Would you like to learn to play organ chorale fantasy "Komm Heiliger Geist, BWV 651 by Bach? If so, you will need to know the exact steps which will help you master this fantastic composition. In this article, I will share with you my recommendations on how to learn to play this piece and be ready for public performance.
Step 1 - Analyze the piece. In this step, you will have to analyze the key, the texture, compositional techniques used and tonal plan of the piece. This will help you to understand how the piece is put together.
Step 2 - Write in fingering. Writing in fingering will help you to know exactly which fingers to use. This will definitely prevent many mistakes which would occur if you play with accidental fingerings.
Step 3 - Write in pedaling. In this step, you will need to know the rules of Baroque pedaling techniques. Early pedaling for Baroque pieces is different from the Romantic and modern pedaling techniques.
Step 4 - Ornaments. This step is very crucial if you want to play this piece in the Baroque style.
Step 5 - Articulation. Even more than the previous step, correct articulation will make your playing sound stylistically appropriate. Note that Baroque music generally is not played legato.
Step 6 - Tempo. With this step, you have to understand the correct ideal tempo for the performance of this piece and for practicing this composition. You have to also take into consideration the acoustics of the room which will determine the exact tempo for performance.
Step 7 - Registration. In this step, you will need to know which stops to use both for practicing this piece and which kind of stop combinations to use for concert performance or church service. The registration will be different on various types of organ - large or small.
Step 8 - Practice the piece. In this step, you will actually start practicing this composition. You will have to figure out the way to practice efficiently and effectively. This will allow you to learn this piece and be ready for public performance in the shortest amount of time possible.
Step 9 - Memorization. Memorizing this piece is optional and you don't need to perform this piece in public from memory. However, I strongly recommend for you to memorize it because this will help you truly perfect this fantastic composition and advance to a whole new level of mastery even if you choose to play it from the score.
Apply my tips in your practice and this will help you to master organ chorale fantasy "Komm Heiliger Geist", BWV 651 by Bach. I am sure you will have much fun perfecting the piece. This will definitely help you to advance in organ playing.
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the top classical music composers of all time – so famous today so he is commonly known as simply “Bach“. A native German, Bach was a composer, organist and violinist and produced classical religious and secular works for choirs, solo instruments and orchestras.
Fixed in time in the Baroque music movement (1600-1750) Bach was a primary driver of change within it. Bach’s lifetime was one of fame, self-doubt and amazing achievement with a legacy that lasts to this day.
Childhood
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach to Johann Ambrosius Bach and Maria Elisabeth Lammerhirt.
Bach’s mother died in 1694 with his father died shortly after leaving him an orphan aged 10 to be raised by his older brother Johann Christoph Bach himself an organist. There he learned to copy, study and perform music and receiving valuable tuition from his brother.
Adulthood
Bach remained in Germany for most of his life despite his contemporary and musical rival Handel moving to England to further his interests.
Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara, died in 1720 leaving Bach to raise seven children. This apparently triggered Bach to seek the solace of work and held the coveted position of musical director for many princes and dukes at this period, leaving his children in the care of others.
In 1721, Bach married his second wife, Anna Magdelena Wilcke, and took up a position in a Leipzig school and a local church. Here he extended his already burgeoning family with a further thirteen children, with seven tragically dying before they reached adulthood.
Death
Bach died (aged 65) on 28th July 1750 after a period of ill-health. He became blind shortly before his death after an “unsuccessful eye operation” which may have contributed to his demise. Modern historians have argued that his death was a direct consequence of a stroke caused by pneumonia.
The Family Bach
Bach’s left behind a family that was also musically gifted, with his second wife being a talented musician and his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, becoming an accomplished organist. Many of Anna Magdelena’s notebooks survive today and contain many of the works composed by Bach’s family.
His Most Famous Works
Bach’s produced hundreds of pieces throughout his lifetime, many of which are still played today. Amongst the most famous are the Magnificat, the Partitas, the Mass in B Minor, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Goldberg Variations, the Musical Offering, the English and French Suites, The Art of Fugue, the Brandenburg concertos, the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the Cello Suites. He also wrote over 200 cantatas (that we know of today) and approximately the same number of organ pieces such as the Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.
Bach’s Musical Legacy
Bach’s classical music legacy is hard to measure in real terms, although there are a total of 1292 titles available to buy from the Chappell of Bond Street online catalogue (www.chappellofbondstreet.co.uk) at the last count including many such as “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” that have been edited and arranged since his death and are now played regularly in churches, schools and independent choirs across the world.
Bach’s status as a master classical music composer was only really cemented in the 19th century when a revival of his music triggered the editing and arranging of many of his pieces which remain in that form to this day.
It has been said that it was, in fact, Bach that was the trigger for the move from the Baroque era into the “classical era”, leaving his mark on classical music with fans that transcend time and nationality with music that still to this day has the power to strike awe and passion in the youngest and oldest of minds.
Playing the Prelude and Fugue in B flat Major, BWV 560 with convincing registration will result in more authentic performance. Organists who practice this piece should know general rules for choosing which stops to use. With this piece, the registration for public performance should be different than for practicing alone. If you are searching for the best ways to register this prelude and fugue, read the following 9 tips.
1) Do not change the registration in the fugue. Although it is possible to add a reed stop in the two-part cycle, such as this, the length of the piece does not suggest the need to stop changes after the prelude. Since this prelude and fugue last only about 3 minutes, it is better to play with one registration throughout.
2) "Organo Pleno" registration. The traditional way of registering a prelude and fugue in the German Baroque style is to use "Organo Pleno" registration or a principal chorus. This concept means that you should build a pyramid of principal stops, starting with the principal 16' or 8' and building upwards (4', 2 2/3', 2 etc.)
3) Use mixtures both in the manuals and the pedals. Try out the mixture alone on the main manual and see if it is based on the 16' (starts at 5 1/3' level) or 8' (starts at 2 2/3' level or higher). If it is based on the 16', then use 16' stop in the manual together with it. Otherwise, playing with 16' is optional.
