Chapter 10: The Late Baroque: Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

• Career:– Weimer (1708-1717), organist

– Cöthen (1717-1723), court composer, conductor

– Leipzig (1723-1750), cantor

• Reputation– Renowned as an organ virtuoso

– Most famous for cantatas and fugues

– Greatest composer of counterpoint

Fugue• A composition with three or more parts, vocal or

instrumental

• Begins with successive statements of the subject

• Continues with alternations of subject and episodes

• Subject: Theme; primary musical idea

• Exposition: Opening section where each voice presents the subject

• Episode: Free sections where the subject is not heard in its entirety

Organ Fugue in G Minor (c. 1710)• Written while Bach was court organist and chamber

musician for the duke of Weimar

• Four voices: soprano, alto, tenor, bass

• Subject conveys a sense of gathering momentum

• Use of a pedal point: a note, usually in the bass, that is sustained while harmonies change around it

Bach’s Orchestral Music• At Cöthen, Bach turned his attention from organ music

for the church to instrumental music for the court

• Wrote the bulk of his orchestral scores

• Prince of Cöthen had assemble an “all-star” orchestra

The Brandenburg Concertos (1715-1721)• Presented to prospective employer Margrave Christian

Ludwig of Brandenburg

• Set of concerto grossi

• Brandenburg Concerto No. 5– Concertino of solo violin, flute, harpsichord

– Separation between tutti and concerto not so distinct

– Ritornello has many characteristics of late Baroque melody

– Use of cadenza: a showy passage for soloist alone toward the end of a movement in a concerto

– Expanded length

The Church Cantata• 1723, Bach assumed the position of cantor of Saint

Thomas’s Church and choir school in Leipzig– Job was to organize music for the four principal churches

of the city, play organ at weddings and funerals, teach the boys in the choir

– Compose new music each Sunday and for religious holidays

• Church cantata: Multimovement scared work including arias, ariosos, and recitatives, performed by vocal soloists, chorus, and a small accompanying orchestra– Musical soul of the Lutheran Sunday service

– Bach wrote almost 300 cantatas, about 200 survive today

– Bach would conduct from the keyboard

Wacht auf, ruft uns die Stimme(Awake, A Voice is Calling, 1731)

• Written for the Sunday before Advent

• Text from the Gospel of Matthew

• Based on a traditional chorale of the Lutheran church– Chorale: A spiritual melody or religious folk song of the

Lutheran church

• Seven movements

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Choruschorale

1st stanza

Recitative Aria(duet)

Choruschorale

2nd

stanza

Recitative Aria(duet)

Choruschorale

1st stanza

Bach’s Later Keyboard Works• The Well-Tempered Clavier (1720-1742)– Reflects newer tuning system in which all half steps

were equidistant in pitch

– Two sets of 24 Preludes and Fugues, one in each of the 12 major and 12 minor keys

– Prelude: A short preparatory piece that sets a mood and serves as a technical warm-up before the fugue

• The Art of Fugue (1742-1750)– An encyclopedic treatment of all known contrapuntal

procedures

– 19 canons and fugues

– Final fugue subject derived from his name: Bb-A-C-B

– Bach’s final musical work, left incomplete