In the seventh Bostonian Bravo Series concert of the 2011-2012 season, Music Director Pinchas Zukerman conducts the National Arts Centre Orchestra and also performs as violin and viola soloist.  Featured in this superb concert are Concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki, Joanna G’froerer and Emily Marks (flute), Charles Hamann (oboe), and guest artists Andrew McCandless (trumpet) and Jon Kimura Parker (harpsichord). Brandenburg Concerti is at 8 p.m. in the NAC’s Southam Hall on Thursday April 19 and Friday April 20, 2012.

PRE-CONCERT MUSIC with organist Thomas Annand –7 p.m., Southam Hall

The program for the evening includes:
BACH    Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BMW 1048
BACH   Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BMW 1046
BACH   Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BMW 1050
BACH   Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
BACH   Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051
BACH   Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047

Few musical works are as loved -- and as often performed -- as the six Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. These six lively concertos (based on an Italian concerto grosso style) display a lighter side of Bach’s genius. The composer presented them to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in March 1721, though they were probably composed earlier. In the late Baroque era, the concerto was not only the most popular form of instrumental music, but also the primary vehicle of expression for grand, sublime feeling, a role later to be assumed by the symphony. The Brandenburg concerti are among the period’s finest musical compositions; they are a benchmark of Baroque music and still have the power to move people almost three centuries later.

The Brandenburg Concertos are a highlight of one of the happiest and most productive periods in Bach's life. At the time he wrote them, Bach was the Kapellmeister -- the music director -- in the small town of Köthen, where he was composing music for the court. Bach describes the works as Concerts avec plusieurs instruments (Concertos with several instruments), using the widest spectrum of orchestral instruments in daring combinations. Christoph Wolff has commented. “Every one of the six concertos set a precedent in scoring, and every one was to remain without parallel.”

Even though he didn't call them the “Brandenburgs”, Bach still thought of them as a set, which he had compiled from short instrumental sinfonias and concerto movements he had already written. Bach’s genius opened up a vivid new world of music for chamber orchestra. Each of the six concertos requires a different combination of instruments as well as some highly skilled soloists. Bach wrote for virtuoso musicians and pushed the boundaries of his creativity. Concerto No. 2, for example, has the trumpeter play high flourishes. No. 4 allows the solo violin to soar.

Despite subsequent acclaim, during his lifetime Bach was valued far more as a performer than as a composer, and his instrumental music was promptly forgotten once he attained his next (and final) post at Leipzig. The full score was left unused in the Margrave’s library until his death in 1734, when it was sold for a nominal amount. The autographed manuscript of the concertos was only rediscovered six generations later in the Brandenburg archives in 1849; the concertos were first published in 1850 in commemoration of the centenary of Bach’s death. They were more widely circulated in 1869 as part of an authoritative Bach Gesellschaft edition, but their popularity would really have to wait nearly another century for the invention of the phonograph.

Christopher Hogwood claims that Bach used them to imitate the wealth of nature with all the means at his disposal. Abraham Veinus regards them as the exemplification of Bach’s creative thinking, comprising the full range of his thought, variety of instrumentation, and inner structure. Others assert that the Brandenburgs are an inextricable facet of Bach’s overall religious bent, that Bach never distinguished between religious and secular music as his entire body of work was aimed for the glory of God. Indeed, Bach’s magnificent interplay of diverse musical elements can be seen as a reflection of his pervasive belief in the divine harmony of the universe. Some see Bach’s music as symbolizing divinity by exuding supreme serenity, assurance, self-sufficiency, and inner tranquility to achieve a perfect balance of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements.

Yet, despite the philosophical depth of some analyses and the extraordinary density and logic of Bach’s conception, the Brandenburg Concerti were not intended to dazzle theorists or challenge intellectuals, but rather for sheer enjoyment by musicians and listeners.

Brandenburg Concert will be performed in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Thursday April 19 and Friday April 20, 2012 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20.45, $31.21, $42.51, $53.81, $64.57, $75.33, and $94.17, for adults and $11.38, $16.76, $22.41, $28.06, $33.44, $38.82, and $48.24 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s website www.nac-cna.ca.

Subject to availability, full-time students (aged 13-29) with valid Trinity Live Rush™ membership (free registration at www.liverush.ca) may buy up to 2 tickets per performance at the discount price of $12 per ticket. Tickets are available online (www.nac-cna.ca) or at the NAC box office from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the show or 2 hours before a matinee. Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices to all NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances; to reserve your seats, call 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

Discover the new NACmusicbox TIMELINE: 200 orchestral works, 80 Canadian compositions,
1 interactive TIMELINE that provides a visual representation of our rare online archival collection and encourages the exploration of music connections. The NACmusicbox TIMELINE has been specifically designed to showcase the works of Canadian composers within the history of orchestral music and offers cross-curricular content with classroom-ready activities and lesson plans developed by teachers for teachers. Visit NACmusicbox.ca today.
The National Arts Centre gratefully acknowledges the financial investment by the Department of Canadian Heritage in the creation of this online presentation for the Virtual Museum of Canada.
We also thank our partner CBC Radio 2 for generously providing broadcast-quality recordings of the NAC Orchestra’s archival performances.

For additional information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca
 
— 30 —

Information:  
Gerald Morris
Communications Officer, NAC Music
613-947-7000, ext. 335
[e-mail]  gerald.morris@nac-cna.ca