Johan Sebastian Bach’s arrangement of Wachet Auf, Rift Uns Die Stimme IV was Bach’s favorite and the only cantata that he ever published. The genre of the composition was a cantata and the form that was used in it was a ternary form AAB. This arrangement is what is known as a chorale, “a spiritual melody or religious folk song, of the Lutheran Church. (In other denominations, such a melody is called a hymn.)” (Wright, C. M., 2014). The piece has a three-part polyphonic texture as each of the lines were independent and entered at different times. It was also played in the ritornello form with the main part being played again and again. The melody of this arrangement was performed by violins and violas, while the chorale was sung by tenors. The song had a steady moving rhythm with the bass of the song being played on every quarter note which gave it a walking bass feel. Bach made good use of terraced dynamics in this arrangement by raising and lowering the loudness from time to time which made it enjoyable to listen to. I really like the way this piece flowed, allowing the violins and violas to play a verse and afterwards, the chorale singing a verse. I also liked the way the strings played louder and accentuated the high points of the song. The music of this arrangement gave me the feeling of wanting to sway or move with the music and I really enjoyed it. …show more content…
The genre of this arrangement was a pastoral aria from an oratorio and it was of a strophic form. It appears that this arrangement has a repetitive rhythm and unlike Bach’s arrangement I did not get the feeling that it was hitting on the quarter notes. This arrangement felt more like a hymn with the violins providing an intro and afterwards, the vocals entering and being the main part rather that switching like Bach’s arrangement above. (Wright, C. M.,
Hutchinson, Sydney. "Bachata." Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, 2 June 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
I thoroughly enjoyed this concert from beginning to end. The opening piece, “String Quartet in F Major, K 590”, was both soothing and moving with an engaging theme that followed through the piece. The sudden stops and starts with changes in theme built the suspense and pulled the listener in to a jaunty gallop through the second section. Also the bass tones in the back ground seem to be slightly off kilter with the violins, providing a complex texture and harmony that provides depth and poignancy to the music.
Before actually going into the analysis of the actual piece itself, background information would be helpful. The composition was written by Bach, and it is part of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin. For this example, Partita II in d minor, movement I, Allemanda, will be discussed. Allemanda, sometimes spelled allemande, derives from German and simply means “dance.” While there are various tempos used, this movement is usually fast, around 120 beats per minute.
Bach used time and structure in his work to force his listeners to set themselves inside the narrative. So, while listening, as
According to Rowell, "Musical composition became much longer, and composer were forced to evolve new means of maintaining unity and continuity over long time spans" during the Baroque period. Therefore, the texture of music became very important. When I look at the musical texutre of the Cantata No. 78 by J. S. Bach, I realized that this piece was unified very well within a movement and as a whole piece by many techniques. Some of those techniques were found in the text, and the others were in the music.
In order to fully encapsulate Leonardo’s conquest of the almighty heavens it would only be fitting to have the text set to a full orchestra accompanied by a SATB choir. This is the only combination of instrumentation and vocals that will fully capture the piece’s dramatic story (save a Wagnarian music drama). A full orchestra is a glorious medium that can be used to accommodate the full range of emotions embodied in the poem because of the breadth of orchestral timbre. In parallel with the orchestra, a four-person choir is ideal for the lyrical expression of the poem due to the wide range of notes that can be sung by the soprano, the bass and everyone in between. The parts of the poem sung by the full choir would be done in an imitative polyphony texture utilizing malismas on the repeated line “Leonardo, Leonardo, viene á volare” to accentuate the fact that this line is a “siren-song” sung by “the very air itself.” However, the majority of the text would be sung by the tenor to give the piece a story telling quality, with the rest of the choir chiming in for the Italian parts. This will serve to emphasize the contrast between English and Italian that Sylvestri creates in his poem. It seems appropriate to have the orchestra and choir perform a through-composed setting with a change in music for each st...
