Composed: 1711-1720
Duration: 10 minutes
In the Third Brandenburg Concerto, he uses the strings in a unique way – three groups of three, respectively violins, violas, and cellos, toss the tunes back and forth among them, and are supported by the double bass, together with the keyboard that always accompanied the baroque orchestra. Bach wrote only two movements, joined by two cadential chords. Almost certainly he expected some kind of improvisation, probably by the principal violinist, which would lead to the finale by way of these chords.