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Home , Dieterich Buxtehude, Johann Mattheson, Johann Pachelbel, Johann Sebastian Bach

Figures of Musica Poetica in the of and J.S.

A Document Submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

in the Division of Keyboard Studies of the College-Conservatory of

2012

by

SE RA SON

B.M, Yon-Sei University, Korea, 2002

A.C, Southern Methodist University, 2005

M.M., Southern Methodist University, 2007

Committee Members: Roberta Gary, D.M.A (Chair)

John Deaver, D.M.A

Michael Chertock, Professor

Abstract

As the importance of instrumental music grew in the seventeenth century, theorists and developed rhetorical devices to establish a link to words. Joachim Burmeister,

Christoph Bernhard, and Mattheson all codified musical-rhetorical figures into a practice known as Musica Poetica. Also in the seventeenth century, theorists, such as

Athanasius Kircher, developed theories on musical figures and emotional expression which became what we now commonly refer to as the Doctrine of Affections. Major composers of the day were highly influenced by Musica Poetica and the Doctrine of Affections. This document will examine these issues in the Passacaglias of Dieterich Buxtehude and J. S.

Bach. An understanding of the figures of Musica Poetica and affections will help illustrate similarities and differences between these pieces within their musical styles. The overall goal of this undertaking is to provide greater resources for performers to interpret these composers’ organ compositions.

i

S. D. G.

ii Acknowledgment

D.M.A study at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati was a magnificent as well as a challenging experience to me. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who help me to complete my document.

At first, I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Dr. Roberta Gary. I have learned a lot from her during my study. Her guidance, encouragement, and excitement helped me to keep my pace toward D.M.A degree. I will never forget the moments I have spent with her. Also, I would like to express grateful thanks to my committee members, Dr. John Deaver and

Professor Michael Chertock for their suggestions and guidance over the years.

My special thanks also extend to my parents, husband and loveable son. Their unconditional love, prayer and encouragements supported me during my study.

I love you all.

SE RA SON

iii CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………… iii CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………………………… iv INDEX OF TABLES……………………………………………………………..…………. v INDEX OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ………………………………………………………. vi

CHAPTERS

I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….. 1

II. Literature Review………………………………………………………………………… 4

III. Development of Musica Poetica ……………………………………………………….. 6

IV. Buxtehude’s in (BuxWV 161)……………………………………13

V. Bach’s Passacaglia in (BWV 582)……………………………………………... 23

CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………….. 43

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….……… 47

iv INDEX OF TABLES

Table 1: Seven liberal arts……….…….……………………………………………………. 7 Table 2: Categories of Joachim Burmeister’s Figures and Christoph Bernhard’s Figures…. 11 Table 3: Rhetorical stages by …………….…………………………….. 11 Table 4: The six steps of the Dispositio …………………………..………………………... 11 Table 5: Sections by Key………………………..………………………………………….. 13 Table 6: Twelve thematic entries…………………………………………………………… 33

v INDEX OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1. theme in the bass ...... 13 Example 2. , mm. 13-14...... 14 Example 3. Transitus (dissonance) in BuxWV 161, mm. 1-7 and anaphora (repetition of pitches in at least one voice, often a ground bass) ...... 14 Example 4. Antithesis, the two opposing figures: anabasis (ascending) and catabasis (descending)...... 15 Example 5. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 26-29...... 15 Example 6. Suspiratio, a musical expression of a sigh through a rest, mm. 18-20. ... 16 Example 7. Accentus, The figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation, mm. 31- 32...... 16 Example 8. Polyptoton, melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 37-38...... 17 Example 9. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 57-60...... 17 Example 10. Abruptio (Rest) ...... 18 Example 11. Homoioptoton (a general pause), pathopoeia (a passionate affection through chromaticism)and catabasis (descending passage) in BuxWV 161, mm. 92-94...... 19 Example 12. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest and accentus, mm. 29-32...... 19 Example 13. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest, mm. 61-63...... 20 Example 14. Salto semplice, simple leaps, mm.111-112...... 20 Example 15. Polyptoton, repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 115-116...... 21 Example 16. Tirata, a rapid scalar passage, m. 105...... 21 Example 17. Theme for the Passacaglia in the pedal, mm. 1-8 ...... 24 Example 18. Abruptio (figure of interruption and : a sudden and unexpected break), mm. 9-17...... 24 Example 19. Tremolo or Trillo (figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation), mm. 23-24...... 25 Example 20. Retardatio (figure of a suspension by rising) and Syncopatio (figure of a suspension by descending), mm. 25-32...... 25 Example 21. Gradatio (two voices moving in ascending or descending), mm. 32-39...... 26 Example 22. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) and salto semplice (a consonant leap). mm. 40-42...... 26 Example 23. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) by salti composti (a four- note figuration with consonant leaps of thirds), mm. 73-76...... 26 Example 24. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea), mm.105-108...... 27 Example 25. Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion), . 27 Example 26. Suspiratio in antithesis (contrary motion) with anabasis and catabasis, ...... 28 Example 27. Passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments)...... 29 Example 28. Suspiratio (A musical expression of a sigh through a rest) and Contrapositum (A musical expression of opposing affection), mm. 113-114. .... 30 Example 29. Suspirans (a figure beginning off the beat) and extensio (a of a dissonance), mm. 129-130...... 30 Example 30. Distributio (a musical-rhetorical process in which individual motifs or phrases of a theme or section of composition are developed before proceeding to

vi the following material), mm.137-138...... 31 Example 31. Corta (three-notes figure in which one note’s duration equals the sum of the other two), mm.145-147...... 31 Example 32. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) with circulatio and gradatio...... 32 Example 33. The figures of epizeuxis, abruptio and tremolo in the countersubject .. 34 Example 34. Trillo (a trill), m. 190...... 34 Example 35. R.H (Epizeuxis by Circulatio) and L.H (Polysynseton), mm. 204 to 207...... 35 Example 36. Tmesis (sectio), the figure of a sudden interruption or fragmentation, mm. 216-217...... 36 Example 37. Accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neighboring note), mm. 224-227...... 36 Example 38. Anabasis (ascending passage), mm. 241-242...... 37 Example 39. Circulatio (A sine wave formation), mm. 269-270...... 37 Example 40. Transitus (a figure of a dissonant or passing note), mm. 277-279...... 38 Example 41. Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285 and Tmesis (a sudden interruption of the through rests), mm. 287-288...... 38 Example 42. Epiphora (a figure of the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at the end of subsequent passages), mm. 287-289, and paragoge (), m. 287 to the end...... 39

vii Chapter I. Introduction

The relationship between rhetorical figures and music reached a high point in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Since the Middle Ages, both rhetoric and music were components of a liberal arts education. The seven fields of study were divided into the trivium, linguistic concerns that included logic, grammar, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium, made up essentially of mathematical disciplines, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music.

