Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Program Notes
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 The composer of this song is Johann Sebastian Bach (J.S. Bach). He was born on March 12, 1685 in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, Germany. His first experience with a musical instrument is when his uncle, Johann Cristoph Bach (1645-1693), introduced him to his first organ. He learned how to play the organ. His mother died in 1694 and his father died 8 months later. He was ten when this happened so he moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Cristoph Bach (1671–1721), who was the organist at the Michaeliskirche in Ohrdruf, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His brother’s inspiration was Johann Pachelbel and Johann Jakob Froberger (who were from southern Germany) and as well as Frenchmen such as, Jean-Baptise Lully, Louis Marchand and Marin Marais. Bach would copy other composers work (as stated in his obituary) however, his brother forbid him to do so. When Bach was 14 years of age, he earned a choral scholarship to be able to study at St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg. After he was rejected from a post for being an organist at Sangerhausen, he graduated on January of 1703. Three years after, he was offered a post to be an organist at St. Blasius’s in Mühlhausen. In 1707 (a year later) he accepted. He died on July 28, 1750 due to a stroke. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 is in the key of F major. The tempo of this wonderful piece is moderato, which is about 108-120 bpm (beats per minute). The time signature is 2/2. There are a total of six Brandenburg Concertos. This concerto is probably one of the most well-known out of the six. All six concertos have only one thing they have in common. That would be their format. Their format is based on an Italian concerto. The first movement is fast, the second is slow and the third movement is once again fast. Other than that, they aren’t similar at all. In fact, there is quite a lot of variety within those six Brandenburg Concertos. Out of all of the pieces that the advanced orchestra is playing, this is probably my