Brandenburg Concerto No. 4: movement 1

Welcome to our miniseries on Brandenburg Concerto No. 4!  In this first episode, we will talk about the first movement.

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are considered by many to be the pinnacle of instrumental Baroque music.  Come and join us as we explore why. This episode explores the many small building blocks that come together to make the first movement of this concerto into something greater than the sum of its parts. Two agile recorders compete with a showy violin part, all accompanied by a background orchestra (which isn't really in the background). How can we pick a single moment from this dense kaleidoscope of musical devices? Let's look at several of those devices in this episode. 

Stay tuned for the next two episodes in this miniseries, where we explore movements 2 and 3. 

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major BWV 1049 as performed by Netherlands Bach Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSZJ__GIbms

Ter Schegget and Sato on Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049 | Netherlands Bach Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKAPxpBlh3Q