Bach Essay examples

Sometimes, these two voices will overlap, creating a sense of a fugue, where two melodic lines flow at different times along the same stream. Although he breaks up the soft legato sequences with loud, harsh staccato chords for contrast, Beethoven generally preserves a milddynamic in part B which also helps obscure the switch from the transition to part B. Infact, a loud dynamic actually seems to signal a transition out of part B; in B_2’, the B_2 theme is repeated in sequence, getting louder, faster, and higher pitched until it climaxes.We expect this to become the cadence that will resolve the exposition and allow us tomove on to the development. However, it is a false ending; B_5 again resumes a moderate tempo and is played primarily by the woodwinds; the strings enter in littlespurts with loud, crisp notes until they join the woodwinds and the entire orchestra plays together to conclude the exposition.

Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor can conveniently be broken down into five separate sections. The first three sections of the the piece are considered to be in the passacaglia form while the last two sections are referred to as the fugue portion.

In addition, Bach was a virtuoso on the organ. He also served as an organ consultant, and composer of organ works, like toccatas, chorale preludes, and fugues. He had a reputation for having great creativity, and he was able to integrate many national styles into his works. Many of his works are said to have North German influences that were taught to Bach by Georg Bröhm. Bach also copied the works of many French and Italian composers in order to decipher their compositional languages. Later on, he arranged several violin concertos by Vivaldi for organ. Most experts of musical composition believe that the years, between 1708 and 1714, were his most productive. Within this period, he composed several preludes, fugues, and toccatas. During this span, Bach wrote the Little Organ Book, Orgelbüchlein. This book remains an unfinished collection of forty-nine short chorale preludes.

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, is a two-part musical composition for organ, written by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), a German composer, and musician of Baroque period, is known for its magnificent sound, classic, state-of-the-art rhythm having methodological command, with artistic splendor and intellectual gravity. Bach's abilities as an organist were respected throughout Europe during his lifetime but at that time he was not recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19thcentury. Nowadays he’s regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. (Blanning, 2008)

When thinking of composers, whose works changed the world of music forever, many names may come to mind. Among those on that list, both Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel are figures whose effect on music has been felt worldwide. Born in the same year, these composers have much in common and many differences that illustrate their importance to their era and music as we see it today. Their individualism and creativity influenced much of their time and together, their works defined the Baroque Period as we know it today.

The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is a two-part harmonious oeuvre for the organ, Bach composed the composition before 1708, and people recall it because of its magnificent sound, phenomenal authority, and stimulating rhythm. Moreover, the Fugue’s passage is a copy of a phrase in one of Johann Pachelbel’s D minor fantasias; ordinarily, the formation of fugues on other composers’ themes was conventional. Breitkopf and Hartel issued the piece in late 1833; Felix Mendelssohn devised and partly prepared the piece; moreover, he performed it on August 6, 1840, in Leipzig. The performance affected Franz Liszt so much that he decided to add the piece into his organ repertoire in the 19th

The fugue is often regarded as a genre defined by strict procedural guidelines. It is notable that three historically important composers, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), all employed a closely related fugue subject in three different works. An analysis of each of these works individually, and a comparison of these works collectively reveal numerous latent and salient features, and a reflection of the composers’ style within these works. Analyses also provide an outlook into the fluidity in certain aspects and rigidity in others of the form itself, reflected historically. The three composers analyzed fall closely together in history. J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel were contemporaries, whereas Mozart was born six years after Bach’s death and three years before Handel’s death. Analytically, the angularity of these similar fugue subjects presupposes a treatment regardless of the composer. Because of the shared intervallic content among the subjects of these fugues, despite being written by several different composers, a surprising number of similarities arise. Therefore, it is reasonable to assert that compositional choices made in the construction of the fugue subjects limit the number of results possible.

Bach’s complex compositional style incorporates religious and numerological symbols that fit perfectly together in a puzzle of musical code. Demanding unfaltering facility in dexterity, precise pitch, particularly in the multiple stoppings, as well as sensitivity to implied polyphonic and harmonic textures. These exceptional works may be the closest thing we have to a “perfect” composition, so why is it that musicians have drastically different alterations and interpretations of his works? It is as if quality, intensity, duration, and even pitch are subject to the performer’s adaptation. By mapping out these alterations performers make to Bach’s music, it becomes possible to map out their respective musical personalities.

He was of significance to his pupils and contempory musical connoisseurs in a way that set the foundation for the rest of Western Art music to follow. For many Bach is like coming home, in fact, “…in old Bach there is always something astonishing, and, what is the main thing, there is always something to be learned from

Bach's "Organ Fugue G Minor" manages to sound both melancholy and lively at the same time. Although the texture of the piece is clearly Baroque in its construction, it has emotional depth that anticipates the Romantic period. The fugue is tuneful, partially because of its inventive repetition and expressive use of contrast. As in all fugues, one melody seems to repeat the other, in a kind of a musical dance. But the different voices are multifaceted and complex. The full range of the organ is represented and the textures of the music are complex.

The Prelude actually consists of both a prelude and a fugue. The opening prelude is striking and slow. It begins with a full and deep C octave which utilizes the lower open C string, and then uses dotted eighth-sixteenth rhythms to follow a harmonically full and resonant path leading to a half cadence that then begins the fugue. Bach makes use of improvisatory composition here by using scale figures which lead to rich and beautiful chords, and dotted rhythms

Handel and Bach are considered two of the greatest composers of all time. However, when comparing the output of these two musicians, the diversity manifest in music in the era when they wrote immediately becomes apparent. Handel, although he used religious subject matter, is usually characterized as fundamentally a 'secular' composer. He composed for the concert hall, not the church, and primarily as a result of royal commissions. His music is strident, powerful, and large in scope. It is designed to entertain, rather than to spur contemplation (The pure power of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus', NPR, 2008). Bach, in contrast, often created music designed to be performed in sacred spaces. His music is more fluid and nuanced in style and designed more to spur contemplation and devotion rather than excite people's interest as a piece of entertainment.

He began to write preludes for organs but did not cover large- scale organization, when two melodies interact at the same time. A few years after playing for the church, Bach made a visit to Dieterich Buxtehude in Lubeck. This visit reinforced Bach’s style in music with the works he has made.

When Bach was eight years old he went to the old Latin Grammar School. He was taught reading and writing, Latin grammar, and a great deal of scripture, both in Latin and German. The boys in the school formed the choir of the St. Georgenkirche. This also gave Bach an opportunity to sing in the regular services, as well as in the nearby villages. He has an uncommonly fine treble voice.

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.