MUS-M 502 J S Bach

Instructor: Prof. Daniel R. Melamed, dmelamed (at) indiana (dot) edu.
Office: M325C. Office hours by appointment (e-mail to arrange)
Course Web page: http://bach.melamed.org/ or https://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu/M502-Bach-2023.htm

Aims and methods: We will examine concerted vocal works by J. S. Bach. Our focus will be on textual and musical analysis, on the sources that transmit the music, on the performance of the works in Bach's time, and on modern reception. We will use each work as an opportunity to investigate aspects of 18th-century style, analysis, performance practice, liturgy, scholarship, and so on.

There is a lot of musical analysis in this course. We will spend much of our time in class and in written assignments on the close textual and musical analysis of Bach's music.

Prerequisites. Proficiency requirements in music history (M501) and written music theory (T508).

Requirements. Reading, listening, score study; class attendance and participation; weekly short written assignments.

Materials and assignments. Scores, recordings, and readings are online. Daily assignments are on the course Web page; please check each time for changes and revisions. Note that many resources reside on Canvas but it is not necessary to log on there to find them--everything is linked from the course page. Please have texts and diagrams available in class. Questions in the assignments are for study; you do not need to write them up.

Attendance. Every student is expected at each class meeting; exceptions are only for illness or personal emergency. Please do not make plans to be elsewhere, and inform the instructor in advance if you are forced to miss a class. You should be equipped with materials (scores, posted handouts) and fully prepared to take part in discussions. There's no point in being in the course otherwise.

Written Assignments. Written assignments relate to the week's work, and are due Tuesday of the next week. Please submit through Canvas as a word processing document. At the top of each written assignment, please put your name and the assignment number. You may revise and resubmit any written assignment.

Grading. The course grade will be based on the written assignments and on active, frequent and well-informed class participation. Expectations:

Written assignments: A—carefully prepared, edited, and proofread; substantively insightful.
B—fundamentally appropriate but with problems in presentation or substance
C—poor presentation or substance

Class participation:   A—frequent, insightful, respectful of others
                                  B—insightful but less frequent
                                  C—infrequent, poorly prepared

Disability and Religious Observance. These will be accommodated according to University guidelines (http://www.iu.edu/~code/ and http://enrollmentbulletin.indiana.edu/pages/relo.php). Please speak with the instructor in advance of your need.

Academic conduct. You may consult and collaborate with classmates in preparing daily assignments. You may discuss written assignments and analyses with others, but all written work must be entirely your own. Every use of the work of others must be fully documented. If you violate the standards of academic conduct you will fail the course.

RESOURCES

Basic 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: Oxford University Press, 1998. [Ref ML134.B1 M45] [online]

Scores online
Scores from the 19th-century complete edition published by the Bach-Gesellschaft are at http://imslp.org/wiki/Bach-Gesellschaft_Ausgabe_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian).

Original sources online
Most of the surviving original sources of Bach's music are available online at https://www.bach-digital.de/content/index.xed

ASSIGNMENTS

J.S. Bach, Magnificat BWV 243a and 243

Autograph scores

BWV 243a: on Bach-Digital

BWV 243: on Bach-Digital Facsimile ed. Hans-Joachim Schulze. Leipzig, c1985. [ML96.4.B12 M3]

Modern scores

BWV 243a NBA II/3. [M3 .B119 Ser. II v. 3]. Critical commentary. [M3 .B119K Ser. II v. 3]

BG 11^I[interpolated mvts only]; repr. New York, 1995. [M2020.B118 M19 1995]: On IMSLP pdf on Canvas

Ed. Alfred Dürr. Cassel, c.1970. pdf on Canvas

BWV 243 NBA II/3. [M3 .B119 Ser. II v. 3]. Critical commentary. [M3 .B119K Ser. II v. 3]

BG 11^I; reprint New York, 1995. [M2020.B118 M19 1995]: On IMSLP pdf on Canvas

Text and translation

Recordings

BWV 243a J. Butt H. Max H. Rilling

BWV 243 J. Rifkin A. Parrott M. Suzuki H. Rilling

Introduction/The Magnificat in the liturgy

Magnificat Tone 1 from the Liber usualis

Magnificat (J. H. Schein) from the EKG

Magnificat settings from G. Vopelius, Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (1682)

Leipzig vespers--outline

Robin A. Leaver. “The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical context.” In The Cambridge companion to Bach, edited by John Butt, 109-111. Cambridge, 1997.

