CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 (c. 1720) [Allegro] — Adagio Allegro Performed by: Phillips, Fullana, Hristova, Neubauer, Wu, Lipman, Canellakis, Elliott, Atapine, Bernat, Sasaki Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 (c. 1720) [Allegro] Adagio Allegro Menuet—Trio—Polonaise Performed by: Phillips, Hristova, Fullana, Neubauer, Elliott, Bernat, Smith, Ellis, Taylor, Goldberg, Rose, Valverde, Sasaki Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 (c. 1720) [Allegro] Andante Allegro assai Performed by: Wu, O’Connor, Smith, Washburn, Fullana, Phillips, Lipman, Atapine, Bernat, Goldberg, Sasaki INTERMISSION Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 (c. 1720) Allegro Affettuoso Allegro Performed by: Fullana, Kim, Hristova, Neubauer, Canellakis, Bernat, Sasaki Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051 (c. 1720) [Allegro] Adagio ma non tanto Allegro Performed by: Lipman, Wu, Elliott, Atapine, Canellakis, Bernat, Sasaki Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 (c. 1720) Allegro Andante Presto Performed by: Hristova, O’Connor, Kim, Wu, Phillips, Neubauer, Atapine, Bernat, Sasaki

PERFORMING ARTISTS

Mika Sasaki, harpsichord Francisco Fullana, violin Bella Hristova, violin Daniel Phillips, violin Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, violin/viola Matthew Lipman, viola Paul Neubauer, viola Dmitri Atapine, cello Nicholas Canellakis, cello Sterling Elliott, cello Nina Bernat, double bass Sooyun Kim, flute Tara Helen O’Connor, flute Randall Ellis, oboe James Austin Smith, oboe Stephen Taylor, oboe Marc Goldberg, bassoon Stewart Rose, horn Hugo Valverde, horn David Washburn, trumpet

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

DMITRI ATAPINE

Cellist Dmitri Atapine, whose playing has been described as “highly impressive throughout” (The Strad), regularly appears on world’s foremost stages and frequently performs with the Chamber Music Society, where he is an alum of the Bowers Program. Featured at leading festivals—including Music@Menlo, La Musica Sarasota, Pacific, Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Nevada, and others—he has won many awards including first prize at the Carlos Prieto Cello Competition, as well as top honors at the Premio Vittorio Gui and Plowman chamber competitions. Professor of Cello at the University of Nevada, Reno, Atapine holds a doctorate from the Yale School of Music. He is Artistic Co-Director of the Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Apex Concerts, and Ribadesella Festival, and also co-directs the Young Performers Program at Music@Menlo.

NINA BERNAT

Double bassist Nina Bernat is a recipient of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a member of CMS’s Bowers Program. First prizes include the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She has performed as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and as guest principal with the Israel Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic. Bernat has quickly established herself as a sought-after pedagogue, giving masterclasses around the country while also serving on the faculty of Stony Brook University. Highlights of the 2024–25 season include recitals at Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall. Bernat performs on a beautiful and sonorous early-18th-century bass, attributed to Guadagnini and handed down to her from her father.

NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS

Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, praised in the New Yorker as a “superb young soloist.” Recent highlights include solo debuts with the Virginia, Albany, Bangor, and Delaware symphony orchestras; concerto appearances with the Erie Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra; Europe and Asia tours with CMS; and recitals throughout the US with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he is a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals. Canellakis is the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona in Arizona and is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (where he was recently appointed to the cello faculty) and New England Conservatory.

STERLING ELLIOTT

Cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and winner of the Senior Division 2019 National Sphinx Competition. He has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, and Detroit Symphony. Recent debuts include those with the Colorado and Cincinnati Symphonies. He also recently returned to the Hollywood Bowl to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He serves on faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy at Juilliard, and he performs chamber music at festivals including La Jolla SummerFest, Edinburgh Festival, Chamberfest Cleveland, and Festival Mozaic. Elliott is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School, studying with Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim. He is a member of CMS’s Bowers Program and performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

RANDALL ELLIS

Randall Ellis served as principal oboist of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra from 1988 until 2016. He is principal oboist of the Little Orchestra Society and the Mozart Orchestra of New York and is solo English horn in the New York Pops Orchestra. He is a member of the Emmy Award–winning All-Star Orchestra and also the Windscape Woodwind Quintet, artists-in-residence at the Manhattan School of Music. Principal oboist and faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival, he was principal oboist of the New York Chamber Symphony and received two Grammy nominations, including one for his recording of Howard Hanson’s Pastorale. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and the American Symphony Orchestra. He has been a soloist with the New England Bach Festival, the International Bach Festival of Madeira, the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, and Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y. In addition to many appearances on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, he has recorded for EMI/Angel, Columbia, Sony, RCA, Vox, Nonesuch, CRI, Pro Arte, Delos, and Deutsche Grammophon. Ellis attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and Stony Brook University, where he studied with Ronald Roseman. He teaches oboe and chamber music at Skidmore College.