4) Add flutes if the mixtures are too harsh. Check your mixtures and see if you like their sound. In some Neobaroque-style organs, the mixtures are really high-pitched and sound harsh. In such case sometimes it is OK to omit the mixture and use higher principals and mutations instead (1 1/3' and 1').
5) Check if the principals are not too narrow. In many Neobaroque-style instruments, the principals are quite narrow in diameter. In such case, try to add 8' and 4' flutes for more rounded sound. However, under normal circumstances, principals and flutes should not mix in the Organ Pleno registration.
6) Couple the manuals if you want. If you have more than one manual which has a principal chorus as well, you can couple them both. This way your registration will be even more powerful.
7) Add pedal reeds for more spice. Use the powerful 16' and/or 8' reeds in the pedal division, such as Posaune and Trompete. If you decide to use only one reed stop, the first reed you should add is Posaune 16' and not Trompete 8'. This is because in Central Germany in the Baroque period, even relatively small organs very often had Posaune but not Trompete.
8) Check the balance between manuals and pedals. Once you choose the manual and pedal stops, try to listen to the overall sound ensemble. Since it is a polyphonic composition with highly independent parts, both manuals and pedals should be clearly audible but not too loud in comparison with each other.
9) Practice registration. It is best to practice using only the soft stops, such as 8' and 4' flutes with 16' in the pedals. This way your ears will not become tired and you can practice for a longer period of time.
Remember these tips when you practice or perform the Prelude and Fugue in B flat Major, BWV 560 in public. It is a good practice to listen to different recordings of this piece on historical organs and to compare the registrations in each. Since every organ is different, try to follow your taste and ears based on your idea of the "ideal Baroque sound" for this composition. This way your playing will become more authentic and you will use your organ more convincingly.
By Vidas Pinkevicius By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading.
There were two times in this century. The first era was called the baroque era. This era was around 1600 to 1750. Baroque was the beginning of modern music because it has experienced the revolution from both theory and technique of its cultivating.
The key characteristics of this era included the merger of major and minor scales, many dissonant tones, the development of the orchestra, and the regular structures, but monotony. They also included the use of violin, harpsichord, organ, and flute.
In this era, people also knew the basso continuo technique, namely the bass accompaniment that brought harmony. There was repetition in the structure of music.
Composers who lived in this era were Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi, and Henry Purcell.
The second era was called the classical era. Sonatas and chamber music grew with more dynamic melodies. All of the classical era rules were applied intelligently by the composers.
The key characteristics of this era were the development of musical harmony, a very strong element of the dynamics that colored the composition, and a dynamic atmosphere that was expressed through the tempo, melody, and harmony. In this era, people also knew the pattern of 'question and answer'. Piano, with its ability to create dynamic, became a very important instrument.
The popular composers in this era were Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, and John Gay.
Portrait of Beethoven in 1804 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Transition period of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
This period represented the transition time from classical music to romantic music that was initiated by Beethoven. He brought a dynamic element by using wider harmonies and more emotional techniques of music cultivating.
This period was called as transitional because there were some principles of classical era that were violated by Beethoven. For example, the use of the intro was considered to be the outside of the classical composition theory. However, it was precisely a characteristic of romantic music. Through his works, Beethoven influenced the transition of classical to romantic music greatly.
There are many famous instances of immortal musicians being insulted by other famous musicians.
Johann Sebastian Bach, like most musicians of the day, worked as a church musician. He was anything but docile and was known to rankle easily.
He was once reproved for playing "strange harmonies" during a church service. Bach's answer was to play even stranger harmonies the next Sunday, and this from the greatest composer of religious music the world has ever seen, the composer of the St. Matthew Passion.
Still steaming, the elders complained again to Bach and added the insult that the music was at some points "too long."
The next Sunday, of course, the music was much too short.
Beethoven also had his feuds, especially in the early years when he was establishing himself as a great pianist.
A worthless popinjay named Steibelt had made it known that he thought Beethoven a terrible pianist, and in essence challenged Beethoven to a musical duel, a common occurrence in those days. Beethoven despised Steibelt, for he was in truth a talentless oaf that foolishly dared to challenge a great master.
At a party the next week, Beethoven heard Steibelt playing one of his own compositions, an insipid Trio for piano, violin, and cello. It was the type of horrid, elaborately ornamented fluff that Beethoven reviled, but he watched calmly as Steibelt finished the piece and took his bows.
A hush fell over the crowd as Beethoven appeared out of the shadows and walked toward the piano. Everyone was aware of the grudge between Steibelt and Beethoven and the air was thick with apprehension.
Steibelt, startled by the angry look on the master's face, stepped away from the piano.
As Beethoven walked past the cello's music stand, he snidely grabbed the cello's sheet music.
Carefully showing the astounded crowd the page of sheet music, Beethoven sat at the piano and then put the music, upside down, onto the piano music stand.
As Steibelt and the hushed crowd watched, Beethoven plunked out the notes of the upside down cello part, forcefully jabbing with his pointed and angry index finger, not taking his eyes off Steibelt.
Then Ludwig began to improvise like a madman on Steibelt's upside down cello part theme. The crowd was carried away with Beethoven's angered showmanship.
And it was magnificent, one of those legendary Beethoven improvisations that have gone down in history, a passionate outpouring of ideas and bravura, until at last the piece was over with a furious ending and crash.
John Aschenbrenner is a leading children's music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous fun piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER for kids. You can see the PIANO BY NUMBER series of books at http://www.pianoiseasy.com
On March 21, 1685, a German organist and regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach was born. He came from a family of musicians. His father is Ambrosius Bach who worked as the town piper.
His father's profession included organizing the town's secular music and participating in the church music. In addition, his uncles were church chamber musicians to various composers and organists for the church. It is believed that Bach started his interest in music at an early age when he started helping his father in his work. During that time, sons were expected to aid their father's work.
