Questions tagged [j-s-bach]
For questions about the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Do not use the tag for just his works.
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3answers
47 views
Music theory for Bach's Inventions
I just got a piano and want to start working on Bach's Inventions. I
have sort of managed to play 2 and 14 some years ago, but my knowledge
of music theory pretty much consists of being able to work ...
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5answers
1k views
Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor breaks the “no parallel octaves” rule?
I notice in his BWV 565, more well known as Toccata and Fugue in D minor, what looks like a lot of parallel octaves in the fugue. I have studied counterpoint before and every counterpoint resource I ...
1
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3answers
54 views
At what tempo would J.S.Bach play his fughettas?
As the title says, I'd like to know at what tempo should J.S.Bach's fughettas be played. I specifically speak about BWV 704 Fughetta: Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott, but I believe it's applicable in ...
2
votes
2answers
178 views
Is it true that Bach had no concept of suspended chord?
In an answer to a question in SE I read the sentence with the pretension above.
Chord in the Bach d-minor prelude
I think this can be easily be counter-proofed by many examples of Bach’s music and ...
6
votes
1answer
61 views
Notation of triplets in Bach’s *Orgelbüchlein*
In the following piece from J.S. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, the nearly constant triplet line seems to be incorrect:
The time signature is 3/2, but there are 9 eighth-note triplets per measure rather than ...
1
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1answer
69 views
When would Bach start an ornament- just before the beat, or right on it? [duplicate]
In his table (see below) , all examples seem to start ON the beat, not before it.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Bach-ornamentguide.jpg
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0answers
28 views
How would J.S. Bach execute a trill sign that is written over an eighth note?
If Bach's recommendation (as found in his table of ornaments) is to play the first 6 out the possible 8 1/32nd notes for a trill sign written over a quarter note,
then should one try to achieve the ...
4
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2answers
102 views
What is this chord in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2? [closed]
Can anyone tell me what chord Bach notated in the second half of measure 91 in the score below? I can see that the first chord in this measure is FMaj7, which is the end of a circle of fifths chord ...
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vote
3answers
120 views
Should I practice some J.S. Bach for piano technique and where should I start?
I want to know if playing J.S. Bach would improve my overall piano technique. I look for pieces that help me to become better. I usually play romantic composers. I have played pieces such as
Chopin'...
4
votes
2answers
52 views
How to realize the figured bass of the second movement of BWV 1014?
I am planning a performance of the second movement of Bach's violin sonata BWV 1014 in B Minor. The beginning of second mvt, Allegro is shown below.
As you can see there are some figured bass below ...
1
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1answer
71 views
Has the Bach Compendium been completed?
The Bach Compendium (BC) is a multi-volume attempt by renowned scholar Christoph Wolff and others to replace the traditional but obsolete BWV numbering system. It is my understanding that the first ...
2
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0answers
56 views
Relationship between “Erwäge” aria of St John Passion and final Chorus of St Matthew Passion
The "Erwäge" aria of Bach's St John Passion is harmonically extremely similar to the final Chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion (to the extent that when listening to the former, I keep waiting for the ...
15
votes
1answer
212 views
J.S.Bach's organ tablature notation
Is anyone familiar with some freely available guide explaining in detail how to read Bach's organ tablature notation?
Apparently, Bach was very comfortable in using the tablature notation, ...
2
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0answers
68 views
Difference between baroque and classical keyboard concertos
I'm trying to compare a Baroque Harpsichord Concerto with a Classical Piano Concerto. But I'm just wondering in what aspects that the Baroque Concertos influenced the Classical Piano Concerto. I am ...
1
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2answers
139 views
Boy alto or counter-tenor?
This is a video of Stefan Kahle singing “Erbarme dich” from the Matthew Passion:
My question: How old was he when this recording was made? Is he here still ...
1
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1answer
101 views
Have all the possible violin partitas transcriptions already been done? [closed]
I'm curious if there is still room for transcribing some of Bach's partitas for guitar, but have all the good ones that are possible been done already or is there still a multitude of possible ...
4
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2answers
170 views
What does +- mean in piano music?
