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The Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major (BWV 1046) by Johann Sebastian Bach is the first of six great concertos which, taken in combination, add up the most complex and artistically successful failed job application in recorded history. They were written around 1721 and dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in March of the same year. Bach's position at Cöthen was becoming less desirable to him; his wife had died in 1720 while Bach accompanied his employer, Prince Leopold of Anthalt-Cöthen, to Carlsbad. The prince was also reallocating funds from music to his palace guard, no doubt because the prince's new wife was not a music lover. Christian Ludwig probably heard Bach perform in 1719, or perhaps earlier at the spas in Carlsbad, where Prince Leopold would have Bach accompany him. Bach sent a beautifully rendered score of the concertos to the Margrave in 1721, suspecting that the royal might be interested in giving him a job, but there is no known response to Bach's political overture. The first concerto is, like all of Bach's concertos, indebted to the methods of the Italians. Vivaldi was particularly attractive to the German composer, who eagerly copied out Vivaldi's scores in order to understand his use of contrast, rhythmic propulsion, and orchestration. The Brandenburg Concertos were not as unusual as was once thought; Italian composers created concertos for widely varying combinations of instruments, and Bach's shifting textures have their parallels in works by other composers. But the handling of the Italian concerto material went unmatched throughout the Baroque era. One unique, perhaps non-Italian idea in the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 is Bach's use of hunting horns. The concerto also calls for three oboes and a bassoon, as well as continuo strings and the violino piccolo. The sound of the horns stands out, but the composer manages to make them blend into the ensemble through the use of multiple winds. Though the first movement does not have a tempo marking, performances of the four-movement work are about 20 minutes in duration. Each movement has a brisk pace and extraordinary counterpoint that inventively shades and blurs the contrast between the small concertino group and the tutti ensemble. Along with the horn, the violino piccolo seems to have been included in order to draw more attention to the innovative qualities of the music. The Brandenburg Concertos contain some of Bach's most brilliant counterpoint, and the attention-grabbing orchestration of the first concerto has not diminished the work's value at all. It is among Bach's best works. Source: AllMusic (http://www.allmusic.com/composition/b...). Although originally written for Baroque orchestra (3 Oboes, Bassoon, 2 Horns, Violino piccolo, strings & Continuo), I created this Arrangement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major (BWV 1046) for Winds (Bb Trumpet, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759) was a German, later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining steadfastly popular. One of his four Coronation Anthems, Zadok the Priest (1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon (1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba") featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown. Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert...)). Although originally written for Trumpet, 2 Violins & Bass, I created this Interpretation of the March for Orchestra in D Major (HWV 345) for Winds (Flute, Oboes, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello). Sheet music made with MuseScore - https://musescore.com

The "Messiah" (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer (which are worded slightly differently from their King James counterparts). It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1713, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s, in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of conventional opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and very little direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah, moving from the prophetic phrases of Isaiah and others, through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ to his ultimate glorification in heaven. Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards authenticity; most contemporary performances show a greater fidelity towards Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. At the end of his manuscript Handel wrote the letters "SDG"—Soli Deo Gloria, "To God alone the glory". This inscription, taken with the speed of composition, has encouraged belief in the apocryphal story that Handel wrote the music in a fervour of divine inspiration in which, as he wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus, "he saw all heaven before him". Many of Handel's operas, of comparable length and structure to Messiah, were composed within similar timescales between theatrical seasons. Although originally written for Full Orchestra, I created this arrangement for Small Orchestra (Piccolo Trumpet, Bb Trumpet, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn, French Horn, Bassoon, Timpani, Violins, Violas & Cellos).

