Talk:Brandenburg concerti

A "microcosm of Baroque music"
" The concertos have been called a 'microcosm of Baroque music,' " -- by whom? If you can't find the source I suggest somebody changes it to something like "The concertos could be described as a microcosm of Baroque music".
 * I couldn't find any source for this on Google, just a lot of people quoting it unsourced. Let's get rid of it entirely; removing the quotes doesn't change the fact that it's unsourced. See WP:CITE and WP:V. Anyway, they're not a microcosm: they're all in a single genre. What about opera, trio sonata, oratorio, organ prelude, ground bass, and other characteristic Baroque styles? That quote is just bogus. &mdash;Wahoofive (talk) 17:45, 27 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Will remove it if no-one complains in a little while --Lambyuk 02:09, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Done--Lambyuk 00:12, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Source needed for statement on the fifth concerto

 * "A minor detail about the Fifth Concerto indicates something about the size of the ensembles with which they were originally performed. This concerto (see below) features a harpsichord solo, which was almost certainly performed by Bach himself. It also lacks a second violin part. The best explanation of this goes as follows: We know that when playing in the string section, Bach preferred to take the viola part; according to a surviving letter, this was so he could sit "in the middle of the harmony." Since as keyboard soloist Bach was not available to take the viola part for this concerto, one of his violinists must have had to move over to play the viola. The explanation, of course, relies on the assumption that Bach's ensemble used only one musician per part."

The quoted passage above appears in section 2. Do we have a source for this? I believe it's too elaborate to have here without a source specified, so if there is none it shouldn't be here. If we get a source, we at least shouldn't claim that it's the best explanation.

Also, though this doesn't really matter right now, I think it's a pretty strange explanation. IIRC, there's not a lot that supports the idea of one instrument per part in Bach's orchestra, and I don't see much reason to assume Bach always played the viola (to such an extent that there was no other violist) just because of a single letter. A to me more satisfying explanation would be that he simply chose to write it like that, perhaps because there were unusually few competent violinists or something. EldKatt (Talk) 12:23, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

I have seen this statement repeated a lot. I don't think there is a reason to remove it. It's a reasonable opinion. The other thing is that with more than 1 player to a part, it tends to overwhelm the sound of the harpsichord. 15:10, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Astonishment over valveless trumpeting
In hope that someone is watching this page, I'll share my doubtfulness regarding the following passage, in the section about the second concerto:


 * Scholars today continue to be astonished that the intended trumpeter (probably the court trumpeter in Cothen, Johann Ludwig Schreiber) was able to handle the rapid passagework while playing an instrument that had no valves.

Astonished? Maybe a few decades ago, but nowadays there are plenty of trumpeters who can handle it on a natural trumpet. I'm not feeling very bold at the moment, but I will remove (or rephrase) this if nobody objects. EldKatt (Talk) 20:40, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Recording section revert
I just reverted Trisdee's "Recordings" section addition. Great as they may be, I don't feel Wikipedia is the place list recordings in this form, especially as other sites do it much better and will be updated far more often. There is almost certainly precedent for this elsewhere in WP. Lambyuk 19:29, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

"Concertos" or concerti?
I always thought the plural of concerto was concerti (e.g. Concerti Grossi) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.121.66.156 (talk) 23:52, 8 January 2007 (UTC).
 * I agree, I think that the plural of concerto is concerti also. Seanbow 03:55, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

You're correct. Concerti is proper.

If nobody objects, then, I will rename this article accordingly. Calaf 18:26, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

I have also changed "concertos" to "concerti" throughout, except where "concertos" appears in quotes. Calaf 03:26, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

This is unacceptable. As the Wikipedia naming conventions specifies, and general English usage tends towards 'concertos', I am going to rename this article accordingly. 13:30, 17 April 2007 (UTC) Also, almost all recordings use the nomenclature 'concertos'. While Italian plural 'concerti' is correct in Italian, it is not the current English usage.13:31, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

fractal
can anybody confirm that one of the concertos has been analyzed and found to be fractal, and document that? an altavista search was not helpful.