24 August        1. Introduction/Ritornello analysis

31 August        2. Ritornello forms

  7 September  3. Dresden Missa: parts and forces

14 September  4. Autograph score

21 September  5. Editions/editorial history

28 September  6. Parody

 5 October       7. Confessional issues

 13 October    8. [Thursday] Recordings

19 October      9. Adaptations

[26 October no meeting]

  2 November    10. BWV 232 and biography

  9 November    11. Compositional reception

16 November   12. Speculative hypotheses

[Thanksgiving break]

30 November   13. Bach defended/paper conferences

 7 December    14. Presentations    1.                    2.                    3.

 8 December   15. Presentations    4.                    5.                    6.    [Thursday]

TOPIC

J. S. Bach's Mass in B Minor BWV 232 as a starting point for the study of early eighteenth-century music and its modern reception.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Prof. Daniel R. Melamed    M325C, dmelamed (AT) indiana.edu
Office hours: Wednesday, 11.15 AM-12.15 PM and by appointment (e-mail to arrange). E-mail questions are welcome at any time and are the fastest way to get an answer.

Course information, assignments, reserve lists and this schedule can be found at http://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu/M602-BWV232-2016.htm, also reachable through  http://M602.melamed.org.

REQUIREMENTS

• Class attendance/participation. Seminar members are expected to attend every meeting; please do not schedule conflicting activities. Religious commitments and serious illness are ordinarily the only acceptable reasons for missing a meeting; please let the instructor know beforehand by e-mail. Members of the seminar are expected to participate actively in discussions and to be fully prepared to do so every time.
   
• Assignments for each meeting. Most meetings will be led (in shorter or longer segments) by members of the seminar based on assignments carried out beforehand in consultation with the instructor.
   
• Final paper and presentation. The last meetings will be devoted to presentations by members of the seminar. At the first meeting we will establish dates for the presentations, which will be based on research papers circulated in advance. Completed papers will be due in electronic form for circulation one week before the date of  presentations.

GRADING

The course grade will be based on presentations, participation and the final paper. There will be no examinations.

SEMINAR MEMBERS

Jaime Carini

Stewart Duncan

Bret McCandless

Elizabeth Stoner

Matthew Van Vleet

Nicolette van den Bogerd

D. Melamed

RESOURCES

Original sources      

    Autograph score:                   on Bach-Digital    Facsimile: ML96.5.B118 M2  pdf on Canvas: 1 [lacks 1 page]   2    3    4

    Original parts [1733 Missa]:  on Bach-Digital    Facsimile : ML96.4 .B118 new ser. v. 2 Vault   pdf on Canvas

Modern scores

   Nägeli-Simrock    1833    1845

   Simrock ed. A.B. Marx    1833 

   BG 6  1856    pdf on Canvas       

  NBA II/1 ed. F. Smend 1954 [M3 .B119 Ser. 2 v. 1] Critical Commentary 1956

   NBA II/1a ed. Uwe Wolf 2005 ["Early Versions"]

   Peters ed. C. Wolff 1997 [M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 P4]

   Breitkopf & Härtel ed. J. Rifkin 2006  Preface   Critical Commentary  [M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 2006]

   NBArev ed. U. Wolf 2010

 Text and translation

Recordings (among many)

Books

   Charles Sanford Terry. Bach: the Mass in B minor. 2nd edn. London: Oxford University Press, 1947. [MT115.B2 T31]

   Walter Blankenburg. Einführung in Bachs h-Moll-Messe BWV 232. 3rd edn. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1974. [MT115.B2 B64 1974]

  Helmuth Rilling. Johann Sebastian Bachs h-Moll-Messe. 2nd edn. Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Hänssler, 1986. [MT115.B2 R53 1986]

  John Butt. Bach: Mass in B minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

   George Stauffer. Bach: The Mass in B Minor: The Great Catholic Mass. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. [ML410.B12 S75 2003]

   Christoph Wolff. Johann Sebastian Bach, Messe in h-Moll. Cassel: Bärenreiter, 2009. [ML410.B12 W796]

   Yo Tomita, Robin A. Leaver and Jan Smaczny, eds. Exploring Bach's B-minor mass. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Survey essays

