Bach, JS :: Brandenburgisches Konzert Nr. 5 [Brandenburg Concerto No. 5] BWV 1050 - Study Score

Like most of the Brandenburg Concertos dedicated to Margrave Christian, Bach wrote the Fifth Brandenburg during his years at Cothen. With some degree of certainty we also know the occasion for which he wroteit. In March 1719 a two-manual harpsichord arrived in Cothen from Michael Mietke in Berlin, who doubtless built it in accordance with Bach s special instructions. To all appearances, Bach wrote the Fifth Brandenburg to display this newly-acquired instrument to his musically-minded patron.

Of the Brandenburg Concertos, the Fifth merits special attention in that the keyboard instrument is assigned a prominent place among the three soloists: flute, violin and harpsichord. Bach s special treatment of the harpsichord is especially evident in the great solo cadenza of the first movement. With this work Bach produced the first keyboard concerto in music history. An extant early version of this work, BWV 1050a, allows us to conclude that Bach reworked the concerto shortly after its composition but before he copied out the dedicatory manuscript. This early version may even have originated prior to the arrival of the new harpsichord (but no earlier than the end of 1717). Its principal feature is the much shorter harpsichord cadenza in the first movement, which amounts to only eighteen bars instead of the 65 of the final version. The third movement, too, was originally four bars shorter, with bars 178 180 serving in lieu of bars 178 184 of the later version.

This edition presents both the dedicatory version of BWV 1050 and the early version (the Fruhfassung BWV 1050a), thereby allowing the reader to compare them in detail. This is especially useful in the case of the two cadenzas: it transpires that the early eighteen-bar cadenza (mm. 154 171 of BWV 1050a, movt. 1) is entirely non-thematic, while the bars 154 196 interpolated into the dedicatory version rework thematic material from earlier solo episodes. Obviously, few performers today will wish to dispense with the expansive cadenza of the final version. Nevertheless, we might cautiously raise the question of whether the early cadenza is, perhaps, more in keeping with movement s overall proportions.