Brandenburg Concerto No 6 for flute sextet

Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are a collection of six instrumental works he presented to Christian Ludwig Margrave. Bach appears to have selected the six pieces from concertos he had composed a number of years earlier. The manuscript was nearly lost in World War II while being transported for safekeeping to Prussia by train in the care of a librarian. The train came under aerial bombardment, and the librarian escaped to a nearby forest with the scores hidden under his coat. They are widely regarded as some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era. This arrangement is adopted for flute ensemble from the original score as well as from Max Reger’s piano four-hands reduction.

Listen

I – Allegro non tanto

II – Adagio ma non tanto

III – Allegro