   Hans-Joachim Schulze. "The B minor Mass – Perpetual Touchstone for Bach Research." In Bach, Handel, Scarlatti Tercentenary Essays,  ed. Peter Williams, 311–20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

   Christoph Wolff. "Past, Present and future Perspectives on Bach's B-Minor Mass." In  Exploring Bach's B-minor mass, ed. Yo Tomita, Robin A. Leaver and Jan Smaczny, 3-20. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2013

REFERENCE TOOL

 Basic questions about research materials on Bach are answered in

Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen. An introduction to Bach studies. New York, 1998. [Ref ML134.B1 M45]

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Introduction/Ritornello analysis

A very brief guide to ritornello analysis

In-class examples:

   Vivaldi; Op. 3, No. 6/1; Op. 3, No. 5/1; Op. 3, No. 3/1

   Bach: BWV 1041/1; 1042/1; 1043/1; after 1060; 77/5; 232/1; BWV 58/3

Diagrams of ritornello movements in BWV 243
Diagram of BWV 58/3

2. Ritornello forms

Reading

   Stephen A. Crist. "Aria forms in the vocal works of J. S. Bach, 1714-24." PhD diss. Brandeis Univ., 1988. Chapter 4.

   John Butt. Bach: Mass in B minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Chapter 5,

   Laurence Dreyfus. "The ideal ritornello." In Bach and the patterns of invention. Cambridge, MA, 1996.  Pp. 59-102.

The original formulation of modern analysis of Fortspinnung-type ritornellos is

   Wilhelm Fischer. "Zur Entwicklungsgechichte des Wiener klassischen Stils." Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 3 (1915): 24-84.

We will focus on ritornello forms using the skills developed in the first class meeting. Analyze all the ritornello-form movements in BWV 232, both solo pieces and choruses. Consider both ritornello formation and overall architecture. Make structural diagrams for each work, taking the diagram of BWV 243/2 we discussed in the first class as a model.

Come to class prepared to discuss the various types of ritornellos Bach composes and the formal strategies he uses.

3. Dresden Missa: parts and forces

Study the 1733 Dresden Missa parts in close detail. They are available on Bach-Digital (link above) but you will find it helpful to consult the facsimile edition so you can hold the parts in your hands.

First make yourself a table of the contents of each part. List the parts down the left side of a table and the movements across the top, and then note which movements are in which part. (Like this; you can use Xs rather than numbers if you prefer.) This is a good way to survey the contents of the parts and to start thinking about their construction.

Then consider the process by which they were copied from the (first part of ) the autograph score. Use the NBA Critical Commentary and the NBA copyist catalogue to reconstruct the copying. Who copied what? In what order? What was the logic of the division of labor? Consider making a second version of your table to reflect the copying process, putting copyist initials or sigla in place of your numbers or Xs.

What features of the basso continuo part are notable? How are lines distributed in the "Laudamus te" and what are the consequences? What do you make of the bassoon part?

Then consider the logic and practicialities of the parts--how they were designed to be used, what kind of information they provide the performers, what they imply about the forces needed to realize the piece. What things do you learn from the parts that you cannot get from the score? Which source represents "the work?"

There is a famous problem in the notation of the "Domine Deus/Domini Fili" discussed in this article. Is Herz correct?

Gerhard Herz. "Lombard Rhythm in the Domine Deus of Bach's B minor Mass: An Old Controversy Resolved." In Essays on J. S. Bach, 221-29. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, n.d.

4. Autograph score

Study the autograph score of the Mass in B Minor from the facsimile and the photos on Bach-Digital. Familiarize yourself with the physical structure of the manuscript from the NBA critical commentary and the notes on the facsimile edition.

Examine the features of Bach's late handwriting and the criteria for dating in this article, and relate them to the features in the score.

Yoshitake Kobayashi. “Zur Chronologie der Spätwerke Johann Sebastian Bachs: Kompositions- und Aufführungstätigkeit von 1736 bis 1750.” Bach-Jahrbuch 74 (1988): 7–72.

Read the section (pp. 175-181) on the history of the autograph in this chapter:

George Stauffer. "The B-Minor Mass after Bach's Death: Survival, Revival, and Reinterpretation." Bach: The Mass in B Minor: The Great Catholic Mass. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Pp.175-205. 