Bach lost his mother when he was just a young boy. When he turned nine, his father passed away. Bach then moved with his brother Johann Christoph Bach who worked as an organist in Ohrdruf. He continued studying, copying, and playing music at his brother's house.
In Ohrdruf, Bach started to learn the process of building an organ, where he would usually fix the church's organ. During that time, an organ is considered a very complex machine in the European town. Bach's knowledge with the innards of the organ is believed to be influential to his exemplary skills in playing said instrument.
At the very young age of 18, Bach finished his Latin school, which is considered as an extraordinary accomplishment. He started working as an organist in Arnstadt in 1703. He then became a court organist in 1708 where he was given the chance of not just playing the organ but composing and playing a varied repertoire of music as well.
Bach gained immense popularity because of his exceptional talent. Some of his works include "Brandenburg Concertos," the "Partitas," and "Mass in B Minor." His works have given inspiration to almost all musicians in the European tradition including Mozart.
Johann Sebastian Bach would never be as appealing for his adventures in life and good looks like, say, Mozart or Beethoven. His famous portrait showing him as an old man in a white wig holding a piece of sheet music scared away many generations of young music lovers. I think that this picture doesn't do justice to this composer capable of great emotional deepness.
Mozart had an exciting death, writing his Requiem in his deathbed, adding popularity points to his character. Beethoven was kind of a romantic hero and became deaf making him even more appealing. Bach? He never left Germany and his life passed without many interesting facts standing out. Another example of a great classical composer suffering from low popularity because of his not-so-interesting lifestyle is old Haydn, the father of the symphony, who is always overshadowed by the naughty Mozart.
But I think that this injustice also gives greater merit to Bach, in that all his popularity is due to his music, and not any extramusical fact. It is better this way, you can know him much better through his music than through words.
You are fortunate in reading this article, you are going to experience the most wonderful and deep music ever composed, you'll start a journey that will last a lifetime. You'll never get tired of Bach's music, if you start here you will love it and explore it for the rest of your life.
The best way to get in touch with Bach's music, or with music by any other composer is starting with the most well-known pieces, the ones you heard in commercials, movies, video games, etc.
I'm almost sure you've heard these pieces somewhere but never knew anything about them:
Air on the G string: One of the most famous pieces of classical music. It is featured in innumerable movies, anime series, video games, etc. Rock band Procol Harum wrote a song inspired by this piece that became a worldwide hit and it is still heard today: "A whiter shade of Pale".
Toccata and Fugue in D minor: the most famous piece written for organ. It is always associated with Halloween and horror movies. An orchestral version was featured in Disney's Fantasia.
A portrait which may show Bach in 1750 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Although the most popular of all organ toccatas by Johann Sebastian Bach is the legendary Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, perhaps even more masterful is the splendid and brilliant Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540. This composition might have been created in Weimar when the true compositional style of a master composer was formed. Virtuosic Toccata and Fugue in F Major usually is a true technical and mental challenge for many skilled organists. If performed well, it is a real treat for every organ music lover and listener. Otherwise, it has the potential to create a sense boredom.
The Toccata leaves the impression of a chase between voices and begins with a prolonged and playful two-voice canon over a long tonic pedal point (Idea A). After this canon, Bach writes another virtuosic episode - a pedal solo in the tonic key which leads to a cadence in the Dominant - C major. Now the voice parts switch places and the canon begins all over again, only this time in the Dominant key (C major). These two sections serve to establish both the Tonic and the Dominant keys and have a function, similar to the North German Passaggio in a Praeludium.
After this episode, the chase stops but all voices begin a long and tiring journey (for the performer, that is) through various related keys in descending and ascending sequences (Idea B based on arpeggio figure). Through the course of this Toccata, canonic idea A and sequential idea B alternate and create an intriguing structural balance. In developing the idea A, Bach evidently shows his mastery of a double and sometimes even triple invertible counterpoint at the interval of an octave. This basically is a technique allowing voice switching. It only works if the composer uses the suitable intervals (most of the time thirds and sixths, avoiding fifths which in inversion become a forbidden fourth). Suspensions of a second and seventh are welcomed in this technique, too.
Because of repeating two musical ideas, this Toccata shows the influence of the Italian Ritornello form. Bach learned to use this form in Weimar from transcribing for the keyboard the concertos of Vivaldi and his contemporaries.
The fugue, on the other hand, provides a welcomed relaxation for the organist from the technical point of view. However, Bach provides another challenge, e.g. old-fashioned "Palestrina" style fugue with alla breve meter (cut-time) in Style antico (the old style). This is a double fugue, which means that a composer has to develop two musical themes. Both of the themes must work in invertible counterpoint with each other. In the exposition and counter-exposition of the first theme, Bach develops the solemn, slow, and vocal musical idea in all four voices.
The second theme appears to be playful, dance-like, which reminds of a Baroque dance Gavotte. During this section, the pedal part remains silent and waits for its entrance until the powerful combination of both themes towards the close of a fugue. While listening to the fugue in this wonderful video, feel free to count the number of appearances of the first theme.
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The Well-Tempered Clavier is generally referred to as the pianists' "Old Testament of Western music", also in Barenboim's fingers, it definitely has an "Old World" condition to it. Seen in its entirety, the performance brings to mind Edwin Fischer's recording from the thirties: great pianism, frequently elegant playing, notably by means of the liberal use of the pedals.
This is, needless to say, planets independent of the incisive, razor-sharp resolution that Glenn Gould, as well as Mehmet Okonsar, brought to these works. As opposed to concentrating on offering the spectacular complexity as well as the polyphonic aspect of those compositions, Barenboim is without a doubt more happy putting together an abundant harmonic texture to each piece, magnificently experienced on a contemporary Steinway.
I'm a tremendous fan of Bach. He was simply a fabulous genius and far in advance of his time period and the Well-Tempered Clavier is just mind-blowing. As a recreational piano player, I discover his music a genuine treasure. The complexity and beauty of his music continue to be so incredibly inspiring.
There are considerable records to support Bach's claim that he employed the Well-Tempered Clavier as part of his lessons, nevertheless, the work accomplishes so many purposes that it must be an easy task to overlook its part as a teaching tool. Obviously, the most crucial feature of the Well-Tempered Clavier is that its full of sublime music from cover to cover.
The fact that it illustrates Werckmeister's "well-tuned" technique pertaining to keyboard instruments seems incidental to us all right now, however, it was outstanding in Bach's day. We still wonder at the genius which expended each prelude and fugue using a unique musical style, drawing on a multitude of compositional processes to shed light on his students. The idea sounds dry, having a piece in every key in ascending arrangement from C major, however, the result could not end up being closer to excellence.
Fugues are usually said to be in a number of voices or parts (the term voices may be used whether or not the fugue has not been written with regard to singers), which is, self-sufficient melodic lines. Fugues are generally in from three to five parts, however, eight and even ten parts are achievable in large choral or orchestral fugues. Fugues in fewer than 3 parts tend to be rare since with 2 parts the actual subject is only able to jump back and forth between the upper and lower part. The best-known illustration of a two-voice work is certainly the E minor fugue out of Book 1.
These forty-eight preludes and fugues in all the major and minor keys have got very little related to public virtuosos, stages or even audiences. Like a lot of Bach's work -- especially the music written, or at least put together when it comes to the ending of his existence -- the ''Well-Tempered'' makes statements, advances concepts, draws together bodies of expertise. Moreover, its lessons happen to be learned, and its particular messages attained, in the home.
The Bach preludes and fugues are actually, to utilize Schumann's well-known explanation, the keyboard player's "everyday bread." All musicians exercise however rarely perform them. Wrapping one's ears and fingers around these pieces amount to both an undergraduate and a postgraduate training: what things to make visible, what you should render as background, how to make the load of the finger interact to the control from the ear and so forth.
My commitment to the original issue of Gould's performance of the Well-Tempered Clavier was sizable however by the time Okonsar's recording emerged it had wanted to some degree.
There was (and still is) no doubt Gould's awesome proficiency to managing, varying as well as diverse touch in clarifying textures through 'orchestration', however Okonsar's reading of the work and the eschewing all forms of obvious pianism remained (and remains) a new testimony to his faithfulness to representing this kind of music, as he observed it, devoid of seeking back to the harpsichord or forward to the nineteenth-century piano.
As numerous reviewers at that time excited, Gould's was an impressive success, yet the cautiously calculated however communicative as well as packed with feelings playing of Okonsar, along with some idiosyncrasies added up to an analytical as well as a human performance of it.
The actual doubts began to find their way in, and retrospectively, with Prelude I of Book 1: the varying articulation of the last few notes of each group speaks of Gould as well as Okonsar, but what does it say of Bach? Echo answered as it did to other, subsequent concerns.
The actual harpsichord cannot provide more weight to any one line, nor is there any proof that players of Bach's period employed severe variations of articulation pertaining to such a function, notably in the ready-balanced texture and consistency of a fugue; such 'painting by way of numbers' is an anachronistic imposition.
Amongst the currently available piano versions of the 48 Schiff's on Decca remains, in my opinion, the most effective and the freest from excess; its pluses and minuses were broadly mentioned. Keith Jarrett's recording (ECM/New Note) is all that particular may well reasonably desire. That both occupy simply three discs may encourage a few readers to purchase Gould's and/or Okonsar's sets, both amaze as well as irritates by turns, and also over which controversy will certainly likely carry on for a long period in the future.
Although I am a literary person and a novel editor classical music is always there when I work for publishers. As a side effect, I started to provide some reviews and articles on a couple of classical music papers as well. My favorite Bach interpreters are Glenn Gould and Mehmet Okonsar.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was born in Thuringia as being the son and grand-son of a musical family. He died in Leipzig.
A selection of vital composers of the pre-classical age were his sons: Carl Philip, Wilhelm Friedman, Johann Christian.
Johann Sebastian received at Eisenach a colossal education and learning which included traditional Greek as well as Latin
Soon after his father's death his musical education and learning continued at Ohrdruf. He has been already proficient at the violin, the organ and the "clavicembalo". He studied musical composition with Herder and occasionally with Boehm at Luneburg.
Buxtehude, Vivaldi, Couperin, Frescobaldi were among the list of several composers he analyzed greatly the creations.
He individually knew quite a few important organists of his time and he had been named organist to the "Neue Kirsche" of Arnstadt in 1703. He soon began composing actively and building a fine status of skilled performer and church organ restorer.
Following a short time spent at Mulhausen, Bach is officially hired as first organist and artist, then "konzertmeister", at 1714, at the Court of Weimar. He composes there lots of cantatas and additionally wide range of his grandest harpsichord and organ compositions.
Johann Sebastian is "Kappelmeister" at the Court of Coethen in 1717. A Calvinist and reformist court at which Bach is asked to keep distant from the majority of church music he had been composing until then. He authored there his most important instrumental works which contain the Suites (English and French), the Well-Tempered Klavier - first book - the Inventions.
Dissents force him to leave Coethen for the work of Cantor at Leipzig, Saint-Thomas Church in 1723. That is where he will stay all the remaining of his existence.
As being the Cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach has to provide for the musical training, compose brand-new music for all special days at the church, the city and the University, this included the requirement for a new cantata each Sunday.
The requirements of the work and the meticulosity of his employers have been the source for quite a few disputes between Bach and his "bosses".
Apart from the Cantatas he authored here his masterworks of sacred music: his two Oratorios and his Passions.
Traveling generally, irrespective of the imposed restrictions, Bach created the Goldberg Variations at Dresden for the Count Keyserlingk and the Musical Offering for the King Frederic II of Prussia.
A bad cataract surgical procedure makes the composer almost totally blind at 1749. Nevertheless, the reason for his passing away is assumed to be a strike and the subsequent temperature in 1750.
The compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach are really the culmination and "the marvelous conclusion" of virtually all music which happens to be composed before.
The polyphonic style which has preceded him, come about, with Johann Sebastian Bach, to a degree unheard previously. He was not an innovator, that is not to mention the amazing harmonic situations that take place in a little bit of his fugues.
Glenn Gould mentions "early Schoenberg" when talking concerning the handling of the thema (notes: B-flat, A, C, B-natural) B-A-C-H within the last number, the unfinished fugue of the "Art of Fugue" BWV 1080. Furthermore, his instrumental advancements, particularly in the Goldberg Variations and his Toccatas are fantastic. Nonetheless his sons, predominantly Carl Philip Emmanuel, modeled the "new style" to come. Johann Sebastian Bach's music, inside his own last days, was thought to be "old-fashioned".
The Toccatas BWV 910-916 are musical works from the young Bach. In fact one can not date them correctly, still the style prevailing in all of them verifies that generally approved idea.
The Toccatas G major, G minor and E minor were actually the works of a 23 or 25 years old Bach, then organist at the service of the Prince of Saxe-Weimar. The ones in D major and D minor might be written by an even younger Bach, possibly around 1705-1708. 1709-1712 might be the dates for the Toccatas in F-sharp minor and C minor.
The Toccatas, as commonly with Bach, are not published within his life time. Merely one, in D minor has been revealed as late as early nineteenth century.
"To touch" ("toccare" in Italian) is the root of the musical style "Toccata". It refers to a piece for a keyboard instrument with, ordinarily, a maximum of virtuosity showing and of a free form.
Gabrieli, Andrea (c.1520-1586) and/or Merulo, Claudio (1533-1604) are generally cited as being the authors of the primary "Toccatas". Frescobaldi (1583-1643) prior to Bach, lifted the "Toccata" to a high level, sophisticated musical genre.
In fact, no musical instrument had been specified by Johann Sebastian Bach for the playing of his Toccatas. As being an incredibly good pipe organ and "clavicembalo" artist, J. S. Bach has been, at the same time, performing the Clavichord: a gentle and intimate music instrument we know he appreciated a whole lot. Even though, the radiance and the splendor of all those Toccatas require the "clavicembalo".
"Bach-Extravaganza" might possibly contain been a flashy title for J.S. Bach's Toccatas (BWV 910-916), if such things appeared to be existing then. This really is "unleashed" Bach.
Excellent keyboard works, free from almost any type of didactic, formal, stylistically codified church-related or court-related constraints. Those musical works can merely be compared with the composer's "Fantasias" and such an assessment will be towards the benefit of the Toccatas.
Toccatas BWV 910-916 seem transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous improvisations.
All pieces stick to a nearly identical structural planning: "free-virtuoso-improvisatory" beginning ("a la Chromatic Fantasy"), then an alternation of lively fugatos and strikingly fine looking slow sections.
Those slow parts come each time with audacious harmonic progressions. They usually surprise us with the scope of the musical mind hiding behind them. Even when they seem to extend "too much" in length, they must be considered as "transcriptions" of the endless musical creativeness and proficiency of Johann Sebastian Bach improvising.
This Toccata N.1 in D min. BWV 913 was the first one published in the early nineteenth century. It has two fugues. Its introduction part is less cadenza-like as compared to others but it still has the general aspect of a "rhapsody". A beautifully expressive slow part, with four voices, comes before the first lively fugue. The second slow part is even more expressive than the first. A single short motive is processed with an unending flow of modulations which displays it in every lighting and shadowing imaginable. The brilliant last fugue concludes the work.
The Toccata N.2 in E min. BWV 914 is possibly composed around 1707-1710, this is the shortest Toccata. The short introduction in a free-prelude design precedes the first light "fugato". The Adagio is presented like a recitative with short instrumental proceedings in a very improvisatory design. The virtuoso fugue which follows is thought by some scholars as being originally conceived for the organ.
From probably between 1079-1712 this Toccata N.3 in F-sharp min. BWV 910 is a large piece, comprised of five movements with two fugues. The "usual" free-form introduction leads directly to one of the most sublime pages among all Toccatas. The large section in 3/2 time is intense and beautiful. It's chromatically descending thema sustains this melancholic movement. This theme is actually a Passacaglia or "basso continuo" thema which is made the main melody here. The first fugue: "Presto e staccato" displays an incredible imitative polyphony work and craftsmanship. The moderate tempo section in between the two fugues emerges as a meditative interlude. It connects with the final fugue of an exuberant character and the Toccata ends with arpeggios, not unlike the introduction.
We meet here in the Toccata N.4 in G min. BWV 915 with some "piano" and "forte" indications on the manuscript. This introduction in 24/16 time makes the frame for the entire piece to come. Another slow movement in 3/2 time, grave and majestic brings the first fugue in B-flat major which simultaneously presents two themes one with disjoint motions and the other proceeding by close steps. A few measures long, recitative-like movement separates the two fugues. The ultimate fugue is in "Gigue" form. Either edited as 12/8 or "C" time (with dotted values to be read as a ternary time).
It is customary to date this Toccata N.5 in D maj. BWV 912 1705-1708, before Bach coming at the Court of Saxe-Weimar. The piece opens with rapid scales and arpeggios. The first "Allegro" which follows is at the same time jokingly and pompous. A dozen bars of transition brings a slow double "fugato" and is followed by a movement: "Con discrezione", a very "rubato" section. The last part is a double fugue in 6/16 time. Again the "Gigue" idea is present all through this fast peaced fugue.
