Classical Review: Brandenburg Concerto Marathon from the Bach Society of STL
J. S. Bach for a sunny Saturday afternoon
The six Brandenburg Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) are cornerstones of the Baroque music repertoire, such that probably a week doesn’t go by in the classical music world where at least one ensemble somewhere is performing one of them. Taking that popularity to its logical extreme, various organizations have given single concerts with all six Brandenburg Concertos. The most famous current American example is the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which has given annual all-Brandenburg Concerto concerts around Christmas since the early 1990s. Other American baroque specialist ensembles like Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) have also given their own concerts, such as in 2019, and 2023 through 2025 annually. So it’s no surprise that the Bach Society of Saint Louis has done the same with a performance last Saturday afternoon (April 12) at Salem United Methodist Church in Frontenac, to a crowd of over 300. The Bach Society last gave an all-Brandenburgs concert at the end of April 2022, and a year ago, played a program with three Brandenburgs. (April seems to be the month of Brandenburgs for the Bach Society of STL.)
The obvious first question about an all-Brandenburg Concertos concert is: what’s the order? (The second question is how many intermissions.) The order question is serious, as it’s not obligatory to go in numerical order, and no single “correct” order exists for programming all six in one concert. Thus, musicians are free to choose whatever order that they feel works best for them (and maybe the audience). In the cited examples from elsewhere:
The most recent 2024 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performance actually went in numerical order, from 1 to 6.
From their two recent programs, H+H seems to prefer: 1, 5, 3, 2, 6, 4.
This Bach Society performance went with: 2, 6, 1, 5, 4, 3. This order worked well, if with one unintended logistical consequence for two players at concert’s end. The ensemble sizes between the six works ranged from seven (Nos. 5 & 6) up to thirteen (No. 1),
Bach Society music director A. Dennis Sparger welcomed the audience and introduced each concerto during the various stage rearrangements. Dr. Sparger occasionally referenced this 2018 New York Times article by Michael Marissen about the Brandenburg Concertos, which talks about how these works are not as ‘secular’ in the modern sense as many people might think, along with looking at various sociological implications behind the choices of instrumentation, almost as if illustrating the thinking of Richard Taruskin that (to oversimplify drastically) the idea of “pure music” free of sociopolitical subtexts is a myth. (There are reasons that William F. Buckley, Jr. chose the finale of No. 2 as the theme music for Firing Line. Speaking of PBS, certain audience members may also recognize part of the first movement of No. 2 as the old Great Performances theme.)
It must be said that for anyone expecting the consistently high polish and technical finesse that Team SLSO delivers weekly, that’s not what you got here. Various rough edges were present, including some cracked entrances and shaky phrasing, and one perhaps unintentionally missing front-desk cue that inadvertently led to a fractionally late flute entry in No. 5. A sense of slightly dutiful trudge was noticeable in the slow middle movements. An indication of how that played out over the course of the afternoon was that post-concert interviews were intended to start at 5:15. Brandenburg No. 3 finished at 5:30. (L’homme propose et Dieu dispose. Or: Der Mensch denkt, und Gott lenkt.) Or to put things another way, one didn’t always get the energy and bounce characteristic of Nicholas McGegan’s SLSO concerts of Baroque repertoire, or the tight, more gleaming and driven polish of Bernard Labadie’s SLSO concerts. Of course, seasoned classical music ears are spoiled not only by the SLSO’s usual high standards, along with many commercial recordings of the Brandenburgs. Ironically, the presence of several SLSO musicians and one regular SLSO guest player among the Bach Society orchestra regulars seemed to up the ante. For example, it was noticeable how the violas took charge in No. 6, even with reduced vibrato, by sheer presence and projection.
The chosen order of the concertos proved quite judicious. One example was the placement of one each of the two strings-alone plus harpsichord Brandenburgs in each half (No. 6 and No. 3). In particular, No. 6 was wisely placed in the center of the first half, with its unusual violin-free orchestration that gives the ensemble a darker timbre. Likewise, in the first half, No. 2 featured piccolo trumpet (David Sanderson), flute (Catherine Edwards), oboe (Eileen Burke) and front desk violin (Lenora-Marya Anop) soloists, while No. 1 adds horns (Victoria Knudtson, Blaine Dodson, both from the SLSO) and oboes (Ms. Burke, Mark Pye, Jesi Hempstead) to the ensemble, giving a first half with variety of instrumental timbres between three concertos. The second half featured the one moment where the audience broke the unspoken rule about applauding between movements in a work, after the first movement of No. 5, which features a long harpsichord solo, nicely done by Charles Metz. In the transition passage between the two movements of No. 3, where the score simply has two chords, Dr. Metz effectively interpolated a solo harpsichord passage, with the two string chords placed towards its end. All the featured soloists, and indeed everyone in the ensemble, worked hard and played with commitment.
(Editorial sidebar: Dr. Sparger remained on stage off to the side during the performances, generally but not always out of audience view, but close to the musicians. While this is logistically understandable, and nothing ill was intended, I found it subliminally distracting. To put it another way: when I worked in a call center, I didn’t need my boss at close quarters looking over my shoulder or breathing down my neck while I took calls or wrote e-mails.)
Even with technical slips, it remains a considerable achievement to perform the complete Brandenburg Concertos in one concert. In that light, spare a thought for the musicians who played all six, besides Dr. Metz, namely double bassist Anita Hagerman and cellist Kenneth Kulosa. Not far behind, Ms. Anop (celebrating her 25th season with the Bach Society, as Dr. Sparger noted), for one, played five of the six. All this was also on a notable day for classical music locally, with not only this Brandenburgs afternoon marathon, but that evening’s SLSO concert at the Touhill, to where violists Chris Tantillo and Amy Greenhalgh had to scurry from Frontenac pretty much right away (along with several audience members). For presenting this concert, everyone at the Bach Society of Saint Louis, musicians and organization, deserves praise.