Bach’s Brandenburg No. 2

Music Appreciation
Written By Edward Wolfe

Johann Sebastian Bach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HSRIDtwsfM

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) presented the six Brandenburg Concerti to the Margrave of Brandenburg, Christian Ludwig around 1720, maybe as a request for a job offer.

Though today Bach is universally admired, apparently the Margrave (a type of military governor) didn’t feel this way about him. He not only failed to offer Bach a job, but he also apparently left these masterpieces unused for years.

In 1734, the complete score of the concertos was sold for the equivalent of about $22.00 of our money today!

The form of this piece is a “concerto grosso”–that is, a concerto for relatively large groups (in Baroque terms) of opposed forces. The concertato (the smaller of the two groups) in this concerto features solo trumpet, recorder, oboe and violin each instrument being introduced in a short, facile solo in the first movement. The ripieno (the larger of the two groups) consists of a small string orchestra with continuo.

Many Baroque pieces utilized a continuo, which consists of a bass-like string instrument, often a cello, and the harpsichord. In a way, the continuo is a little like a rhythm section in the Baroque orchestra.

Brandenburg No. 2 is in three movements, fast-slow-fast. All 6 of the Brandenburg concertos are masterpieces and have been recorded and performed many times.

Edward Wolfe

Edward Wolfe has been a fan of Christian apologetics since his teenage years, when he began seriously to question the truth of the Bible and the reality of Jesus. About twenty years ago, he started noticing that Christian evidences roughly fell into five categories, the five featured on this website.
Although much of his professional life has been in Christian circles (12 years on the faculties of Pacific Christian College, now a part of Hope International University, and Manhattan Christian College and also 12 years at First Christian Church of Tempe), much of his professional life has been in public institutions (4 years at the University of Colorado and 19 years at Tempe Preparatory Academy).
His formal academic preparation has been in the field of music. His bachelor degree was in Church Music with a minor in Bible where he studied with Roger Koerner, Sue Magnusson, Russel Squire, and John Rowe; his master’s was in Choral Conducting where he studied with Howard Swan, Gordon Paine, and Roger Ardrey; and his doctorate was in Piano Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature, where he also studied group dynamics, humanistic psychology, and Gestalt theory with Guy Duckworth.
He and his wife Louise have four grown children and six grandchildren.

https://WolfeMusicEd.com
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