The set of six concertos we now call the Brandenburg Concertos were collected on March 24, 1721. These are six concerti grossi Bach selected from among his finished works to dedicate to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg.
Bach had met and played for the Margrave in 1719, while he was visiting Brandenburg to buy a new harpsichord for his current employer, the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen. Bach’s dedication states that the Margrave had invited Bach to write something for him.
Unfortunately, the Margrave never acknowledged the receipt of the concertos, never paid Bach for them, and likely never had them played–partly because his court lacked the instrumental forces needed to play them.
Bach’s score labels this set simply as “Concerts avec plusieurs instruments” (Concertos with several instruments).1