Ritornello forms

The basics of ritornello analysis

Optional reading, particularly if you have studied ritornellos with me before:

Laurence Dreyfus. Bach and the Patterns of Invention. Chapter 3, "The Ideal Ritornello." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.

BWV 243: Ritornello movement construction

Listen to and study the Magnificat BWV 243 and BWV 243a. In particular, focus on the structure and organization of the ritornello-form movements. Which are they?

Analyze the segmentation of the ritornellos; how is each constructed?

Diagram the ritornello structure of these movements, accounting for appearances of the ritornello (partial and complet), key areas, the distribution of the text across the movement, and so on. I suggest doing this before looking at the diagrams provided here.

Diagrams of ritornello movements

BWV 243: Analytical issues

Robert L. Marshall. “On the origin of Bach’s Magnificat: a Lutheran composer’s challenge.” In The music of Johann Sebastian Bach: the sources, the style, the significance, 161–73. New York, 1989.

How does Bach divide the text? What are the principles behind his division? What musical elements does he use to articulate and organize the overall structure? How are duties for the voices distributed? What role do the keys of movements play? Scoring?

How is the "Fecit potentiam" constructed? What type of movement would you call it? What are the roles of voices and instruments? For comparison, please familiarize yourself with this movement:

"Dein Alter sei wie deine Jugend" BWV 71/3 Score Recording: Suzuki

Dein Alter sei wie deiner Jugend, und Gott ist mit dir in allem, das du tust. / May your old age be like your youth, and God is with you in everything that you do.

BWV 243/243a: Sources/versions/problems

Use the BWV and BC [look these up in An introduction to Bach Studies for guidance] to look up the sources for BWV 243a and 243. What's a "source" in this context? Examine the autograph scores [see above for links to online versions]. What kinds of things can we learn from them? What do they not tell us?

What are the principal differences between the two versions (BWV 243 and 243a)? How do the interpolated movements fit? What musical styles are represented in them?

What are the main problems of performance of the Magnificat today?

Possible performing pitches of BWV 243

Optional reading:

Robert M. Cammarota. "The Sources of the Christmas Interpolations in J.S. Bach's Magnificat in E-flat major (BWV 243a)." Current Musicology 36 (1983): 79-99.

J.S. Bach, St. John Passion BWV 245

Autograph score [partial] on Bach-Digital

Original performing parts on Bach-Digital: versions I II III IV

Modern score

NBA II/4 [M3 .B119K Ser. II, v. 4]

Text
Text and translation [M. Marissen]

Text+translation in compact form [formatted to print back-to-back]

Recordings

Slowik [with alternative movements] Suzuki S. Kuijken Christophers Butt Herreweghe Rilling

Introduction/The passion in the liturgy

Study the text of the St. John Passion. What kinds of texts are included? Where are the non-scriptural movements placed? How are they distributed across the work? What motivated the placement of each? What is their role? Do they offer a consistent perspective of the story?

Listen to the work. What are the basic principles of Bach's musical treatment? What kinds of movements are there, and how do they line up with the various kinds of texts?

BWV 245 text sources

Luther's 1545 division of John's Gospel
BWV 245 outline

Familiarize yourself with the order of the liturgy for the service at which Bach performed the work, summarized here:

Leipzig liturgy for Good Friday

If you need an introduction to the liturgical year and the place of Good Friday in it, you can consult An introduction to Bach studies, p.55f.

Study the motet "Ecce quomodo moritur justus" by Gallus (Jacob Handl).

Score Text [Score at original notated pitch] Recording: Butt

Come prepared to sing this!

