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A Study of Musical Rhetoric in JS Bach's Organ Fugues

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A Study of Musical Rhetoric in JS Bach's Organ Fugues A Study of Musical Rhetoric in J. S. Bach’s Organ Fugues BWV 546, 552.2, 577, and 582 A document submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS in the Keyboard Division of the College-Conservatory of Music March 2015 by Wei-Chun Liao BFA, National Taiwan Normal University, 1999 MA, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002 MEd, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2003 Committee Chair: Roberta Gary, DMA Abstract This study explores the musical-rhetorical tradition in German Baroque music and its connection with Johann Sebastian Bach’s fugal writing. Fugal theory according to musica poetica sources includes both contrapuntal devices and structural principles. Johann Mattheson’s dispositio model for organizing instrumental music provides an approach to comprehending the process of Baroque composition. His view on the construction of a subject also offers a way to observe a subject’s transformation in the fugal process. While fugal writing was considered the essential compositional technique for developing musical ideas in the Baroque era, a successful musical-rhetorical dispositio can shape the fugue from a simple subject into a convincing and coherent work. The analyses of the four selected fugues in this study, BWV 546, 552.2, 577, and 582, will provide a reading of the musical-rhetorical dispositio for an understanding of Bach’s fugal writing. ii Copyright © 2015 by Wei-Chun Liao All rights reserved iii Acknowledgements The completion of this document would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Roberta Gary, for her continued guidance and invaluable teachings during the journey of my study. I would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Stephanie P. Schlagel and Dr. bruce mcclung, whose expertise and insightful comments were valued greatly. Special thanks go to Valerie Scott and Edward Chiu for generously providing editing suggestions and proofreading for this document. Lastly, I am deeply thankful to my family for their love, understanding, and encouragement that has supported me to accomplish my goal. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Musical Examples ............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Rhetoric and Musica Poetica ...................................................................................... 11 Classical Rhetoric ............................................................................................ 11 Rhetoric and Music ......................................................................................... 17 Musica Poetica ................................................................................................ 19 Rhetoric and J. S. Bach ................................................................................... 29 Principles of Musical Rhetoric ........................................................................ 31 Chapter 2. Rhetoric and Fugue ..................................................................................................... 34 Fugue and the Musical-Rhetorical Dispositio ................................................. 37 Chapter 3. Expansion of Contrast: Analysis of Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 ............................ 42 Chapter 4. A Musical Discussion: Analysis of Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552.2 .................... 49 Chapter 5. Modifications of the Subject Tail: Analysis of Fugue in G Major, BWV 577 ........... 56 Chapter 6. Variations of Theme Combinations: Analysis of Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 .................................................................................................................... 61 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 67 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 71 v List of Tables Table 1. Seven Liberal Arts .......................................................................................................... 20 Table 2. Figurenlehren by Various Baroque Theorists ................................................................ 25 Table 3. Classical-Rhetorical Structure and Musical-Rhetorical Structure .................................. 32 Table 4. Fugal Structure of J. S. Bach’s Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 ....................................... 42 Table 5. Fugal Structure of J. S. Bach’s Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552.2 .............................. 51 Table 6. Fugal Structure of J. S. Bach’s Fugue in G Major, BWV 577 ....................................... 57 Table 7. Fugal Structure of J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 ............................... 63 Table 8. Symmetrical and Block Design of Subject Entries in J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 ................................................................................ 64 Table 9. Groupings of Variations in J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 ................. 66 vi List of Musical Examples Example 1. Thematic Elements of Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 ................................................ 43 Example 2. Countersubject (CS) of Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 .............................................. 45 Example 3. Eighth-Note Figure (B) of Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 ......................................... 46 Example 4. Subject A and Countersubject of Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552.2. ..................... 50 Example 5. Subject B of Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 522.2 ...................................................... 52 Example 6. Subject C of Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552.2 ...................................................... 53 Example 7. The Head-Neck-Tail Construction of the Subject of Fugue in G Major, BWV 577 . 56 Example 8. Three Variations of the Subject of Fugue in G Major, BWV 577: S1, S2, and S3 .. 58 Example 9. The Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582, mm. 169–78 .............................................. 62 vii Introduction Rhetoric and music share the same ultimate goal: to communicate with the listener affectively and effectively. Rhetoric, also known as the art of persuasion, aims to deliver speech in an effective and elegant manner. Rooted in treatises of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers such as Aristotle and Cicero, rhetoric was considered the civic art of free speech. During medieval times, rhetoric became a key subject in the seven liberal arts: the trivium of logic, grammar, and rhetoric; and the quadrivium of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music. The rediscovery of rhetorical treatises written by Quintilian, as well as an interest in setting text properly to music, kept the study of rhetoric alive in musical circles during the Renaissance. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant reformer Martin Luther encouraged a synthesis of the scientific and the artistic; the ability of music to communicate the Gospel to his followers drove Lutheran composers to introduce elements of rhetoric into their works. From then on, rhetorical elements in music took on greater importance. Music and rhetoric became key subjects in the Lateinschule curriculum and were often taught by the same instructor. Many theorists in Lutheran Germany, such as Joachim Burmeister, Johannes Lippius, and Christoph Bernhard, began to borrow ideas from rhetoric to explain the decision-making of composers. This employment of rhetorical principles transformed composition from a mathematical practice into an art expressed in a new discipline called musica poetica. This newborn specialty focused initially on vocal music, quickly expanding to include instrumental music. The introduction of rhetorical ingredients into instrumental music formed one of the most significant aesthetic developments of the German Baroque.1 1 Blake Wilson, George J. Buelow, and Peter A. Hoyt, “Rhetoric and Music,” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com] (accessed April 20, 2009). 1 Writings on musica poetica serve as pedagogical instructions for musical composition modeled on principles of rhetoric. In classical rhetoric, speeches generally have a five-part structure of inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, and pronunciatio. Inventio deals with the discovery of ideas; dispositio determines the order of material; elocutio elaborates the material with patterns or figures; memoria calls for mnemonics to recall arguments; and pronunciatio concerns the delivery of speeches. In the seventeenth century, Athanasius Kircher first introduced the musical-rhetorical structure, adapting inventio, dispositio, and elocutio into musical compositional theory.2 Musical inventio involves the pre-composing status such as choosing a subject, and determining key and meter. Next, in the dispositio, the composer presents the pre-compositional material in order. Last, a composer utilizes figures to aid musical expressions
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