On issues of compositional process, please read:

Robert L. Marshall. “The Mass in B Minor: The Autograph Scores and the Compositional Process.” In The music of Johann Sebastian Bach : the sources, the style, the significance, 175-189. New York: Schirmer Books, 1989.

Bach's working methods are discussed in

Robert L. Marshall. The compositional process of J. S. Bach: A study of the autograph scores of the vocal works. 2 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.

Much of the scholarship on the Mass in B Minor is concerned with the parody origin of its movements, and much of the evidence on this point comes from features of the autograph score. Examine each movement of the score from this point of view. What are the consequences of viewing the autograph score principally in this light? You can take the brief observations on each movement in chapter 4 of this book as a starting point:

John Butt. Bach: Mass in B minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

5. Editions/editorial history

We will study the history of editions of the Mass in B Minor. Examine each that is available to you, including prefaces, and read the suggested literature to build yourself a history of the work in print. On the history of the work's publication in general, you can read relevant sections of

Editions

1833 Nägeli/Simrock online

1833 N/Simrock parts  online

1833 Simrock pf (ed. A. B. Marx)

1845 Simrock online

1856 BG VI ed. J. Rietz         pdf on Canvas 

1857 BG VI/2 ed. J. Rietz

1954 NBA II/1 ed. F. Smend 1954 [M3 .B119 Ser. 2 v. 1] Critical Commentary 1956

Review by Georg von Dadelsen        German        English

1995 Peters ed. C. Wolff  [M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 P4]

2005 NBA II/1a ed. Uwe Wolf 2005 ["Early Versions"]

2006 Breitkopf & Härtel ed. J. Rifkin 2006  Preface   Critical Commentary  [M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 2006]

2010 Bärenreiter ed. U. Wolf = NBArev    M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 B14 2010

Uwe Wolf on editing the Mass: "Many problems, various solutions: editing Bach's B-minor Mass." In Exploring Bach's B-minor mass. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2013. Pp. 186-213.

Joshua Rifkin on issues in this edition: http://www.bachnetwork.co.uk/ub5/rifkin.pdf

6. Parody

This week we will discuss the process of parody and its use in BWV 232. The literature on this subject is large. Please read the following as an overview:

"Parody." In Malcolm Boyd, ed. Oxford composer companions: J.S. Bach. Oxford, 1999. [Ref ML410.B12 J15]

Hans-Joachim Schulze. "The parody problem in Bach's music: an old problem reconsidered." Bach 20, no. 1 (1989): 7-21.

Arnold Schering. “Über Bachs Parodieverfahren.” BJb 18 (1921): 49–95.

Werner Neumann. “Über Ausmaß und Wesen des Bachschen Parodie­verfahrens.” BJb 51 (1965): 63–85.

Friedrich Smend. Bach in Köthen. Berlin, 1951. Translated by John Page and edited and revised by Stephen Daw as Bach in Köthen. St. Louis, 1985.

Renate Steiger, ed. Parodie und Vorlage: zum Bachschen Parodie­verfahren und seiner Bedeutung für die Hermeneutik. Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für theologische Bachforschung Bulletin 2. Heidelberg, 1988. (BWV 67, 136, 179, and Masses BWV 233–236)

Klaus Häfner. Aspekte des Parodieverfahrens bei Johann Sebastian Bach: Beiträge zur Wiederentdeckung verschollener Vokalwerke. Laaber : Laaber-Verlag, 1987.

Detlef Gojowy. "Zur Frage der Köthener Trauermusik und der Matthäuspassion." BJb 51 (1965): 86-134.

Paul Brainard. “Bach’s parody procedure and the St. Matthew Passion.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 22 (1969): 241–60.

Study individual movements and their parody models, where known, closely comparing models and new versions. Here are links to some material:

Scores:          BWV 29/2    BWV 46/1    BWV 171/1    BWV 12/2    BWV 120/2    BWV 215/1    BWV 11/4

Recordings:    BWV 29/2    BWV 46/1    BWV 171/1    BWV 12/2    BWV 120/2    BWV 215/1    BWV 11/4

Please choose one movement with a known model and one without, and be prepared to lead a discussion of each. Please coordinate among members of the seminar.