If Georg Friedrich Händel's (1685 – 1759) first published collection of concerti grossi, the 6 Concerti grossi, Op. 3 of 1734, HWV 312-317, seems a bit imbalanced and at times even peculiar, it is only fair to mention that Handel himself seems to have had nothing whatsoever to do with putting the volume together. Indeed, it isn't at all certain that Handel even intended the music of Op. 3 to be molded into a series of multi-movement ensemble concertos; it seems rather that publisher John Walsh, seeking to cash in on the commercial success of Corelli's famous Opus 6 Concerti grossi, simply threw a few dozen already existing Handel works together and, grouping them into six "concertos," gave them the name by which they are still known. Though the concerti grossi of Op. 3 suffer somewhat from the ramshackle circumstances of their birth--it is probably well, for their sakes, not to compare them too much with Handel's other collection of works in the form, the superb Opus 6--as a testament to the richness of their composer's musical language, and to the musical adaptability that has earned Handel the nickname "The Great Chameleon," they are unimpeachable. The variety of design in Op. 3 is rather enjoyable. Just one of the six concertos are cast in the usual four movements, the other four having anything between two and five. Only on a few occasions does Handel (and/or Walsh) choose to set up the instrumental forces in the traditional concerto grosso manner, i.e. a tutti group and a contrasting, soloistic concertino group. The concertos, however, are filled with virtuoso solo passages for both the string and the woodwind players, and so the spirit of the concerto grosso tradition is intact even if the rigid delineation of performing forces is absent. Probably the earliest of the Op. 3 music is contained in the very first concerto of the volume, the Concerto grosso in B flat major/G minor, Op. 3, No. 2. The first of its three movements is in B flat major, the last in G minor. While such asymmetry of tonal design was by no means unheard of, it certainly cannot be considered standard practice for the eighteenth century. The opening movement of the five-movement Concerto grosso in B flat major, Op. 3, No. 2 bears a close relationship with Handel's Brockes Passion of 1716; unusually, a pair of dance movements--a minuet and a gavotte--wrap the Concerto up. The third Concerto (G major, in which the oboe is optionally to be replaced by a flute) is again in three movements (the opening Largo is so brief that it really cannot be counted as a movement unto itself), while the Concerto grosso in F major, Op. 3, No. 4 is one of the two pieces in the opus that follow a four movement framework. The layout of this striking work is anything but typical of concerto grosso style, however, as the music was lifted straight from the multi-sectioned overture to the 1715 opera Amadigi di Gaula. Save for the addition of an extra allegro movement at the very end, the Concerto grosso in D minor, Op. 3, No. 5--and for the lack of division into tutti and concertino--follows the traditional Italian model closest of all the Op. 3 works. The final work of the volume, the Concerto in D major, Op. 3, No. 6, has just two movements, and both are fast. The Vivace, whose music is extracted from the 1723 opera Ottone, casts the two oboes in starring roles, while in the Allegro, taken from the overture to the 1712 opera Il pastor fido, we are treated to a sparkling, two-sectioned minuet. Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/...). Although originally written for Baroque Orchestra, I created this Interpretation of the Concerto Grosso in Bb Major (HWV 312 Opus 3 No. 1) for Winds (Flute, Oboe & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).

Frédéric François Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." The nineteenth century saw the emergence of several new forms and genres, in some part as a departure from the great sonata form enlarged and expanded by Beethoven. As a result, many composers, especially for the piano, were turning towards more intimate character pieces. These miniatures allowed for the brief exploration of an idea, whether technical or emotional. Among the new genres appearing at the time was Chopin's Mazurka, a fusion of three Polish dance forms with the classical traditions of the composer's homeland. The three dance forms, the Mazur, the Kujawiak, and the Oberek, are sometimes found in their pure form, but often are merged with each other or with other genres or styles. The Mazurka enabled Chopin to explore many different dynamic, harmonic, and melodic colors, and to create many different personalities and characteristics. The result is a genre that can't be described universally, each piece being unique. The Mazurkas of Opus 33 each present distinct traits and characteristics. The first, marked Lento, has a lyrical, expressive melody line over a waltz pattern in the bass. The mood shifts effortlessly between mournful and hopeful, with a cherished and delicate intimacy. The second Mazurka is a true Oberek, impetuous, fast, and with strong, irregular accents. The mood is joyous, with playful, comic tremolo figures. The coda is free and full of flurries. The third piece of the collection, marked Semplice, is truly a simple and innocent approach to the genre. The sweet, tender melodic line is supported by subtly accented second beats, keeping the flavor of the dance. The final Mazurka adds rhythmic interest to the set, with the grace notes and trills bringing a rustic, native feel. The piece is written in rondo form, with several different characters appearing in the episodes between the recurring original theme. Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/... ). Although originally composed for solo piano, I created this interpretation of the Mazurka in B Minor (Op. 33 No. 4) for Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon). Sheet music made with MuseScore - https://musescore.com

