“As I had the good fortune a few years ago to be heard by Your Royal Highness, at Your Highness’s commands, and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the little talents which Heaven has given me for Music, and as in taking Leave of Your Royal Highness, Your Highness deigned to honour me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my Composition: I have in accordance with Your Highness’s most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present Concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments; begging Your Highness most humbly not to judge their imperfection with the rigor of that discriminating and sensitive taste, which everyone knows Him to have for musical works, but rather to take into benign Consideration the profound respect and the most humble obedience which I thus attempt to show Him.”

– So reads the dedication of these concertos from Bach to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt  

On March 31, 1685, the German Baroque composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of distinguished composers.  He lived until July 28, 1750.  During his life he became known for his instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations.  He is also known for his vocal works including St Matthew Passion and the Mass In B Minor.  He is generally thought of as among the finest composers ever.

Bach enriched Germanic style by incorporating counterpoint, harmonic and motivic devices and adaption of rhythms, forms and textures from Italy and France.  His compositions literally number hundreds of both sacred and secular music .  He wrote extensively for keyboard instruments and often employed canon and fugue.

Among his many well received pieces were the Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051) which was originally entitled Six Concerts a plusieurs instruments.  This consists of six instrumental works presented to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.  These are regarded as among the finest orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.    Bach modestly understates his works here as these used the broadest range of orchestral instrumentation and did so in what at the time were considered daring combinations that to this day largely if not completely are without parallel.    So much so that they could not be easily played in their day and after the death of Ludwig, these were sold for what today would be the equivalent of $24 US dollars.  Subsequently, they were nearly lost again during World War II when a librarian saved them from aerial bombardment and fleeing to nearby woods with these masterworks hidden under his coat.  Such is the folly of mankind.  So shall it sadly ever be.

These afterthoughts of music are the legacy of mankind.  It’s hard to listen to any version of these without having a profound and deep appreciation for the moments in any creative person’s life when they set aside the rules and play or write or otherwise create straight from the heart.  Cantanas are fine but this is what is truly inspired. Hurrah for the creator who knows how to stretch out a journey from point A to point be with detours that capture the heart and thrill the soul.  Harmonic inventions and chordal sequences weave elaborately throughout in a way that would be harder to more eloquently express.  Because of these beautiful detours, Aloha Promises Forever is compelled to give the Brandenburg Concertos a 10 out of 10.

You may listen to the complete Brandenburg Concertos here: