Bach & The Well-Tempered Clavier

Question 1

What year was Bach born? Which year did he pass away?

Answer 1

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)

Question 2

Family Life and Education

Answer 2

• born in Eisenach, Germany
• music was the family profession for five generations; father was a court trumpeter
• orphaned at age 10, eldest brother Johann Cristoph continued young Bach’s musical training
• studies included Greek, Latin, and Theology
• sang in choirs, became an accomplished violinist, and virtuoso organist.
• trained in instrument building and repair

Question 3

Arnstadt, Muhlhausen

Answer 3

• held a variety of positions: organist, court violinist, chamber musician
• was granted leave to meet the famous organist Buxtehude in Lubeck, and walked more than 200 miles each way. Inspired, Bach stayed three months extra without authorization.
• married Maria Barbara, a distant cousin, shortly upon arrival. Two of their children, CPE Bach and WF Bach became successful musicians.

Question 4

Weimar

Answer 4

• chamber musician and court organist to Wilhelm Ernst, the Duke of Weimar
• Enjoyed increasing fame as an organist in this period; composed many organ works, including The Little Organ Book of chorale preludes.
• Composed music for Lutheran church services – cantatas and chorale settings
• Accepted a salary advance for a new position at Cöthen. This angered the Duke of Weimar, which resulted in a month in jail.

Question 5

Cöthen

Answer 5

• Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Cöthen, an avid supporter of the arts
• Calvinist views of the court influenced musical activities: no music performed in churches
• Many solo and chamber works composed during this period: suites, concertos, sonatas, solo keyboard works, including The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
• Sudden death of Maria Barbara
• Married court singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke; their sons Johann Cristoph and Johann Christian became successful musicians.

Question 6

Leipzig

Answer 6

• appointed cantor of St. Thomas School
• many responsibilities: teaching, composing, directing choirs, and supervising musical activities
• became director of the Collegium Musicum, a performing ensemble for university students
• important large scale works written in this period, such as the “Goldberg Variations” and “Art of Fugue”
• visited Frederick the Great at Potsdam, where son CPE was employed and wrote a contrapuntal work based on a theme provided by the king (The Musical Offering)
• died July 28, 1750; likely cause was a stroke.

Question 7

Musical Style & Contributions

Answer 7

• his music represents a high point in over 100 years of Baroque musical practice.
• personal style synthesized the leading musical developments of this era
• composed works in every genre of his day except opera
• personal faith was a source of inspiration for his creative works; as a devout Lutheran, Bach dedicated all his works “To the glory of God”
• master of the contrapuntal art, as demonstrated in the fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier
• absorbed influences of international styles from countries such as Germany, Italy, and France.
• virtuoso organist as reflected in his organ and keyboard works
• perfected existing forms rather than creating new ones

Question 8

Composition Titles:

Answer 8

Sacred Vocal:
- over 200 church cantatas (eg, A Mighty Fortress is Our God)
- 7 motets
- Magnificat
Oratorios:
- St John Passion
- St Matthew Passion
- Christmas Oratorio
- Mass in B Minor
Orchestral Music:
- 4 orchestral suites
- 6 Brandenburg Concertos
- Concertos for 1 and 2 violins
Concertos for 1, 2, 3, and 4 harpsichords
Chamber music:
- 6 sonatas and partitas for solo violin
- 6 sonatas for violin and harpsichord
- 6 suites for cello
- The Musical Offering
- Flute sonatas 
- Viola da gamba sonatas
Keyboard music: 
- The Well-Tempered Clavier
- The Art of Fugue
- Goldberg Variations
- Italian Concerto
- 6 English Suites
- 6 French Suites
- Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue
- Suites
- Fugues
- Capriccios
- Concertos
- Inventions
- Sinfonia

Question 9

Provide the following information for the Prelude:

• key
• form
• tempo
• meter
• texture

Answer 9

Key: B-flat Major
Form: incorporates aspects of binary form
Tempo: no specific indication on the score
Meter: 4/4
Texture: homophonic and polyphonic

Question 10

Name three features of the Prelude in B-Flat Major

Answer 10

1. broken-chord passages played in breathless thirty-second note runs and treated sequentially
2. features frequent thirty-second note runs
3. ends in F major and immediately proceeds to the next section

Question 11

Provide the following information for the Fugue:

• key
• tempo
• meter
• texture
• number of voices
• type of answer
• number of countersubjects and their use

Answer 11

Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: moderately fast 
Meter: 3/4
Texture: Polyphonic 
Number of voices: 3
Type of answer: tonal
Number of countersubjects: 2
Use of countersubjects: acts as accompanying figures to the statements of the subject or answer

Question 12

Name two features of the Fugual Exposition

Answer 12

1. Subject is presented in an unusually long voice
2. Comprises two motives:
   - first is mainly disjunct, outlining the tonic-dominant seventh harmony
   - second is conjunct, outlining the same harmonies

Question 13

Name the key features of the middle section

Answer 13

1. the first episode leads to G minor
2. subject appeared in G minor followed answer in C minor
3. the second episode leads E-flat major
4. a partial (two-measure) entry of the tonal answer in m. 35 is interrupted by a complete entry in E-flat major in measure

Question 14

Equal Temperament

Answer 14

• a method of tuning keyboard instruments
• the octave is divided into twelve equal half
• facilitated the composition and performance of music in all keys

Question 15

Clavier

Answer 15

• a German word for keyboard instruments other than the organ

Question 16

Prelude

Answer 16

• A short keyboard work in improvisatory style

- often paired with a fugue

Question 17

Fugue

Answer 17

• a highly structured, imitative contrapuntal composition

- a single theme or subject prevails

Question 18

Counterpoint

Answer 18

• combination of two or more independent melodic lines

- also referred to as “polyphonic texture”

Question 19

Subject

Answer 19

• the initial statement of the main theme of a fugue

- in the tonic key

Question 20

Answer

Answer 20

• the second statement of the main theme in a fugue

- usually in the dominant key

Question 21

Real answer

Answer 21

• an exact transposition of the subject

Question 22

Tonal answer

Answer 22

• a statement of the subject in which one or more intervals is adjusted to accommodate the harmony

Question 23

Countersubject

Answer 23

• a recurring countermelody

- accompanies entries of the subject and answer

Question 24

Episode

Answer 24

• a passage within a fugue in which neither subject nor answer is present
• frequently sequential

Question 25

Augmentation

Answer 25

• thematic material presented in longer time values

Question 26

Stretto

Answer 26

• from the Italian “stringere” meaning “to tighten”

- overlapping subject entries in close succession