Yet, the relationship may have begun to sour, as Bach applied for an organ post in Hamburg in late 1720 but was rejected. As a Calvinist, Leopold used no music in religious observances, and freed Bach's energies for secular instrumental work and performances. His patron not only loved music but was a proficient musician and spent a substantial portion of his income to maintain a private band of 18 and to engage traveling artists. A persistent question, though, is why Bach took so long to respond, and then finally did.īach seemed happy at Cöthen. Apparently, Bach played for the Margrave, who requested a score to add to his extensive music library. Scholars understand Bach to refer either to a trip he made to Berlin in March 1719 to approve and bring home a fabulous new harpsichord for his employer, Prince Christian Leopold of Cöthen, or possibly to an excursion they made the following year to the Carlsbad spa. Since I had a few years ago, the good luck of being heard by Your Royal Highness, by virtue of his command, & that I observed then, that He took some pleasure in the small talents that Heaven gave me for Music, & that in taking leave of Your Royal Highness, He wished to make me the honor of ordering to send Him some pieces of my Composition: I therefore according to his very gracious orders, took the liberty of giving my very-humble respects to Your Royal Highness, by the present Concertos, which I have arranged for several Instruments praying Him very-humbly to not want to judge their imperfection, according to the severity of fine and delicate taste, that everyone knows that He has for musical pieces … Bach left a brief but telling account of their origin in his dedication to the presentation copy of the score, handwritten in awkward, obsequious French (which I've tried to reflect in translation): Comme j'eus il y a une couple d'années, le bonheur de me faire entendre a Votre Altesse Royalle, en vertu de ses orders, & que je remarquai alors, qu'Elle prennoit qeulque plaisir aux petits talents que le Ciel m' a donnés pour la Musique, & qu' en prennant Conge de Votre Altesse Royalle, Elle voulut bien me faire l'honneur de me commander de Lui envoyer quelques pieces de ma Composition: j'ai donc selon ses tres gracious orders, pris la liberté de render mes tres-humbles devoirs à Votre Altesse Royalle, par les presents Concerts, que j'ai accommodés à plusieurs Instruments La priant tres-humblement de ne vouloir pas juger leur imperfection, à la rigeur de gout fin et delicat, que tout le monde sçait qu'Elle a pour les piéces musicales … Bach's own title was Six Concerts Avec plusieurs Instruments ("Six Concertos With several Instruments") the familiar label adhered after first being applied by Philipp Spitta in an 1880 biography. But his so-called Brandenburg Concertos survive in his original manuscript, which he had sent to the Margrave of Brandenburg in late March 1721. Nearly half his output is deemed lost and many of his concertos exist only in later arrangements or spurious copies. Scholars must speculate to fill the many lapses in our knowledge of so much of Bach's music. 3 in G Major, mvt 3 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No.In one of the many bitter ironies of music history, Johann Sebastian Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos are now his most popular work and an ideal entrée to his vital and variegated art, especially for those who mistakenly dismiss his 300-year old music as boring and irrelevant, yet Bach himself may never have heard them – nor did anyone else for over a century after his death. 3 in G Major, mvt 2 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, mvt 1 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, mvt 3 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, mvt 2 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, mvt 1 (Johann Sebastian Bach)īrandenburg Concerto No. 1, 3 & 5įormat: CD Label: Alfa Records (Jpn.) Cat.
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