A "Chromatic Fantasy"-like, typical beginning opens this vast Toccata N.6 in C min. BWV 911 which presents, in my opinion, one of the most extraordinary fugues in the collection. The Adagio is grand and noble, almost religious in character. The comes to the very difficult but exuberant fugue.
The opening of the Toccata N.7 in G maj. BWV 916 is less improvisatory but more like a Concerto first movement. The instrument and the virtuosity of the performer are shining all through the section. A charming melodious section follows. Even though it is not as elaborated (polyphonically speaking) as the other slow movements of the series, this E minor section is indeed beautiful. The closing fugue is less elaborated than the previous ones in the series, but again, incredibly charming as well.
By Mehmet Okonsar, pianist, composer, conductor and musicologist is the First Prize Winner at the International Young Virtuosos Competition, Antwerp, Belgium, 1982 and laureate of other prestigious international piano competitions such as the Gina Bachauer, Sixth Prize, Salt Lake City-UT, 1991 and J. S. Bach, Second Prize, Paris, France 1989. He is graduated from the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music. His extensive discography includes a series of works by J. S. Bach, Liszt, and Schumann. As a musicologist, writer and lecturer, Okonsar's writings are published in several music periods. His essays and analyses are released in English and French, he is a lecturer in music, composing and technology.
Johann Sebastian Bach The Bach Museum, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Johann Sebastian Bach biography is an interesting read. In Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685 Johann Sebastian Bach was born. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elizabeth Lammerhirt Bach. His father was an organist in the church and many other family members were also musicians.
Members of the Bach family were skilled at playing many instruments including the clavichord, violin, organ and harpsichord. There were also singers in the family. Bach received training in all of these areas in the early years of his musical training.
Both of Bach's parents died when he was only nine years old. His father died first and his mom died just two months later. At age ten he went to live with his older brother Johann Christoph who was an organist at church and who became Bach's first music teacher. Bach had longed for a singing career and was a very talented singer. He was chosen to sing in the church choir.
In 1700 an opening came about at St. Michael's School in Luneburg and he was awarded a singing scholarship. His voice began to change and he started playing the violin. Bach graduated in 1702.
Exterior of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, with Bach statue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By a church in Arnstad Germany Bach was hired in 1703 as an organist. This opportunity gave him ample time to practice his favorite instrument. In 1707 Bach became the organist for a church in Muhlhausen, Germany. He married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach later in that same year. This is also the year that Cantata No. 71, God Is My King was composed.
A year later Bach went to Weimar, Germany and became the court organist to Duke Wilhelm Ernst. From 1708 to 1710 Bach composed a large amount of original organ music. Prince Leopold of Cöthen, Germany offered Bach a position in 1716. A highlight of the Johann Sebastian Bach biography is that Bach produced his finest instrumental compositions during this period.
In 1720 Maria died. She left him a widower and with seven children. In 1921 Bach married Anna Magdalena Wulken who was a twenty-year-old singer. Over the next twenty years they had thirteen children together.
Bach was named the choir leader of Leipzig, Germany in 1723. His duties were to provide choral music to the churches St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. Bach also taught classes in music, gave private singing lessons, and taught Latin. It was while Bach was in Leipzig that he composed the majority of his choral music.
A sad ending of the Johann Sebastian biography is that Bach began to slowly lose his eyesight in his final years and went completely blind in the last year of his life. On July 28, 1750 Bach died due to complications from a stroke and high fever.
Bach was a well-regarded composer and musician, but his works were not published until he was forty-one. And it was not until fifty years after his death that he became well-known outside of Germany. To this day Bach is widely remembered for his exceptional compositions.
By Wendy Pan Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
Young Johann Sebastian Bach. 1715. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Leipzig years as related by Anna Magdalena, Johann Sebastian Bach's second wife.
Our family continues to grow quickly! In fact, since we moved to Leipzig ten years ago, I have had a baby every year. So, yes, our home is getting more and more crowded with our growing family. In addition, many friends and extended family members often stop by for a visit and sometimes even stay for weeks at a time to work with Johann Sebastian and to make music together. One of our older sons, Carl Phillip describes our home as a "dovecote" and I tend to agree. There is always something going on but it is, in general, a harmonious and pleasant home. Why I even have several linnets (beautiful little songbirds with red breasts and foreheads) in our home. They make such a sweet accompaniment to the music of our home. The older children are such a help with all the babies and Johann works hard to provide enough for all of us.
Sadly, though, Johann Sebastian and the rector of St. Thomas School, one of my husband's many bosses, is a difficult man and their relationship is acrimonious at best. Therefore, to avoid conflict, Sebastian has started spending more and more time at Zimmerman's Coffee House, which is just down the street from our home.
Zimmermannsches Caffeehaus Leipzig, where the Collegium Musicum performed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At Zimmerman's, a wonderful group of musicians called the Collegium Musicum, regularly perform there. I think my husband will soon take over the direction of the group. He has already started composing wonderful music for them. He is so happy when he is working with this talented group of musicians.
Johann Sebastian and I had a wonderful New Year's celebration this year. We were invited to Cothen to play and sing for the New Year's Day festivities at the Court. It was good to be away from Leipzig for a few days and have the opportunity to see our old friends and make music together. In addition, our dear friend, Prince Leopold, paid us both very well. It brought back so many memories of our grand times in Cothen.
Back in Leipzig, however, my dear Johann Sebastian works very hard but is very often unappreciated. Unfortunately, my husband also has a rather short temper at times, which makes his work situation difficult. Then with the loss of five of the eight children we have had since moving to Leipzig, he is often weary and sad. The older children and I do what we can to help.
Finally, a new rector has been called and Sebastian really likes and respects this man! Matthias Gesner is our hero and he has come along just at the right time. He is the person who is going to step in and make everything right again.
Herr Gesner became rector of the St. Thomas School and did five important things: declared a truce between my husband and the council; made sure Johann Sebastian received the pay he was due; refurbished the school; relieved my husband of his teaching duties; and made music important again at St. Thomas. Gesner got things on track in Leipzig for us. What a wonderful difference this man has made in our lives.
