Analysis of Sheet Music
While many people listen and enjoy music, not all people analyze music for more complex things such as formal analysis or melody. However, by examining music for these things it is possible to gain a greater understanding of the music. This makes it so that people have greater appreciation for the music as well. Some of the best music to analyze is classical music. This is because classical music has many different levels and has lasted test of time over many year. The current essay examine Bach’s work prelude-fugue in D major for background, formal elements, and cultural elements.
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of history’s most important composers. He was a German composer who lived between the 17th and 18th centuries. Even though his music did not gain great acclaim until 19th century, since this time Bach is viewed as one of greatest composer ever. The title of the song is Bach’s prelude-fugue in D major. This song is from the Well-Tempered Clavier which is a collection of keyboard music he recorded toward early part of 19th century. The Well-Tempered Clavier is one of Bach’s most popular works. It contains two volumes. In each of these volumes there is a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key of chromatic scale. The great amount of variety in composition makes the composition very complex but also very enjoyable to listen to. Bach’s prelude-fugue in D major was first release in 1722.
Listening to Bach’s prelude-fugue in D major the first thing that is noticed is that it is very complex. There are many different notes that are played in the opening part of the composition. Having this many notes gives one immediate feeling of how the music is complex. The time signature of the music ...
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...e Well-Tempered Clavier. The formal analysis found that the song was very complex. The song used as 12/8 signature with a high level of beats per minute. The song largely relied on notes going up and down the scale and combined this with stops and starts in rhythm. The song was influenced by the Renaissance and French manier. Ultimately, analyzing song allows one to understand many parts of the song that would not be clear if they just listened to the song.
References
Digitalcommons.cedarville.edu. (2014). "instruction, devotion, and affection: three roles of
bach’s well-tempered clavier" by rachel a. lowrance. [online] Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/musicalofferings/vol4/iss1/2/ [Accessed: 31 Jan 2014].
Kirkpatrick, R. (1984). Interpreting Bach's Well-tempered clavier: a performer's discourse of
method. Yale University Press.
Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven both flourished in their compositions of classical music; however, their genre of music differed considerably. Bach was a German composer during the Baroque time era of western music which is estimated to have taken place during 1600 to 1750. It was during this time that he composed prolific church organ music which included such works as the Mass in B Minor, much scared choral music, and the St. Matthew Passion, as well as composing over a thousand works in nearly every musical genre except opera. On the other hand, Beethoven was a German composer whom began to emerge during the classical era of western music twenty years after Bach. This era took place throughout the years1750 and 1830. The large quantity of arrangements, over two hundred works in numerous musical genres composed by Beethoven was significantly influenced by his predecessors, onset of deafness, and his highly personal expression of intellectual depth. Such works include the first an...
Bach, J.S. “Fugue in G Minor.” (From CD Bach: Little Fugue in G minor, BWV 578). Telarc. (1995).
Strip all the decorations and ornaments, and there is a straight-forward analysis. The piece begins and ends in D, cadencing to tonic. There is an A halfway in between, creating a half cadence. In order words, this can be easily be called a I-V-I, just like any other piece. That is fine. Because every song essentially is I to V to I, there must be something else that differentiates this piece from everything else. What makes this piece interesting? What makes tonic to dominant back to tonic worth listening for? To put it frankly, the notes in between the beginning, the middle, and the end, is what makes anything sound different. Bach devised some interesting ways to train our ears to listen to aesthetic notes when, in reality, it is D to A to D.
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most famous German composers of his time. All of his work was mostly during the baroque era. The baroque period was from 1600 to 1750 and it is known to be one of the most diverse musical periods as opposed to the other classical music eras. It was in this era that “included composer like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel, who pioneered new styles like the concerto and the sonata.”(Classic FM) Johann Sebastian was born in the midst of the Baroque era as he was born on March 31, 1685 in Thuringia, Germany. Johann came from a family of musicians, which is how he himself became one as well. It was his father who showed him how to play his first instrument, which was the violin. His father was also a well-known musician in his town as he “worked as the town musician in Eisenach.”(Johann Sebastian Bach) It is known that Johann Sebastian went to a school that taught him
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
Classical Vault 2, dir. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major, BWV 1048 Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. YouTube, 2013. Web. 21 Mar 2014. .
