Bach- Brandenburg Concerto

• Bach composed the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, 3rd movement, during the Baroque era, written between 1711 - 1720.
• Bach wrote 6 Brandenburg concertos in total, this is just 1 movement from 1 concerto.
• The movement is a Gigue, a lively Baroque dance.
• Bach uses sequences in the melody, where the melody is repeated higher or lower in pitch.
• The melody is mainly conjunct but also disjunct in places.
• Bach decorates the melody with ornaments such as trills.
• The harmony in the piece is functional, following the traditional rules of major/minor scales and largely based on the use of primary chords - I, IV and V.
• Bach uses perfect cadences at the end of sections to make it sound finished.
• Bach occasionally uses pedal notes, a repeated note in the bass, for example, at the start of the B section to emphasise the change of key.
• The piece is in D major and modulates to B minor (relative minor) in the B section.
• The piece is in ternary form (ABA).
• Bach also uses ideas of ritornello form, where parts of the A section melody keep returning throughout.
• This is a concerto grosso, with 2 groups of instruments used - the concertino and the ripieno.
• The concertino is the small solo group, consisting of baroque flute, violin, and harpsichord.
• The harpsichord sometimes plays in 2-part counterpoint, which is when 2 melodies are heard together at the same time, using the right and left hand.
• The use of triplet quavers and some dotted rhythms is common in Baroque music.
• The opening of a piece of Baroque music is often a fugal texture, which sounds like a chase.
• The metre of Baroque music is usually 2/4, with 2 crotchet beats in a bar.
• The ripieno is the accompanying group, a larger string orchestra.
• Texture in music refers to the layers of different sounds, and Baroque music uses lots of different textures, mainly polyphonic (2 or more melodies heard at the same time).
• The tempo of Baroque music is often Allegro, which is fast and lively, and is written on the score.
• The dynamics of Baroque music are often without dynamics, which is common in Baroque music.
• Stylistic features of the Baroque Era include the use of ornamentation, such as trills in the harpsichord part, short melodic ideas, sequences, functional harmony, use of perfect cadences, root and first inversion chords, polyphonic texture, fugal texture, imitation, and terraced dynamics.
• Terraced dynamics were used in Baroque music, which provides clear differences between quiet and loud, with no gradual changes.
• The harpsichord and cello often play an accompaniment part together and this combination is called the basso continuo.
• Some parts of Baroque music also play in 3rds.
• Figured bass notation is a type of score notation that includes numbers and symbols to indicate chords.
• The harpsichord is used in the piece, as piano hadn’t been invented yet.