M510. Chorale settings 1500-1750 |
Daniel R. Melamed |
Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University |
Spring 2022 |
SCHEDULE
I. The chorale repertory and its origins
Tue 11 Jan 1. Introduction
Thu 13 Jan 2. Chorales in the reformed liturgy/The earliest hymnals
Written assignment 1
Tue 18 Jan 3. Martin Luther's chorales
Thu 20 Jan
Written assignment 2
Tue 25 Jan 4. 17th-century chorales/Tools for research
II. Vocal settings
Thu 27 Jan 5. The earliest polyphonic settings
Written assignment 3
Tue 1 Feb
Thu 3 Feb
Written assignment 4
Tue 8 Feb 6. Cantional settings
Thu 10 Feb
Written assignment 5
Tue 15 Feb 7. Michael Praetorius
Thu 17 Feb
Written assignment 6
Tue 22 Feb 8. J. H. Schein and the concerto
Thu 24 Feb
Written assignment 7
Tue 1 Mar 9. H. Schütz, Musicalische Exequien
Thu 3 Mar
Tue 8 Mar 10. Vocal concertos of Buxtehude and others
Thu 10 Mar
Written assignment 8
Spring Break
Tue 22 Mar 11. Cantatas of J. S. Bach and G. P. Telemann
Thu 24 Mar
Written assignment 9
Tue 29 Mar
Thu 31 Mar
Written assignment 10
Tue 5 Apr 12. Motets
Thu 7 Apr
Written assignment 11
III. Instrumental settings
Tue 12 Apr 13. Variations/partitas
Thu 14 Apr 14. Preludes and fantasias of Buxtehude
Written assignment 12
Tue 19 Apr 15. J. S. Bach: Orgelbüchlein
Thu 21 Apr 16. J. S. Bach: Large-scale settings
Written assignment 13
Tue 26 Apr 17. J. S. Bach: Schübler Chorales
Thu 28 Apr 18. J. S. Bach: Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch"
GENERAL
INFORMATION
Instructor: Prof. Daniel R. Melamed,
dmelamed (AT) indiana (dot) edu.
Office: M325C, (85)5-8252. Office hours by appointment
Course Web page:
http://chorales.melamed.org/ or
http://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu/M510-Chorales-2022.htm
Aims and methods: We will explore Renaissance and Baroque compositional style by tracing the setting of German hymns (chorales) from their appearance in the first printed hymnals in the early16th century to their use as the basis for vocal and instrumental compositions in the 17th and 18th.
This is largely an analysis course. We will spend much of our time in class and all of our time in the written assignments on the close musical analysis of chorales and settings.
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. Readings, scores, and recordings 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—everything is linked from the course page. Please have texts, diagrams and other handouts 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 inform the instructor in advance if you are forced to miss a class. You should come equipped with materials (scores, posted handouts) and fully prepared to take part in discussions. There's no point in being in the course otherwise.
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 (https://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/student-support/disability-services/get-help/accommodations/index.html and https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/policies/bl-aca-h10-religious-observances/index.html). 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 assignment topics 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.
Guidelines for written assignments
REFERENCE MATERIAL
LU Liber Usualis with Introduction and Rubrics in English edited by the Benedictines of Solesmes. Tournai, 1936. [M2151 .L4 1961a]
EKG Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch. [M2138 .E82]
Zahn Johannes Zahn. Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder. 6 vols. Gütersloh, 1889; reprint Hildesheim, 1997. [Ref ML3129.Z22 M5] [Volumes I II III IV V VI]
Wackernagel Philipp Wackernagel. Das deutsche Kirchenlied von der ältesten Zeit bis zu Anfang des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 5 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1864-1877. [BV355.G3 W12] [Volumes I II III IV V]
Fischer-Tümpel
Albert Fischer and Wilhelm Tümpel. Das deutsche evangelische
Kirchenlied des 17. Jahrhunderts. 6 vols. Gütersloh, 1904-1916 reprint
Hildesheim, 1964. [BV480 .F53] [Volumes
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
EdK Edition des deutschen Kirchenlieds. RISM B/8. [formerly known as Das deutsche Kirchenlied]
Joachim Stalmann et al. Das deutsche Kirchenlied, Abteilung III. Melodien aus gedruckten Quellen bis 1680. 6 vols. [Ref 128.H8 D33]
Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (Norrington)
Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (von Karajan)
Chorales in the reformed
liturgy/The earliest hymnals
1. For background on Luther and the earliest hymnals, please read:
Friedrich Blume. Protestant Church Music. A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1974. Pp. 5-14 and 51-72.
