Preview

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
656 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 Essay
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no.5

Overview:
This baroque concerto is composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous baroque composer of his time. This work is the fifth of six concertos the composer dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. This piece showcases Bach's inimitable strength as a contrapuntist. Bach’s music has flexibility in its form and influence, but still retaining the constraints of the form of baroque music. He blended Italian and German music in these concertos, giving them a distinctive touch. This fifth concerto is made distinctive by the flute, solo violin, harpsichord, and strings. It is the only one of the six pieces to have any solo given to the harpsichord, which is part of the continuo throughout
…show more content…
There are three movements in this piece itself.
The first movement started with a lively and upbeat melody. A cadenza was featured in the first movement. The harpsichord is given a very important part as both a solo and the bass part. The harpsichord also seemed to be holding the piece together, supporting the other instruments. In the second part of the first movement, there are episodes whereby the other instruments gave their limelight to the harpsichord. At the end of the movement, the other soloists actually supported the free-flowing harpsichord line. The unique thing about this movement is the tension felt between all the solo instruments and the string ensemble.
Beauty and elegance is what the second movement is all about. The sound of the harpsichord is heard in the beginning of the second movement, followed by the flute and violin soloists. The second movement is for the soloists only, the flute, violin and harpsichord all playing with a sense of cooperation, portraying sombreness. It is soothing and free of the first movement’s tension.
The final movement is brief compared to the first movement. This movement is more like a dance, enchanting and cheerful with the influence of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The first movement opens quietly with lyrical cello theme over piano accompaniment which is followed by a series of elaborate transformations.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The six Brandenburg concertos were dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. Each of the six concerti is distinct and can stand alone from one another as individual pieces, not to be seen as a set of works to some respect. Hearing the 5th concerto in comparison from the rest shows us clearly that Bach was a brilliant contrapuntist.…

    • 59 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first movement of the composition begins with a solo from only the strings family. A soft, consistent melody is played and the violin dominates the other instruments in this piece. The tone color at the beginning of this piece is relatively light which symbolizes the characteristics of a nuturing mother. As expected from a classical piece, the dynamics of the piece suddenly change, and there is a slight crescendo in the piece during the following measures of the composition. The tempo of the composition grows quicker in pace which portrays another chapter in the story, signalizng another movement of the piece. A violinist them performs a solo that plays alot that is also quick, yet play alot on the concept of pitch. It can be heard that the violin goes from very low ranges to fairly high range in pitch to emphasize the great amount of emotion in the piece.…

    • 560 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is written for a five stringed cello. The Prelude of the D major prelude is the longest and grandest of the 6. It is an exuberant fast flowing introduction into D major. It is one of the only two movements Bach indicated dynamic. Bars are frequently written in repeated pairs, the first one strong, and the second one is an echo of the former one. The only other movement in the 6 cello Suites that has dynamic markings is the Sarabande in D minor. The Allemande is a German dance. The meter is 4/4, a calm walking dance without jumps. Courante is a French dance, was the favorite dance of King Lous XIV and he is said to have been very good at it. Allemande and Courante formed a pair, in which the Allemande is the calmer dance in 4, the courante the faster dance in 3. The Sarabande has its orgin in Spain. It is a slow majestic processional dance in ¾ or 3/2 with an accent on the 2nd beat and the first. In Suite 6 the Sarabande movement is in 3/2. All Sarabandes starts on the first beat. The Sarabande has two main accents, on beat one and on beat two and the third beat has no accent. The Gavottes are in 2/2 or 4/4 and all start with an upbeat of 2/4. The main accent is on beat one and the other accent is on beat three. Even if it is sometimes written in 4/4, the feeling is 2/2. Beat two and four have an upbeat character and no accent of their own. The micro-dynamic units are usually one bar. The first Gavotte is joyous…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first movement of this piece was very atonal and unpredictable, with rapid tempo changes. This is attributed…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rhodes College Orchestra began the evening with the Palladio by Karl Jenkins. The Palladio had three different movements. The first movement, the Allegretto, started steadily with the double bass, violoncello, and viola. Then, the tempo became faster and the music more intense, with firm bow strokes from the violin. Throughout most of the movement the rhythm was fast, though there were a few measures where the rhythm slows gradually, but only lasting briefly before it revives again. Towards the end, the mood became lighter and more cheerful, leading the piece to a strong and bold ending. The second movement, the Largo, began quietly. The tempo was slow throughout this movement. The melody was quiet during most of the movement, thus making the vibrato more prominent. The music was loud at the center of the movement, but started to get slower and quieter when approaching the end, letting the ending gently fade out. The third movement, the Vivace, was loud and had a very fast tempo. Towards the midpoint the melody changed and became slow with a melody slightly similar to Largo but faster and more joyful. Then, the melody shifted and became a lot like…

    • 868 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Concerto Grosso Analysis

