The purpose of this publication is to encourage students to engage with J. S. Bach's orchestral masterpieces not only through passive listening, but also by singing their principal sections and analyzing their formal structure, thereby gaining as deep an understanding of the works as possible. Experience shows that students sing excerpts from orchestral works with great enthusiasm and affection when accompanied by piano, and that such singing enriches their experience of the music when listening to it in concert or on recording.

This booklet discusses the Brandenburg Concertos Nos. I, IV, and V in detail. The appendix contains a theme from each of the other three works, presented in singable form with appropriate transpositions, as well as two songs and a canon by Purcell.