SPIRIT OF THE SEASON : BACH , CORELLI & VIVALDI
Christmas Day and Epiphany . Drawing from the Gospel of Luke , No . 1 tells of Christ ’ s birth and nativity .
Beginning in the radiant key of D Major , Christmas Oratorio is announced by a lengthy opening chorus whose pomp , heraldry , and sense of joy are not just fit for the arrival of a king , but a King of Kings . Here , as in movements four and eight , Bach borrows musical material from his existing secular cantatas , adapted to Biblical texts . ( Hardly a rarity , borrowing or parodying was considered a legitimate compositional tool during Bach ’ s lifetime , and one which he especially excelled at .) The recitatives , envisioned by Baroque composers as speech heightened by music , provide reflections and commentary , while the two arias offer spiritual meditations in song .
Movements five , seven , and nine derive from Lutheran hymn tunes , married with Bach ’ s ingenious sense of harmony . It is not hard to imagine the emotional impact a familiar hymn , known to congregants in their vernacular German , might have had on Bach ’ s audiences . But even today ’ s listeners , possessing varying faiths and tongues , can be captivated by music that represents Bach at his most reverent and inspired .
Instrumentation : Two flutes , two oboes , bassoon , three trumpets , timpani , organ , and strings , in addition to chorus and vocal soloists .
Johann Sebastian Bach
Born March 31 , 1685 in Eisenach , Thuringia ( present-day Germany ) Died July 28 , 1750 in Leipzig , Germany
BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO . 3 , BWV 1048 [ 1721 ]
In 1719 , J . S . Bach traveled to Berlin to fetch a new harpsichord for his employer , Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen , in whose court he was serving as Kappelmeister . There , Bach gave a performance that drew the attention of a new acquaintance , Christian Ludwig , Margrave of
Brandenburg-Schwedt , to whom Bach would dedicate his 1721 Six Concerts Avec plusieurs instruments (“ Six concerti for various instruments ”), known commonly today as the Brandenburg Concerti . In its dedication , Bach wrote :
As I had the good fortune a few years ago to be heard by Your Royal Highness , at Your Highness ’ s commands , and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the little talents which Heaven has given me for Music , and as in taking Leave of Your Royal Highness , Your Highness deigned to honour me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my Composition : I have in accordance with Your Highness ’ s most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present Concertos , which I have adapted to several instruments …
Bach had good reason for flattery , as this dedication also served as the eighteenthcentury equivalent of a cover letter . Bach , then living in the small town of Cöthen , was hoping to secure employment with
the Margrave in Berlin . Whether by choice or circumstance , he instead moved with his family to Leipzig , where he would live for the remainder of his prolific career .
Each of Bach ’ s Brandenburg Concerti deploys different instrumentation , but the Third , BWV 1048 , is a concerto of threes : three violins , three violas , three cellos , and harpsichord . Its famous first movement , while bearing no explicit tempo marking , is unmistakably brisk and lively , containing , like the last movement , many internal repetitions generated by its ritornello (“ little return ”) form .
The second movement , Adagio , consists only of a single measure containing two chords in the relative key of E minor . Here , performers are presented with three options : play what Bach has written ; substitute a compatible slow movement from another piece ; or indulge in an extended improvisatory episode . Returning to the home key of G major , the concluding Presto offers a nimble but stately music in near perpetual motion , simmering along until the violins ’ final flourish .
Instrumentation : Three violins , three violas , three cellos , and harpsichord .
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