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Bach Notes No. 9 No. 9 Spring 2008 BACH NOTES THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN BACH SOCIETY BACH AND CHROMATIC COMPLETION: A NEW FIELD FOR ANALYTIC RESEARCH EDWARD GREEN There were advocates of dodecaphonic serialism, Schönberg and Webern most clearly, who wished to present Bach as a musical John the Baptist, announcing (centuries in advance) the advent of a new tonal dispensation.1 No longer would diatonicism rule, but chromaticism—moreover, a chromaticism of great density. Consider the subject of the Fugue in B Minor from the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, which is given in Example 1 below. In the course of a mere twenty notes, and in a completely linear manner, all twelve members of the chromatic aggregate present themselves, as indicated below. ����� Ÿ LSO N HIS SSUE # A I T I # c ‰ œ nœ œ nœ # œ #œ œ œ & œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ #˙ œ œ œ #œ P. 8. Book Review: � � � �� �� � � � � � � �� Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf’s Die Orgeln Johann Sebastian Bachs. Ein Example 1: Fugue in B Minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, mm. 1-3. Handbuch by Jason Grant There has been speculation that Bach generis, a unique technical response 9. Tanya Kevorkian awarded the designed this subject as a subtle reas- appropriate for the symbolism of a 2008 Scheide Prize sertion of the principal idea behind fugue that stands at the completion the collection: the relative equality of of a set honoring the chromatic uni- 10. Message from Gregory Butler, all twelve key centers. The subject of verse—a technique, therefore, that Society President, 2004-2008 this fugue states this idea in terms of one would not expect to encounter individual pitches—although from a elsewhere in Bach’s work. 11. Newly Elected Officers of the twentieth-century point of view, and Society in consideration of the “rule of non- Either explanation seems plausible repetition of pitch-class” that ortho- enough. Yet, surprisingly, the truth 12. News From Members dox serialism imposes on a composer, seems to lie elsewhere. Bach quite 13. 15th Biennial Meeting of Bach would have to edit out the eight often organized his music so that the Society: Overview and extra tones. crucial points of structural articula- Abstracts tion correspond to points at which However one chooses to regard this the final constituent of the chro- 19. Joshua Copeland wins 2008 remarkable fugue subject relative to matic aggregate appears. As is now Bach Vocal Competition the musical procedures of the Second increasingly well known, primarily Viennese School, it is clear that a cor- through the work of James M. Baker 20. Contributors to this Issue respondence exists between a formal and Henry Burnett2 (and I have also musical unit—the subject—and the published on the subject3), compos- completion of the chromatic aggre- ers of the Classical period, especial- © 2008 gate. The question arises, is this cor- ly Haydn and Mozart, were adept The American Bach Society respondence merely fortuitous? Or, at creating structures of this type. if intended, is it to be considered sui What has not been considered ade- 2 quately is whether or not the phenomenon existed in Another clear example is found in the twenty-five-mea- earlier periods, and specifically in the music of Bach. sure D-major chorale “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr” from the cantata Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Let us call an unfolding of the chromatic aggregate a Gemüte, BWV 174 (see Example 3). The chromatic tones “cycle.” There are many instances in Bach’s music of E# and G# are encountered in m. 2, A# in m. 13, and D# highly chromatic textures in which all twelve members in m. 16. Only C\ remains, and it appears on the very last of the chromatic aggregate are swiftly used (full enhar- eighth note of m. 23. The remaining music is completely monicism is presumed). Most of these occurrences, how- diatonic. ever, are not “cycles of chromatic completion,” but rather “cycles of chromatic circulation,” since the twelfth note Interestingly, when Bach harmonized this chorale melody arrives without any particular significance, structural or again, to the text “Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein” in the otherwise. Such cycles are by-products of Bach’s general cantata Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149, he tendency to avail himself of a richly chromatic musical similarly employed a gradual unfolding of the chromatic language, and should be seen simply in that light. aggregate, but without a purely diatonic coda: the aggre- There are, however, instances in Bach’s music in which U true “chromatic completion” occurs. These are so numer- # # c œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ous, in fact, that they are hard to dismiss as mere epiphe- & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œœ nomena. Either Bach composed these structures intention- ally, or, at the very least, he possessed a highly developed œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ subconscious instinct to associate the completion of the ? # c œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ aggregate with the completion of a musical unit. u �� ���� �� U ( ) U Evidence from the Chorales # œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . & œ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Since chorales are short and their cycles easily observed, the first evidence of chromatic completion in Bach’s music œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ is presented from this group of compositions. Not only ? ## œ œ œ œ . is the cycle easily observed in these works but its unfold- u œ ing precisely parallels the unfolding of the composition: the chromatic aggregate is completed near the end of the �� U U # œ chorale—often in the very last measure—and no further # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ chromaticism follows. A straightforward example of this J J œ design is seen in the E-minor chorale Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, BWV 363. In this work, the “tierce de Picardie” œ œ œ œ œ œ ? # œ #œ œ nœ #œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ in the twelfth and final measure is also the twelfth member # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ ���� u u of the aggregate, as indicated in Example 2. �� ���� U U # œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # U & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ & c œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ#œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ˙ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ œ ? # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ c . œ ˙ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ ? # œ nœ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ���� ˙ # œ œ œ #œ nœ #œ œ nœ ���� u œ �� u � u # U & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ �� œ œ œ . œ œ œ œ#œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . œ U U U J J J ˙ J œ ## œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ & #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? # œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ u � œ œ U Œ U œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ # œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ #œ œ nœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & ˙ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ œ . ? # œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ #œ œ nœ œ œ œ#œ ˙. # œ œ œ œ u u ����n u ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? # œ œ. œ œ #œ œ œ #˙. ˙ œ œ J œ #œ œ œ œ Œ ����n ˙. u u ���� Example 3: “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr,” BWV 174/5; keyboard reduction—text and basso continuo have Example 2: Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, BWV 363. been omitted. No. 9 BACH • NOTES 3 gate is completed with the arrival of B∫ in m. 24, but there on the downbeat of m. 11, and the concluding two mea- is an F# in m. 25. sures are diatonic (where the B\ is indicative of the har- monic minor scale). A third, more subtle, example is found in the opening chorale of the cantata Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, It is also fascinating to observe that later in this cantata, in BWV 153.
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