FRANCISCO FULLANA

Violinist Francisco Fullana, winner of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2023 Khaledi Prize, has collaborated with conducting greats like Sir Colin Davis, Hans Graf, and Gustavo Dudamel. Besides his career as a soloist, which includes recent debuts with the Philadelphia and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras and a residency with Apollo’s Fire, he is also an innovative educator, having created the Fortissimo Youth Initiative and co-founded San Antonio’s Classical Music Institute. He is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Southern California, Fullana performs on the 1735 Mary Portman ex-Kreisler Guarneri del Gesù violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

MARC GOLDBERG

A member of the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble and New York Woodwind Quintet, Marc Goldberg is principal bassoonist of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Ballet Theater, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, and the NYC Opera. Previously the associate principal bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic, he has also been a frequent guest of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, touring with these ensembles across four continents and joining them on numerous recordings. A long-time season artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he has been a guest of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, the Brentano Quartet, Music@Menlo, Musicians from Marlboro, and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Band. Goldberg is on the faculty of the Juilliard School Pre-College Division, Mannes College, New England Conservatory, the Hartt School, and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

BELLA HRISTOVA

Acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across the US, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand. She was the featured soloist for an eight-orchestra concerto commission, written for her by her husband, composer David Serkin Ludwig, and recently recorded it with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. Her discography also includes the complete Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with pianist Michael Houstoun. A champion of new music, she has commissioned works by Joan Tower, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich for her project Lineage. She is a recipient of a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant and first-prize winner of the Michael Hill and Young Concert Artists competitions. Hristova studied with Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo, is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, and plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin.

SOOYUN KIM

Since her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, flutist Sooyun Kim has enjoyed a flourishing career performing with orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Pops. She has appeared in recital in Budapest’s Liszt Hall, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and Kobe’s Bunka Hall. She is a winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant and numerous other international awards. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, she studied at the New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Paula Robison. She is currently on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and teaches summer courses at Orford Musique. Kim plays a rare 18-karat gold flute specially made for her by Verne Q. Powell Flutes.

MATTHEW LIPMAN

American violist Matthew Lipman has made recent appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, American Symphony Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. He has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall and the Zürich Tonhalle, and has recorded on the Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, Cedille, and Avie labels. An alum of the Bowers Program, he performs regularly on tour and at Alice Tully Hall with CMS. An Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and major prize winner at the Primrose and Tertis International Viola Competitions, Lipman is on faculty at Stony Brook University. He performs on a 2021 Samuel Zygmuntowicz viola.

PAUL NEUBAUER

Violist Paul Neubauer has been called a “master musician” by the New York Times. He recently made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower. A two-time Grammy nominee, Neubauer is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and Mannes College.

TARA HELEN O'CONNOR

Tara Helen O'Connor, recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, was the first wind player to participate in CMS’s Bowers Program. A regular performer at major music festivals around the country, she is also the Co-Artistic Director—along with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips—of the Music from Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico, and a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape and the Bach Aria Group. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Naumburg Award–winning New Millennium Ensemble. She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion String Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet, and Emerson Quartet. A Wm. S. Haynes flute artist, O’Connor is on faculty at Yale School of Music. Additionally, she teaches at Bard College and the Manhattan School of Music.

DANIEL PHILLIPS

Violinist Daniel Phillips co-founded the Orion String Quartet, which after an illustrious 37-year career gave its last concert in April 2024, presented by CMS. He is a graduate of Juilliard, and his major teachers were his father Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sandor Végh, and George Neikrug. He served as a judge in the 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition, the 2022 Leipzig Bach Competition, and the 2023 World Bartók Competition, and the 2024 Prague Spring Competition. Phillips is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and is on the faculties of Bard College Conservatory and Juilliard. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, in Manhattan with their two dachshunds.

