THE ROLE OF THE 12/8 TIME SIGNATURE IN J. S. BACH’S SACRED VOCAL MUSIC by Kayoung Lee BA, Yonsei University, 1992 MA, New York University, 1995 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 1997 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2005 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Kayoung Lee It was defended on February 2, 2004 and approved by David Brodbeck Amy Colin Don O. Franklin Mary Lewis Don O. Franklin Dissertation Director ii Copyright by Kayoung Lee 2005 iii THE ROLE OF THE 12/8 TIME SIGNATURE IN J. S. BACH’S SACRED VOCAL MUSIC Kayoung Lee, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2005 Only in recent years have scholars begun to explicate the principles of the temporal system that formed the basic foundation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s notational practice. However, research that focuses on the role of a particular time signature in Bach’s sacred vocal music has been lacking. This dissertation provides a case study that examines the role of the 12/8 time signature found in Bach’s sacred vocal music, and the new compositional procedures Bach implemented in conjunction with it. To address the important role of the 12/8 time signature, I trace the musico-historical context in which the signature was defined and employed by late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century theorists and composers. Through an analysis of the treatises of the period along with selected musical examples, I identify the temporal, notational, compositional conventions associated to the signature. Further, I analyze the movements notated in 12/8 in Bach’s sacred vocal music in terms of their stylistic, notational, and formal procedures, exploring the extent to which Bach adhered to or deviated from these conventions. My analysis is based on six independent categories of Bach’s 12/8 movements, each representing a specific type of piece. These categories include: 12/8 and continuo arias, 12/8 and the chorale, 12/8 and the gigue, Cantata 136 and new experimentation, 12/8 in the passions, and iv 12/8 and the pastorale. Also important are the notational, stylistic, and formal changes that take place in each category over the course of time. These changes often occur in association with Bach’s experimentation with new compositional procedures. Examination of the 12/8 movements also reveals the great care Bach takes in capturing the theological images and messages of the text. The examination of the music and text of Bach’s 12/8 movements reveals that when he chooses to use the 12/8 time signature, he not only links it to the notational and temporal conventions he had inherited from his predecessors, but also adapts and modifies it, often with the use of new compositional procedures, to achieve new and distinctive musical results. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...................................................................................................................................... X 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 THEORETICAL TREATISES................................................................................................. 7 2.1 MICHAEL PRAETORIUS................................................................................................... 8 2.2 JOHANN MATTHESON................................................................................................... 11 2.3 JOHANN PHILIPP KIRNBERGER .................................................................................. 16 2.4 JOHANN JOACHIM QUANTZ ........................................................................................ 23 3.0 CURRENT RESEARCH........................................................................................................ 28 4.0 THE 12/8 MOVEMENTS FOUND IN OTHER COMPOSERS’ WORKS .......................... 40 4.1 12/8 IN THE WORKS OF BACH’S PREDECESSORS ................................................... 40 4.2 12/8 IN THE WORKS OF BACH’S CONTEMPORARIES............................................. 47 5.0 THE 12/8 TIME SIGNATURE IN BACH’S SACRED VOCAL MUSIC ............................ 57 6.0 12/8 AND SIX CATEGORIES .............................................................................................. 69 6.1 12/8 AND CONTINUO ARIAS......................................................................................... 70 7.0 12/8 AND THE CHORALE ................................................................................................... 75 7.1 ORGAN CHORALES ........................................................................................................ 77 7.2 ARIA MOVEMENTS WITH CHORALES....................................................................... 84 7.3 CHORUS MOVEMENTS WITH CHORALES ................................................................ 97 8.0 12/8 AND THE GIGUE........................................................................................................ 116 9.0 CANTATA 136 AND NEW EXPERIMENTATION.......................................................... 131 10.0 12/8 IN THE PASSIONS ................................................................................................... 144 10.1 12/8 IN THE ST. JOHN PASSION................................................................................ 144 10.2 12/8 IN THE ST. MATTHEW PASSION.................................................................. 151 11.0 12/8 AND THE PASTORALE........................................................................................... 159 12.0 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................. 170 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................. 175 THE CATEGORIES OF BACH’S 12/8 MOVEMENTS (LISTED ACCORDING TO BWV NUMBER) .................................................................................................................................. 175 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 177 TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS FOUND IN BACH’S 12/8 MOVEMENTS ......................... 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 190 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Kirnberger’s classification of time signatures, reproduced from The Art of Strict Musical Composition, 385. ................................................................................................................. 20 Table 2: Categorizations of time signatures by Mattheson and Quantz ....................................... 25 Table 3: The 12/8 movements found in Bach’s Mühlhausen and Weimar cantatas..................... 60 Table 4: The 12/8 movements found in Bach’s Cöthen cantatas.................................................. 61 Table 5: The 12/8 movements found in Bach’s First Jahrgang cantatas ...................................... 63 Table 6: The 12/8 movements found in Bach’s Second Jahrgang cantatas.................................. 64 Table 7: The 12/8 movements found in Bach’s Post Second Jahrgang cantatas.......................... 66 Table 8: 12/8 and continuo arias................................................................................................... 71 Table 9: The free da-capo form of Cantata 80a/4......................................................................... 74 Table 10: Bach’s stages of 12/8 notation in his chorale-based works .......................................... 76 Table 11: Movements containing 12/8 in Bach’s organ chorales from the Neumeister Collection ............................................................................................................................................... 77 Table 12: 12/8 and arias based on chorale melodies..................................................................... 84 Table 13: 12/8 and chorales from Buxtehude to Bach.................................................................. 88 Table 14: The free da-capo form of Cantata 101/6....................................................................... 92 Table 15: 12/8 in the opening chorus movements of the second Jahrgang cantatas..................... 98 Table 16: The opening ritornello of Cantata 8/1, mm. 1-13 ....................................................... 103 Table 17: The opening ritornello of Cantata 180/1, mm. 1-17 ................................................... 107 Table 18: The opening ritornello of Cantata 1/1, mm. 1-13 ....................................................... 109 Table 19: Bach’s stages of 12/8 notation in the gigue-like movements ..................................... 117 Table 20: 12/8 and the gigue....................................................................................................... 122 Table 21: The free da-capo from of Cantata 8/4......................................................................... 128 Table 22: Time signature in the newly composed opening movement of cantatas from Trinity 1 to 14 in 1723 ....................................................................................................................... 135 Table 23: The ritornello structure of Cantata 136/1...................................................................