Brandeburg Concertos
20 December 2025/ France / Rennes
Although the chapel of Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg, a great music lover and dedicatee, did not have enough capable musicians to perform this virtuosic and complex music, it was nevertheless performed during the composer's lifetime. It seems the composer wanted to offer the Margrave a range of his art, as varied as possible, in concert instrumental music, which was, at the time, highly prized in the German Courts. As was his custom, Bach himself reused certain pages of these concertos in secular and sacred cantatas from the Leipzig period. While Concerto No. 4 evokes pastoral sonorities through the use of the recorders, No. 5 represents splendor and sovereign breadth, with Bach appearing in majesty as a harpsichord virtuoso.
Composed in 1739, Suite No. 2, based on the dialogue between the traverso and the orchestra (with its famous Badinerie in the final movement), is the probable culmination of the previous compositions played for, among others, court ceremonies or simple free concerts. The first part of a complete collection of the Six Brandenburg Concertos, this program marks the ensemble's desire to sculpt and make heard the sound specific to Le Banquet Céleste, whilst illuminating the musical personalities who make up the collective artistic direction, now at the head of the ensemble.
Composed in 1739, Suite No. 2, based on the dialogue between the traverso and the orchestra (with its famous Badinerie in the final movement), is the probable culmination of the previous compositions played for, among others, court ceremonies or simple free concerts. The first part of a complete collection of the Six Brandenburg Concertos, this program marks the ensemble's desire to sculpt and make heard the sound specific to Le Banquet Céleste, whilst illuminating the musical personalities who make up the collective artistic direction, now at the head of the ensemble.
