Bach's Unconventional Use of Baroque Concerto Grosso Form .
in His 'Brandenberg Concerto no.
Corelli's model in 'Concerto Grosso in F major op.6, no.2' .
J.S Bach is considered as a late Baroque composer because he adapted forms, styles and characteristics of the Baroque era in his compositions. He was considered old-fashioned at the time because he was known for using old styles in his works. However, he does not only use the conventional form but also combines the 'new' style and this makes his music more complex and experimental than previous Baroque composers. His Brandenburg concertos are one of the most representing examples of his extended use of instrumentation and form that lays outside the convention. .
Bach's Brandenburg concertos are concerti grossi, but some of them do not seem to follow the model of the Baroque concerto grosso. It seems that Bach's instrumentation in these concerti grossi is not similar to what is usually found in Corelli's standardized model. For example, Brandenburg concerto no.5 is titled as Concerto 5to à une Traversiere, une Violino principale, une Violino è una Viola in ripieno, Violoncello, Violone è Cembalo concertato but it has a section with a long virtuosic harpsichord cadenza which makes it sound more like a cembalo concerto rather than a concerto grosso with cembalo. Some scholars consider this work as the origin of the first solo keyboard concerto because it is the first work which includes the keyboard solo cadenza. It would be interesting to find out what lead him to make these changes to the conventional concerto grosso form. In this essay, I am going to compare instrumentation and other features in Bach's Brandenburg concertos (particularly no.5) to a standard model of Corelli's and find out if there is any similarity or stylistic difference between these two examples of concerto grosso style. I would also like to explore possible reasons for these, if there are any.