Robin A. Leaver. "The Lutheran Reformation." In The Renaissance: From the 1470s to the End of the 16th Century, ed. Iain Fenlon, 263-85. London: Macmillan, 1989.
Robin A. Leaver. "Luther, Martin." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.
2. Read Luther and Walther's writings excerpted in section 27 of:
Pierro Weiss and Richard Taruskin, eds. Music in the Western World. A History in Documents. New York: Schirmer Books, 1984.
3. Study the contents of Luther's German liturgy:
Martin Luther. Deudsche Messe und Ordnung Gottesdiensts. Wittenburg, 1526. A online copies here and here. And a translation here.
Can you identify the text and function of each of the musical units Luther specifies? What is their relation to the units of the Latin Mass? Come prepared to sing the piece that begins "Jesaia dem propheten das geschah"; the clef marks "C." (This is also found as EKG 135.)
4. Read the following brief discussion for orientation:
and . "Chorale." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 9, "Earliest hymnbooks."
5. Examine the following early hymnals:
"Achtliederbuch" (Nuremberg, 1523/4) Online copy here.
Erfurt Enchiridion (Erfurt, 1524) [M2138 .E74 1983] Maler printing online here; Loersfeld printing here.
Klug, Geistliche Lieder (Wittenberg, 1529) [1529 edition lost; facsimile of 1531 reprint M2138 .K66; expanded 1543 reprint here]
Babst, Geistliche Lieder (Leipzig, 1545) [M2138 .B115 1988]; 1567 reprint here.
How are the hymnals organized? What kind of musical notation do you find in them? By what technical means were the books produced? Does their appearance tell you anything about their production and their intended purpose?
Transcribe the music of "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" from the Erfurt Enchiridion into modern notation. You will have to make some decisions; write 250 words of carefully edited prose in which you briefly explain the problems and your solutions.
Guidelines for writing analytical papers are here. Note that a few guidelines are less applicable to very short essays.
1. Please read the following as background:
Friedrich Blume. Protestant Church Music. A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1974. Pp. 14-44, esp. 35-44.
and . "Chorale." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Sections 2-5.
2. Study the following chorales.
Materials from EKG, Babst, Klug and other sources cited below
A. A Latin hymn and its three derivative Lutheran hymns.
Melody Where to find it
Veni redemptor gentium B. Stäblein, Hymnen, Monumenta monodica medii aevi, vol. 1, p. 217) [Ref. M2 M8137 v.1
EKG 1 Nun komm der Heiden Heiland Erfurt Enchiridion
EKG 142 Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort Babst
EKG 139 Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich Klug
Write out the four melodies, lined up so that you can see the relationship among them. Come prepared to discuss the four tunes and the process of adaptation of the Latin original.
B. Two tunes taken over more or less intact.
EKG 15 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ Klug
EKG 239 Nun freut euch, lieben Christen Achtliederbuch
What are the distinctive characteristics of these tunes?
For background you can read
Johannes Riedel, ed. Leise settings of the Renaissance and Reformation era. Madison: A-R Editions, 1980. Pp. vii-xiii.
C. Two original tunes.
EKG 16 Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her Use EKG
EKG 201 Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott Klug
What are the characteristics of Luther's melodic style?
D. A sequence and its offspring.
Victimae paschali laudes LU p.780
EKG 75 Christ ist erstanden
EKG 76 Christ lag in Todes Banden
Write out the melodies, lined up. What characteristic features of sequence melodies and texts find their way into the derived hymns?
E. A Psalm reworked into rhymed poetry.
EKG 195 Aus tiefer Not Klug, Psalm 130
Compare the Psalm to the versified hymn text.
Write 250 words of carefully edited prose analyzing the tune "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist."
1. Please read and . "Chorale." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Sections 10-11.
2. Examine the following chorales. What musical features are characteristic of these later tunes?
Herzliebster Jesu (EKG 60)
Nun danket alle Gott (EKG 228)
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (EKG 63)
Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig (EKG (EKG 327)
Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten (EKG 298)
Jesu, meine Freude (EKG 293)
Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist (EKG 24)
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (EKG 48)
O Traurigkeit (EKG 73)
3. Spend some time with the research tools known as Wackernagel, Fischer-Tümpel, and Zahn. What do they cover? How are they organized? Look up some chorales from the earliest hymals and from the list above in the appropriate tools.