Bach's passion repertory

Bach's Leipzig passion performances

Optional readings on Bach's passions in the liturgy:

Robin A. Leaver. “The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical context.” In The Cambridge companion to Bach, edited by John Butt, 86-122. Cambridge, 1997. [ML410.B12 C24]

Günther Stiller. Johann Sebastian Bach and liturgical life in Leipzig. Translated by Herbert J.A. Bouman, Daniel F. Poellot, Hilton C. Oswald. Edited by Robin A. Leaver. St. Louis: Concordia, 1984. [ML410.B12 S853] [particularly 48-66 and 74-95]

There is a more detailed outline of the Good Friday liturgy in

Charles Sanford Terry. Joh. Seb. Bach. Cantata texts, sacred and secular. With a reconstruction of the Leipzig liturgy of his period. London: Holland, 1964. [ML49.B2 T3 1964]

BWV 245: Sources/versions

For a brief overview in English, please read the entry on the St. John Passion in

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

The St. John Passion presents some of the most notoriously complex source problems in Bach studies. The best introduction to the work and its issues is

Dürr, Alfred. "Genesis." Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion: genesis, transmission, and meaning. Transl. Alfred Clayton. New York, 2000. Pp. 1-13. [ML410.B13 D813]

You may also find this chapter useful:

Daniel R. Melamed. "Which St. John Passion BWV 245?" Hearing Bach's passions. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. 66-77.

From one or more of these writings, make yourself outlines of the four versions Bach performed. How do they differ?

Study the new/additional movements. What are their characteristics?

Principal changes in version II (1725) of BWV 245

BWV 245 replacement movements 1724-1725

BWV 245 outline--changes 1725-1725

Bach's Leipzig performing materials

We will take a detour into the cantata "Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit" BWV 14 to learn about Bach's performing materials.

Text and translation

Some optional background on the construction of the text

"Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit" Psalm 124 Mt 8:23-27 Derivation of the text of BWV 14

Recordings: Gardiner Koopman Suzuki Rilling

Listen to the cantata, but do not use a score or any other references other than the text. Make yourself an outline of the work from your listening, noting movement types, scoring, and the other sorts of things you might usually work out from a score. To the extent you can, diagram the formal outlines of movements from your listening.

Examine the original performing parts for this cantata. Most are available online:

     --Main set from the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig
    --Additional parts transmitted separately, from the Berlin library
    --One more part transmitted separately, from the Fitzwilliam Museum [poor copy, unfortunately]

Print the template here, and go carefully through each part noting the movements present. (Put the movement number in the appropriate column if it is in the part; leave the column blank if the movement isn't there. The first part (Corne) is done for you as an example. What is in each part? What are the principles by which this set of parts is constructed, especially as concerns which movements go in which parts? What information is supplied to singers and instrumentalists? What is not?

Now listen to the cantata again, following each movement from a part of your choice. This might be particularly instructive with vocal parts, which we do not often use today. What view of the piece do you get from this?

BWV 245: Performing materials/vocal forces

Read the following essay, focusing on the specific example of BWV 245, the the first public presentation of the these ideas.

Joshua Rifkin. "Bach's Chorus: A Preliminary Report." Musical Times 123 (1982): 747-754.

You might be interested to read the first public reply as well:

Robert L. Marshall. "Bach's Chorus. A Preliminary Reply to Joshua Rifkin." Musical Times 124 (1983): 19-22

What issues are raised by this view of the sources and the composition? How do the lessons from BWV 14 apply to the St. John Passion?

Study in particular the bass aria "Mein teurer Heiland." What forces does its score call for? What issues does this raise? Compare it, for example, to the aria "Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen" and the to the forces required for that movement.

What are the duties ("roles"?) of the various singers who participated in Bach's performances? What are the implications for the way we think about the piece, and the way it is performed today? Does the work change in various modes of performance? What should we do?

Surviving parts from four versions of BWV 245

BWV 245: Analytical topics

Examine the solo and choral arias as ritornello forms using the tools we have developed.

Study the construction of No. 27b "Lasset uns den nicht zerteilen." How is it assembled?

BWV 245: Interpretive themes

Please read:

Michael Marissen. Lutheranism, anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion: with an annotated literal translation of the libretto. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. [online]

Does the musical construction of the work contribute to meanings that can be taken as offensive? Does modern performance practice play a role? Do the differences between versions play any role? What should we do?

J.S. Bach, St. Matthew Passion BWV 244

Original sources

Autograph score: on Bach-Digital

Original parts: on Bach-Digital

Modern scores

NBA II/5 [M3 .B119K Ser. II, v. 5] [1736 version]

NBA II/5a [Facsimile of manuscript copy of an early version]

NBA II/5b [Edition of an early version]

Text

1729 text reprint
Text and translation [M. Marissen]

Text in compact form

Picander, Erbauliche Gedanken (1725)

Recordings

McCreesh [1736 forces] Butt [1742 forces] Suzuki Rilling Herreweghe Harnoncourt Bernstein Furtwängler

BWV 244: Sources/versions

Familiarize yourself with the piece and its text, including the distribution and placement of commentary movements in the narrative. How does it compare to the St. John Passion?