STEWART ROSE

Praised by the New Yorker for his "forceful yet elegant virtuosity," French hornist Stewart Rose is one of the preeminent horn players of his generation. This season he is performing as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra horn section and in recent seasons was acting principal with New York City Ballet Orchestra and prior to that, acting associate principal with the New York Philharmonic for two years. He has been guest principal with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Saito Kinen Orchestra. He has appeared at the Marlboro, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, Spoleto, Edinburgh, Chesapeake Music, and Bridgehampton festivals and is a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A native New Yorker, he began playing with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in the 1980s and has been principal horn with Orchestra of St. Luke's since its inception. He also served as principal horn with New York City Opera at Lincoln Center for 25 years. Rose’s first solo recording, From the Forest, a collection of early classical works for horn and orchestra by Haydn, Telemann, Leopold Mozart, and Christoph Forster with St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, was released on St. Luke’s Collection to great critical acclaim. The New York Times noted his “remarkable virtuosity, agility and fluency, and his ability to retain the horn's cheery rusticity.”

MIKA SASAKI

Pianist Mika Sasaki is a soloist, chamber musician, and educator whose performances have taken her around the world. Her performances have been broadcasted on WQXR, WFMT, KQAC, and Radio Sweden. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Sinfonia of Cambridge, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Orchestra, and, more recently, with the InterSchool Symphony Orchestra of New York. She is the pianist of Ensemble Mélange and a core member of Decoda, and appears regularly with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, Manhattan Chamber Players, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and with her duo partners. She has commissioned works by Max Grafe, Emily Cooley, Andrew Hsu, and Jonathan Dawe. An alum of the Peabody Conservatory, Ensemble Connect, and the Juilliard School, Sasaki is now a faculty member at Juilliard.

JAMES AUSTIN SMITH

Performer, curator, and on-stage host James Austin Smith “proves that an oboist can have an adventurous solo career.” (The New Yorker). Smith appears at leading national and international chamber music festivals, as Co-Principal Oboe of the conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and as an artist of the International Contemporary Ensemble. As Artistic and Executive Director of Tertulia Chamber Music, Smith creates intimate evenings of music, food, and drink in New York and San Francisco, as well as an annual festival in a variety of global destinations. He serves as Artistic Advisor to Coast Live Music in the San Francisco Bay Area and mentors graduate-level musicians as a professor of oboe and chamber music at Stony Brook University and as a regular guest at London's Guildhall School. A Fulbright scholar and alum of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect and CMS’s Bowers Program, he holds degrees in music and political science from Northwestern and Yale University.

STEPHEN TAYLOR

Stephen Taylor is solo oboist with the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble (for which he has served as co-director of chamber music), the American Composers Orchestra, the New England Bach Festival Orchestra, and is co-principal oboist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Among his many recordings are Bach arias with Kathleen Battle and Itzhak Perlman, and Elliott Carter's Oboe Quartet, for which he received a Grammy nomination. He has performed many of Carter's works, giving several world and US premieres. He has been awarded a performer's grant from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University and has collaborated with the Vermeer, Shanghai, Orion, American, and Artis-Vienna String Quartets. Trained at the Juilliard School, Taylor is a member of its faculty as well as of the Yale and Manhattan schools of music. He plays rare Caldwell model Lorée oboes.

HUGO VALVERDE

French horn player Hugo Valverde enjoys a prolific career in the United States and abroad as an orchestral player and soloist, currently holding the Second Horn position at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City. Valverde often performs chamber music concerts with his colleagues of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and throughout New York City. He has appeared as a performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and with the Parlance Chamber Series in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Valverde is a faculty member at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Precollege Division at Manhattan School of Music. A native of Costa Rica, Mr. Valverde studied at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida and the National Music Institute in San José, Costa Rica. His main teachers are Daniel León, Luis Murillo, Gregory Miller and William VerMeulen.

DAVID WASHBURN

David Washburn is the principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and associate principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Previously, he served as principal trumpet and soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Redlands Symphony. He has been a featured soloist with such orchestras as the Los Angeles, St. Louis, Hong Kong, and California philharmonics; the Los Angeles, San Diego, St. Matthew’s, and South Bay chamber orchestras; and the Berkeley, Burbank, and Glendale symphonies. Active in the recording studio, he has played principal trumpet for the soundtracks of many major films. He is currently a faculty member at Azusa Pacific University and Biola University. He received his master’s degree with distinction from the New England Conservatory and his bachelor’s degree from the Thornton Music School at the University of Southern California.

