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Chapter 16
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047, finale
Chapter at a Glance
Listen to This First
Extreme Timbres
Form: The Ritornello Principle Returns
Fugal Texture
Connect Your Playlist: Imitation
Chapter Objectives
After reading the chapter and listening to the work, students should be able to:
Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F Major.
16.4 Discuss how areas of large-scale harmonic stability and instability contribute to the
overall form of this movement.
16.6 Discuss the nature of the Baroque trumpet and its differences from the modern
trumpet.
Key Concepts
concerto grosso, ritornello, fugal texture, harmonic basis of form
Chapter Highlight: The Baroque Concerto
The concerto highlights contrasts among instruments and performing forces, and
became a vehicle for virtuosic displays. This particular concerto highlights a group of
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Chapter Summary
Bach dedicated six Brandenburg concertos to the Margrave of Brandenburg, including
this Concerto no. 2 in F Major. Each of these concertos is a concerto grosso featuring
different groups of soloists. In no. 2, written for a solo group of trumpet, oboe, violin,
and recorder, the finale is the last of three movements. The timbre of the solo
instruments moves from the loud, strong extreme of the trumpet to the soft and delicate
recorder. In the middle are the oboe and violin. This movement is a fugue and also
based on the ritornello principle, with the solo group pitted against the orchestra.
concertos, which call for some difficult trumpet playing. Between 1750 and the Bach
revival in the nineteenth century, instruments changed to include valves. During the
Listening Guide
which combine to reinforce the form. The alternation of soloists with the ritornello
provides a basic approach to considering form, and here Bach makes use of different
MyMusicLab Resources
Automated Listening Guide: Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F
Major, BWV 1047, finale
Inside the Orchestra: The Trumpet
Online Modules: Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerto
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Discussion Topics and Critical Thinking Questions
1. Bonds describes the timbres of the soloists in this movement of the concerto as
moving from one extreme to the other. Explain what this statement means.
2. What happens when a composer modulates from one key area to another? Why would
a composer choose to do this in the middle of a piece of music?
3. How can a concerto be written in ritornello principle and also be a fugue?
Activities and Exercises
1. Invite a trumpet player to do a live demonstration in class about tone production on
the instrument. How is the air column set into motion? How does the player control
pitch? Why are there only three valves when many more notes are played?
Journaling Prompt
Bach composed his Brandenburg concertos while working the only job he ever held that
was not related to a church. Do you think that fact influences the sound of the pieces?