The earliest polyphonic settings
NB: Please bring copies of scores and the original parts linked below. And come prepared to sing!
1. Please read the following as background:
Robert L. Marshall and Robin A. Leaver. "Chorale settings." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section I.1.
Friedrich Blume. Protestant Church Music. A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1974. Pp. 72-105.
Théodore Gérold. "Protestant Music on the Continent." In Gerald Abraham, ed., New Oxford History of Music 4, 428-35. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.
2. Survey this collection: Johann Walter, Geistliche Gesangk Buchlein (Wittenburg, 1524)
T and B partbooks online. Partbooks 1525 (with MS soprano) online.
Facsimile: Ed. Walter Blankenburg. Cassel, 1979. [M2.W23 G4]
Modern edition: Johann Walter. Sämtliche Werke. Ed. Otto Schröder. Vols. 1-3. Cassel and Basel, 1953-5. [M3 .W23]
a. You will often read that there are two types of chorale settings in the Geistliche Gesangk Buchlein. Is this true? Examine the collection and identify the two basic types. What role does the chorale melody play in each? How strictly does a chorale tune determine the contents of the other voices and the outlines (harmonic, phrase structure, etc.) of whole pieces?
b. Study closely the three settings of "Christ lag in Todesbanden"
Original print Voices In complete works
IX 4vv Vol. 3, p.6
X 4vv Vol. 1, pp.11-12
XI 5vv Vol. 3, pp. 6-7
How are these pieces organized harmonically? Where are the cadences? What makes a cadence? What's the role of the chorale-bearing voice in the cadences? What implications does that have for the overall harmonic organization of the piece?
c. Spend some time with notation of the pieces in the original print. What is the relation between the print's format and musical notation, and the musical content of the pieces?
The settings in the original notation.
Some recordings of miscellaneous Walter settings: Weser-Renaiisance Himlische Cantorey Capella Fidicina
[We'll probably get only this far in the first two class meetings on this topic]
d. Here are Walter's two settings of "Christ ist erstanden." Please examine them and be prepared to sing and discuss them. What is new or different?
3. Survey this collection:
J. Kugelmann, Concentus novi trium vocum (Augsburg, 1540)
Modern edition: Ed. Hans Engel. Das Erbe deutscher Musik. Sonderreihe, vol. 2. Cassel and Basel, 1955. [M2.E66 S7 v. 2]
Examine "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr" (no. XXII). Is Kugelmann's constructive model the same as Walter's? What consequences does the use of three voices have?
4. Survey this collection:
Georg Rhau, Newe Deudsche Geistliche Gesenge. (Wittenburg, 1544)
Facsimile: Ed. Ludwig Finscher. Cassel, 1969. [ML96.5.R468]
Modern edition: Ed. Johannes Wolf and Hans Joachim Moser. Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst 54. [M2 .D3 v. 34]
Investigate the two settings of "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland". How do pieces of such different length result from the same tune? Does the longer behave more independently of the tune than the shorter?
5. Secular model
Study Ludwig Senfl, "Unsäglich Schmerz," (Complete Works, vol. 2, pp.58-9 [M3 .S47 M6]). What is the connection between this work and the repertory of chorale settings?
Recording [Basler Madrigalisten; track 15] Fritz Wunderlich
6. A later derivative
Examine the settings in this collection:
Hans Leo Hassler. Psalmen und Christliche Gesänge auff die Melodeyen fugweiss componiert. Nuremberg, 1607.
Modern edition: Ed. C. Russel Crosby. Hans Leo Hassler: Sämtliche Werke 7. Wiesbaden, 1965. [M3 .H35 v.7]
Modern edition Leipzig, 1777.
What do you make of the description "fugweiss" (=fugweis, or fugally) on the title page? What compositional techniques can you identify?
Study the two settings of "Aus tiefer Not." How do they work? Midi recording and Midi recording
Written assignment 4
Write 250-300 words on an analytical topic about
this
setting by Kugelmann of "Ein feste Burg."
1. Please read the following as background:
Robert L. Marshall and Robin A. Leaver. "Chorale settings." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 2.
Werner Braun. "Cantional." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 2.
Friedrich Blume. Protestant Church Music. A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1974. Pp. 133-38.
2. Examine the Cantionalien of Hassler, Schein, and Praetorius. How are they organized? What principles govern the settings? What do you make of the multiple settings? What are the placement and role of the melody? How do the figures (when present) relate to the settings? Be prepared to sing the selections below.