Examine the original text reprint. How does it present the work? What is included, and what not? What can we learn from it?

Examine the list of original performing parts. How do they relate to those for BWV 245? What can we learn from this list?

Outline of BWV 244
Summary of St 110 (original parts)
Principal changes from 1727 to 1736

BWV 244: Vocal roles/double chorus construction

How are vocal roles distributed? (Consult the list of original parts and their contents.) What are the considerations behind Bach's decisions? What are the consequences for performing and understanding the work today?

Examine Bach and Picander's use of two ensembles. How are responsibilities divided?

Study the text and music of the movements that call for two choruses. What kinds of movements are they? In what ways do the authors take advantage of the opportunities?

BWV 244 Dialogue texts

BWV 244 Distribution of gospel narrative

Optional: Some of these issues are discussed in

Daniel R. Melamed. "The Double Chorus in J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion BWV 244." Journal of the American Musicological Society 57 (2004): 3-50.

BWV 244/1 and 244/68

Study in detail the text and music of BWV 244/1 and 244/68, the opening and closing numbers. How are their texts constructed? What can you learn about them from the original text print? What are the roles of the two dialogue voices?

How does BWV 244/1 work as a ritornello form? What kind of material is presented? How is the chorale line integrated? What are the roles of the various parts of the ensemble?

Is BWV 244/68 a ritornello form movement? If not, what is it? How are forces used? What is the role of the second ensemble?

The problem of parody

On parody, please read

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

and

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

BWV 244: Dating/parody

BWV 244 is related by parody to a lost work known as BWV 244a (the "Cöthen Funeral Music"), which is also related to the memorial composition known as the "Trauer-Ode" BWV 198. The text of BWV 198 is here; a recording is here.

Compare the texts of the Funeral Music to the corresponding texts in BWV 244 and BWV 198. Can you tell from the texts which direction the parody went?

Outline of BWV 244a
BWV 244a texts compared with BWV 198 and BWV 244

Then please read

Joshua Rifkin. “The Chronology of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion.” Musical Quarterly 61 (1975): 360–87.

So what are the dates of composition and first performance of BWV 244? Which way did the parody go? Does this matter?

BWV 244: Big themes/overall structure

Study the text and music of Nos. 2-17, the opening section of the passion narrative. (This is a unit according to a division of the story by a 17th-century theologian.)

What are the musical characteristics of the gospel narrative? Is this "recitative?" What various kinds of text delivery are represented? How are the words of various speakers treated, Jesus' in particular? What are the roles of voices and instruments in the choruses?

Where are the interpolations placed? What kinds (arias, recit/aria pairs, chorales) are placed where? Who sings them? Why?

BWV 244: Revival and reception

Score of Felix Mendelssohn's versions (with a useful preface): Klaus Winkler, ed. Matthäus-Passion: in den Versionen von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Berlin 1829 und Leipzig 1841. Kassel : Bärenreiter, [2014]. [M2003.B12 M4 2014]

Recording (1841 version) Spering

Please read:

Jeffrey Sposato. The Price of Assimilation: Felix Mendelssohn and the Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitic Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Chapter 2.

Study Mendelssohn's 1829 version. What are its important features? How does it present the work? What have been the consequences of Mendelssohn’s presentations for interpretation and performance since?

J. S. Bach, Missa BWV 232^I ["Dresden Missa"]

The work Bach presented to the Dresden court in 1733 consisted of Kyrie and Gloria settings. This music was later incorporated into the Mass in B Minor, which we will study later. For now, spend your time with just those first two portions of the Ordinary, which constitute a complete piece. Note that most of the resources below include the entire Mass, and often do not recognize the 1733 Missa as a distinct work.

Original sources

Autograph score: on Bach-Digital Facsimile: ML96.5.B118 M2

Original parts: on Bach-Digital Facsimile : ML96.5 .B2 S. 232, 1983 Rare Book

Modern scores [of BWV 232]

NBA II/1, ed. F. Smend [M3 .B119 Ser. 2 v. 1]

NBA revised edn., ed U. Wolf [M3 .B1192 v.1]

ed. J. Rifkin. M2010.B118 M4 S. 232 2006

Text and translation

Recordings [entire Mass]

Butt Suzuki Brüggen Junghänel Leonhardt Rilling Rifkin

BWV 232^I: Overview

Study the text and music of the Missa BWV 232^I. Make yourself an outline.