(TheRealConcertKing), the polyphonic contrapuntal style is apparent. However, it is accompanied by concerto grosso with use of the technique of terraced dynamics in ritornello form (Whitehouse 76). In Johann Sebastian Bach’s, “Brandenburg Concerto No 4 G major BWV 1049”(Classical Vault 2), the major and minor tonality is obvious, The terraced dynamic are clearly heard when the solo (violin and two flutes) play and when the full orchestra plays (Whitehouse 86). Author Whitehouse writes,” The immediate decrease in sound when the smaller group plays and a return to a full sound when the full orchestra plays” (Whitehouse 87). Bach also used ritornello form in “Brandenburg Concerto No 4 G major BWV 1049” (Classical Vault 2). Bach’s chosen ripieno is, tutti, solo, tutti, solo, tutti, solo (Whitehouse 8...
3. BWV in D major. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote four Orchestral Suites. This piece is the second of the five movements that compose his Orchestral suite No. 3. The date it was composed remains unsure, as there is strong evidence that the writing of the piece was done during his years at Köthen, even though the piece is said to have been composed and premiered some years later in Leipzig sometime between 1727 and 1730 by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, one of his students and himself. Johann Sebastian wrote out the main violin and continuo parts, C.P.E. Bach did the same with the trumpet, oboe, and timpani parts, and Johann Ludwig Krebs, his student, finished with the second viola and violin parts. Regardless 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
The second piece, Paratum Cor Meum, was a much shorter piece with very few lyrics. It was interesting to hear a piece by Haydn, since we had discussed this composer in class. I was impressed by the choir members’ ability to remember words in another language, and I enjoyed the sounds of the piano accompaniment.
...re was very interesting transitions between the variation, for example, string section plays the variation from low to high, when they reach the highest note, the brass family takes over and continue with the scale and make it more higher. Tremolo style was used in this piece, which is a quick ups and downs stroke mode. The music were very soothing and attracted the audience. Lastly, they end the piece with the same variations that was played at the beginning.
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
Bach’s “Air in G String” has an unusual A1A2B1B2C1D1C2D2 pattern and when compared with Bach’s other suites, this piece is especially slow. The polyphonic nature of the piece helps to create a conversation of string instruments which is more prominent in the first half of the verse. In my view, the polyphony gives the perception of multiple voices while generating a sense of syncopation. The arrangement from Bach was originally in D major but the transposition to C Major for “Air in G String” leads to a more heartfelt melancholic piece. Moreover, like most of his pieces, this piece too has symmetrical arrangement and repetition perhaps in my opinion to ease into the next variation.
The piece opens with an allegro, minor melody with cymbal crashes and timpani rolls. There is a short pause then a major trill. Harp glissandos then accompany a legato oboe melody, which is repeated with a pizzicato string bass. The melody is then repeated by the whole orchestra. There is a crescendo with the tim...
The violins both play very high loud notes in a staccato manner. The eight movement is mostly played by the two pianos with an occasional note from the clarinet. The ninth movement starts out very cheery in a Major Key being played by the flute. The cello and bass also play a few notes in the background making it polyphony. This movement ends very softly after an extensive rising chromatic scale played by the flute.
...chestral introduction with an imperfect cadence. A strong rhythmic ¾ allegro passage, with sequences and descending scales is played by the orchestra, with timpani and cymbals. The music modulates, and a short, quiet woodwind passage is then alternated with an orchestral passage with dotted rhythms, creating a `terraced dynamics' effect. Part B begins with a major clarinet melody accompanied by pizzicato strings. A minor flute sequence follows, and is followed by a repetition of the oboe melody. A string sequence is then played, imitated by the oboe. There is a crescendo, then the rhythmic orchestral melody returns, alternated with a short flute passage. There are suspensions, descending scales and a crescendo, followed by a strong rhythmic passage with the timpani playing on the beat. Imperfect cadences are played, before the piece finishes with a perfect cadence.