La Petite Bande olv. Sigiswald Kuijken

Do you keep an eye out for world premieres of Bach performances, as we do? Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande are at your service. They will perform the Third Brandenburg Concerto with three violoncelli da spalla instead of three cellos. According to Kuijken, this is precisely how Bach had intended it. But you have probably never heard it played in this way. Of the six Brandenburg Concertos (1721) we know with a fair degree of certainty that Bach did not write them for the court orchestra of the Marquis of Brandenburg, even though their names appear to indicate a relationship. Furthermore, they have been considered to be too difficult to play and the orchestration too large for the number of players in the court orchestra, plus the solo parts were really for virtuoso players. However, such outstanding musicians did exist at the Chapel Royal in Cöthen. Bach was there from 1717 to 1723 as 'Kapellmeister and Director of Chamber Music'. It is said that Bach spent the happiest period of his life in Cöthen. This is reflected in the whirling rhythms and the rich timbre of these 'Cöthenian' concertos. The concertos perfectly illustrate, for that matter, Bach's attitude toward his profession. At the Calvinistic chapel in Cöthen he was unable to compose any church music. He therefore almost exclusively wrote instrumental music. These concertos are fantastic, virtuosic compositions, unique in their diversity.