How are the three sections of the Kyrie treated stylistically? What kinds of movements are these?

Study the division of the Gloria text. What choices has Bach made and why? What kinds of movements are represented? What role does affect play in choices and settings?

The two known parody relationships--those for which models survive--in the Gloria are

Qui tollis = BWV 46/1 Score Recording: Suzuki

Gratias agimus tibi = BWV 29/2 Score Recording: Rilling

Examine the parody models and their texts, and study their relationship to the Mass versions. How did Bach make the choice of model? How did he adapt the model? In what way is this kind of parody different from most of the examples we have studied? Does any of this matter in understanding the Latin work?

Texts of parody models
JSB Mass repertory

BWV 232^I: Sources and performance

Examine the original performing parts (available online; see above), which represent a realization of the piece. What are its features? How does Bach use his forces? (Examine the Laudamus te, for example, which involves a concerted violin line.) What do you make of the bassoon part? What movements are "choral" and which are "solo," according to the parts? (Look at the Domine Deus and Qui tollis, for example.)

How do these features affect our view of the piece in performance today?

BWV 232^I: Analysis

Spend analytical time with "Domine Deus"/"Domine Fili." What do you make of the way text is distributed between the voices? What is the formal organization of this movement? How do its opening passages work? What do you suppose its probable parody model looked like? How is it connected to the following movement? What's the harmonic plan of this movement and the following one?

Spend analytical time with "Gloria in excelsis" and "Et in terra pax." How are these movements organized? What role does ritornello form play in each?

Many performances since approximately the 1960s have tried to apply differentiated vocal forces to these movements, using concertists for some sections and adding ripieno singers in others. How might that work? Is it a good idea?

Spend analytical time with the two "Kyrie eleison" settings. How does each make use of vocal imitation?

J.S. Bach, Mass in B Minor BWV 232

[Resources are as for BWV 232^I above]

BWV 232: Sources and history

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 read for background:

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, 175-89. New York, 1989.

Study the text and music of BWV 232 along with the known parody models. What kinds of adaptations are there? How do they compare to those in BWV 232^I? How useful is parody as an approach to this music? Should we be so focused on Bach's compositional process?

Parody models
Texts of parody models
Outline and a text from "Entfernet euch, ihr heitern Sterne" BWV Anh. 9

BWV 232: Stile antico

Please read

Christoph Wolff. "Bach and the tradition of the Palestrina style." In Bach: Essays on his Life and Music, 84-104. Cambridge, Mass., 1991.

Study the Kyrie and Gloria of Bach's arrangement of Palestrina, "Missa sine nomine" a 6:

Score: Kyrie Gloria Recording: Kyrie Gloria Qui tollis

Examine the Credo intonation for the Bassani Mass BWV 1081 discussed in Wolff's essay. Recording: Wilkinson [Credo]

Examine Bach's arrangement of the "Suscepit Israel" BWV 1082 from the Caldara Magnificat. Recording: Wilkinson

Study the stile antico movements from the Mass in B Minor in analytical detail. Which are they? How do they make use of the style? Why in these movements?

BWV 232: Reception

We will focus on the 1786 benefit concert performed by C. P. E. Bach, which included the Credo of the Mass in B Minor.

Please read this chapter, concentrating on the section on the 1786 concert:

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.

How does this concert present the work? In the context of what other compositions? Why? Can this inform the way we think about the piece?

Original program Recording

C. P. E. Bach's Introduction Score (in the hand of a copyist)

J. S. Bach, Credo BWV 232 (arranged C. P. E. Bach) Score (in the hand of CPEB's principal copyist) Parts

G. F. Handel, "Ich weiss, dass mein Erlöser lebet" and "Halleluja" from Messiah [Mozart's contemporary arrangement: Score and Score]

C. P. E. Bach, Symphony [unspecified; this recording uses Wq 183/1 Score]

C. P. E. Bach, Magnificat Wq 215 Score

C. P. E. Bach, "Heilig ist Gott" Wq 217 Score (1779)