This basic academic configuration continued well into the eighteenth century. While music was originally in the category of mathematics, through the centuries, theorists, composers, and educators related it increasingly to ideas associated with poetry. In the Renaissance, the artistic ideal in texted music was that the music should participate in the declamation and expression of the text. Religious figures also saw the advantage in this . Martin

Luther argued that music has the power and ability as an instrument of God to communicate the Gospel to the spirit of the listener.1 These viewpoints influenced music education in

Germany for a very long time.

In the seventeenth century, particular ways in which the music should respond rhetorically to text were codified into a system known as Musica Poetica. Musica Poetica can be understood as a phenomenon of Lutheran from the sixteenth century through the end of the period: a product of the study of mathematics, rhetoric, as well as educational intentions. In the beginning, the discipline of Musica Poetica focused on vocal music, considering the relationship between the text and music, and how an application of rhetorical figures could manipulate an emotional response from the listener. Certain musical figures were deemed analogous to particular rhetorical figures. As a compositional discipline in the Baroque period, Musica Poetica holds extra-musical stimulus as an indispensable

1 , “Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae Iucundae,” Vol. 53, Luther's Works, Liturgy and Hymns (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1965): 320.

1 element, which is distinct from the customs of other regions. For example, while Italian composers pursued stirring the affections through aesthetic and dramatic gestures, in contrast,

German musicians tried to achieve a textual exegesis by investigating the text and using appropriate rhetorical devices.

Other concerns were present as well. Simultaneously in the seventeenth century, the

Doctrine of the Affections revealed a different motivation for composition than just communicating the meaning of text; now treatment of emotive states through music was made a valid concern and instrumental music could also benefit from the application of rhetorical devices. Theorists like Athanasius Kircher, among others, organized the connection and relationship between affections and musical elements and provided distinct rhetorical figures that would move the listener in this regard. German-trained composers applied these theoretical conclusions to their music to a large degree. Among these, the Danish ,

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707), has long been recognized as the most significant composer for organ between and J. S. Bach. As the and Werkmeister at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, he initiated evening concerts known as Abendmusiken which spread his fame around Europe. These concerts attracted the attention of many younger composers and Buxtehude is best remembered today for influencing later composers, especially J. S. Bach, who sojourned in Lübeck for a while. For a series of Abendmusiken,

Buxtehude assembled a large ensemble to perform his own music as well as that of others in the Italian-German style, and the collection of music for these concerts forms one of the largest bodies of vocal, organ and other instrumental music of seventeenth-century composers.

Buxtehude, himself, contributed music in all mediums showcased in these concerts, but his organ music is the best known today. He wrote pieces in many genres for the organ including canzone, ostinato works, praeludia, settings, chorale fantasias, chorale , chorale variations, suites, and secular variations. This document will focus on rhetorical

2 figures in a piece by Buxtehude, his Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and in a similar work of a composer he influenced, J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582).

In other words, the purpose of this document is to examine two similar organ pieces,

Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor

(BWV 582) for their use of rhetorical devices. This document will demonstrate the tremendous influence that Musica Poetica as espoused by its theorists had on German

Baroque composers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. I am convinced that even a little understanding of these seventeenth-century ideas will be beneficial to the performer by leading to an increased expressive palette and to the listener by giving some tangible expressive techniques for which to listen.

3 Chapter II. Literature Review

The subject matter of this document has received much serious scholarly attention.

The interest in rhetorical devices in can be seen in the many modern editions and translations which have been made of some of the major theorists, including Christoph

Bernhard, Joachim Burmeister, and Johann Mattheson. Scholars like Patrick McCreless, who wrote several articles on Baroque musical rhetoric, and George Buelow, who has explored and categorized Johann Mattheson’s discussion of rhetoric, have done much to explain this important topic.2 Perhaps the most important scholarly work on this topic is Dietrich Bartel’s

Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music.3 Bartel provides a detailed examination of musical-rhetorical figures (“Figurenlehre”) such as melodic repetition, harmonic repetition, fugal figures, representation and depiction, dissonance and displacement, interruption and silence, melodic and harmonic ornamentation, and others, placed in the context of the development of Baroque musical thought. His categories and explanations are the basis for my exploration of the passacaglias of Buxtehude and Bach.

When it comes to Buxtehude scholarship, no study would be complete without mention of

Kerala Snyder’s seminal Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck, which serves as a chief reference for the composer’s life and music.4 Recently, several scholars have analyzed

Buxtehude’s music in terms of Baroque rhetoric. Leon Couch, in both his doctoral thesis and his article, “Musical rhetoric in three praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude,” has focused on the

2See for instance, Patrick McCreless, “Music and rhetoric,” in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, ed. Thomas Christensen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); “Music, Rhetoric, and the Concept of the Affections: A Selective Bibliography,” Notes 30 (1973): 250–59; “Music and Rhetoric,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 15, 793–803 (London: Macmillan, 2001); George Buelow, “Johann Mattheson and the invention of the Affektenlehre,” in New Mattheson Studies, ed. G. Buelow and H. J. Marx: 393–407 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

3Dietrich Bartel, Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997).

4 Kerala J Snyder, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck (New York: Schirmer Books, 1987).

4 idea of rhetorical figures in Buxtehude’s organ works in depth. Couch claims that most musical-rhetorical figures consist of the combination of smaller musical materials and typical compositional techniques such as imitation.5 Couch’s contribution is also beneficial in that he attempts to clarify and summarize the complex scholarship on the development of Musica

Poetica by scholars such as Bartel and applies their examples to his analysis of Buxtehude’s music. Lena Jacobsen’s article “Musical Rhetoric in Buxtehude’s free organ works” seeks to analyze Buxtehude’s praeludia by applying Mattheson’s six categories of rhetorical form.6

Also important for this study is Sharon Gorman’s dissertation, in which she examined how a performer can make more effective both the outer and inner voices through an understanding of the rhetorical figures focused on the characteristics of the subject.7 Timothy Edward

Albrecht’s dissertation “Musical Rhetoric in Selected Organ Works of ” explores the figures in Bach’s in D Minor, BWV 565 and Prelude in , BWV

533.8 And in his book, Bach and the Pedal , Joel Speerstra mentions the importance of figures in Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor as a guide for phrasing and articulation.9 The organist, Piet Kee, provided two interesting articles on Bach’s Passacaglia in which he discusses Bach’s use of number symbolism and the Bach number.10

5Leon W. Couch III, “The Organ Works of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Musical-Rhetorical Analysis and Theory” (DMA thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2002): 83.

6Lena Jacobsen, “Musical Rhetoric in Buxtehude’s free organ works.” Organ Year Book XIII (1982): 60–79.

