jan 1, 1721 - Brandenburg Concerti

Description:

In 1721, while serving in Kothen, Bach gathered up six instrumental concertos he had composed over the past few years, wrote the m out ina handsome presentation manuscript, and sent them off with a suitably flattering dedication page (written in French) to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg. He did so in the hope of obtaining an appointment to the Margrave's court near Berlin, which never occurred.

Written for unusually scored ensembles.

Fifth concerto is in "Ritornello form"
Has long as fuck harpsichord solo, which we might call a cadenza (based on the analogy to the kind of pyrotechnics that a virtuoso opera singer would indulge in before the final ritornello in an opera seria aria. The actual style of the solo is more in keeping iwth what BAch's contemporaries would have called a capriccio, that is, a fantastic instrumental composition that made a show of departing from the usual norms of style.

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