The HIGH BAROQUE:

J. S. BACH

Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

J. S. BACH was best-known during his lifetime

as a keyboard virtuoso

Born into family of musicians.

Lives a provincial life,
never traveling out of Germany

The youngest of eight children, Bach was educated

by his brother, Johann Christoph.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
CAREER

Arnstadt 1707 Organist

Weimar 1708-1717 Organist, Konzertmeister
Cöthen 1717-1723 Kapellmeister
Leipzig 1723- Kapellmeister, Teacher
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

Bach wrote in almost ALL the genres of music in the

late Baroque EXCEPT
the most important of that era,
OPERA.

Bach tended to write in sets of compositions,

systematically pursuing the invention of an idea,
elaborating it through every possible permutation.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Bach’s compositions spring from his jobs:
Many secular compositions for his
court positions at WEIMAR and CöTHEN,

and religious music for his later

position at LEIPZIG.

As a virtuoso keyboardist, Bach writes

keyboard music through out his life.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1707
Bach obtains his first position of organist at the
Arnstadt Neukirche.
Obtains permission to travel Lübeck to hear the
organist Buxtehude…

and stays away for 4 months!

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
Position at court of Weimar, first as organist, and
then as Konzertmeister in 1714.

During his Weimar years Bach gets to know G. P.

TELEMANN, who is working nearby in
Eisenach. Bach marries Maria Barbara who has
his first children.
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
Prelude and Fugue in A minor

Typical of Bach, the work has two paired sections:

1. Prelude (improvisatory)
2. Fugue (imitative)
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
Prelude and Fugue in A minor

The virtuosic prelude begins in the tonic,

modulates through various keys,
and returns to the tonic.

Vivaldi’s influence can be seen in the violinistic

figuration and circle-of-fifths progressions
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
Prelude and Fugue in A minor

The form of the fugue subject also resembles the

ritornello of a Vivaldi violin concerto

The fugue episodes have the character of the

solo sections of a concerto
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
Bach biographer Forkel writes of
Bach’s first exposure to Vivaldi during
Bach’s Weimar years: it was

“Vivaldi taught him to think musically”

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1708-1717 (Weimar)
THE FUGUE

By the end of the seventeenth century,

the FUGUE had supplanted other terms for
pieces in imitative counterpoint.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE

The FUGUE is part of a long line of development

of pieces in imitative counterpoint.

The imitative process of the fugue

is that of the vocal motet,
with its series of points of imitation
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE

The FUGUE is part of a long line of development

of pieces in imitative counterpoint.

The imitative process of the fugue

is that of the vocal motet,
with its series of points of imitation
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
For Bach, the fugue is a
“non-canonic imitative piece”

Bach makes the points of imitation shorter,

and all based on the same theme (monothematic)
and most importantly
sets these statements apart from each other
with free contrapuntal episodes.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE

The theorist Zarlino stresses

that in a fugue all the voices should
enter on the FINAL and DOMINANT of the mode,
Giving the fugue a
TONAL STRUCTURE
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition

STATEMENT of the SUBJECT in tonic

The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition

ANSWER, the second entrance of the SUBJECT

in the dominant, with the subject sometimes
adjusted to fit the new key
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition

CODETTA (‘little tail’)

A brief segment of free counterpoint that separates
the first two thematic entries at the beginning of
the exposition from the next two
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition

Third STATEMENT of the SUBJECT in tonic

Answered by the fourth entrance of
the SUBJECT in the dominant
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Development

These STATEMENTS are alternated with

EPISODES
periods of free modulatory counterpoint
Similar to the soloist’s modulatory passages of a ritornello concerto
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Development
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Development

The STATEMENTS of the subject

in the DEVELOPMENT SECTION
usually vary the order of entrances
and may use contrapuntal devices,
such as retrograde motion, augmentation, etc.
for variety
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
Counter-Exposition

Return to the STATEMENTS of the subject

in the TONIC and DOMINANT
similar to exposition
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
Counter-Exposition

STRETTO (‘tight’)
The Answer begins before the end of the Statement,
Overlapping the entries
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
Coda

CODA (‘tail’)
The end of the composition after the last tonic
statement of the subject
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
The HIGH BAROQUE:
Baroque Ornamentation
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE
The Exposition

STATEMENT of the SUBJECT in tonic

ANSWER, second entrance of the subject
in the dominant, with the subject sometimes
adjusted to fit the new key

This continues until all voices have entered

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE

The initial STATEMENTS of the subject

in the EXPOSITION
are followed by additional groups of statements,
usually varying the order of entrances
and using contrapuntal devices,
such as retrograde motion,
for variety
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
THE FUGUE

These STATEMENTS are alternated with

EPISODES
periods of free modulatory counterpoint
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Expository Statement
S (i), A (V), T (i), B (V)
Episode
Statement: S (i), B (V)
Episode
Statement: A (iv)
Episode
Statement: B (i), A (i)
Episode:
Statement: A (V), T (V), B (V)
Episode:
Statement: T (i)
Toccata-like Coda
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1717-23 (Cöthen)
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1717-23 (Cöthen)
During his Cöthen years Bach writes much of
his instrumental music including:

