Presented by the composer to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721, they are lauded as some of the finest examples of Baroque music, and have a fascinating history. This is hot-blooded Bach from an era when people weren’t afraid to be Romantic while playing baroque music, and there is nothing like it out there.The Brandenburg Concerti by Johann Sebastian Bach were originally titled “Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments” and composed as a set of six works for concerto grosso. I could never recommend it as a first choice because the sound quality is quite poor being from 1935, but one of the first cycles recorded is led by Adolf Busch from the first violin desk with a young Rudolf Serkin at the keyboard (piano) and such luminaries as Marcel and Louis Moyse on flutes and Aubrey Brain (the legendary Dennis Brain’s father) playing the first horn. The solo violas in the sixth concerto are a little on the scratchy side and there are recordings where the horns are a bit surer of themselves, but this has been highly regarded since its release and deservedly so. Trevor Pinnock leads from the harpsichord and is at his considerable best, especially in the keyboard showcase of the fifth concerto (also with flutist Lisa Beznosiuk, still active with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and violinist Simon Standage. This is the earliest period instrument recording in my collection, was one of the first Brandenburg cycles that I owned, and despite being forty years old, it feels very fresh and vibrant. Brandenburg convertos driver#Pierre Thibaud is the excellent trumpeter, and the great Aurèle Nicolet plays flute in the fifth concerto.įor the Driver of Fast Cars ~ Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico, 1997, Teldec. The harpsichords are still of the earlier 20th-century style, there are still multiple players on each part, but compared to most earlier recordings, these move along and don’t sound like a Hummer trying to negotiate a track meant for a Mini Cooper. The advent of the period instrument movement was still a few years away, but in this recording, Richter attempts to use instruments that are closer to what Bach likely intended: the recorder parts in the second and fourth concertos are played on recorders, not modern flutes, the horns in the first concerto are natural (unvalved) horns, and the sixth concerto boasts a pair of violas da gamba playing the inner parts rather than two more ‘cellos. Karl Richter recorded multiple traversals of the Brandenburg cycle, leading from the harpsichord but with a second keyboardist playing as well so that when he needed to stand and direct there was still a harpsichord playing. Even assuming that between a third and a half of this number are duplicates in different packaging or boxed sets, that’s still a large number through which to sift through, and with trends in early music performance shifting quite dramatically over the years, there are a lot of different ways of approaching these works of art.ĭo you prefer modern instruments, period instruments, large groups, small groups, fast, slow, or somewhere in between? Without any attempt at being scientific, here are six different complete cycles that may suit you depending on your tastes.įor the Traditionalist ~ Karl Richter, Munich Bach Orchestra, 1967, Archiv. A recent search at a classical music specialty site revealed that there are over 125 versions of the six complete concertos currently available. Bach’s Six concertos à plusieurs instruments, usually called the Brandenburg Concertos today, were first recorded sometime around 1930. With “Six Best Brandenburg Concertos” for Different Tastes” contributor Thomas Dawkins further expands on some recordings of the composer’s Brandenburg repertoire.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |