Bach, Brandenburg Concerto no. 6 in B-flat major, 1. Allegro
The first movement of Bach's sixth (and last) Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1051, accompanied by an animated score. This concerto is unusual in that the highest-pitched instruments in the ensemble are two solo violas.
FAQ
Q: Where can I get free sheet music for this piece?
A: Here:
Q: Who is playing this piece?
A: The violists are Elias Goldstein & Elizabeth Choi, and the solo violoncellist is Anna Steinhoff; they are playing with the Advent Chamber Orchestra. I got this recording from the Wikimedia Commons:
This recording is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Q: There sure is a lot of audience noise in this ... coughing, baby crying ...
A: Yes, there is. That might have been part of why this recording was put in the Wikimedia Commons.
Q: I don't like this version of the animation as much as others I've seen ...
A: I've posted several versions of this, including ...
... balls without stretching (version 1) ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoOr1jHWMzQ
... balls with stretching (version 2) ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDoz-7IHI4
... bars (version 3) ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR8LrZBg02k
... balls with stretching (version 4) ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1VvTTTO7Q
... balls with stretching (version 4 with white background) ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE73YEmP5rE
Q: It sure is hard to watch this.
A: Yes, but it may help to know this: at the beginning (and the other places that are like the beginning), the two violas (the highest instruments) are playing the same thing, offset in time by one eighth-note; so it's like a really quick echo.
Q: What about the rest of the Brandenburg Concertos?
A: I've made animated graphical scores for all of them:
www.musanim.com/BrandenburgConcertos/
Q: Is there a way I could make the bar-graph scores myself?
A: The Music Animation Machine MIDI file player will generate this display; you can get the (Windows) software here:
There are lots of places on the web where you can get MIDI files; I usually go to the Classical Archives site first:
Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please read this::