Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 BWV 1049 - III. Presto

José Rodríguez Alvira

This movement uses the contrapuntal technique of the fugue.

This is the subject of this fugue:

The motifs m₁, m₂, m₃ and m₄ will be used throughout the movement:

See The Fugue for a discussion of fugue-related terms.

Answer (A) - in the dominant key (D major) - is a tonal answer. The first interval of a fourth is transformed into a fifth. Everything else is the same as the subject transposed a fifth above.

It is a five-voice fugue that follows this order of subjects (S) and answers (A) in the exposition:

Exposition (Measures 1 to 27)

In addition to subjects (S) and responses (A), we have noted the use of motives.

Subject: viola
Answer: violin II
Subject: violin principale and violin I
Answer: Cello, violone and continuo
Answer: Flutes

Philomusica of London (orchestra), Boyd Neel (conductor), Geoffrey Gilbert, Phillip Goody (flutes), Emanuel Hurwitz (violin)
Musical Masterpiece Society (Philips), 1955. Reissue Schattdorf: Gagnaux Collection
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An episode follows. The section concludes with the presentation of the subject by the flutes in measure 36.

Measures 41 to 63: the flutes present the subject in the form of a canon or stretto over an eighth note movement in the violin.
Measures 63 to 66: the strings with the motif m₄ enter.
Measures 67 to 71: cello, violone y continuo present the subject.
Measures 71 to 79: an episode based on the motive m₄ takes us through the keys of E minor and A minor to return to G major, passing through D major.
Measures 79 to 83: subject by violino principale and violin I.
Measures 83 to 87: an episode ends the section by affirming the E minor key.

Detailed harmonic analysis of measures 71 a 79 :

The violino principale is the soloist in this section. We begin and end in E minor, but we visit the major keys of D, G and C and the minor key of A. Bach also uses unusual harmonic extensions which we will discuss later.

The violino principale is accompanied by cello and continuo using the motive m₁.
Measures 105 to 112: violin I and II present the first part of the subject (motives m₁, m₂ and m₃) in canon form.
The passage concludes by affirming the key of E minor.
A minor’s VI degree is used as a Neapolitan sixth to return to E minor.

Measures 105 to 120 are of high harmonic interest:

The D in measure 105 becomes a ninth in measure 106.
The principal violin insists on the D.
The motives m₂ and m₃ add the major seventh.
The E of the A chord is used to prepare the ninth over the dominant chord.
That ninth, prepares the thirteenth of the G chord.
The C chord has an augmented fifth and a major seventh, leading to A minor.
The A minor prepares the eleventh of the E minor chord.
The violin insists on the eleventh extension.
We find the eleventh again.
The principal violin adds a ninth.

From measure 127, Bach presents a three-voice exposition in the key of E minor.

Measure 127: lead violin and violin I present the subject.
Measure 131: the flutes answer.
Measure 135: cello, violone, and continuo end the exposition with the subject.
Measure 137: an episode based on the motif m₄ takes us to B minor.

Harmonic analysis of measures 137 to 152:

Measures 152 to 159: the flutes develop the motives m₂ and m₃ while the principal violin moves with eighth notes and quarter notes.
Measures 159 to 167: the principal violin falls silent, and the flutes continue with their dialogue incorporating the motive m₄.
Measure 167: cello and continuo present the subject. The first interval is now an octave, and its last measure is slightly varied.
Measure 175: the principal violin and violin I present the subject with the octave as the first interval.
Measure 179: flute I answers, followed by flute II in stretto.
The section ends in C major.

The soloists bring us back to G major.
Measure 189: principal violin and violin I present the subject.
Measure 193: flute II answers, followed by flute I in stretto
Measure 203: motive m₄ in the strings.
Measure 207: cello, violone and continuo play the subject.
Measure 211: after an episode, the section ends, establishing the key of G major.

Harmonic analysis of measures 211 to 219:

Over a G pedal tone, an auxiliary dominant of the IV prepares the final coda.
Measure 225: principal violin and violin I present the subject.
Measure 237: cello, violone, and continuo play the subject for the last time.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. José Rodríguez Alvira.
Published by teoria.com

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