7Sharon Lee Gorman, “Rhetoric and Affect in the Organ Praeludia of Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)” (PhD diss., Stanford University, 1990), 229–41.

8 Timothy Edward Albrecht, “Musical Rhetoric in Selected Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach.” (DMA diss., University of Rochester, 1978).

9 Joel Speerstra, “Musica Poetica and Figural Notation.” In Bach and the Pedal Clavichord: An Organist’s Guide. (New York: The University of Rochester Press, 2004):114–29.

10 Kee, Piet. Number and Symbolism in the Passacaglia and Ciacona: A Forgotten and Hidden Dimension. United Kingdom: John Loosemore Center Buckfastleigh, 1988; “The Secrets of Bach’s Passacaglia.” The Diapason 74 (September 1983): 10–12.

5 Chapter III. Development of Musica Poetica

Musica poetica was understood as the discipline of composing music based on rhetoric in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century German music. The term “musica poetica” is found for the first time in Raffaele Brandoloni’s De musica et poetica opusculum (ca.

1510).11 Rhetoric has its roots in the oratory of ancient times. Oratory originates with the ancient Greeks as public speech; the orators were trained and studied the technique of how to deliver emotion and thought effectively. The position of music in oratory was significant and remained important throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

The literal meaning of “rhetoric” is the art of effective speaking and writing, and comes from the Greek word for “speech”. In other words, rhetoric can refer to pedagogical tools for better delivery of speech, persuasion, and expression in the arts, including music.

The basis of rhetorical principles has a long and varied history. Rhetoric was one of the main components of the seven liberal arts in the medieval education system, which was divided into two groups by theorists such as Boethius and Martianus Capella. These two groups were the quadrivium (which included the study of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music) and the trivium (which included logic, grammar, and rhetoric). Furthermore, music was divided into two groups as musica theorica and musica practica. While the linking of members of the trivium with music goes back well into the Medieval period, it gained momentum in the Renaissance.

Most theorists and philosophers, including Boethius, acknowledged that music was a cosmological conception. Boethius divided music into three areas: musica mundana (music of the spheres), musica humana (music of the human body and spirit), and musica

11 Blanche Gangwere, “Musica Poetica: composition,” Music History during the Renaissance Period, 1520-1550: A Documented Chronology (Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 177.

6 instrumentalis (sounds made by singers and instrumentalists).12

Table 1. Seven liberal arts

Later, the Romans refined and adopted this technique into an educational curriculum.

At first, Marcus Cicero (106-43 B.C.) refined rhetoric through his treatises De Inventione and

De Oratore. His successor, Marcus Quintilian (ca. 35-100 A.D.) also taught and described rhetoric in his treatise Institutio oratoria. Cicero’s treatises discuss the components of oratory: invention (determination of topic), dispositio (arrangement), elocution (style; ideas into sentences), memoria (memorization), and pronuntiatio (delivery).13 He also deals with the style of the orator during the introduction of oratory to Rome. Also, Quintilian made an effort to disseminate rhetoric from the Roman school to the rest of Europe through his Institutio oratoria consisting of twelve volumes.

Musica poetica also developed the discipline of rhetoric in relation to the doctrine of ethos. The affection (emotion) is a core value of the doctrine of ethos as discussed in

12 Dietrich Bartel, Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997): 15-16.

13 , Bach and the Patterns of Invention (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1996):5.

7 medieval and renaissance philosophy based on the theories of ancient philosophers such as

Aristotle and Plato. In the sixteenth century the doctrine of ethos affected the Reformation crusader Martin Luther’s musical philosophy.

Luther emphasized that music has the power and the ability as an instrument of God to communicate the Gospel to the spirit of the listener. Luther, in terms of religious purposes, made clear the relationships between words and music that was equally important to humanist theorists and composers of the Renaissance seeking to apply thoughts on music from the ancient Greeks. The late , , and were all vocal styles and genres influenced by these notions.

Luther states in the preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae Iucundae:

Therefore, we have so many hymns and where message

and music join to move the listener’s soul, while in other living beings

and [sounding] bodies music remains a language without words.

After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was

only given to man to let him know that he should praise God

with both word and music, namely, by proclaiming [the Word of God]

through music and by providing sweet with words.14

Another influence came from ’s treatise:

Music is a heavenly-philosophical and specifically mathematical science,

which concerns itself with tones, with the intend to produce an agreeable

and artful or consonance.15

Composers of instrumental music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries relied on this relationship to a similar degree, but the principles were in many ways drawn from

14 Martin Luther, “Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae Iucundae,” Vol. 53, Luther's Works, Liturgy and Hymns. (Philadelphia: FortressPress, 1999, c1965): 320.

15 Bartel, 10.

8 those of rhetoric. Rhetorical figures, in large part meant to move the hearer rationally as well as emotionally, were employed by composers to engage the listener and provide some meaning to music devoid of specific text. Later, this application of rhetorical figures to music produced several varied theories, one being the “Doctrine of Affections.” Here, the treatment of emotion became one of the most important aspects of music.

From the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, the Doctrine of the Affections

(German Affektenlehre) organized and cataloged specific musical figures based on rhetorical counterparts that could represent and move the Affections. This is presented in the work of such theorists as Athanasius Kircher and Johann Mattheson. The concept of the Affects was published by Descartes in his book “Les de l’âme (1649)”.16 These devices emotionally engage the audience in the music, by eliciting specific human feelings such as happiness, joy, sorrow, and anger.

In the 17th century, Kircher’s Musurgia universalis contributes descriptions of the

Affects in this encyclopedic work for the first time.

In Lutheran Germany, this discipline of the affections was often called by the name

Musica Poetica.

During the Baroque period, German musicians tried to achieve a textual exegesis by investigating the text and using appropriate rhetorical devices as a compositional discipline.

Rhetoric and oratory furnished the essential rational concepts of compositional technique and performance practice in Baroque music. German Baroque composers applied rhetoric by using figures in music. In particular, the German composers Buxtehude and Bach often attempted to express a biblical text in music.

During the Baroque period in Germany, Musica poetica developed as a discipline for

16 Leon W. Couch III, “Musical-rhetorical analysis and the North German toccata” (DMA thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2003): 5.

9 representing the images, mood, and affections through a musical figure. Composers believed it could help the listener's understanding and appreciation of works. This philosophy originated in Martin Luther’s theology of music. Leading theorists of Musica Poetica include

Joachim Burmeister (1564–1629) and Christoph Bernhard (1627–1692).

In the seventeenth century, a systematic use of rhetorical principles and terminology in German, along with the concept of musical-rhetorical figures, had been established by the time of Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica (1606), which included a summary of the

Renaissance tradition and formed the fundamental theory of musical figures for decades.17

This was the first treatise in which musical figures were introduced systematically; it also explained that musical figures were ornaments and digressions from simple composition.

