Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Runtime: Approx. 19 minutes
The Baroque period was an era of rapid growth and innovation in both music and other arts. Commonly recognized as 1600 to 1750, the era shepherded music through a journey from relatively simple polyphony into an astonishing array of complex forms, counterpoint, and sophisticated harmony. Many of the techniques that continue to define musical composition today originated in the Baroque period, such as the use of key centers, and many standard forms, like the concerto, came to prominence in this era. Virtuosity, too, found a foothold in the early Baroque period as art became more ornate and expansive. If you’ve ever enjoyed watching Jimmy Page shred a guitar solo or Yuja Wang perfectly execute a cadenza, you must in part thank the Baroque-era composers for producing that practice.
Like any language, Western tonality — the way we choose to divide the octave in the West — has grammatical rules. Over the different musical periods, the rules have shifted just as our language has changed. In English, for example, words cannot simply be arranged in whatever fashion tickles one’s fancy. Rules exist which govern the order that nouns, verbs, and prepositions may be placed. In Western tonal music, similarly complex rules govern how harmonies should be linked and in what order they should occur, and any of the rules we still adhere to in music today were created in the Baroque period. But just as understanding grammatical rules does not grant the ability to write a novel in beautiful prose, understanding the structure of musical language does not a composer make. Maneuvering the rules of tonal harmony into appealing and virtuosic music requires incredible skill.
Arguably no composer was more skilled than Johann Sebastian Bach. Born into a family of musicians, Bach’s early life was deeply colored by tragedy. He was orphaned at the age of nine, and later lost his first wife unexpectedly. Growing up in Protestant Lutheran northern Germany, Bach believed, like Martin Luther, that music was a gift from God and an essential and powerful means of praise.
Whether or not Bach was truly the greatest composer who ever lived, what is certain is that he played a significant and lasting role in the development of Baroque music, and all subsequent Western art music. So important was Bach to music history and development that it is generally accepted that the Baroque musical era ended in 1750, the same year as Bach’s death.
Like many groundbreaking artists, Bach was underappreciated in his lifetime and he never saw much of his music performed. Although his music didn’t enter the popular zeitgeist until long after his death — the now famous Brandenburg Concertos, for example, were discovered in a library nearly 150 years after his death — he was hugely influential to successive composers such as Beethoven and Mozart.
But what makes Bach so great? His music is bewildering both in its complexity and density as well as its emotional breadth. He was extremely harmonically sophisticated, employing sonorities not commonly seen until nearly the 20th century. He was also a master of counterpoint — the way independent lines play against each other. In chordal harmony, (think voice and piano, for example) a melodic line is colored by accompanying chords. In counterpoint, multiple voices, all melodic themselves, are juxtaposed against each other, resulting in horizontal harmonies. Bach was a master of weaving such voices together, sometimes even hiding additional melodies within the resulting harmonies, and creating intricate musical puzzles that fit together to produce exquisite and highly emotional works. The English author Douglas Adams perhaps put it best when he said “Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe.”
Bach was also a remarkable improviser, which may be why many prominent Jazz artists also cite him as a significant influence. Simply put, no other composer before or since has earned the adoration of such a wide range of subsequent artists. He is to hundreds of years of composers what The Beatles were to rock bands, except that Bach’s influence also extends to The Beatles.
Not much is known about the circumstances surrounding the writing of the Brandenburg Concertos. The pieces were composed separately but sent as a collection to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. While the exact reason behind the musical offering is unconfirmed, historians have guessed that Bach was simply looking for a job and sent along a musical resume.
The instrumentation — solo violin and flute, orchestrated over obbligato harpsichord and strings — may appear odd, but it was typical of the time for a composer to simply write for the musicians who were currently in residence at court. Bach’s deft orchestration highlights the unique characteristics of each instrument and ensures that each voice shines through the dense texture. The three movements follow the typical fast-slow-fast form with the center movement scored for soloists alone.
All the aforementioned qualities of Bach’s writing are on sparkling display in all six of the Brandenburg Concertos, with No. 5 providing a compelling example of both the stunning emotional range and razor-sharp skill that defines his music.
– Valerie Sly, 2024
Birmingham Concerto No. 1
Brian Raphael Nabors (b. 1991)
Birmingham Concerto No.1 is a significant move in an ongoing commitment to create a catalogue of contemporary Classical art music “home-grown” in Alabama. Birmingham Concerto I is the culmination of about twenty months of work from the advent of the concept to the debut performance. In the summer of 2023, Music Director Carlos Izcaray and I began to be interested in commissioning new works that will function as companion pieces to five of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti. This number of companion pieces is significant because an illustrious prototype for pairing Bach with a new piece has been around for almost 100 years.
