2 - Bach - Toccato & Fugue D minor Thursday, September 20, 2012 11:15 PM

Bach, Tocc...

Date: 11/9/2012

Artist: Johann Sebastian Bach Album: Toccata and Fugue Song: Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Element of Focus: Texture

Vocabulary to use: 1. Monophonic 2. Homophonic 3. Polyphonic 4. Thin 5. Thickness

Description with specific examples: This composition has a mixture of all types of textures: monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic.

1:12 - 1:16 This rare duration has the thinnest and also a monophonic texture of the whole piece, with only one voice playing.

Beginning - 0:32 Normally, monophonic texture is used fairly thin, most popularly two voices playing the same melody at the same time.

1:37 - 1:46 In this time period, the melody is supported by the chords, creating a homophonic texture. The bass and tenor lines come in first and last until the alto and soprano lines finished (in total 4 notes), harmonizing in the process. This is a thin homophonic texture because normally there will be at least four notes played at a time to create a homophonic texture.

7:03 - 7:10 The melody is played the same rhythm with the chords. Because of this, it can be considered that only chords are playing but the top note makes the melody. On the other hand, the melody sounds similar to the motifs of the piece from before, so it is reasonable that chords are built up from the notes in the melody. At 7:10, the texture is the thickest, with 7 notes played together at once. The thickest texture which is a homophonic texture in the whole piece is at 1:09.

7:07 - 7:08 In rare cases, the melody lies in the middle note of the chord (alto-tenor) such as in … creating an alternate homophonic texture.

3:37 - 3:51 This is the extreme example of a thick polyphonic texture, where all four voices (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) have a melody to play.

Developmental Workbook Overview Page 1 What aspect of how this element was used is most unique?

It is interesting to see how Bach's polyphonic created a homophonic texture with beautiful harmonic in every note played. Notes from different melodies just fit nicely together at the right time to form the exact harmony (chords) he wants. This can be considered as "mathematical" but it supports the depth and context of the piece. Ex: 2:41 - 2:50. This goes for most of when polyphonic textures appear as well.

Developmental Workbook Overview Page 2