Music Appreciation of Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach - Essay Example

?Music Appreciation of Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach Introduction: The Baroque period, which lasted for a century and half, is an important phase in the history of music. It is in this period that artists explored and developed a new realm of music, which, although was considered overtly ornamental and decorative during then, is now believed to be a significant era that enabled the transition from the renaissance period to the classical one. The prominent musicians in the Baroque period were Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Frederic Handel, Arcangelo Corelli etc, of which the most important was Johann Sebastian Bach. The paper at hand is a music appreciation of J S Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, which was composed by him for the Calvinist chapel of the court that promoted instrumental music. The Baroque period is unique in terms of its various characteristic traits including its mood, melody, rhythm, texture, articulation, dynamics, style, basso continuo, timbre etc. The Brandenburg Concertos is primarily a collection of six movements and here the focus is on movement number one. Thus, this paper tries to use these elements and show how J S Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos is representative of Baroque music. Although the exact date of composition of the Brandenburg Concertos is still a mystery, it is known that Johann Sebastian Bach presented them to the Margrave of Brandenburg in the year 1721. What makes this piece Baroque is mainly its composition in that period, however for modern people, it is important to know the exact features that make the concertos an apt example of Baroque music. First of all, the most distinct feature of Baroque music is probably its unity of mood, this means that the mood remains same throughout the composition. Now in case of the Brandenburg Concertos, one can see that this is true, as the first movement of the concertos has a kind of happy mood from beginning till the end. Therefore, a single expression or mood is projected and presented till the second movement, and this predominantly makes the Brandenburg Concertos characteristic of Baroque music. When one analyses the melody of the pieces composed during the Baroque area, they find that the melodic idea basically remains the same throughout the whole piece. There is a continuity that can be felt when one listens to Baroque music, and this is especially so in case of the Brandenburg concertos. The audience will find that the opening melody is followed till the end of that piece. Despite the fact that Baroque music is usually elaborate and complex, there is only a minimal use of the piano’s extreme notes and, furthermore, it is seen that there is no use of the technique of pedalling either. So in overall, the Baroque music gives off a very complicated vibe with a lot of ornamental notes, however, the listener can still recognize the distinct theme the musician is trying to reach out to him or her. In case of the rhythmic aspect of the music composed during the Baroque era, the listener will find that the rhythmic patterns are mostly repeated throughout the piece. Thus, in Brandenburg Concertos’ first movement, the audience can find that the melody has a distinct theme and at the same time the rhythm is often continuous too, that is, the “lively rhythm” patterns are reiterated in the course of the composition (GCSE Music, n.d., p.9). Therefore, it can be said that Baroque music has a continuous or constant rhythmic drive, where the beat and pulse of the song are clear as well as distinct and, furthermore, the song consists of regular rhythms, which at times are dotted. Focusing on the texture of the Baroque music, it becomes clear that such music mainly consists of polyphonic or contrapuntal texture. The piece of composition under study is reminiscent of baroque music as it is made up of different melodies that are played simultaneously. As opposed to playing one melody at a time, Baroque music is very complex in the sense that it plays polyphonic, which is two or more melodic lines played at the same time. Furthermore, these lines may be homophonic in nature, that is, they may be in a harmonic relationship with each other, thus ultimately producing beautiful music for the listener. Another feature that is seen here is “imitation,” which means the melody played in one voice is repeated in another voice after a particular interval (GCSE Music, n.d., p.9). This is evidenced in Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, as the main melody is imitated and repeated later with the only differences being in key, voice and rhythm, as well as a change in pitch too. It is noticeable that during the Baroque era the imitation was not as strict as it later became. Baroque music is known to be excessively ornamental, and this is because of ornaments such as trills, turns, mordents etc being frequently used. This can also be seen in the piece under analysis, where the said articulation is present along with other ornaments such as appogiaturas and acciaccatura. In case of the aspect of dynamics, Baroque music is typical of terraced dynamics, which means either soft or loud. When the dynamics change, there can be seen a huge contrast, however, in case of the Brandenburg Concertos, there was not “much contrast” and the piece remains constant in its dynamics just like its mood (GCSE Music, n.d., p.9). The style used in the first movement of the concertos is the French style minuet, which is indicative of Baroque music, as Baroque usually comprises of minuets and ternary forms. The basso continuo here is made up of cello and harpsichord, and the timbre is produced from various strings, winds etc. The main instruments used here are “violins, violas a flute, oboe, trumpet,” hunting horn etc (GCSE Music, n.d., p.9). Conclusion: The paper at hand is a music appreciation of the Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach and it focuses on analyzing the composition to show how it is indicative of the Baroque music. Therefore, through the elements of mood, melody, rhythm, texture, articulation, dynamics, style, basso continuo, timbre etc it becomes clear that the first movement of the Brandenburg Concertos is indicative of the Baroque music. References GCSE Music (n.d.). Baroque On. GCSE Music Free Sample Material: Study Session, 1-14. Retrieved from http://www.musicalcontexts.co.uk/index_files/FREE/GCSEFSRP.pdf Read More