Hassler, Hans Leo. Kirchengesäng: Psalmen und geistliche Lieder, auff die gemeinen Melodeyen simpliciter gesetzt. Nuremberg, 1608. Ed. C. Russel Crosby, Hans Leo Hassler: Sämtliche Werke, vol. 8. Wiesbaden, 1965. [M3 .H35 v.8]
Study the settings excerpted here.
Schein, Johann Hermann. Cantional oder Gesangbuch Augspurgischer Confession. Leipzig, 1627; 2nd enlarged ed. 1645. Ed. Adam Adrio, Johann Hermann Schein: Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, vol. 2. Cassel, 19 . [M3 .S312 v.2/1 and 2/2.]
Study the settings excerpted here.
Praetorius, Michael. Musae Sioniae . . . deutscher geistlicher . . . üblicher Psalmen und Lieder . . . sechster/siebender/achter Theil. Wolfenbüttel, 1609-10. Ed. F. Blume, M. Praetorius: Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke, vols 6-8. Wolfenbüttel, 19 . [M3 .P89 vols. 6, 7, 8]
Study the settings excerpted here.
Written assignment 5
Slides for class 2
Write 250-300 words comparing Cantional settings of the same tune by Schein and Hassler. Choose a tune we haven't discussed in this context.
New: Some seventeenth-century classifications of style
1. Examine in detail some of Michael Praetorius' settings of "Vom Himmel hoch" and "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" contained in the Musae Sioniae (published in nine volumes, 1605-10; modern editions here). (Links to scores and some recordings below.)
What techniques of musical organization does he use? Is a three-voice setting just a two-voice piece with an added voice? A four-voice piece? Eight-voice? Do any of his polyphonic settings resemble those of Walter, Kugelmann, or of Rhau's composers? Are cantus firmi treated the same way? Do they serve the same function as in the earlier settings? How are cadences made?
2. In the preface to Musae Sioniae, vol. 9, Praetorius states that his aim has been to set each tune for two or three voices in each of the following ways (Arten):
1. gar schlecht auff Muteten Art 1. simply in motet style
2. auff Madrigalischer Art 2. in madrigal style
3. [auf Clausul-Art] 3. [in Clausel style]
. . . ist etwa eine Clausel a segment with text
mit dem Texte aus dem Choral is taken from the chorale
genommen unnd dieselbe Contra- and worked contrapuntally
punctsweise zum gantzen Choral all through the rest of
durch und durch geführet the chorale . . .
His further aim is to provide each of the following kinds of settings of every tune:
1. mit vier Stimmen Fugeweiß 1. for 4 voices, contrapuntally,
ad aequales ad aequales
2. mit 4. oder 5. Stimmen die 2. for 4 or 5 voices with
Canonen . . . observiret canons
3. mit 5. Stimmen ad imitationem 3. for 5 voices in the
Orlandi de Lasso auff Muteten manner of Orlando di
Art Lasso in motet style
4. mit 5. Stimmen ad imitationem 4. for 5 voices after
Lucae Marentij und ander Luca Marenzio and
Italorum auff Madrigalische other Italians in
Art madrigal style
5. mit sechs Stimmen auf Ludovici 5. for 6 voices after
de Victoria Art, gleich als Th. Luis de Victoria,
wenn sie per Choros gesetzt just as if they were
wehren for double choir
To what extent can you match these descriptions with the settings of the two chorales you have examined? What kinds of pieces by Lasso, Marenzio, and Victoria is Praetorius refering to?
Settings of "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"
Recordings of some settings: Frankfurt Renaissance Ensemble/Isaak Ensemble Heidelberg
Track 3. a 6 = LV
Track 4. a 4 = LII
Track 5. a 3 = LI
Track 6. a 3 = III
Track 7. a 8 = IIRecordings of some settings: Viva Voce, Track 2
a 3 = LI
a 3
a 4 [Cantional]
a 4 = LII
a 6 = LV
Settings of "Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her"
Scores: Part I Part II Part III
Recordings of some settings: Frankfurt Renaissance Ensemble/Isaak Ensemble Heidelberg
Track 9. a 3 = LXXI
Track 10. a 4 = LXXII
Track 11. a 5 = LXXIVRecordings of some settings: Viva Voce, Track 8
a 4 = LXXII
a 1
a 4 = LXXIII
a 3 = XXXIV
a 4 = LXXIII
a 3 = VIII
a 1
a 4 = LXXIIIRecording of a setting: Caplla Fidicina, Tracks 27-29
a 8 = II, III, IV
Written assignment 6
Write 300-350 words on a (non-Cantional) Praetorius chorale setting from Musae Sioniae vol. 9, available here (not "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" or "Vom Himmel hoch").
