"Bach made a gift of the manuscript of these concertos to the Margrave of
Brandenburg, and in this manuscript this concerto is the last and that is
why it is called the sixth Brandenburg Concerto. But it could also have
been the first of these concertos, which Bach had all written in Cöthen.
Among musicologists, it is considered as the most traditional, but I am not
at all of this opinion. What is sensational in this piece is its use of
instruments, since the only solo strings used in the Baroque era were
essentially the extroverted violins of Italy or the introverted gambas of
France and England. That Bach wrote a concerto for two solo violas, the
proletarian among the instruments, the one who never gets to play a solo -
that was a social revolution among the instruments." (Nikolaus Harnoncourt)
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, named after their dedicatee the Margrave
Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg, have been part of Nikolaus Harnoncourt's
permanent repertoire ever since he founded his Concentus musicus ensemble.
The ensemble has recorded them and played them on their tours throughout
the world. The impulse which led Harnoncourt to establish the Concentus
musicus in 1953 was his dissatisfaction with the traditional way of
interpreting early music. The uncommon and sometimes radically different
style of the Concentus musicus, as well as its exclusive use of historical
instruments, secured the ensemble its international reputation. Harnoncourt
introduces the concerto with a moving and fascinating analysis of the
piece. Interesting musical examples, which Harnoncourt inserts in a
humorous and relaxed manner, make this introduction an informative and
entertaining guide to this masterpiece of music. The production was filmed
in the historical Baroque monastery library in Wiblingen, Germany.
