Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

Rising in stately spirals,   J.S. Bach ’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 opens in the strings and flute before the keyboard enters. One of the most noble of the Six Brandenburgs , it uses the basic chamber music ensemble of flute, violin, and keyboard, augmenting it with a string orchestra. by  Emily E. Hogstad   The keyboard, however, has a dual role. It performs as part of the basso continuo for the full orchestral sections and is also a solo instrument with the violin and the flute. The first movement ends with a tremendous solo cadenza for the keyboard, leaving the other two solo instruments aside. Because of Bach’s own reputation as a keyboard virtuoso, it is thought that he was the soloist for the first performance. Bach, always the innovator, created in this work the model for what would become the solo keyboard concerto . He lifted the keyboard from its subordinate position as merely part of the basso continuo (which function it still holds here) into a leading rol...