Published in 1735 as the first part of the Clavier-ÜbungII, it is among Bach’s most performed works for the double-manual harpsichord. An instance of this integration occurs in his acclaimed Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto (“Concerto in the Italian taste”), otherwise known as the Italian Concerto, BWV 971. However, despite the view that Bach remained firmly adhered to idioms of the past during the emergence of the style galant, opuses from the composer’s mid-to-late career suggest that he was both capable and willing to adopt elements of the new fashion into select compositions. Intricate polyphony and harmonic complexity remained defining characteristics of his style even toward the end of his life – features that were at times the subject of criticism from his own contemporaries. Though he never sought to abandon his fundamental Baroque values, works such as the Italian Concerto demonstrate the composer as one far from secluded against the newer musical idiom.Īs one of the most preeminent composers of the early eighteenth-century, Johann Sebastian Bach is associated most strongly with the height of the Baroque Era. Through an analysis of the work via lenses of textural, harmonic, schematic, organizational, and melodic techniques, this paper sheds light on Bach’s conscious integration of the latest musical fashions into his own output. Found in the first half of his 1735 Clavier-Übung II, the work for double-manual harpsichord is permeated by techniques distinctly employed as part of the galant movement. One of the most substantial instances of this stylistic progressivity occurs throughout his Italian Concerto, BWV 971. The galant style, which increasingly took hold of European music during the central decades of the eighteenth century, represents a simplicity and clarity divergent from the rigorous compositional approach that Bach has become remembered for. Philippe Herreweghe, ‘Collegium Vocale Gent’, on the other hand, uses a 16’ violone in almost all of Bach’s cantatas and oratorios, including in the arias and recitatives.While the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is often characterized by elaborate Baroque counterpoint and a relatively conservative set of aesthetic principles, elements of the emergent galant fashion are exemplified in certain mid-to-late career compositions. Sigiswald Kuijken, ‘La Petite Bande’, for example, no longer uses a 16’ violone in his Bach performances, replacing it with two ‘basse de violons’. The ones which I particularly want to tackle after a lifetime of performing Bach’s music as a violone player, are: ‘what type of violones were used to perform Bach’s music in his time?’ and ‘ which octaves and tunings are appropriate for his stringed bass instruments?’įor at least the last 15 years or so, there have been heated debates about the size of the appropriate choirs and ensembles, and the octave at which the low stringed instruments should play. How historically accurate is this? There are still many essential questions to be answered, concerning many aspects of his work. We have arrived at a ‘status quo’ of performing his music. Bach’s music is hugely popular in the ‘historically informed performance‘ field. Bach’s compositions in northern Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries. An investigation into the use of the 8’ and 16’ violone in the music leading up to and including J.
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