Attached is a picture of one of my piano students' Bach Inventions (BWV 785). What does the +- mean? I've never seen it used before. A precursory search online revealed nothing. Sometimes a + ...
2
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3answers
345 views
Did Bach ever use melodic minor keys in chorales?
For example, E Melodic Minor would have C#, allowing for a ii7-V-I cadence.
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2answers
126 views
How does Bach harmonise chromatics?
The top line is soprano and the bottom line is bass. Is there supposed to be some sort of harmonic function used by Bach by the use of C#?
The key signature is Bb Major, though this passage could ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views
Do Bach Chorales in minor keys ever modulate to the dominant major?
I am wondering if any of you are able to help me with this question regarding modulation. An example would be E Minor to B Major. Does Bach ever use this?
Thanks,
Jack
2
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2answers
97 views
Limits of interpretation in timing in a Bach piece
This is a question about a short part in Bach's Partita for Violin (BWV 1004) as played and interpreted by several different artists/instruments,
which can be heard at 19:56 on this Youtube upload.
...
4
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1answer
179 views
Regarding the beginning of Gould's B minor fugue, WTC 1, performance
I've listened to Gould's performance of this piece many times, sometimes following the score, and I've noticed that maybe Gould plays this piece wrong at the beginning.
Unfortunately, I am unable to ...
4
votes
2answers
233 views
Should I use the sustain pedal when playing Bach fugues?
I'm Practicing Bach Prelude & Fugue in D . There is no pedal markings since it from Baroque eras , but i found in Youtube many Concert pianist Performing Fugue with Sustain Pedals. Am working for ...
6
votes
1answer
213 views
Is 2 measures sufficient for a fugue subject?
I know what a fugue is. I also have been reading up on the form of the fugue and how to write in counterpoint. I wrote a canon and I have written a sonatina using sonata form. So theoretically a fugue ...
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2answers
3k views
Why does Brahms stand next to Bach and Beethoven?
I've often heard the expression, "Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms" as sort of a summary of classical music, or something. I feel that I understand why Bach and Beethoven should serve as pillars of ...
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votes
1answer
174 views
Why did Anna Magdalena Bach write funny accidentals sometimes?
I'm checking BWV 1004 for a project I'm working on. I sometimes see that Anna Magdalena Bach wrote some veeeery strange flats. For example...
Bars 113 and 114 from Chanonne. Bar 113 has on the bass ...
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3answers
165 views
BWV 1004 - Is there a pause by the end of Ciaccona or is it staccato?
I'm working on a project to set Bach's music on lilypond files (so that people can share and enhance to better match manuscripts). I just uploaded BWV 1004 to the repo but I'm wondering what's the ...
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0answers
95 views
Bach's keyboard concertos on fortepiano?
It is known that J.S.Bach was acquainted with the fortepiano at least twice in his life, in 1726 when he played one of Silbermann's experimental models (and mildly criticized it), and toward the end ...
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2answers
143 views
What's a beginner piano Bach piece in a minor key? [closed]
I would like to learn how to play Bach on the piano. I'm not really a pianist, more of a guitarist who picked up some keyboards on the way. My left hand playing is non existent, other than playing ...
0
votes
1answer
109 views
Where to find violin hand positions for Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 [closed]
Does anyone know of an edition of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 which shows violin fingerings and bowings?
I have a score of the first two movements which I have been learning, but I am new to ...
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1answer
127 views
Bach Double Variation from Partita 1 for Solo Violin
Has any credible musicologist explained that the double variations in Bach's Partita 1 for solo violin are a variation on the entire harmonic progression from the last movement and not just the bass ...
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2answers
426 views
J.S. Bach: Prelude #1 for well tempered clavier: mordent
In a book with this piece given to me there is a mordent in tact 34:
on the other hand when I downloaded the piece from the Internet, the mordent at this place was missing:
So, did it exist in the ...
0
votes
2answers
356 views
Difference in technical skills needed for Bach 2 part inventions vs. Clementi Op. 36
I'm not too sure how popular Clementi's sonatinas are (Op 36: http://imslp.org/wiki/6_Piano_Sonatinas,Op.36(Clementi,_Muzio)) but they are all over the Canadian RCM books.
As my previous questions ...