Burmeister assigned musical figures into three main categories, Figuarae harmoniae (figures involving more than one voice), Figurae melodiae (figures involving one voice), and Figurae tam harmoniae quam melodiae (figures of harmoniae because of each voice, melodiae).

Other theorists such as Christoph Bernhard (1627-1692) and Johann Mattheson

(1681-1764) also wrote treatises on the same subject as a continuation of Burmeister’s discussion.

Bernhard provided treatises about this subject and continued Burmeister’s discussion of the figures as Stylus Gravis and Stylus Luxurians. Stylus Gravis refers to the older form of contrapuntal writing. In contrast, Stylus Luxurians, which includes both Stylus Luxurians

Communis and Theatralis, allows modern musical styles such as dissonant figures.

His Tractatus (c.1660) was used as a composition teaching method and his ideas influenced the next generations of theorists.

Bernhard and Burmeister represent the major thoughts in this discipline. The ideas

17 Bartel, 20.

10 expressed in the theories of Musica Poetica have long been recognized in the music of the composers of that time, Buxtehude and Bach, and many others.

Table 2.Categories of Joachim Burmeister’s Figures and Christoph Bernhard’s Figures

Joachim Burmeister’s Figures Christoph Bernhard’s Figures in Musica Poetica (1606). in Tractatus (c. 1660)

- Figurae harmoniae - Stylus Gravis - Figurae melodiae - Stylus Luxurians Communis - Figurae tam harmoniae quam melodiae - Stylus Theatralis

In 1739, Johann Mattheson applied rhetorical figures and structure to musical composition in his Der vollkommene Capellmeister. He was more interested in the rhetorical principles on a structural scale, which he called rhetorical stages. One of these stages,

Dispositio is broken down into 6 steps.18

Table 3. Rhetorical stages by Johann Mattheson

Inventio meter, key, theme; main idea or concept of a speech Dispositio ordering of sections Elaboratio addition of figures Decoratio ornamentation Elocutio performance

Table 4.The six steps of the Dispositio

Exordium Narratio Propositio Confirmatio Confutatio Peroratio Introduction statement, proposal, an confirmation, argument, close, commentary, offer of the affirmation, rebuttals of concluding proposal, a point to be supporting differing comments laying out of made arguments ideas the facts The exordium of a speech arouses the listener's attention. Buxtehude praeludia invariably start with an opening toccata for this purpose. The narratio establishes the composition's subject matter, but Mattheson states that in musical discourse one may omit the

18 Ibid., 137.

11 narratio. The propositio presents the actual content of a speech or musical composition. In the body of the speech, the confirmatio supports the arguments. In music, confutatio sections frequently contain contrasting themes and characters, heightened by increased dissonance. At the end, the composition concludes with the peroratio. This section often recalls the opening material with a ritornello or closes with pedal points and melodic repetition.19

This application of rhetorical stages was advocated by Cicero, Bernhard, and Mattheson.

After 1750, during the Enlightenment, musical ideas of rhetoric were replaced by the development of new ideas through philosophy and science. Nonetheless, Forkel made an effort to further develop the rhetoric of music in his Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik

(1788).20

19 Leon W. Couch III ,“Musical Rhetoric in Three Praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude”: 2

20 Ibid., 1

12 Chapter IV. The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)

Buxtehude’s Passacaglia appears in the manuscript known as the “Andreas Bach

Buch,” a collection of North German masterpieces.21 The work exploits the fully developed ostinato form of the seventeenth century. It can be divided into four sections by key (D Minor,

F Major, and D Minor).

Table.5 Sections by Key

Key D Minor Transition Transition A Minor Transition D Minor Measure 1-30 30-32 32-61 61-63 63-92 92-94 94-123

Each section consists of seven variations for a total of twenty-eight presentations of the four measure ostinato theme in the bass.

Example 1. Ostinato theme in the bass

This ostinato theme can be categorized as the figure anaphora (repetiio). Anaphora is a figure of melodic repetition. It is defined as the repetition of pitches in at least one voice, often as a ground bass.22 Throughout these variations, generally appear as a half- cadence at the end of almost every four measures, and an authentic cadence at the end of each key section.

21 "Buxtehude, Dieterich," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 4: 695-710. (London: Macmillan, 2001).

22 Bartel, 444.

13 Example 2. Cadence, mm. 13-14.

In addition, this pedal theme is accompanied with a texture of three to four voices.

This accompanied presentation of the theme differs from that of Bach’s passacaglia.

The first section begins with a series of suspensions. Starting with the tonic chord, the consonant “d” of tonic in the tenor and its second inversion resolves down by step in the opening progression to the dominant chord. The passage continues to move in stepwise motion until m. 3. The second variation follows with a continuation of the suspension progression, and also features inverted voices through moving the tenor of first variation to the soprano of second variation. The figure which Buxtehude prominently uses is the transitus. It is in the category of figures of dissonance provided by Bernhard, and is represented by a dissonance with a “tie”.23

Example 3. Transitus (dissonance) in BuxWV 161, mm. 1-7 and anaphora (repetition of pitches in at least one voice, often a ground bass)

Transitus Transitus Transitus Transitus

The third through the sixth variations of the first section feature the figure antithesis,

23 Ibid., 413-427.

14 which means opposing affection by utilizing two contrasting figures: anabasis (ascending passage) and catabasis (descending passage). This rhetorical technique reinforces a more passionate affect and intensity by a consistent diminution of note values.

Example 4. Antithesis, the two opposing figures: anabasis (ascending) and catabasis (descending).

a) anabasis (ascending), mm. 10-13.

b) catabasis (descending), mm. 22-24.

Additionally, from the fifth to the seventh variation of the first section, there appears the rhetorical figure of synonymia from measure 17 to 29. This four-note figure is also a figure of melodic repetition, using a pattern of ascending and descending scales.24

Example 5. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 26-29.

24 Ibid., 405-408

15 Furthermore, the fifth and sixth variations apply imitative progressions like a dialogue and the seventh variation presents this figure in a repetition of the same interval, creating a trill effect in eighth notes. This continuation of these repetition figures increases the rhythmic activity.

A prominent feature of this piece is an eighth rest followed by a three eighth-note pattern. This figure is in the category of interruption and silence and is named suspiratio, which means the musical expression of a sigh through a rest as a musical pause. Its affect often represents longing or groaning. However, this figure can also indicate a questioning or feeling of uncertainty in the vocal line.25

Example 6. Suspiratio, a musical expression of a sigh through a rest, mm. 18-20.

The following bridge section modulating to F Major displays accentus which is a figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation. This figure ornaments the stepwise motion of the notes in the right hand (b flat-a-g-f-e) with notes a sixth above to emphasize F.

Example 7. Accentus, The figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation, mm. 31-32.