•  Violin sonatas, Violin Partitas

•  Cello sonatas, Viola da Gamba sonatas
•  Brandenburg Concertos
•  Clavier Büchlein for A.M. Bach, W.F. Bach
•  Begins writing The Well-Tempered Clavier
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1717-23 (Cöthen)
In 1717 Bach becomes Kapellmeister to Prince
Leopold of Cöthen

During these years he tries to contact Handel,

but they never meet.
He marries Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721
(a singer and a copyist of much of Bach’s
work).
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1723-1750 (Leipzig)

St. Thomas Church, Leipzig

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1723-1750 (Leipzig)

In 1722 Bach applies of position of

Kantor in Leipzig, a prestigious position that meant
economic stability (though Bach considered it a
social step down from his court positions).
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1723-1750 (Leipzig)

G. P. TELEMANN was
the Leipzig city council’s first choice.
Bach was third, with city council
stating that Bach was “merely mediocre.”
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
1723-1750 (Leipzig)

To the end of his life Bach worked in Leipzig

Bach works as Kantor of the 4 main Leipzig
churches, and as music director of the
Thomasschule (with its 4 choirs),
as well as supplying whatever music the town
council wanted.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Lutheran church services in Bach’s time included:

*Latin motets
*Congregational singing of chorales
*Organ music (chorale preludes/ postludes)
*Cantatas performed after the reading of the
Gospel, and after the Sermon
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Bach composed 1 cantata for each Sunday as well
as for special feasts,
adding up to 60 cantatas annually.

Bach planned four years of cantatas,

but only completed two years worth
(around 120 multi-movement cantatas)
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
The Bach Cantata

In 1700, Erdmann Neumeister (1671-1756),

a theologian and poet,
created a new type of sacred work
that he called by the Italian term “cantata.”
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Music in Lutheran services throughout the
seventeenth century was chosen to reinforce the
meaning of the day’s Gospel reading.

Neumeister wrote poetry to be added to these texts

and which could be set as a series of
recitatives, arias, and ariosos =
CANTATA
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
A Bach’s church “cantata”
(which he referred as “die Stück” or “the piece”)
was each based on Lutheran chorale,
Pertinent to a particular feast
of the Christian year…

…and thus, Bach’s year-long cycles of cantatas.

 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Bach’s use of chorales for his cantatas varies:

1.  Chorale as a final movement

2.  Chorale used at the beginning and end
3.  Chorale used throughout the cantata
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
J. S. Bach, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland,
BWV 62
1. “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland” Chorale Fantasia
2. “Bewundert, o Menschen” Da Capo Aria (T)
3. “So geht aus Gottes” Recitative (B)
4. “Streite, siege, starker, Held!” Da Capo Aria (B)
5. “Wir ehren diese Herrlichkeit” Recitative (S+A)
6. “Lob sei Gott, dem Vater” Chorale
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Chorale tune and words by Martin Luther in 1524,
and based on the Gregorian chant
Veni, redemptor gentium by Saint Ambrose.

The chorale is used as prominent hymn for

the first Sunday of Advent.
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

The opening chorus is based on cantus firmus

treatment of the chorale melody,

and the final chorus is a four-part harmonization

of the tune.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
In between the chorale movements,
Bach inserts recitatives and arias
in an operatic style.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
The opening chorus mixes a variety of styles in a
CHORALE FANTASIA

•  The movement begins with a Vivaldi-like orchestral ritornello

that features the chorale tune in the bass.
•  The ritornello recurs in a concerto-like format.

•  Between the ritornellos, Bach presents the four phrases of the

chorale set in cantus-firmus style.
•  The first and fourth phrases are preceded by the lower voices in
points of imitation based on the chorale tune
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

Rit. Rit. Rit.

1 2 3

1-16 (17-21) 22-25 25-32 33-36 36-42

B B minor B-minor > E minor > G major G major >
minor E minor D major

Rit. Rit.
4 5

43-46 46-55 (56-62) 63-66

D Major > B minor B minor B minor D.C.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

The initial aria for tenor

“Bewundert, o Menschen”
is in the DA CAPO (ABA) form.
The text muses on the mystery of the incarnation.

Bach sets the aria in a fast minuet style

(a passepied)
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
A Bewundert, o Menschen, dies große Geheimnis:
Der höchste Beherrischer erscheinet der Welt.

B Hier werden die Schätze des Himmels entdecket.

Hier wird uns ein göttliches Manna bestellt,
O Wunder! die Keuschheit wird gar nicht beflecket.
The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
DA CAPO ARIA FORM

Ritornello
TEXT A
Ritornello
TEXT A
Ritornello
TEXT B
da capo
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
DA CAPO ARIA FORM

Ritornello
TEXT A
Ritornello
‘A’ begins and TEXT A
ends in tonic
Ritornello
TEXT B ‘B’ section ends
da capo on half cadence
 DA CAPO ARIA

‘A’ SECTION
RITORNELLO I in the tonic (I or i)
The vocal (A) section based on opening MOTTO

RITORNELLO II in a secondary key (V or III)

Second setting of A'

RITORNELLO III
brings the section to a close in the tonic.
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH
Motto

Motto
Motto
 The HIGH BAROQUE:
J. S. BACH

The final movement,

a 4-part harmonization of the chorale tune,
praises Father, Son, and Holy Spirit