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4answers
3k views
Having significant difficulty with Bach's two part inventions for piano
I'm wondering if there are any pieces I could look at before attempting the inventions. Im working through invention 1 in c major and it's quite challenging for me. I suspect the problem is that I ...
3
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1answer
277 views
Is there a compilation of The Well-Tempered Clavier voice-leading reductions?
Reading about Voice leading on the Wikipedia I came across an example of two reductions of a part of the Preludium in C major (BWV 846a) and was puzzled to know if there is a compilation of those ...
3
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2answers
191 views
On Bach' fourteen canons
I read from this article that
The discovery of the
Fourteen Canons
(BWV 1087)
on the inner side of the back cover of his
own copy (hereafter referred to as the
...
4
votes
2answers
691 views
What is a duplex
In this article Surface Topology in Bach Canons, I: The Möbius strip the author wrote that
Canon 5 is described by Bach as a duplex, a 4: there are 4 voices singing two canons in parallel.
Could ...
0
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1answer
364 views
Identifying the harmny of Bach/Gounod's Ave Maria [closed]
Having guitar background, for me it's natural to learn the chord progression of the composition (in C-dur). But there are a few that are hard to identify for me, in the climax parts, marked by ???:
[:...
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votes
2answers
781 views
Double time signature and strange bar notation in Bach
So I have been studying Bach's prelude and fugue in d major of wtc II, where he uses two time signatures for the prelude. What does this mean? I did notice that some of the meqsures are written in a ...
7
votes
1answer
788 views
Which Bach chorale preludes are appropriate for different times of the liturgical year?
Is there a guide available that assigns all of Bach's organ chorale preludes to appropriate times in the liturgical year?
Bach himself began such a catalog in the Orgelbüchlein. That's the sort of ...
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votes
3answers
1k views
Did J.S. Bach write the figured bass in scores or continuo parts?
This full score for Bach's St. Matthew Passion helpfully has the figured bass written below the continuo part. I found this particularly illuminating, as it helped me to see the harmonic movement ...
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5answers
1k views
What does a mordent written to the left of a note mean?
In this arrangement of Wachet Auf, there are quite a few mordents sprinkled around, as well as trills and grace notes. I understand most of them, but in the middle of this excerpt,
right before the ...
5
votes
4answers
625 views
How to improve/train my memory while playing long pieces on the piano?
This question might result too broad and subjective to answer, so apologize first, but I'll try to make it as specific as possible.
Recently I had a piano exam, consisting in three pieces: Partita No....
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1answer
306 views
Trills in Bach with historical information
This is an old question, but I have issues with playing the tr's in Bach's wtc. His autograph instruction for embellishments (he gave to his son) indicated a trillo to be played without the ending ...
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5answers
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Was Bach the first to use thumbs on a keyboard?
This question reminded me of a claim that I've heard before, namely, that J. S. Bach was the first keyboardist to utilize the thumbs in his playing technique. I'm not sure where I've heard this, but ...
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3answers
2k views
Triplets against twos in Bach's music
I was reading up on tuplets and polyrhythms because I was having trouble playing some of Bach's keyboard works containing three-against-two rhythms. Then I found something interesting:
(...) It is ...
3
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4answers
278 views
Does anyone have any sources I could use to talk about who influenced Bach?
I am writing an essay about the synthesis of music theory Bach used to create his own music theory, especially in his fugal works. Any help would be appreciated, but if people could provide sources ...
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2answers
669 views
Well Tempered Clavier Prelude in C minor fingering
How should I finger bars 11 and 12? I have the Henle book and they recommend 5 4 for the first two notes of both bars. This makes sense when considering bars 10 and 13, but I find it very difficult, ...
6
votes
2answers
587 views
What musical instruments JS Bach owned and had purchased during his career? [closed]
What musical instruments JS Bach owned and had purchased during his career? Is there any historical information on Handel, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Corelli, Tartini?
3
votes
1answer
409 views
Did Bach intend his two volumes known as the “Well-Tempered Clavier” to be a single work?
We all know about Bach's Well Tempered Clavier which we refer to as "book 1" of the "48". However, I have never seen Bach himself refer to the two books as being one glorious set of 48 preludes and ...