In the second section (mm. 32-61), there are two different figures of melodic and

25 Ibid., 392-393

16 harmonic continuation. From the first to the fourth variation of this F major section the same rhythmic pattern is presented; which is two eighth notes followed by longer notes. The remaining variations move with constant patterns in the top voice without rest.

Especially, the first and second variations contain a voice exchange; in the right hand the soprano goes to bass and the bass goes to the soprano during the second variation. This repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches is referred to as a figure of polyptoton.26

This figure is a musical application for enlarging the structure by various placements of pitch as an imitation of a musical idea. This rhetorical figure is mostly used in fugal compositions.

Example 8. Polyptoton, melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 37-38.

This second section also adopts the figure of synonymia from bar 49 to 60, referring to melodic and rhythmic repetition as mentioned above. In the fifth to the seventh variations, this figure is used throughout, creating a trill effect over the changing harmony.

Example 9. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 57-60.

In the third section in A minor, unexpected rests called abruptio are used in various ways; before the powerful chords (mm.64-71), eighth-note scales (mm.72-79) and percussive

26 Ibid., 367-368.

17 figuration (mm.80-91) in the manual which leads to a climax. This rhythmic section makes a strong contrast to the first section. Abruptio is a commonly used figure of Musica poetica throughout Buxtehude’s passacaglia.

Example 10. Abruptio (Rest)

a) Abruptio (Rest) followed by chord in BuxWV 161, mm. 63-65.

b) Abruptio (Rest) with eighth note scale in BuxWV 161, mm. 72-75.

c) Abruptio (Rest) with percussive arpeggio figuration in BuxWV 161, mm. 84-87.

This long percussive passage ends with a complete pause (Homoioptoton: a general pause in all voices) with a quarter rest at measure 92. This figure of homoioptoton arouses

18 attention.27 The following interlude (mm. 92-94) serves as a bridge between the sections that are composed in quite contrasting character. There are figures named pathopoeia (a passionate affection through chromaticism) and catabasis (descending passage) in this short bridge, which is used as a modulatory transition to the fourth section.

This figure of pathopoeia appears as the insertion of dissonances on strong beats.28

In addition, the use of dissonances in this bridge increases the greater emphasis and significance of the modulation to d minor along with the descending figure, catabasis.

Example 11. Homoioptoton (a general pause), pathopoeia (a passionate affection through chromaticism) and catabasis (descending passage) in BuxWV 161, mm. 92-94.

There are two other modulatory passages in this piece. Measures 29-32 (d minor to F major) and mm. 61-63 (F major to a minor) also achieve modulatory transition through the dramatic use of the figure abruptio (Rest). As we discussed above, mm. 29-32 also include the figure of accentus.

Example 12. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest and accentus, mm. 29-32.

27 Ibid., 295-297.

28 Ibid., 359–361.

19 Example 13. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest, mm. 61-63.

The final d minor section contains triplet , octave leap figurations, and fewer suspensions and dissonances. The first two variations of this section begin with triplet figurations. The third variation utilizes a repeated broken octave. This broken octave appears in measures 103-104,110-112, 115-116 and 119-120. These consonant leaps are called salto semplice, whose rhetorical definition is “simple leap”. It can signify consonant leaps by thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and octaves.29 Through a leaping interval, extension occurs with emphasis. Thus, this figure is a proper choice for the end of the piece. This final section consists of salto semplice and polyptoton creating unity and emphasis for the ending and lends a sense of absorption to the performer and listener. In addition, the scales in measures

105, 113, 117 and 121 apply the figure of abruptio (Rest) again for the emphasizing of the dominant and the figure tirata. Tirata is a rapid scalar passage, a fourth to an octave or more.30

Example 14. Salto semplice, simple leaps, mm.111-112.

29 Ibid., 380.

30 Ibid., 409.

20 Example 15. Polyptoton, repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 115-116.

Example 16. Tirata, a rapid scalar passage, m. 105.

21 Summary

During this study, we saw that Buxtehude’s passacaglia modulates to both the relative major and dominant keys. It is quite unusual for a passacaglia in this period to change key.

As we saw, there are various figures Buxtehude used. In particular, the main figures employed in the passacaglia are figures of repetition. The category of figures of melodic repetition includes anaphora as a repeating bass line, polyptoton as imitation of subject in different pitches, and synonymia as a repetition of a musical idea. These figures of musical repetition give unity to the passcaglia.

To summarize, the first section is played in serious character with the transitus; the second section with a calm pastoral character through the synonymia; the third with energetic outbursts using abruptio; the fourth with reconciliation between the extremes of the previous

– the two worlds of suffering and peace brought together, dynamically-balanced and rendered with figures of salto semplice and polyptoton in the same key of the first section.

We see that the use of musica poetica in this piece offers contrasts throughout each section. Understanding this approach can help the performer in choosing registrations and determining any use of manual changes.

22 Chapter V

The figures of Musica poetica in Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582)

Both Buxtehude’s Passacaglia and Bach’s appeared in the manuscript known as the

“Andreas Bach Buch,” a collection of North German masterpieces. One of Bach’s early

masterworks, the Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582) is believed to have been written at

Arnstadt between 1703 and 1708 after he sojourned in Lübeck, where he met Buxtehude.

Bach takes as his models the music of Buxtehude, Pachelbel, and André Raison.31

The theme is adapted from the bass line of a Trio en passacaille, specifically the Christe

eleison verset, from the Messe du deuziesme ton by the French composer André Raison (ca.

1650–1719).32 Bach expanded the original four bars to eight. In 1705, Bach walked the 400

kilometers from to Lübeck in order to meet Buxtehude. Since Bach wrote his own

Passacaglia soon afterwards, it may possibly have been born as a fruit of Buxtehude’s work of

the same name. The Passacaglia, as a genre, is still important today in the organ’s repertoire.

Buxtehude and Bach’s passacaglias are perhaps the best known examples; others were

written by , , Gottlieb Muffat, , Johann Kaspar

Kerll,[ ,] , , Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and

Leo Sowerby. In addition, many composers have transcribed Bach’s passacaglia for various

instruments such as (, Eugene d'Albert, Max Reger), for two

(Fazil Say), for ( and ), also for brass quintet

(Neil Balm), and (Nicholas Kitchen).

Bach’s Passacaglia begins with a statement of the theme for pedal alone, consists of

31 Ronald Raymond Gauger “Ostinato Techniques in and Passacaglias of Pachelbel, Buxtehude, and J.S. Bach” (DMA diss., University of Wisconsin, 1974)

32 Ibid., 64. auger, Ronald Radiss.,

23 twenty variations without key changes, and closes with a fugue. These preceding features are different from Buxtehude’s Passacaglia. Bach’s theme is twice the length of the one used in

Buxtehude’s passacaglia, though Bach returns to the four-measure form of the theme for the fugue.

