Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos have been among the many most beloved works in Tafelmusik’s repertoire for a few years. From January 29 to February 1, Tafelmusik and Principal Visitor Director Rachel Podger will carry out the primary 4 of the Brandenburgs, together with the world premiere of a newly orchestrated model of Prelude & Fugue in E-flat “St. Anne”, after BWV 522.
Tafelmusik’s 1995 recording of the Brandenburgs received a JUNO Award, together with worldwide accolades.
“Each Tafelmusik and Rachel Podger have earned world-wide accolades for his or her interpretations of Bach, and this becoming a member of of musical minds for the Brandenburg Concertos is certain to dazzle and enchant,” says Inventive Co-Director Cristina Zacharias in an announcement.
“All the time keen to search out new methods to expertise Bach’s music, we’re additionally thrilled to current Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E-flat in a brand new orchestral association by Inventive Co-Director Dominic Teresi, which debuted to crucial acclaim on our current West Coast tour.”
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
“Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are among the most progressive items to have been written in the course of the Baroque period,” says director and violin soloist Rachel Podger. “Every concerto includes a distinctive mixture of solo devices which in flip dazzle, sparkle, soar, sigh and mesmerise whereas their roles constantly shift between virtuosic solo shows, dialogues and being a part of the ensemble. Bach’s writing is extraordinarily virtuosic, strikingly lovely and irresistibly joyful, and these items nonetheless sound contemporary and fashionable, even at this time.”
Every of the Concertos has its personal distinct character, and show Bach’s present for orchestration, utilizing a precedent setting number of devices. The First Concerto, the most important, incorporates three oboes, bassoon, two horns, a solo violin, and strings. The Third Concerto, impressed by Vivaldi’s L’Estro armónico, creates an ensemble with three solo violins three violas, and three cellos.
The Destiny of the Brandenburgs
Bach’s unique title for what have grow to be iconic works was merely “Six Concertos with A number of Devices”. The composer offered the works to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, youthful brother of King Frederick I of Prussia, in 1721, though it’s believed that he wrote them earlier (in all probability between 1711 and 1720). When he compiled them, he wrote most of them by hand as an alternative of utilizing a copyist, as was his regular observe.
Of be aware is the truth that Bach’s tenure as director of music on the courtroom of Cöthen was coming to an finish, and he was sending out feelers for future work. The Margrave by no means even acknowledged their receipt, however Bach, in any case, discovered his calling on the Thomasschule in Leipzig shortly afterwards.
It appears incomprehensible now, however the Concertos weren’t significantly valued throughout Bach’s lifetime. It’s unsure whether or not, in actual fact, the Margrave ever heard the Concertos, and they didn’t seem within the stock of his library. They subsequent reappear within the possession of certainly one of Bach’s pupils, who purchased them for a small sum, and subsequently bequeathed them to Princess Anna Amalia, herself a German composer, on his demise. She in flip left the gathering of manuscripts to a boy’s faculty close to Brandenburg, which then transferred them to the Royal Library of Berlin. The unique manuscripts have been practically misplaced throughout WWII once they have been being transported out of the town for safekeeping, and the prepare itself was bombed. The librarian entrusted with their journey to Prussia jumped from the nonetheless transferring prepare and fled into the woods with the music hidden beneath his coat. They have been returned to the Berlin State Library in 2023.
The fifth Concerto, with its distinguished half for harpsichord, was the one one which acquired any consideration, and even that got here after Bach’s demise. German music theorist, editor, instructor and librarian Siegfried Diehn found the manuscripts in Anna Amalia’s library in 1849, and at last had them printed for the world to take pleasure in a couple of century after Bach’s demise.
The Program
The Tafelmusik efficiency consists of the primary 4 Concertos and the world premiere.
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (Soloists: Daniel Ramírez Escudero, oboe; Kathryn Montoya, recorder; Todd Williams, horn; Julia Wedman, violin)
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 — Rachel Podger, violin soloist
- Prelude & Fugue in E-flat “St. Anne”, after BWV 522, arr. for orchestra— Toronto premiere
Discover live performance particulars and tickets [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a inventive writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