SVUMC Bell Choir Performance (9-24-2017) Service 3

The Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major (BWV 1046) by Johann Sebastian Bach is the first of six great concertos which, taken in combination, add up the most complex and artistically successful failed job application in recorded history. They were written around 1721 and dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in March of the same year. Bach's position at Cöthen was becoming less desirable to him; his wife had died in 1720 while Bach accompanied his employer, Prince Leopold of Anthalt-Cöthen, to Carlsbad. The prince was also reallocating funds from music to his palace guard, no doubt because the prince's new wife was not a music lover. Christian Ludwig probably heard Bach perform in 1719, or perhaps earlier at the spas in Carlsbad, where Prince Leopold would have Bach accompany him. Bach sent a beautifully rendered score of the concertos to the Margrave in 1721, suspecting that the royal might be interested in giving him a job, but there is no known response to Bach's political overture. The first concerto is, like all of Bach's concertos, indebted to the methods of the Italians. Vivaldi was particularly attractive to the German composer, who eagerly copied out Vivaldi's scores in order to understand his use of contrast, rhythmic propulsion, and orchestration. The Brandenburg Concertos were not as unusual as was once thought; Italian composers created concertos for widely varying combinations of instruments, and Bach's shifting textures have their parallels in works by other composers. But the handling of the Italian concerto material went unmatched throughout the Baroque era. One unique, perhaps non-Italian idea in the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 is Bach's use of hunting horns. The concerto also calls for three oboes and a bassoon, as well as continuo strings and the violino piccolo. The sound of the horns stands out, but the composer manages to make them blend into the ensemble through the use of multiple winds. Though the first movement does not have a tempo marking, performances of the four-movement work are about 20 minutes in duration. Each movement has a brisk pace and extraordinary counterpoint that inventively shades and blurs the contrast between the small concertino group and the tutti ensemble. Along with the horn, the violino piccolo seems to have been included in order to draw more attention to the innovative qualities of the music. The Brandenburg Concertos contain some of Bach's most brilliant counterpoint, and the attention-grabbing orchestration of the first concerto has not diminished the work's value at all. It is among Bach's best works. Source: AllMusic (http://www.allmusic.com/composition/b...). Although originally written for Baroque orchestra (3 Oboes, Bassoon, 2 Horns, Violino piccolo, strings & Continuo), I created this Arrangement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major (BWV 1046) for Winds (Bb Trumpet, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759) was a German, later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining steadfastly popular. One of his four Coronation Anthems, Zadok the Priest (1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon (1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba") featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown. Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert...)). Although originally written for Trumpet, 2 Violins & Bass, I created this Interpretation of the March for Orchestra in D Major (HWV 345) for Winds (Flute, Oboes, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello). Sheet music made with MuseScore - https://musescore.com

The "Messiah" (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer (which are worded slightly differently from their King James counterparts). It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1713, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s, in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of conventional opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and very little direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah, moving from the prophetic phrases of Isaiah and others, through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ to his ultimate glorification in heaven. Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards authenticity; most contemporary performances show a greater fidelity towards Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. At the end of his manuscript Handel wrote the letters "SDG"—Soli Deo Gloria, "To God alone the glory". This inscription, taken with the speed of composition, has encouraged belief in the apocryphal story that Handel wrote the music in a fervour of divine inspiration in which, as he wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus, "he saw all heaven before him". Many of Handel's operas, of comparable length and structure to Messiah, were composed within similar timescales between theatrical seasons. Although originally written for Full Orchestra, I created this arrangement for Small Orchestra (Piccolo Trumpet, Bb Trumpet, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn, French Horn, Bassoon, Timpani, Violins, Violas & Cellos).

If Georg Friedrich Händel's (1685 – 1759) first published collection of concerti grossi, the 6 Concerti grossi, Op. 3 of 1734, HWV 312-317, seems a bit imbalanced and at times even peculiar, it is only fair to mention that Handel himself seems to have had nothing whatsoever to do with putting the volume together. Indeed, it isn't at all certain that Handel even intended the music of Op. 3 to be molded into a series of multi-movement ensemble concertos; it seems rather that publisher John Walsh, seeking to cash in on the commercial success of Corelli's famous Opus 6 Concerti grossi, simply threw a few dozen already existing Handel works together and, grouping them into six "concertos," gave them the name by which they are still known. Though the concerti grossi of Op. 3 suffer somewhat from the ramshackle circumstances of their birth--it is probably well, for their sakes, not to compare them too much with Handel's other collection of works in the form, the superb Opus 6--as a testament to the richness of their composer's musical language, and to the musical adaptability that has earned Handel the nickname "The Great Chameleon," they are unimpeachable. The variety of design in Op. 3 is rather enjoyable. Just one of the six concertos are cast in the usual four movements, the other four having anything between two and five. Only on a few occasions does Handel (and/or Walsh) choose to set up the instrumental forces in the traditional concerto grosso manner, i.e. a tutti group and a contrasting, soloistic concertino group. The concertos, however, are filled with virtuoso solo passages for both the string and the woodwind players, and so the spirit of the concerto grosso tradition is intact even if the rigid delineation of performing forces is absent. Probably the earliest of the Op. 3 music is contained in the very first concerto of the volume, the Concerto grosso in B flat major/G minor, Op. 3, No. 2. The first of its three movements is in B flat major, the last in G minor. While such asymmetry of tonal design was by no means unheard of, it certainly cannot be considered standard practice for the eighteenth century. The opening movement of the five-movement Concerto grosso in B flat major, Op. 3, No. 2 bears a close relationship with Handel's Brockes Passion of 1716; unusually, a pair of dance movements--a minuet and a gavotte--wrap the Concerto up. The third Concerto (G major, in which the oboe is optionally to be replaced by a flute) is again in three movements (the opening Largo is so brief that it really cannot be counted as a movement unto itself), while the Concerto grosso in F major, Op. 3, No. 4 is one of the two pieces in the opus that follow a four movement framework. The layout of this striking work is anything but typical of concerto grosso style, however, as the music was lifted straight from the multi-sectioned overture to the 1715 opera Amadigi di Gaula. Save for the addition of an extra allegro movement at the very end, the Concerto grosso in D minor, Op. 3, No. 5--and for the lack of division into tutti and concertino--follows the traditional Italian model closest of all the Op. 3 works. The final work of the volume, the Concerto in D major, Op. 3, No. 6, has just two movements, and both are fast. The Vivace, whose music is extracted from the 1723 opera Ottone, casts the two oboes in starring roles, while in the Allegro, taken from the overture to the 1712 opera Il pastor fido, we are treated to a sparkling, two-sectioned minuet. Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/...). Although originally written for Baroque Orchestra, I created this Interpretation of the Concerto Grosso in Bb Major (HWV 312 Opus 3 No. 1) for Winds (Flute, Oboe & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).