This paper will explore the life of the great composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was considered one of the greatest composers of all time. He created amazing, famous compositions that made a big impact in today’s world. He went through rough times like many people do, the loss of his parents and finding a way back to the old routine was not an easy task. Bach came from generations of musicians and was given a religious education which is something that played a big role in his life when becoming a musician. We will analyze and learn the significance of some of his great compositions, the stories and what inspired him to compose music.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of musicians. It was only natural for him to pick up an instrument and excel in it. His father taught him how to play the violin and harpsichord at a very young age. All of Bach’s uncles were professional musicians, one of them; Johann Christoph Bach introduced him to the organ. Bach hit a turning point in his life when both of his parents died at the age of ten years old. Bach’s older brother Johann Christoph Bach took him in and immediately expanded his knowledge in the world of music. He taught him how to play the clavichord and exposed him to great composers at the time. At the age of fourteen, Bach and his good friend George Erdmann were awarded a choral scholarship to the prestigious musical school St. Michael’s in Luneburg. From then on, Bach began to build his career in the music industry. His first two years at the school he sang in the school’s a cappella choir. Historical evidence has shown that Bach at a young age would visit Johanniskirche and would listen to the works of organ player Jasper Johannsen. This was thought to have been the inspiration to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Studying at the prestigious musical school has help Bach network his way around and become acquaintances’ with some of the best organ players at the time such as Georg Böhm, and Johann Adam Reincken. Through his acquaintance with Böhm and Reincken Bach had access to some of the greatest and finest instruments.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer, a musician, teacher, and organist who later became a specialist in construction of organs. Bach learnt to play the violin, the orchestra, and the organ from his father and his famous uncle and twin brother to the father, Johann Christoph at a young age. The organ was his chosen instrument. He also achieved success in the art of Fugue, choral polyphone, instrumental music and dance forms. In Eisenach he attended Old Latin Grammar School, the same school that Martin Luther had attended. He sang in the schools choir. His parents died before Bach was 10 years old. His mother died when Bach was nine years old, his father’s death followed nine months later (Sherrane, 2011). After the parents death Bach was taken in by his older brother Johann Christoph who had already established himself as an organist in Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph had a great influence in Bach’s success in music as he taught him and encouraged him to study music composition. At the same time Bach was attending the Gymnasium grammar school in Ohrdruf where he studied theology, Latin...
Regardless of the authors of the piece, Johann Sebastian Bach ended up getting all the credit for the piece. Air stands out as one of his most famous and successful pieces of the Baroque period, as well as of his life. The beginning of the piece is one of the most recognizable melodies of the Baroque period. At the time it was composed, Bach, fully engaged to his musical career, moved from Weimar to Köthen looking for a more stable job that could finance his musical interests.
Felix Mendelssohn was one of the most famous composers during the 19th century. Although in his music he did show some features of romanticism, he was strongly influenced by traditional genres such as counterpoint etc. In this essay, the biography of the composer, background of the genre and analysis of the piece will be investigated
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26 is one of the most famous violin concertos over the musical history. It is also considered to be the most renowned work by the German composer Max Bruch. I will begin with a short explanation of why I choose to analyse this piece followed by what makes this piece so remarkable. I will then present the musical context – German Romantic period – in which this piece was composed and discuss how it is representative of this period. Also, I will present briefly the biography of the composer and relate his life and style with this particular piece of music. After, I will explain the basic structure of a concerto, associate it with this violin concerto, and analyse how each movement is related. Then, I will analyse some psychoacoustic parameters of this piece (pitch, dynamics, rhythm, and texture). Finally, I will give my appreciation of this piece in term of beauty, musical expression, and mood.
The 24 Préludes (Op 2) are often compared to the Préludes of J.S Bach's Well Tempered Clavier and although both sets are similar in many ways, Chopin's are not meant as introductory pieces as Bach's, which are designed to lead into fugues, as they stand strongly on their own as poetic miniature piano pieces.
Pogue, David and Scott Speak. Classical Music for Dummies. Foster City, California: IDG Worldwide, 1997. Print