Copyright by Christopher Stephen Ahlman 2011 The Treatise Committee for Christopher Stephen Ahlman Certifies that this is the approved version of the following treatise: The Compositional Nature and Performance Practice of the Grave of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in C, BWV 564 Committee: Luisa Nardini, Supervisor Gerre E. Hancock, Co-Supervisor Judith E. Hancock Guido Olivieri A. D. Renner Cinzia Russi The Compositional Nature and Performance Practice of the Grave of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in C, BWV 564 by Christopher Stephen Ahlman, B.A.; M.Div.; M.S.M. Treatise Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2011 Dedication This work is dedicated to my wife and son, who have endured so much during our time in Austin. I am enormously grateful to them for their love, support, and patience, even in the midst of an unfairly challenging time. Acknowledgements I acknowledge and thank the members of my doctoral Treatise committee for their support and willingness to work with me on my chosen topic, especially Dr. Luisa Nardini, Supervisor, and Prof. Gerre E. Hancock, Co-Supervisor. I also express gratitude to all those who have contributed to my musical education in many and various ways, particularly piano instructors Mr. Stephen W. Hoelter, Ms. Jeanelle A. Mooney, and Ms. Tamara Riley Wyman; organ instructors Dr. Craig J. Cramer, Prof. Gerre E. Hancock, Prof. Judith E. Hancock, Ms. Carol Jarman, Mr. Jack Levick, and Dr. Charles W. Ore; voice instructors Prof. James Hardin and Prof. Walter Ginter; ensemble directors Rev. Henry V. Gerike, Dr. Kurt E. von Kampen, Dr. William Kuhn, Prof. Kathleen Ohlman, and Dr. Gail L. Walton; musicology instructors Dr. Elliott M. Antokoletz, Dr. Alexander Blachly, Dr. Mary Frandsen, Dr. Joseph Herl, Dr. Luisa Nardini, Dr. Guido Olivieri, and Dr. Michael Tusa; theory instructors Dr. Theodore Beck, Dr. James Buhler, Prof. John Dorn, Dr. Kurt E. von Kampen, and Prof. Thaddeus Meyer; church music instructors Dr. David P. Held and Dr. Joseph Herl; and conducting instructor Prof. Daniel Stowe. Most especially, I thank my parents for their initial and ongoing encouragement and support in my musical pursuits, and for their love for me as their son. v The Compositional Nature and Performance Practice of the Grave of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in C, BWV 564 Publication No._____________ Christopher Stephen Ahlman, D.M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisors: Luisa Nardini and Gerre E. Hancock The compositional peculiarities of the Grave of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s Toccata in C, BWV 564 make authoritative performance practice of the same quite difficult. Often, disparate solutions concerning the performance practice thereof, primarily those that concern registration and interpretation of the work, result. Upon discussing the resemblance of BWV 564 in its entirety with that of the genre of the Italian concerto, I assess the precise nature of Italian concerto influence upon the work, assigning primary compositional influence to Tomaso Albinoni, specifically via Johann Gottfried Walther‘s transcription of Concerto IV of Albinoni‘s Concerto a cinque, Op. 2 of 1700, effectively placing such influence prior to Bach‘s c. 1713-1714 encounter with the concerted works of Antonio Vivaldi and thus assigning Bach‘s composition of the work to his initial years as court organist and chamber musician at the Weimar ducal chapel. I also assess the resemblance of the sectional character of BWV 564 with that of the early Baroque vi multisectional Praeludium, exemplified in Dieterich Buxtehude‘s Praeludium in A, BuxWV 151, ultimately to assert the rhetorical orientation of BWV 564 and to raise the registration implications thereof. Given the numerous renovations to the Compenius organ in the Weimar ducal chapel that occurred before, during, and after Bach‘s tenure as court organist and chamber musician, I set forth a likely specification set for the Compenius organ of the Weimar ducal chapel during the initial years of Bach‘s first appointment at Weimar. With the compositional timeframe and physical conditions reasonably established, and on account of both the accompanimental textures and musical idiomatic allusions present in the movement, I advance not only a one-manual performance practice of the Adagio of BWV 564 in its entirety but also a single general registration scheme resonant with continuo performance practices that were contemporaneous with the composition of the work. vii Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1: Compositional Overview .......................................................................1 Chapter 2: Italian Concerto Compositional Style .................................................36 Chapter 3: BWV 564 as “Updated Multisectional Praeludium” ..........................93 Chapter 4: Weimar and the Compenius Organ ...................................................145 Chapter 5: The Registration of the “Grave” section of the Adagio, Toccata in C, BWV 564 .....................................................................................................160 Bibliography ........................................................................................................199 viii List of Figures Figure 1.1: Bach, Fantasia in G, BWV 572, mm. 26-38. .....................................4 Figure 1.2: Bach, Fantasia in G, BWV 572, mm. 176-187. .................................5 Figure 1.3: Bach, Fantasia in G, BWV 572, mm. 200-202. .................................5 Figure 1.4: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 1-3, highlighting the tetrachordal foundation of the two initial fragmentary phrases, indicated by circle, as well as that of the extended figuration, indicated by brackets. ...........6 Figure 1.5: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 7-12, highlighting the triadic arpeggiations occurring at pedal articulations. ...................................7 Figure 1.6: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 13-17, highlighting the tetrachordal orientation, indicated by a bracket. .....................................................8 Figure 1.7: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 18-26................................................8 Figure 1.8: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 27-30................................................8 Figure 1.9: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 23-30, highlighting the tetrachordal orientation, indicated by brackets. ......................................................9 Figure 1.10: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 31-34..............................................10 Figure 1.11: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 13-22..............................................10 Figure 1.12: Buxtehude, Praeludium in C, BuxWV 137, mm. 1-4. ......................11 Figure 1.13: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 13-17..............................................11 Figure 1.14: Pachelbel, Praeludium in d, mm. 1-3. ..............................................11 Figure 1.15: Pachelbel, Praeludium in d, mm. 13-19. ..........................................12 Figure 1.16: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 31-38, highlighting the quasi-ritornello phrases in dialogue, termed “Motive A” and “Motive B,” respectively. ...........................................................................................................13 ix Figure 1.17: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 64-71..............................................14 Figure 1.18: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 68-79..............................................15 Figure 1.19: Bach, Toccata, BWV 564, mm. 76-84..............................................16 Figure 1.20: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 1-4. ..................................................16 Figure 1.21: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 8-10. ................................................17 Figure 1.22: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 14-20. ..............................................17 Figure 1.23: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 17-24. ..............................................18 Figure 1.24: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 1-10, highlighting the mordent gesture, indicated by box, the anticipation gesture, indicated by circle, and neighboring gesture, indicated by trapezoid. ....................................19 Figure 1.25: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 8-16. ................................................20 Figure 1.26: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 14-16, highlighting the similarity in cadential fashion, indicated by bracket; cf. mm. 1-7. .......................20 Figure 1.27: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 1-7, highlighting the similarity in cadential fashion, indicated by bracket. ............................................21 Figure 1.28: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 14-24, highlighting the commonality in phrasal contour, indicated by bracket. ..............................................22 Figure 1.29: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 1-10, highlighting the presence of the Neapolitan sixth chord, indicated by bracket. ...................................23 Figure 1.30: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 17-20, highlighting the presence of the Neapolitan sixth chord, indicated by bracket. ...................................23 Figure 1.31: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 21-31, highlighting the solo passage work, indicated by bracket. ...............................................................24 Figure 1.32: Bach, Adagio, BWV 564, mm. 21-31, highlighting the seven-voice