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Because of the influence on Bach from composers such as Corelli who helped cement the concerto grosso, it is evident in Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos that characteristic elements are stylistic of both composers. Some of these things that can be found in both Bach’s and Corelli’s compositions included: the cycle of 5ths chord progression, the resemblance between Bach’s concertino passages and Corelli’s trio sonatas, use of imitation and the strong sense of tonality through the use of sequences. However, The Brandenburg Concertos include many unique elements by Bach that separated his works from other composers such as Corelli and Handel and in a way separating himself from the restraints of Baroque style. Brandenburg No. 2 is more modern and sophisticated. In movement 1 Bach includes a trumpet. His addition of the trumpet contrasts to the instrumentation of concertos by other composers like Corelli who preferred strings. Bach also included six subjects, modulations in the episodes which convey the virtuosity of the concertino soloists, and the use of stretto (form of polyphony where voices overlap). In the 2nd movement he reduced the size of the orchestra by taking away the trumpet leaving three concertino instruments plus continuo. Bach’s complex construction of this movement sets him apart from other composers. There is not a set form however he utilises polyphony, imitation and call and response between instruments. The use of tierce de picardi gave a uniqueness to the 2nd…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This movement for the most part seems calm and peaceful. It seems to have two parts prior to the middle of this movement. The first part has cellos and violas and the second part has clarinets. Then the full orchestra plays. Once you get to the middle of this movement you can hear the woodwinds play. At the end of this movement it seems to go back to the main melody theme played by the full orchestra.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The famous main melody, introduced after a few counts of quarter notes from the lower instruments, is played and repeated by the upper instruments three times with slight changes each time. During this melody, it can be difficult to play the notes short and precise while maintaining the delicacy. It then completely shifts to a moving section with chromatic eighth notes from the upper instruments that through crescendo and decrescendo with the lower instruments playing an interesting part in between repetitions. Eventually, it switches back to the main melody until the song ends with a rich long tone from the lower…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Johann Sebastian Bach in my opinion was one of the best composers in the Baroque era. Sebastian had many complex songs. He was considered a master of polyphonic music. He knew how to blend the different voices together and how to make them both distinct.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mock Concert Essay

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The piece begins softly with a lot of allegro feel. The violin strokes are airy and this seems to be a prominent part for the piece. It seems to be a fairly decent sized orchestra preforming this piece and they all seem fairly lively. The podium seems to have a soloist as well as a conductor, but the conductor is playing along with the soloist. This is an interesting technique, but it seems to fit the piece perfectly and it adds a unique perspective which seems to attract the audience’s attention to this movement. It’s extremely balanced between the woodwinds and the strings. It picks up and gets extremely lively almost out of nowhere but it keeps the same feel and emotion throughout the change. I feel like this pattern…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johann’s 48 sets of Preludes and Fugues is one of the important bases of Western art music, covering all 24 major and minor keys each, twice.“A fugue is a style of musical composition where a Theme (melody) is introduced, and then repeated in one or more other voices. This is in contrast to modern songs which have a melody, usually sung or played by one voice, chords, and rhythm.” Bach's preludes and fugues for keyboard are one of the important music of western classical…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lark Ascending Analysis

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To introduce the piece two cadenzas inspired by the same melody are performed over a continuous subtle harmony. The piece begins with sustained chords between the string instruments and wind instruments. This gives a relaxed effortless tone to the piece and resembles the calmness and tranquillity of a spring day in England. The violin then enters imitating the lark. The violin plays an ascending pattern with elongated arpeggios. The chords underneath drop out so the violin plays a solo introducing the first theme. The orchestra is quietly introduced and develops the almost folk like motif. A folk dance theme is then introduced led by the clarinet and flute and woodwinds as the solo cadenza is repeated. The full orchestra then comes in however it is still fairly restrained to imitate the English countryside. There is antiphonal exchange between the solo violin playing a trill and then the woodwinds imitating the bird like call. This is followed by the solo violin playing a series of cadenzas over the orchestra which could represent the lark flying over the countryside and rolling hills. The shorter cadenza for the soloist is fairly contrasting in comparison to the rest of the piece. There are two separate melodies competing with one another yet also mimicking each other. There is…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    * The soprano (Violin 1) and bass lines are very important in the Baroque period. This is the same in this piece. The bass continuo is what all the chordal changes are based around…

    • 3080 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The integration of structural features, and the organization of Bach’s style were highly recognized by other composers during his time. Musically it is written similarly to the parts that are linked, and no other part is equally heard. Bach’s music withstood a complex test in its time, because of its compelling and soundly structure. As for the form, counterpoint, melody, and harmony, the balance and completeness of the temporal elements are intriguing to the ear. These principles were practiced by the western world for half a millennium. The new modernization of classical composing created a new way for Baroque composers to express their arts for years to come. While Bach has truly been an inspiration to all musicians alike, his compositions and works will live on for centuries to…

    • 2060 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays