass plays in unison with the cello,
Largely independent,
Flute and violin sometimes play in unison e.g. 33-34 or parallel 3rds e.g. 107-114.
A canon starts in 193.