TIEN-HSIN CINDY WU

Praised by the Seattle Times as “Simply marvelous” and Taiwan’s Liberty Times for “astonishingly capturing the spirit of the music,” violinist/violist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Leila Josefowicz, Kim Kashkashian, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Thomas Quasthoff, Yuja Wang, and members of the Alban Berg, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Miró, and Tokyo string quartets at the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and festivals such as Bridgehampton, Great Lakes, La Jolla Summerfest, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, and Santa Fe. She has also collaborated as a guest violist with the Dover, Orion, and Shanghai quartets. She is a recipient of awards including the Curtis Institute’s Milka Violin Artist Prize, and third prize at the International Violin Competition of David Oistrakh. She has taught at the Thornton School of Music, the Encore School for Strings, and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music’s Summer Program. Passionate about programming, she is the Music Director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society, Director of Chamber Music at the Hidden Valley Music Seminars, program creator of Sunkiss’d Mozart, and has curated programs for the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles as the Artistic Partner. She plays on a 1734 Domenico Montagnana violin, 1918 Stefano Scarampella violin, 2021 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin, and a 2015 Stanley Kiernoziak viola.

PROGRAM NOTES

Johann Sebastian Bach The Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051 Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach Died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig Compiled in 1721, though likely composed earlier

Each of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Concerts avec plusieurs Instruments (“Six Concertos with Several Instruments”), or “Brandenburg Concertos,” as they are now usually called, is its own world in microcosm. In 1721, Bach compiled this set of highly individual, and in many ways unusual, chamber pieces for all different combinations of instruments and sent them in score format, with a humble letter of dedication, to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg (1667–1734). It is thought that Bach must have played for the Margrave in 1719, on a trip to Berlin to pick up a new double-harpsichord. Bach’s dedication states that the concertos were sent at the Margrave’s request, based on his delight in Bach’s talents. Without Christian Ludwig’s keen ear, it is likely that we would not have these pieces, which are now so iconic within Western culture that they are among Earth’s musical ambassadors to outer space: the first movement of the Second Brandenburg Concerto is on Voyager 1’s “Golden Record.”

Paradoxically, these concertos were hardly known during Bach’s lifetime and did not enjoy a continuous performance history until the 20th century. In part, this is because their style and instrumentation were perceived as archaic. Several of the concertos feature instruments specific to the Baroque period, such as recorders, violino piccolo, hunting horns, harpsichord, violas da gamba, and the entire concept of a basso continuo group. Many ensembles have adapted the music to the modern versions of the instruments Bach seems to have been calling for, while those groups specializing in historically inspired performance practice use instruments thought to replicate as closely as possible those for which Bach originally composed. Both approaches lead to solutions that yield different, but clearly satisfactory results. Performances of the Brandenburg Concertos continue to delight audiences and pack concert halls.

Baroque instrumental concertos were usually in three movements (fast-slow-fast), all of which were designed to feature a solo instrument or group of instruments (the “concertino,” or “solo” group), set against an accompanying ensemble (the “tutti” or “ripieno” group). An effective way to listen to these concertos is to identify the moments of collaboration between groups (sharing of musical themes), contrast (the sound, or “timbre” of one group juxtaposed with another), and competition (battles for ownership over themes, displays of virtuosity). Concertos are in many ways like a conversation, one that is lively in the fast outer movements and more intimate and confessional in the middle, slow movements. As always in Baroque music, the basso continuo group of keyboard plus bass instruments functions like the rhythm section in a jazz ensemble: it keeps the underlying harmonic structure defined and the rhythmic action perpetually moving forward.

Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 stands out for its scoring, which, like that of Concerto No. 6, contains no wind instruments. Three violins, three violas, and three cellos turn Bach’s compositional exploration of timbral juxtaposition into a subtle game that rewards close attention.

The opening statement of the first movement is in unison, and then the three solo groups take turns sounding the theme’s components. Active listening in Baroque concertos means paying close attention to how each instrument, or group of instruments, is functioning in any given moment. The players with the melodic material are always in the lead, and Bach creates a great deal of surface interest by continually redistributing the main themes among the different solo groups. The intention is to surprise and delight.

Musical content in the second movement is almost entirely up to the discretion of the performers. Bach’s original notation consists of just two chords, though he did not intend for them to be rendered literally. Like all composers of his era, Bach often used notational shorthand to indicate that the musicians should improvise something ear-catching over and around the written harmonies. But who is to do the improvising, and how long should it last? Answers will vary. Plausible solutions include one of the string players improvising a solo over chords supplied by the continuo section, or a few bars provided by the harpsichordist alone.