Example 17. Theme for the Passacaglia in the pedal, mm. 1-8

This theme appears in the soprano from m. 88 to m. 104 and moves to an inner voice without pedal in m. 104. It returns to the pedal with a thick and broad harmonic progression at m. 128, creating a sense of triumph.

Certainly, this recurring theme is an example of the figure anaphora (repetition of pitches as a ground bass).

After the opening statement of the theme, the first and second variations use the figure Abruptio (the figure of interruption and silence: a sudden and unexpected break) just as

Buxtehude did in the opening of his passacaglia, and decorates the cadence in m. 24 with a trill. This trill is called tremolo or trillo and is a figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation.

Example 18. Abruptio (figure of interruption and silence: a sudden and unexpected break), mm. 9-17.

24 Example 19. Tremolo or Trillo (figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation), mm. 23-24.

In the third variation, figures retardatio and syncopatio combine alternatively between the top voices. The retardatio is named for a hesitation and delay which is resolved by ascending motion. On the other hand, syncopatio resolves by descending.33 These figures of dissonance and displacement are used mainly in the third variation to increase tension.

Example 20. Retardatio (figure of a suspension by rising) and Syncopatio (figure of a suspension by descending), mm. 25-32. Syncopatio Retardatio

During the fourth variation, a figure of two voices moving in ascending or descending as a sequence of notes is applied in parallel sixths and also parallel thirds and tenths. This figure is called gradatio or climax. It is a figure of melodic repetition for creating intensity and vivid action by touch.34

33 Bartel, 375 and 397.

34 Ibid., 290 and 220.

25 Example 21. Gradatio (two voices moving in ascending or descending), mm. 32-39.

The fifth variation involves the figure salto semplice (a consonant leap) which is constantly repeated. On a larger scale, the figure synonymia is presented by the figure salto semplice by means of this repetition. This leaping figure, especially, requires accuracy of articulation by the performer.

Example 22. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) and salto semplice (a consonant leap). mm. 40-42.

This figure of synonymia appears several times in the Passacaglia. For example, in variation 9 by repetition of a four note figure in all voices consecutively. This four-note figure can be identified with the figure salti composti, a four-note figuration consisting of consonant leaps of thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, and octaves.35

Example 23. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) by salti composti (a four-note figuration with consonant leaps of thirds), mm. 73-76.

35 Ibid., 379.

26 Again, variation 13 uses the four-note motif having the theme in the hands without pedal. This motif is used continuously in each voice.

Example 24. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea), mm.105-108.

In Variations 6-7, figures from the category of representation and depiction such as anabasis (ascending motion) and catabasis (descending motion) allude to both exalted and negative images through ascending and descending motion as they decorate the principal subject.36 The affect created through the use of two contrasting figures is highly emotional.

Example 25. Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion), mm. 48-51 and Catabasis (figure of representation and depiction: descending motion), mm. 56-60. a) Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion), mm. 48-51.

b) Catabasis (figure of representation and depiction: descending motion), mm. 56-60.

36 Ibid., 445.

27 In Variation 8, the figures of anabasis in variation 6 and catabasis in variation 7 are now established simultaneously. This combined figure is named the figure of antithesis. This figure of antithesis means an application of opposing ideas in a passage to make the music more intense through highlighting and emphasizing contrast.37

Additionally, in variations 6 to 9, the figure suspiratio is employed, beginning with a sixteenth rest. This is the figure of a rest as musical expression of a sigh.38

Even though the figures suspiratio and antithesis are usually referred to as representation and depiction in vocal music, they can be adapted to instrumental music as well, for decorating the principal subject.39

Example 26. Suspiratio in antithesis (contrary motion) with anabasis and catabasis, mm. 65-68.

Variation 10 to 12 consists of the figure passagio or variatio consisting of a sequence of four notes of short duration moving by step or leap. Its function is to embellish and ornament the theme or melodic passage through variety.40

In variation 10, the right hand moves rapidly in sixteenth notes while the left hand voices perform with the gravity of chords and the pedal presents the theme. The tenor and bass voices drop out in variation 11, and the remaining voices are inverted. In other words, the soprano now has the theme, while the rapid sixteenth notes appear in the alto.

37 Ibid., 198.

38 Ibid., 392.

39 Ibid., 197.

40 Ibid., 432.

28 Variation 12 also presents the figure passagio through stepwise motion supporting the theme in the top voice.

Example 27. Passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments). a) passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments), mm.

87-91.

b) passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments, mm. 97-

100.

From the thirteenth variation to the sixteenth variation, there is no pedal. The theme appears in the manual concealed amongst the figures.

For example, the fourteenth and fifteenth variation present the theme in values.

The fourteenth variation starts with the figure suspiratio (stenasmus) through a sixteenth rest.

Each hand moves in contrary motion with the figure contrapositum which is another name for antithesis, already introduced in the previous variations. However, the fifteenth variation expresses the theme with the ascending figure ascensus in the same function as anabasis with leaps of thirds, fifths and octaves, and sometimes sixths. As we have seen above, these leaps

29 are called salto semplice, a simple leap.41 Despite appearing simple to play, these two variations need great technical ability due to the use of leaps and the need for a steady while rapidly moving.

Example 28. Suspiratio (A musical expression of a sigh through a rest) and Contrapositum (A musical expression of opposing affection), mm. 113-114.

The pedal theme returns in the sixteenth variation with an eighth rest before the first chord of the manual, similar to the second variation of the piece.

However, it expands with the use of the figure suspirans by beginning on the offbeat and this musical idea repeats through the figure extensio.

This device is defined as a figure of a prolongation of dissonance.

Example 29. Suspirans (a figure beginning off the beat) and extensio (a prolongation of a dissonance), mm. 129-130.

The following seventeenth variation moves forward to the next variation by using sixteenth-note triplets in both ascending and descending motion. This variation proceeds with the individual motifs decorating the main chords. This idea may refer to the figure distributio, which has various and broad meanings among the musical-rhetorical figures. Its motifs or

41 Ibid., 445 and 447.

30 phrases are used to help develop the next material.42

Example 30. Distributio (a musical-rhetorical process in which individual motifs or phrases of a theme or section of composition are developed before proceeding to the following material), mm.137-138.

The figure corta dominates variation 18. This figure consists of three notes in which one note’s duration equals the sum of the other two. In Italian, it literally means “short”. This figure belongs to one of the ornamental figures. By applying this figure, the piece begins to present affections of agitated and joyful expression. 43

Example 31. Corta (three-notes figure in which one note’s duration equals the sum of the other two), mm.145-147.

From variation 19 to 20, the rhetorical figures are combined very clearly.

