Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048 
 

A son altesse royale, Monsigneur Crétien Louis Marggraf de Brandenbourg, etc. etc. etc.  
 

Monseigneur, 
 

Two years ago, when I had the honor of playing before your Royal Highness, I experienced your condescending interest in the insignificant musical talents with which heaven has gifted me, and understood your Royal Highness’s gracious willingness to accept some pieces of my composition.  In accordance with that condescending command, I take the liberty to present my most humble duty to your Royal Highness in these Concerti for various instruments, begging your Highness not to judge them by the standards of your own refined and delicate taste, but to seek in them rather the expression of my profound respect and obedience.  In conclusion, Monseigneur, I most respectfully beg your Royal Highness to continue your gracious favor toward me, and to be assured that there is nothing I so much desire as to employ myself more worthily in your service.

      With the utmost fervor, Monseigneur, I subscribe myself

            Your Royal Higness’s most humble and most

                  Obedient Servant 

                        Jean Sebastien Bach

Cothen, 24 March 1721 
 

Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg after whom the immortal concerti are today named, received the Bach’s offering, but did not bother to send Bach a reply, or to have them performed.  The manuscript lay on a shelf, never performed, and not even mentioned in the library catalogue until more than a decade later.  But Bach kept a copy for himself, and performed the concerti in Cöthen, where he was in service of Prince Leopold, and had excellent musicians under his disposal.  (The concerti were probably too difficult for the royal Brandenburg musicians.) 
 

Cöthen was a Calvinist court, where music was not as integral to the service as it was for the protestants.  Bach was charged with the composition of purely instrumental, secular music—absolute music without words.  This was still a relatively new concept—concertos, sinfonias, and sonatas not for dance or song or religious worship—music for its own sake.  The Brandenburg Concerti are an outstanding example of early absolute music—a genre that would in the ensuing decades define the German musical style. 
 

The Brandenburg Concerti are inspired by the Italian models of Corelli and Vivaldi’s ritornello forms—the alternation between “returning” familiar material and wayward episodes.  But while the Italian influence can clearly be heard, Bach’s concerti are clearly different.  While there are still plenty of virtuoso riffs, the material is divided more evenly amongst the instruments.  Thus the balance of voices is more democratic—everyone has something important to say.  This is especially true in the 3^rd of the 6 concerti.  Scored for 3 violins, 3 violas, 3 celli, and double bass, every instrument gets a solo passage, and in turn must also play the part of accompanist.