Ensemble Zefiro

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare in Classe | Available to 31 December 2022

Tribute to Pier Paolo Pasolini
Ensemble Zefiro

Alfredo Bernardini oboe and conduction

Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concertos BWV 1046-1051

It is impossible to ascertain why Bach grouped his Concerts à plusieurs instruments into a single collection, or what hopes he harboured in dedicating and presenting them to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, in March 1721. This is one of the many mysteries in Bach’s biography. There is no doubt, however, that all six concertos are different worlds of sound in their own right, and that what unites them is their singular diversity. So much so that the composer seems to be exploring every possibility of the “concerto” form, going so far as to draw up a sort of systematic demonstrative catalogue. Italian style, French taste, German severity, polyphony and homophony, church and chamber style alternate here in unprecedented timbral mixtures: with over thirty years of international experience, the Zefiro Ensemble will artfully recreate them.

The Programme