For example, variation 19 contains repetition of the musical idea called synonymia. This repetition of musical idea is the figure of circulatio, which means a series of notes in a circular or sine wave formation.44

42 Ibid., 239.

43 Ibid., 234.

44 Ibid., 216-219.

31 Variation 20 continues this idea through descending parallel motion (gradatio) in the manual, enlarging the texture from three voices to four, and presenting the theme more strongly as this final variation before the fugue begins.45

Example 32. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) with circulatio and gradatio.

a) Circulatio (a series of notes in a circular or sine wave formation), mm. 154-156.

b) Gradatio (descending parallel motion), mm.167-168.

Beginning in bar 168, the theme of the fugue, four measures long, starts on the upbeat. The fugue has a total of twelve thematic entries with five in minor keys, two in major, and then another five in minor.

45 Ibid., 220.

32 Table.6 Twelve thematic entries

Key Measure cm 169-173 gm 174-177 cm 181-184 gm 185-189 cm 192-195 E♭M 198-201 B♭M 209-212 gm 221-224 cm 234-237 gm 246-249 fm 256-259 cm 272-275

The fugue makes prominent use of repeated notes and repeated chords called palilogia, or polyptoton, referring to melodic repetition for emphasis. Palilogia is described in music and in rhetoric as both a general and a specific form of repetition of a theme, either at different pitches in various voices or on the same pitch in the same voice.46 As a result, fugue is established by the various combinations of this figure.

Several figures of harmonic repetition are presented under the category of fugal figures. According to Bartel, “fuga” is defined as a compositional device in which a principal voice is imitated by subsequent voices.47

The fugue is based on a subject, which is the same as the first four measures of the passacaglia’s theme, and two countersubjects. The first countersubject begins with an eighth rest (Abruptio) and consists of eighth notes with slurred pairs of notes. Bach uses this slurring

46 Ibid., 342-344

47 Ibid., 277–289.

33 motive associated with both Christ’s death and birth (by rising or falling).48 The second countersubject enters in sixteenth note values. These countersubjects introduce the two main rhetorical figures; epizeuxis and tremolo (trillo). The figure of epizeuxis is defined as an immediate and emphatic repetition of a note. And tremolo means the rapid alternation of two adjacent notes, such as a trill.49

Example 33. The figures of epizeuxis, abruptio and tremolo in the countersubject a) Epizeuxis (an immediate and emphatic repetition of a note) and Abruptio (a sudden rest)

b) Tremolo (a rapid alternation of two adjacent notes)

At measure 190, the figure trillo is used before the c minor entry, creating an emphatic cadence in . This figure is used again at m. 196, 252, 286 and in the long double trill at mm. 269-270.

Example 34. Trillo (a trill), m. 190.

From mm. 204 to 207, the right hand repeats sturdy leaps in eighth notes which descend measure by measure and are accompanied in the left hand by rapid sixteenth note

48 Peter Williams, The Organ Music of J. S. Bach. 2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003):273.

49 Ibid., 263 and 427.

34 leaps of a third played like a broken chord. These two contrasting figures lead to the next entry of the subject in B-flat Major. The right hand presents a figure of a sequential motif; epizeuxis by circulatio which is a series of usually eight notes in a sine wave formation.50

Furthermore, the left hand goes through the descending passage using a figure of repetition called polysynseton. Polysynseton can be adopted broadly in aspects of repetition as a form of emphasis.51 In this passage, the figure seems to emphasize a broken triad. And also, it serves to modulate through the three chords outlined (A-flat Major- - - E-flat

Major) in each measure: 204, 205, 206 and 207.

Example 35. R.H (Epizeuxis by Circulatio) and L.H (Polysynseton), mm. 204 to 207.

The next episode (mm. 212-220) moves forward to a statement of the theme in G minor by the use of tmesis (sectio), utilizing a sixteenth rest for a sudden interruption or fragmentation.52 This figure’s literal meaning is a “cut”. This figure creates an added variety to the musical texture which engages the listener’s attention by occurring several times throughout the fugue. For instance, bars 178 to179 serve as a short bridge before the subject in the bass (bars 180 to185) enters. Actually, this musical line also refers to the figure suspiratio (suspirans) which employs affections of sighing or longing by use of rests. These

50 Bartel, 216.

51 Ibid., 369.

52 Ibid., 392-393.

35 two figures (Tmesis and suspiratio) are both in the category of musical figures of silence.53

Finally, at bars 281 to 285, this figure leads to a climax, arriving at a over a

Neapolitan sixth chord.

Example 36. Tmesis (sectio), the figure of a sudden interruption or fragmentation, mm. 216- 217.

The next episode contains the figure accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neighboring note) in the manual while the pedal plays the counter subject.

As we noted above, this figure has the function of embellishment.

Example 37. Accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neighboring note), mm. 224-227.

After this figure finishes, the anabasis (ascending passage) leads to a climax. The top voice plays eighth notes rising simply by step while the other two voices are ascending in sixteenth notes leaping by thirds. These two figures proceed in parallel tenths.

53 Ibid., 392-393.

36 Example 38. Anabasis (ascending passage), mm. 241-242.

A highlight of this passacaglia is the very long trill and virtuoso pedal passage appearing in bars 269 to 270. This long trill decorates the inverted pedal point which is embellished by the pedal figure of Circulatio combining ascending and descending motion by thirds.

Example 39. Circulatio (A sine wave formation), mm. 269-270.

After the last subject, from measure 275 to 280, the central figure used is transitus.

This figure can exist on both strong and weak beats.54 From a broader perspective, it occurs as a passing note. In this phrase, transitus occurs as the notes G-F-E-D in the soprano voice.

For the performer, careful articulation is required between the notes to create the effect of .

54 Ibid., 413.

37 Example 40. Transitus (a figure of a dissonant or passing note), mm. 277-279.

Leading to the conclusion of the piece, the primary figures used are figures of interruption and silence. There are seven figures in this category. However, their functions differ slightly from each other.

For example, there is a general pause in bar 285 in all voices following the fermata.

After two eighth rests, the music continues on the off beat. This pause is the figure of homoioptoton (aposiopesis) which we have studied in the previous chapter. This figure is defined as a general pause of all the voices, rather than abruptio and tmesis which we discussed above.55 Additionally, the figure of tmesis appears again with eighth rests in the manual and sixteenth rests in the pedal continuing to the end of the piece.

Example 41. Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285 and Tmesis (a sudden interruption of the melody through rests), mm. 287-288.

a) Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285.

55 Ibid., 203.

38 b)Tmesis (a sudden interruption of the melody through rests), mm. 287-288.