The concluding movement is an unstoppably energetic Allegro that borrows its character and form from the dance, in this case a gigue. The movement is in two tightly constructed, repeated sections. Although there are brief solo flourishes here and there, no one instrument group dominates. The effect is one of joyful, exuberant collaboration.

Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046

Of the six concertos in the set, the first is the most unusual in form. Instead of the typical three movements, this one has four, closing not with the expected Allegro, but an extended Menuet. The featured soloists in this concerto are a pair of hunting horns (corni da caccia), principal oboe (plus two more oboes and a bassoon), and a rare member of the violin family, the “violino piccolo” (a violin tuned a third higher than usual).

All concertos are about contrast, and in this case, Bach explores the possibilities not just through musical material, but by using the unique sounds (or timbres) of the highly differentiated solo instruments. The defining feature of the first movement is its kaleidoscopic surface, in which the musical themes pass from one instrument group to another, changing in character with every iteration. There are also several contrasting musical styles on display, from the bucolic, slightly humorous horn calls in the first movement, to a heart-wrenching operatic duet in the second movement (solo oboe + violino piccolo). These lead to a dance-inspired, dazzlingly virtuosic third movement featuring solo violin, and a Menuet finale that includes a “bonus” Polonaise (an elegant courtly dance associated with the royal Polish court) and second trio. The overall structure is ABACADA, where the returning Menuet is “A”: Menuet–Trio 1 [oboes + bassoon]–Menuet–Polonaise [strings]–Menuet–Trio 2 [horns + oboes]–Menuet. It is a most unorthodox ending for a concerto. Regardless, each of these movements delights in its own way.

Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047

This spritely concerto in three movements follows the standard fast-slow-fast pattern of its day. Along with the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, the Second is probably the most famous of the set, even though Bach’s instrumentation presents special challenges to modern ensembles. For example, Bach calls for “tromba” as well as “fiauto”. While it is tempting to read these as “trumpet” and “flute,” “tromba” indicates a valveless trumpet in F and “fiauto” means treble recorder, not flute (which was called “traverso”). The sounds, or timbres, of the 18th-century instruments are decidedly different from those of the modern piccolo trumpet and flute often used to realize these parts, though the composer’s timbral contrasts remain in place.

The exchange of musical motives among the four solo instruments (violin, oboe, trumpet, flute), generates the action of the first movement (Allegro). From the outset, it is as if the soloists are presenting themselves to the listener in turn. Their dialogue is playful throughout, until the second movement (Andante). Here, Bach excludes the trumpet, reserving the spotlight for the solo violin, oboe, and flute. Their interaction is that of three sympathetic voices, complimenting and commenting upon each other’s statements. The solo violin introduces fairly simple melodic material which permeates the texture. The ticking regularity of the bassline and relatively concise range of the melody projects a mood that is almost pensive and restrained. For the exuberant third movement, the trumpet returns with its now-famous solo melody, setting in motion busy, fugue-like imitation as each solo instrument once again takes up the opening theme in turn, alternately offering countermelodies and new ideas in subsequent episodes.

Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050

The Fifth Brandenburg Concerto is the only one of the set known to have had an afterlife in the decades immediately following Bach’s death. Three versions of it exist in performance-ready copies made by members of Bach’s inner circle, and there is clear evidence that it was also performed in early-19th-century Berlin by members of the Sing-Akademie. The keyboard soloist on that occasion was Sara Levy, who was Felix Mendelssohn’s great-aunt and a student of none other than Bach’s oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.

This concerto is remarkable for its musical content alone, but it is also groundbreaking because of the extraordinary solo role assigned to the harpsichord, especially in the first movement (Allegro). Modern audiences are used to the concept of the keyboard concerto; in Bach’s time, employing the harpsichord as a solo instrument was highly unusual. Traditionally, in ensembles, it was an accompanying instrument (a member of the basso continuo section). Possibly, this virtuosic keyboard part was Bach’s way of sending the Margrave his business card.

The second movement, Affetuoso, uses a rare (for Bach) tempo indication that captures the character of the movement: It is “affective,” which is to say emotive, with endearing pathos. The solo instruments interact conversationally, responding to each other’s short, melodic utterances with empathy and engagement. They build upon one another’s material, sometimes even completing each other’s sentences. This compositional style was entirely modern for the 1720s and was not one often found in Bach’s music. It is more common in the chamber music of his fashionable contemporary Georg Philipp Telemann, and that of Bach’s older sons, particularly Carl Philipp Emanuel (Telemann’s godson).