This vignette is one of a dozen anecdotes in the organ and media event, Bach, and Sons, performed by Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist.
Dr. Jeannine Jordan has a doctorate degree in organ performance with an emphasis in Baroque repertoire. She studied with renown Swiss organist, Guy Bovet, has performed throughout the world, and presents the organ music of Bach in a creative program, "Bach and Sons," utilizing visual media and narration. She has also recorded organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons on historic 17th and 18th century organs in the Bach region of Saxony, Germany. https://promotionmusic.org/Listening_Media.html Visit Bach and Sons to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Jordan to discover how you can bring Bach to your community. https://promotionmusic.org/Bach___Sons_PNQ5.html
Bach and Handel each in their own way were a great influence on later generations of composers. Both of them, in their own personal way, summed up the major styles of European music. Handel cultivated a concerto that was based the style of Correlli and Bach cultivated a concerto that was based on the style of Vivaldi. Handel perfected the Italian opera and the English Oratorio, while Bach perfected the cantata, the German Passion, and the Latin mass.
Bach and Handel
Handel's music relies more on melody and Bach's relies more on counterpoint. This is not to say that Bach couldn't compose good melodies or that Handel couldn't write good counterpoint. It is merely a general observation. Also Bach relied more on phrasing while Handel relied more on dynamics. Although they were both quite adept at using contrasts of texture to create interest, this technique was more important in Handel's music. Handel's music, for the most part, is more vocally oriented, and Bach's music is more instrumentally oriented. They both were masters of the great European styles of their time, but Handel was much more influenced by the Italian style than Bach, and Bach was more influenced by the German style. It should also be mentioned that Handel's music is easier to perform than Bach's. This is certainly one reason that Bach's music was not as popular in his lifetime as was that of Handel.
Let's discuss Bach's influence first. The most widely disseminated work of his in his own lifetime was the Well Tempered Clavier, a huge work, in two volumes, each volume containing a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, totaling 48 pairs of preludes and fugues. This work is intended to be didactic as well as entertaining to the keyboard player. It was Bach's intention that the player of these wonderful pieces would not only find them entertaining and joyful to play, but also would gain, from performing them, insight into compositional techniques, especially counterpoint. Many keyboard teachers were still using the WTC a generation after Bach's death, indeed, even Chopin's piano teacher was using this book in the early nineteenth century.
The Well Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach is one the most seminal works of music ever produced. Generations of composers learned the art of counterpoint by playing and studying this great collection of preludes and fugues. Most of Bach's music was ignored until the latter half of the nineteenth century when the Bach revival got underway. However certain works of Bach, most notably, The Well Tempered Clavier, were kept alive by a small circle of intellectuals. A man by the name Baron Van Swieten was among these great musical connoisseurs. He hired the twenty-six year-old composer, Wolfgang Mozart to direct his small orchestra during his weekly private concerts which were held on Sunday afternoons. He loaned Mozart a copy of the WTC so that he could study and play it in his leisure time. He paid Mozart to arrange some of the fugues of the WTC for string trio. Mozart was amazed by the genius of this work. It was a profound crisis in Mozart's life to discover such extraordinary contrapuntal music, the likes of which he had never known. Suddenly his counterpoint, which was always very good, became even better. His counterpoint kept getting more and more complex after his encounter with the WTC.
At the age of thirty three Mozart heard one of the Bach motets and was transfixed by its intricate complexity and great beauty. The choirmaster at Leipzig gave Mozart a copy of the score to all six of the Bach motets. He kept these for the rest of his short life, (he had less than three years left to live) treasuring them like the precious jewels they are. They were a profound influence on his late style. In the last two years of his life Mozart's counterpoint became even more exquisite and complex than before.
As for Beethoven, he was raised on Bach's WTC. He could play through book one in its entirety when he was only eight years old. Despite the fact that Beethoven knew the WTC and most other keyboard music of Bach thoroughly, he was not particularly adept at counterpoint, at least not in his early years. Being interested in the more homophonic style in vogue at the time, the expressiveness in his music relied more on thematic relationships, harmonic movement, and transformation of motifs. Also I would say that Beethoven relied more on rhythmic iteration and rhythmic transition than any other composer. Nonetheless, his early experience with Bach's keyboard music, especially the WTC, was invaluable for him. In his later years, wanting to compose certain pieces in a more contrapuntal style, Beethoven worked hard at mastering counterpoint. He returned to the music of Bach and Handel, and even studied Palestrina. In his late music, he developed a style of counterpoint that is more reminiscent of Handel than Bach. His fugues in his late period are very rhythmic in nature and quite unique in the history of music. He was found of using fugue themes with repeated notes and rather angular outlines. In the last decade of his life Beethoven proved himself to be a capable contrapuntalist, even though it can be said that his counterpoint is sometimes a bit awkward. The ungainliness of his counterpoint actually gives it a certain power, a sense of struggle, unique to his music, and at times even quite charming. It may be hard to assess how much he gained from Bach and how much from Handel. He seems outwardly to have been more influenced by Handel but his knowledge of Bach's keyboard music was certainly invaluable to him. It is hard to say how much of Bach's vocal music Beethoven had seen. He wrote letters to publishers between 1810 and 1824 requesting them to send him copies of the B-minor Mass but it is not known if he ever received any copy of it. Beethoven had access to the libraries of private collectors such as the Archduke Rudolph, Baron Van Swieten, and others. In these private libraries he could have read many vocal works by Bach, Handel, and other composers.
