Description
Bach gave his set of six Brandenburg Concertos to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721, with the title Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments (Six Concertos for various instruments). Concerto No. 1 is scored for horns, oboes, bassoon and strings. This third movement also appears as the opening chorus of his cantata Vereinigte Zweitracht der wechselnden Saiten, where he uses trumpets instead of horns. It is a typical example of Bach’s mastery of contrapuntal writing, where driving forward motion propels the music along its exuberant path.
In this shortened arrangement for bassoon quartet by Frances Jones some sections have been omitted to produce a balanced and highly enjoyable version.