The closing Allegro is a lively movement that displays Bach’s contrapuntal skill. In this case, the action is fugal: the solo instruments imitate one another’s material, passing the theme amongst themselves, playing countermelodies, offering elaborations. Solo episodes occur in between statements of the original material, opening the texture up for displays of virtuosity, mostly from the harpsichordist, whose part frequently amounts to dazzling filigree seemingly for its own sake.

Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051

This concerto, more than perhaps any other in the set, demands especially close listening because of the subtly different timbres of the string instrument groups it features. While the members of the violin family (including violas, cellos, basses) have survived into the 21st century, members of the viola da gamba family (for which Bach originally wrote this work) mostly have not, outside the circles of historically inspired performance practice. While the gambas’ music can be played by modern cellos and the violone part assigned to double bass, a fundamental compositional idea behind this concerto is the juxtaposition of these distinct branches of the stringed-instrument family. This music is in some ways understated, yet beautifully crafted. When performing it on modern instruments, great care must be taken to ensure that Bach’s extraordinary musical lines are not subsumed by timbral homogeneity.

Learned counterpoint plays a prominent role in this concerto: the first movement is propelled by a strict canon between the two violas at such a close interval that it ends up sounding more like an echo effect than a compositional feat. The slow movement is scored intimately, for just three instruments (violas and cello) plus basso continuo. The melody is immediately lovely and ingratiating, with the two violas warmly exchanging the theme and responding to each other’s statements with gently affirming repetitions and supportive harmonies. Those who recall the original Prairie Home Companion will recognize the opening of the third movement as Minnesota Public Radio’s theme music. Perhaps it was chosen for that role because it is immediately engaging, easy to enjoy, and has a regularly irregular rhythm that keeps things interesting without tipping into complexity. It is an example of Bach at his most charming.

Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049

Of the six Brandenburg concertos, the scoring of No. 4 is arguably the most delicate. Bach’s original solo voices are two recorders (though flutes are sometimes used now, as in these performances) and violin. Their roles as the featured instruments are immediately foregrounded in the opening Allegro. The recorders are treated throughout as a unit, probably due to the softness of their timbre, while the solo violin can easily cut through the ensemble unaided. Its role in this concerto is significantly more virtuosic than what Bach writes for the recorders, although they, too, get their moments to shine in this spritely movement.

The second movement (Andante), is an abrupt change of character to something more liquid and reflective. Here, Bach gives the recorders an unrivaled chance to reveal one of their expressive superpowers: breathy, wistful, melancholy. This is a movement inspired by the Baroque opera stage.

A lively fugue for the third movement rounds things off. Fugue’s characteristic imitative texture is in evidence from the outset: the main melody gets stated by the different instruments in turn. Between statements, solo passages (or “episodes”) feature both the solo violin and the recorders. Things get almost manically virtuosic for the violinist in this movement, and Bach unleashes through it a contrapuntal tour de force. From a technical standpoint, this closing Presto is the weightiest of the concerto’s three movements—an atypical feature, as that honor is usually reserved for the first movement.

Program Notes by Ellen Exner

ABOUT THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

Founded in 1969, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) brings the transcendent experience of great chamber music to more people than any other organization of its kind worldwide. Under the artistic leadership of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, the multi-generational and international performing artist roster of 140 of the world’s finest chamber musicians enables us to present chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period.

Each season, we reach a global audience with more than 150 performances and education programs in our home at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio at CMS and on tour with residencies worldwide.

We offer a wide range of learning formats and experiences to engage and inform listeners of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of musical knowledge through our education programs. The Bowers Program, our competitive three-season residency, is dedicated to developing the chamber music leaders of the future and integrates this selection of exceptional early-career musicians into every facet of CMS activities.

Our incomparable digital presence, which regularly enables us to reach millions of viewers and listeners annually, includes our weekly national radio program, heard locally on WQXR 105.9 FM on Monday evenings; radio programming in Taiwan and mainland China; and appearances on American Public Media’s Performance Today, the monthly program In Concert with CMS on the PBS ALL ARTS broadcast channel, and SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel, among others. The PBS documentary film Chamber Music Society Returns chronicles CMS’s return to live concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and on a six-city national tour. It is currently available to watch on PBS Passport. Our website also hosts an online archive of more than 1,700 video recordings of performance and education videos free to the public.