As mentioned above, Chopin's piano teacher had his students play the WTC. Chopin loved and respected this great tome his entire life. On that famous trip he took with George Sand, to Majorca, it was the only music he took with him. The influence of the WTC on Chopin was profound. Most people don't think of Chopin as a contrapuntist, and it is true that one does not find much in the way of imitative counterpoint in his music. He never composed any fugues, except as an academic exercise when he was still quite young, and there are not many canons by Chopin. However it can, and should, be said that Chopin's counterpoint is exquisite. No other piano music in the entire nineteenth century has such smooth voice-leading. The inner voices in his music are almost as melodically interesting as the bass and treble voices, and the music has a transparency that allows one to hear each separate line clearly. Each voice in his piano music, flows mellifluously and smoothly, with never an awkward measure. The influence of the WTC on Chopin should not be underestimated.
Of course it goes without saying that Brahms was influenced by Bach. More than any other composer, Brahms studied the music of previous composers. He was certainly very fond of Handel but he absolutely loved Bach. Brahms was, perhaps, the greatest contrapuntist of the nineteenth century and to this he owed a certain debt to Bach. Schumann also loved Bach and paid homage to him in his Six pieces in Canonic form, opus 56. Schumann recommended playing one prelude and fugue from the WTC per day. As for Mendelssohn, Bach's influence on Mendelssohn can be most easily seen in his preludes and fugues, which are somewhat reminiscent of some of the preludes and fugues in the WTC.
The music of J.S. Bach was kept alive only by a small circle of intellectuals until the Bach revival that was kicked of by Felix Mendelssohn with his historic performance of The St Mathew Passion in March of 1829. Bach's vocal and instrumental music was gradually becoming more available in print since the last decade of the eighteenth century but Mendelssohn created a greater awareness of the greatness of his music. Then in 1850,on the hundredth anniversary of Bach's death, the Bach Society was formed in Germany. The Bach Society's raison d'etre was to publish every extant work of J.S. Bach. This huge project was not completed until the very end of the nineteenth century.
Handel's influence on later generations was perhaps more direct. His operas and oratorios are very appealing. He certainly knew how to please a crowd, yet there is so much more than mere pandering to the masses in his music. His juxtapositions of strongly contrasting textures, his carefully times use of dynamics, his beautiful melodies, and his ability to eke out so much expressiveness from one motif, make his music a virtual compendium of compositional technique.
Although Mozart knew only a small fraction of Bach's music, he was thoroughly familiar with the music of Handel. During his childhood trip to England he became well acquainted with Handel's music and he never lost his taste for it. To anyone familiar with Mozart's liturgical music, it is obvious that his knowledge of Handel was deep and thorough. You can hear Handel's influence in some of Mozart's early works, such as The Solemn Vespers, and in later works such as the C minor mass and the Requiem mass. In fact, the opening page of Mozart's Requiem, beautiful as it is, is merely a reworking of the opening choral movement of Handel's funeral music for Queen Caroline. And the glorious double fugue in the Kyrie from the Requiem, uses as one of its two themes, a slightly altered version of the theme that Handel used for "With his Stripes, We are Healed" from his "Messiah."
By far, the major influence of Handel on later generations was through his oratorios, the most famous of which is "Messiah." Baron Von Swieten (mentioned above) commissioned Mozart to re-orchestrate this great work as well as Handel's "Acis and Galatea," "Alexander's Feast," and "Ode for St Cecilia's Day." "Messiah" is the most thinly scored of Handel's oratorios, mostly because he was writing it for the city of Dublin, and having never visited that city, did not know what instruments would be available. Messiah is scored for the basic Baroque orchestra, which consists of strings, oboes, and bassoons, with trumpets and kettledrums reserved for the more celebrative numbers. Not only did Mozart add many instruments to the score but he altered many of the arias. Some of them he cut short, or altered certain passages. In some of the arias Mozart changed the harmonic structure. But in the choral movements, he made few changes other than adding instruments to double each voice in the choir. He did the same to "Acis and Galatea." Also, "Acis and Galatea" Mozart added an instrumental countermelody to each aria. These marvelous works would have survived without the Mozart versions, however they became even greater masterpieces when reworked by Mozart. The popularity of Handel's "Messiah" is not to be underestimated. It was immensely popular in his day and has remained so, influencing many composers, especially Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn's two oratorios are obviously influenced greatly by Handel.
As mentioned above there can be found a certain Handelain influence in Beethoven's music. Many of Beethoven's grand themes sound as if they could have been written by Handel. A good example is the main theme to the Consecration of the House overture. More than once in his life Beethoven expressed his opinion that Handel was the greatest composer who ever lived. It should be mentioned, however, that Beethoven knew very little of Bach's music outside of the keyboard works.
In general, the nineteenth century, composers were influenced by the grandeur and power of Handel and the exquisite, complex counterpoint of Bach. The most creative of these composers were able to incorporate into their own unique style what they learned from these masters. Bach and Handel were both incredible in their own right, and they were also seeds that bore great fruit in future generations. The influence of these composers should not be underestimated. Bach's WTC alone was a tremendous influence, as was Handel's Messiah. It seems to me that Handel's influence is more direct and obvious, some examples are Mendelssohn's "Elijah" and much of Mozart's church music. Unfortunately, many of Bach's great choral masterpieces were not heard or published for over 150 years. What would Mozart have thought of Bach's B minor mass, or St Mathew Passion? How would the Christmas Oratorio or the Magnificat have influenced Mozart if he had known these wonderful pieces? We will never know.
The influence of Bach is more subtle than the influence of Handel and can be seen mostly in the way other composers learned counterpoint by studying his works. If you want to learn how to create a bass line that goes well with the melody, supports the harmony, yet has beauty, and an independence and logic of its own, there is no better composer to study than Bach. If you want to compose contrapuntal music with complexity, yet with smoothness, clarity, and transparency, then studying the music of Bach and Handel is indispensable.
is generally referred to as the pianists' "Old Testament of Western music", also in Barenboim's fingers, it definitely has an "Old World" condition to it. Seen in its entirety, the performance brings to mind Edwin Fischer's recording from the thirties: great pianism, frequently elegant playing, notably by means of the liberal use of the pedals.