1. Read Arthur Hutchings, et al. "Concerto." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 1.
2. Examine the following settings from
Johann Hermann Schein, Opella nova: Geistlicher Concerten mit 3, 4, und 5 Stimmen zusampt dem General-Bass auf Italienische Invention componirt (Leipzig, 1618). Modern edition ed. A. Adrio, Johann Hermann Schein: Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, vol. 4. [M3 .S312 v.4-5] [Online, lacking SI and Bc]
"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" Score Recordings: Ricercar Consort
"Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" Score Recordings: Ricercar Consort Thios Omilos
"O Jesu Christe, Gottes Sohn" Score Recording Sagittarius Vocal Ensemble
"Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam" Score Recordings Ricercar Consort Sagittarius Vocal Ensemble
What's the role of the chorale in each? What does the last phrase in the collection's title mean--what is Italian about these pieces?
3. In his preface, Schein explains that the pieces are to be performed with two sung parts (with text) and an instrumental bass (no text). He refers the reader to the following for instructions on how to perform this type of piece.
Ludovico Viadana, Cento concerti ecclesiastici (Venice, 1602). Modern edition M3 .V598 Ser. I v. 1
Examine these settings from Viadana's collection and read the composer's preface (translation in O. Strunk, ed., Source Readings in Music History). How do these pieces compare to the works in the Opella nova? What should the performer learn from them about the Opella nova?
4. Study this motet by Palestrina, "Pulchra es amica mea"
Written assignment 7
Write 300-350 words on a setting from Opella nova that we have not
discussed (scores available
here).
Musicalische Exequien dess Herrn Heinrichen
dess Jüngern und Eltisten Reussen [op.7] (Dresden, 1636)
Recordings: La Petite Bande [Chorton] Alsfelder Vocal Ens Vox Luminis Schütz Academy [Chorton; w insert] Weser-Renaissance
Score: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Text and translation here.
Schütz's preface in translation (George Buelow)
2. For background, please read
Breig, Werner. "Heinrich Schütz's Musikalische Exequien: reflections on its history and textual-musical conception." In Church, stage, and studio: Music and its contexts in seventeenth-century Germany, ed. Paul Walker, 109-125. Ann Arbor, 1990.
Bettina Varwig. "Life, death and afterlife (Musicalische Exequien, 1636)." Chapter 3 in Histories of Heinrich Schütz. Cambridge, 2011.
3. What kinds of texts are represented in this work? How are they organized? What is the relationship between adjacent texts, especially biblical texts and the following chorale text?
What kinds of settings (musical style) does each receive? What aspects of musical style does the composer use to distinguish between biblical and chorale texts?
How do the chorale settings themselves compare to others we have seen? What is the structural role of the chorales in the work?
What forces are needed to perform this work? How are the forces used?
Vocal concertos of Buxtehude and others
1. For background, please read
Friedhelm Krummacher. "Cantata." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 2, parts 1-4.
There is a lot of detail packed into this short essay, but focus your reading on this question: Is Krummacher most interested in musical types to distinguish works, or some other element?
2. Study and listen to the following works. Consider their text types, degree of dependence on chorale melodies, division of texts into units, types of musical settings, relationship of voices and instruments, and harmonic organization,
Franz Tunder, "Ach Herr lass deine lieben Engelein" Score Recordings: Purcell Choir Berliner Barock Compagney
Nicolas Bruhns, "Erstanden ist der heilige Christ" Score Recording: Ricercar Consort Harmonices Mundi
Dietrich Buxtehude, "Gen Himmel zu den Vater mein" Score Recording: Ricercar Consort
Buxtehude, "Jesu, meine Freude" Score Recording: Purcell Quartet
Texts and translations are here.
Written assignment 8
Write 350-400 words on one movement or one segment of a vocal concerto on this assignment.
Cantatas of J. S. Bach and G. P. Telemann
1. "Christ lag in Todes Banden" BWV 4
Recordings: Junghänel [please start with this one] Suzuki Rilling
One way to look at this piece is as a sampler of musical styles and techniques applied to this chorale tune and text. What kind of movements are represented?