Frédéric François Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." The nineteenth century saw the emergence of several new forms and genres, in some part as a departure from the great sonata form enlarged and expanded by Beethoven. As a result, many composers, especially for the piano, were turning towards more intimate character pieces. These miniatures allowed for the brief exploration of an idea, whether technical or emotional. Among the new genres appearing at the time was Chopin's Mazurka, a fusion of three Polish dance forms with the classical traditions of the composer's homeland. The three dance forms, the Mazur, the Kujawiak, and the Oberek, are sometimes found in their pure form, but often are merged with each other or with other genres or styles. The Mazurka enabled Chopin to explore many different dynamic, harmonic, and melodic colors, and to create many different personalities and characteristics. The result is a genre that can't be described universally, each piece being unique. The Mazurkas of Opus 33 each present distinct traits and characteristics. The first, marked Lento, has a lyrical, expressive melody line over a waltz pattern in the bass. The mood shifts effortlessly between mournful and hopeful, with a cherished and delicate intimacy. The second Mazurka is a true Oberek, impetuous, fast, and with strong, irregular accents. The mood is joyous, with playful, comic tremolo figures. The coda is free and full of flurries. The third piece of the collection, marked Semplice, is truly a simple and innocent approach to the genre. The sweet, tender melodic line is supported by subtly accented second beats, keeping the flavor of the dance. The final Mazurka adds rhythmic interest to the set, with the grace notes and trills bringing a rustic, native feel. The piece is written in rondo form, with several different characters appearing in the episodes between the recurring original theme. Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/... ). Although originally composed for solo piano, I created this interpretation of the Mazurka in B Minor (Op. 33 No. 4) for Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon). Sheet music made with MuseScore - https://musescore.com

SVUMC Bell Choir Performance (9-24-2017) Service 3

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759) was a true European. He had a German work ethic, Italian passion and a Dutch head for business. And after training in Germany and Italy, from 1711 he went on to win the hearts of the British. He wooed them with his many operas and oratorios, and with instrumental works like his Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Yet during his lifetime, he was renowned not only as an organist, but also as one of the greatest harpsichordists of his day. The public couldn’t get enough of him on the harpsichord, either as a composer or a musician. Evidently times change. However, if we take a closer look at the period during which Handel settled in London, we soon see that people were occupied with the same issues then as they are today. The signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 finally brought peace after a long period of war, and with it a lasting balance of power in Europe. It was a historic moment, comparable to the foundation of the European Union. Historic, partly because it was the first time a treaty had been signed not on the battle field but at the negotiating table. For Handel it was a fortunate development as it allowed him to move much more freely around Europe. At the same time, England had not done badly out of the peace deal it had struck in Utrecht. Welfare in the country increased, certainly in London. Handel brought together new and old material, but just what was old and what was new we do not know. Probably some of the work dated from his student days in Germany, some from his years in Italy, and the new material from his time in London. The German folksongs in the Air of the Suite in D Minor and the Passacaille from the Suite in G Major could well have been composed in his German years, as could some of the Fugues. According to Grove Music, Handel's keyboard pieces were "all probably for harpsichord and written before 1720, unless otherwise stated"; specifically for HWV 485, Grove says "for 2-manual hpd". Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...). Although originally written for Keyboard, I created this Arrangement of the Suite in D Minor (HWV 437 No. 12) for Organ (2 Manuals w/o Pedals).