The other main figure near the end of the work (mm. 281-285 and m. 287 to the end) is epiphora (epistrophe), which means the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at the end of subsequent passages.56 The passage from the second beat of bar 281 to 285 contains two different rhythmic patterns. One is a figure of three eighth notes in the manual and the other is seven sixteenth notes in the pedal. These two rhythms are played together and lead toward the fermata and large rest in bar 285. These two gestures occur again after the fermata from bar 287 to 289 to create the effect of extension (emphasizing an addition) and lead to the conclusion of the work.

During the two measures of adagio at the end, the figure of paragoge (the pedal point) supports the final cadence in .

Example 42. Epiphora (a figure of the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at the end of subsequent passages), mm. 287-289, and paragoge (pedal point), m. 287 to the end.

56 Ibid., 260-262.

39 Summary

The Passacaglia in c minor provides us with expression in musical language which can be linked to musical-rhetorical devices. We have located many of the figures of musica poetica within the extensive melodic repetition and fugal figures inherent in the genre of passacaglia.

Bach borrowed the four-measure ground bass from the French organist Andre

Raison’s (1650-1719) Premier Livre d'Orgue, expanded it to eight measures, and capped the passacaglia with a fugue whose subject returned to the original four-measure theme. The figure “anaphora” can certainly be seen as representing the complete work.

Variations 1 through 12 present gradually more complex textures with sighing syncopated motives, and utilizing representative figures of abruptio, trillo, synonymia, suspiratio and antithesis. At variation 11 the theme is exchanged from the pedal to manual.

Then it progresses through variations 13 to 16 with the figures contrapositum, ascensus, salto semplice and extensio. In particular, variations 16-18 present rhythmic variations with figures distributio and corta, while 19 and 20 present the same figures with the addition of one voice in the manual.

The fugue subject then repeats Raison's ground bass with two countersubjects entering around it, using the figures palilogia, and polyptoton. The fugue gains intensity with the figures abruptio, circulatio, timesis, epiphora and accentus; combined with the intensity of rising sequences. Finally, the passacaglia ends with the figures polysynseton and paragoge.

Through the recognition of the common figures Bach used, the performer can be guided towards appropriate articulation whenever they meet similar figures.

In addition, we have discussed expressive and pictorial devices. Although performing the harmonic and melodic embellishment and ornamentation is difficult, examination of the

40 figures can help with the understanding of how to choose the registration and articulation for heightened expression.

41 Conclusion

In this study, I have demonstrated that the principles of musica poetica are evident in aspects of Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582). Although these pieces are formally unusual, they also contain structural constraints. I have also discussed the use of musical-rhetorical figures based on “Musica

Poetica” by Dietrich Bartel and illustrated through various examples.

Both passacaglias are masterpieces of the genre and use figures of musica poetica for their musical expression. Both works also appear in the manuscript known as the “Andreas

Bach Buch,” a collection of North German masterpieces.

In Chapter III, I traced the development of musica poetica and gave some historical background from ancient Greek philosophy to the emerging Doctrine of Affections according to historical authors’ contributions. The origins of rhetoric are rooted in the ancient philosophers and the doctrine of ethos was an influencing factor in Luther’s theological philosophy. His beliefs about music affected the musicians from his time through the

Baroque period.

Especially during the Baroque period, the interest in rhetorical devices received much serious scholarly attention by the major theorists of the time, including Christoph

Bernhard, Joachim Burmeister, and Johann Mattheson. They provide musical-rhetorical figures as a standard vocabulary for musical compositions.

Buxtehude and Bach employed these figures of musica poetica throughout their great passacaglias. Although neither passacaglia has a text, the listener would have understood the references to musical language through the musical-rhetorical figures expressed.

I will summarize below how, throughout the variations, various examples of musical- rhetorical figures are utilized to help define the Affekt.

As one of the central aspects of the genre, figures of melodic repetition are

42 prominently used by the composers; including anaphora, gradatio, epistrophe, epizeuxis, mimesis, palilogia, polyptoton, polysynseton and synonymia.

In particular, the figures which both composers utilize are anaphora and synonimia.

Anaphora refers to a repeating bass line such as a ground bass, an opening phrase or motive in a number of successive passages, and general repetition through the recurrence of a theme.

In addition, one of the most important rhetorical devices for determining the formal structure is synonimia (repetition of a musical idea in an altered or modified form).

Bach often uses the figures of gradatio, epistrophe, epizeuxis, mimesis, polysynseton and palilogia. During the fugue, the subject restates the ground bass while two countersubjects enter around it with the figures of palilogia, and polyptoton. The fugue builds up through the figures of timesis and epiphora. At the end of the passacaglia, Bach adopts the figure of polysynseton.

As figures of representation and depiction, the figures of anabasis, catabasis and antithesis are used. Devices such as catabasis and anabasis were used to symbolize the cross and represent the passion and death of Jesus. Additionally, they could represent negative emotions in Bach’s music, such as crying and pain. If these figures are combined, they would present the figure of antithesis (a musical expression of opposing affection and materials).

Also, using the figures of circulation they lift up the intensity of the fugue with rising sequences.

For the use of dissonance and displacement, both composers apply the figure of transitus. Buxtehude’s passacaglia starts the first section in a serious character with the transitus occurring with the “tie”. On the other hand, Bach applies this figure as a passing note to display the descending notes of G-F-E-D which creates the effect of syncopation.

In the category of interruption and silence, the main figure used by both composers is abruptio. This figure is applied in various ways during Buxtehude’s work. Unexpected

43 rests called abruptio are used initially before the powerful chords in the manual, then in eighth-note scales and percussive arpeggio figurations which lead to a climax. This rhythmic section makes a strong contrast with the first section. The other use of the figure of Abruptio

(Rest) appears during the modulatory sections in mm. 29-32 (D minor to F major) and mm.

61-63 (F major to A minor).

To create melodic and harmonic ornamentation, the figures used are accentus, bombus, corta, groppo, messanza, salti composti, salto semplice and trillo. Buxtehude and

Bach both use accentus. Buxtehude uses this figure in the bridge section preceding lower neighboring notes by adding the sixth above to emphasize the key change. On the other hand,

Bach uses this figure for the intensity of rising sequences during the fugue. In contrast, figures such as corta are used by Bach to designate joyful emotions with this three note figure.

Salti composti and salto semplice are both consonant leaps. However, salti composti consists of three consonant leaps while salto semplice is a simple consonant leap.

As a miscellaneous figure, Bach alone employs the figure of paragoge (pedal point) at the end of the passacaglia.

To sum up, Musica Poetica can be understood as a phenomenon of Lutheran

Germany from the sixteenth century through the Baroque period; a product of mathematical discipline, rhetoric, and educational intent. I am convinced that even a little understanding of these seventeenth-century ideas will be beneficial to the performer seeking an increased expressive palette, and to the listener by giving some tangible expressive techniques for which to listen.

44 Bibliography

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Archbold, Lawrence. Style and Structure in the Praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985.

Bartel, Dietrich. Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.

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