JS. Bach 
Brandenburg Concerto #2
arr. for String Quartet by Fiona Vilnite

​Even more so when arranged for string quartet, given that the original score was for 9 stringed instruments plus continuo (Harpsichord and Double Bass).   MQ violinist Leslie Townsend describes what happens when  an ensemble of four musicians is given music originally designed for nine plus 2 players.   Would the old master, Bach himself, approve of such a reduction?

Oh I think so. Bach, like most composers of his time, wrote for whoever showed up. And when someone didn’t show up, those who were there made do.  Some notes do get  left on the floor. But  figuring out which ones matter and which ones can be left to the imagination – that’s kind of another way in to  understanding the music. You have to look for what conveys the composer’s attention, and deliver that with less means.  I think of a string quartets as being a conversation between four people. In this situation, we four players each  have two or three other players whispering into our ears what they also want said.  Sometimes we manage that with “double stops.” That involves   a player playing across two strings instead of one string, one note as is usual.  In other places the second voice is “implied” even though notes are sounded.   But music is never about the notes, just as conversation is not just about words. A lot can be implied with a little.

Like a great actress who forgets her lines, but can convey the idea just by the way she walks across the stage?

Yes! Something like that. But it’s still Bach. It’s always going to be Bach. His musical intention, and the “idea” of his music – the sense of universal connection, the drawing together of differences into one unified expression – this comes across in Bach, regardless.   I can’t explain it in words. But you will hear it!

The Concerto is in 3 movements.  Both the first and third movements are fast, in ritornello form. The theme for each is announced  at the outset, then it keeps coming back, over and over again. It is an organizational strategy the allows for a lot of action between statements, because we always come back to that original expression. It is especially effective in the final movement, which is fast and complicated.  But just as things threaten to go completely crazy, that theme comes back to guide us through. 

The second movement  is a bit  odd. It  has only two notes written down. Seriously - it looks like this:

 

 

 

Bach hadn’t gone on  strike.  It is generally accepted that Bach intended more. He just didn’t write it down. This was not uncommon in an epoch where the composer was often the performing musician. The shorthand acted as a reminder, a guide, and players were expected to improvise. Usually one player takes the lead, the others support. 

The two notes here imply a Phrygian Cadence – think “Cliffhanger Ending”. So Bach is directly the players to give us something that bridges the first movement to the final. It’s like that bit  where  we all hold our breath as the battle-scarred mariner  peers into the  frothing wake and says  “We’re going to need a bigger boat….”

And then, boom! Movement three!  It’s a  Gigue, a dance. It comes in and comes in fast, again in ritornello form, with a clearly stated theme, then lots of excitement and the theme coming back to keep us from getting lost in the sea of notes. Optimistic, always controlled and yet reaching for the limit in complexity and richness of sound: It’s Bach at his best, even, or perhaps especially when rendered by string quartet where every player, every sound is asked to push beyond their weight class.
 
Sebastian says I really wanted to play Brandenburg 3 with MQ. When you are a kid with a fiddle, it is the best introduction to chamber music. You have to learn how to hold your own even while fitting in. It’s like when I started  hockey as a kid: First you learn to skate, stay on  feet, and handle your own stick. But when you get good enough to play on a team, you have to take all the for granted because you now have to focus on moving the puck down the ice with the other players. That’s when the fun begins! MQ is a great team of serious professionals. We all wanted to revisit this music, now that we all really know what we’re doing, and we wanted to play it together!