Garkay Wong SID:18616594 Music 27 GSI: Emily Richmond The second movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 consists of a single measure with only two chords. Other than the two chords, no further music is provided, and Bach's only instruction to performers is noted by a meter change and the words &quot;Adagio&quot; written after the first movement. The ambiguity of the second movement opens up the score to different interpretations and modes of improvisation by the performers. We are asked to study four different performances of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto as interpreted by the American Bach Soloists, the Taverner Players, the Academy of Ancient Music, and Le Concert des Nations. The length of the second movement varies depending on the performance, ranging from a long single note that lasts three seconds in the piece by the Academy of Ancient Music to a long embellished piece that lasts nine seconds by Les Concert des Nations. The second movement performed by the American Bach Soloists is four seconds long, and follows a very clear and steady duple meter. Interpretations of Bach's second movement by the American Bach Soloists seem to be most respectful of the written score. There is a rest noted by Bach after the first movement, followed by just the two chords. In all other interpretations of the second movement, there does not appear to be a rest between where the first movement ends, and the second begins. In contrast to the performance by the American Bach Soloists, the movements performed by Taverner, Le Concert des Nations, and the Academy of Ancient Art, seem to have been heavily improvised. In the interpretation of the Brandenburg Concerto by the American Bach Soloists, movement two is clearly distinguished from the first and third movements. It appears to be the only adaptation where the second movement stands alone. The second movement is written as &quot;Adagio&quot;, which seemed to serve as a rest between the two very fast surrounding movements, written in &quot;Allegro&quot;. The two chords in the movement seem to <a href="/keyword/lend-themselves/" >lend themselves</a> easily to transition between the first and third movements. The first movement ends with a feeling of closure, followed by a pause, and the two chords of the second movement seem to introduce the beginning of the very rapid violin solo of the third movement in a very ostentatious, almost &quot;Ta-daaah&quot; sound. The interpretation of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto by Les Concert des Nations seems to be one the most respectful of the spirit of instrumental performance during the Baroque Period. The Academy of Ancient Music comes at a close second. In Les Concert des Nations, the harpsichord is improvised over basso continuo, a technique which was specific to the Baroque period. In addition, the two chords of the second movement are very clearly played by the bass instrument as it is improvised over by the harpsichord. In the interpretation by the Academy of Ancient Music, a combination of the harpsichord's embellishment of the elongated single note of the violin serve to produce the transition provided by the second movement. This performance is played with a very slow tempo and lacks a recognizable meter. Both Les Concert des Nations and the Academy of Ancient Music seem to reflect performances of the Baroque period that were heavily improvised and have a courtly sound to them. Both seem to lack a steady meter, relying more on heavily embellished cadences by the harpsichord, which was a popular technique in the Baroque period. Improvisation was an important part of playing in the courts of the Baroque period because the performers needed to be able to either carry on with playing music or close very quickly in response to the proceedings of the court. The performance by the Taverners seems most reflective of the practices of instrumentalists in Bach's day. Composers in Bach's day seemed to write music that showed off the virtuosity of instrumental soloists. In Taverner's performance, the second movement is played with the emphasis on the violin solo, which is laid on top of the harpsichord that provides background. The original score is largely improvised upon by what sounds like a solo violin, while the harpsichord very occasionally breaks in to support the piece. The virtuosity of the violinist is shown off by an improvised and sudden shift to minor, where the virtuoso completely changes the tone of the piece and drags the bow into an almost dismal wail. Music written in the Baroque period was largely played in courts, and composers responded by leaving a lot of the interpretation up to the performers. Performers were given the speed at which they should play by composers, but the dynamics of the music, whether they wanted to play it softly or loudly, was up to them. Perhaps Bach had meant for the two chords to be open to interpretation in order to easily lend itself to whatever performers needed that movement to be. Whether that was a rest between two very fast movements, or just a transition between movements, instrumentalists had the freedom to make use of the score in a way that enhanced their performance of the music.