This existing (sixth) companion is Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat, inscribed “Dumbarton Oaks.” “Dumbarton Oaks” was commissioned in 1937 by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, an eminent American couple who held salon events regularly at their Washington, D.C. estate, named Dumbarton Oaks. Igor Stravinsky wrote “Dumbarton Oaks” to function as a companion to Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. He hoped the piece would inspire new appreciation for the old master (Bach), and he intended the piece as a gesture of respect, a love letter, to Bach. Bach can easily be regarded as the father of Western music as his mastery of fugal textures and contrapuntal writing is imitated daily while seldom matched.
Birmingham Concerto I is a part of ASO’s multi-year exploration of the Brandenburg Concertos. In recent years, the orchestra has offered Concertos Nos. 2 and 6. For our December 5 concert, we offer Brandenburg No. 5 with its complement (Birmingham No. 1), both of which feature performances by Concertmaster Daniel Szasz and Principal Flautist Lisa Wienhold. The Orchestra is joined by guest keyboardist Dr. Lester Seigel on harpsichord.
It is our hope over the next few seasons to offer Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1 and 4 as well as to commission companions for these pieces. Eventually the orchestra would like to offer the six Brandenburg Concerti, three newly composed Birmingham Concerti, and “Dumbarton Oaks” in festive concert together at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center. The continued championing of our artistic endeavors by the Mr. and Mrs. William J. Rushton, IV Sound Investment Series will be invaluable as we achieve these goals.
– Clay A. McCollum, Director of Artistic Administration
Word of Thanks
I am elated to once again work with my amazing hometown artistic collaborators, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. It has been an honor to be a part of many beautiful concerts, projects, and initiatives that continue to enhance the artistic vibrancy of our Birmingham community. This season, I’d like to extend a special thanks to the members of the Mr. and Mrs. William J. Rushton, IV Sound Investment Series for their support in bringing our new work, Birmingham Concerto No. 1, to fruition. Thank you to ASO President Mark Patrick, Music Director Carlos Izcaray, musicians, staff, and patrons who continue to bring world class experiences to our region.
– Brian Raphael Nabors
Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Runtime: Approx. 17 minutes
Ottorino Respighi was a composer, violinist, and musicologist best known for his exuberant trilogy of tone poems, Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, and Roman Festivals. Writing and playing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of Respighi’s compositional output adheres well to the expected sounds of late Romantic music with its overt emotional scope, large scale, and narrative arch. But there was a growing interest during the early part of the 20th century in looking back at music from the distant past. Up until this time, orchestras were mostly interested in performing the compositions of contemporary composers and commissioning new works. The practice of treating arts organizations essentially as live museums, presenting works from a huge range of historical periods did not begin until the late 1800s.
This historical reflection gave rise to an arts movement known as neo-classicism. Also sometimes referred to as the “Back to Bach” movement, the backward reach extends beyond just the Classical era and can include music influenced by Baroque and Renaissance writing as well. Neo-classisicm generally refers to music that uses elements from pre-romantic eras, but sets them in an unmistakably modern way.
The three Ancient Airs and Dances suites were born out of Respighi’s interest in late Renaissance lute music. In Suite No. 1, he borrows several existing melodies from that period and sets them for a modern orchestration. While many neo-classical composers went so far as to drastically alter the harmonic and rhythmic elements of the music, Respighi opts to preserve nearly all of the melodic source material, choosing instead to explore the sound of early music played on truly modern instruments in a modern-sized ensemble. He does, however, opt to use Harpsichord rather than piano, an instrument that was mostly unused by the 20th century, and one that instantly evokes the sound of eras past.
The first movement, Belletto detto Il Conte Orlando, is taken from a work dating from 1599 by Italian composer Simone Molinaro. It begins in a stately fashion with the full orchestra playing a melody evocative of 16th century court life.
The second movement, Gagliarda, is a setting of a piece written in the 1550s by Vincenzo Galilei, father of the famous Galileo Galilei. The galliard, as it is known in English, was a popular dance of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
The lovely and poignant third movement is based on a renaissance-era lute piece by an unknown composer. It begins with a singing oboe melody that is later harmonized and then taken over by the strings. The harp colors the movement throughout with broken chords slightly evocative of early strummed string instruments like the lute.
The piece concludes with the lively Passo mezzo e mascherada. This movement is based on two forms, the passo mezzo, an Italian folk dance, and the mascherada, music intended for use at masquerade balls. In this movement, the regal sounding masquerade music is juxtaposed with the more earthy folk dance melodies to create a whirlwind of energy. Here, Resphigi introduces a single trumpet to the tapestry. The trumpet was an entirely outdoor instrument until very late in the Baroque period. Respighi holds true to his source material in this way by saving the instrument for movements that would most likely have originated as outdoor music.
Perhaps Respighi’s interest in music of the past was in part due to his broad personal interests. In an increasingly specialized 20th century world, he was somewhat of a renaissance man. A self-taught pianist, he developed a keen interest in geography and science, collected books, and became fluent in eleven languages, all of which he read in. Whatever sparked Respighi’s curiosity, what is certain is the lasting influence of early music on subsequent artists, which continues still today.
– Valerie Sly, 2024