I
have to say that Johann Sabastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are among the greatest works of music ever,
and Concerto No. 2 is probably my favorite of the six. I am not musically knowledgeable to understand
its complexity, but I don’t think one needs to.
Just listen and appreciate the verve, the energy, the sheer joy.
But
let me just outline the complexity.
First, the work is a concerto, and a concerto creates a relationship between the instrument
being highlighted and the orchestra. But
Bach doesn’t just highlight a single instrument, or two instruments, which would
make it a double concerto; Bach highlights four instruments in
relationship with the orchestra. Now
four instruments is a rather interesting number since four instruments typically
constitutes a chamber music quartet. So
look at the relationships that abound in this composition. The four highlighted instruments can all play
off each other as a quartet; each of the four instruments relates to the
orchestra at large, and the quartet itself as a unit relates to the orchestra. It’s like playing three dimensional chess.
The
four instruments of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 are an oboe, a recorder, a
violin, and a clarino, which is an early brass valve less trumpet. It was
supposed to be extremely hard to play, but Bach had a particular virtuoso in
mind when he wrote the piece. Even so,
the clarino is absent in the middle movement, probably to give the player a respite
to gather himself for the climatic third movement.
Forget
all the complexity. Just listen for the
wonder of this piece. If you're looking to break at the movements, the second movement starts at 4:55 and the third starts at 9:04.
Of
the performances placed on youtube, I think I liked this one the best. I think it’s just a bit faster in tempo in
the first and third movements than the others, and my hunch is that’s what Bach
intended.
The
Wikipedia entry also mentions that third movement was the theme of William F. Buckley Jr’s TV show, Firing Line. Ah yes, I remember it well. It was
one of the rare (probably a token) shows with a conservative bent on Public
Television. And I was just the young,
geeky conservative that faithfully watched it.
Back
to Bach: He’s the greatest!
