Martin Feinstein, Alexandra Bellamy, David Blackadder, Catherine Manson, Robin Bigwood

Programme:
JS Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F

Martin Feinstein - solo flute/recorder/director
Alexandra Bellamy - oboe
David Blackadder - trumpet
Catherine Manson - violin/piccolo violin
Robin Bigwood - harpsichord

The six Brandenburg Concertos represent the high point of Bach’s secular writing. Collected as a set in 1721, they actually resonate backwards and forwards throughout Bach’s entire timeline. Several of the concertos are refined versions of earlier works and they were also used to form the basis for many sinfonias and choruses in his later cantatas.

The Brandenburgs look back to the instrumentations of an earlier age, with the use of recorders and gambas in Nos. 4 and 6, but also break completely new ground with extraordinary original configurations and a revolutionary concept: the virtuoso keyboard concerto.

‘Every one of the six concertos set a precedent in scoring.’ Prof. Christoph Wolff

‘I’m convinced that Bach is the greatest genius who ever walked among us, and the Brandenburgs are what he wrote when he was happy.’ Douglas Adams