Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B‑Flat Major

For many years, Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 was considered the Cinderella of the set. Unusually scored for the rich, low-pitched combination of two violas, two violas da gamba and obbligato cello, the absence of violins and use of old-fashioned bass viols made it the least likely to be performed by a traditionally constituted orchestra. Only when using the right instruments, played one-to-a-part (as Bach envisaged), does the work really come into its own. Musically, it’s all about the violas. They chase each other through the first movement in close imitation (canon), taking on virtuosic tasks far exceeding anything else written for them at the time. The imitation game continues in the trio sonata-like “Adagio”, where the gracious viola melody unfolds in long arches, while the cello ornaments the bass. The finale (“Allegro”) is probably the most tuneful (and simply structured) of all Bach’s concerto movements. The members of the new violin family—violas and cello—once again eclipse the older viols. About J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos The Brandenburg Concertos are the greatest job application ever assembled. In 1721, Bach dedicated his score to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, not in fulfilment of a commission, but hoping to impress his way into the Margrave’s service. The title Brandenburg Concertos was actually invented by Bach’s first biographer in 1873; Bach himself just referred to them as Six Concertos for Several Instruments. They were not conceived as a set, nor intended specifically for the Margrave, but were mostly written during Bach’s time as Kapellmeister at the court of Cöthen (1717-23). Here he worked with a varied and talented group of instrumentalists who spurred him on to explore the potential of the concerto, which he reinvented with each new work.