2. "Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren" BWV 137
Recordings: Suzuki Rilling Harnoncourt
Written assignment 9
Write 350-400 words on an analytical aspect of one of the movements of BWV 4.
Find an analytical point that goes beyond what we have said in class.
3. "Jesu, der du meine Seele" BWV 78
Score Text and translation Complete hymn text Gospel for 14.Trinity
Recordings: Suzuki Rifkin Rilling
This cantata, from the so-called chorale cycle, begins with the stanzas of a hymn transformed into a mixed-text libretto. Carefully compare the original hymn with the derived cantata text. What are the various ways in which the chorale's words become the cantata's? What role does the Gospel text for the day play?
How is the transformation you investigated above translated into musical settings? To what extent does the chorale melody make itself felt, including outside the first and last movements?
On the first movement and its musical types, please read
Robert L. Marshall. “On Bach’s universality.” In The music of Johann Sebastian Bach: the sources, the style, the significance, 65–79. New York, 1989.
Alexander Silbiger. "Bach and the Chaconne." Journal of Musicology 17 (1999), 358-85.
Study the chorale melody. What are its musical characteristics and possibilities? Bach's setting in the first movement depends on fitting each phrase of the chorale tune to the chromatic lament bass. How does that work?
What is the overall musical design of the cantata (use of forces, movement types, key scheme)?
4. "Jesu, meine Freude" TVWV 1:970
Score
Text [from earlier assignment]
Recording
Written assignment 10
Write 350-400 words on an analytical aspect of one of the
chorale movements of TVWV 1:970.
Find an analytical point that goes beyond what we have said in class.
1. Read the following contemporary discussion of motets:
Friedrich Erhardt Niedt, Musicalische Handleitung, 3 vols. (Hamburg, 1710-17), 3:34-7.
English translation by Pamela L. Poulin and Irmgard C. Taylor (Oxford, 1989).
What issues does Niedt find most important? What is his attitude toward motets?
2. Listen to and study the following works :
Johann Michael Bach
"Das Blut Jesu Christi" Score Recording: Vox Luminis Cantus Cölln
"Fürchtet euch nicht" Score Recording: Vox Luminis Ricercar Consort
"Halt, was du hast" Score Recording: Vox Luminis Capella Sancta Michaelis
Texts are here
J. S. Bach "Jesu, meine Freude" BWV 227 Score Recordings: La petite band Bach Collegium Japan Hilliard Ensemble
Text is here.
What kinds of texts are represented ? How are they organized? What is the relationship between the two texts in a given motet? How is chorale material used? Do these pieces follow Niedt's guidelines?
Does J. S. Bach's composition work the same way as the others?
Written assignment 11
Write 350-400 words on an analytical aspect of one of the chorale movements of BWV 227.
1. Listen to and examine the following sets of chorale variations and related pieces. What musical elements do the composers vary from verse to verse? To what extent does the relationship between the chorale melody and other parts change in the course of a set? What logic is there to the ordering of verses and to the overall structure of the sets?
J. P. Sweelinck
Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott Score Recording: J Christie
S. Scheidt, Tabulatura nova (1624)
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz Score Recording: McVey
Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund Score Recording: Lagacé
J. Pachelbel, Musicalische Sterbens-Gedanken (1683)
Was Gott tut, das ist wohl getan Score Recording: Kelemen
J. S. Bach
Christ, der du bist der helle Tag BWV 766 Score Recording: Zerer
2. The following work is something of an an exception among contemporary pieces. To what musical types does it owe its organization and the nature of its variations?
D. Buxtehude, Auf meinen lieben Gott BuxWV 179 Score Recordings: Brown (organ) Mortensen (harpsichord)
Preludes and fantasias of Buxtehude
1. Preludes are short settings suited for the introduction of chorale singing in the liturgy. Study these works. How is the melody treated? What is evidently Buxtehude's standard procedure? How do the two settings of "Nun bitten wir" differ?
Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist BuxWV 208 Score Recordings: Cramer Bryndorf
Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist BuxWV 209 Score Recordings: Bryndorf Kraft
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ BuxWV 189 Score Recordings: Cramer Bryndorf
2. Fantasias, usually not called that in the seventeenth century, are closely related to improvisation. Study these two very large settings. How does Buxtehude generate such long pieces from the chorale tune? What techniques of elaboration are used?
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein BuxWV 210 Score Recordings: Kraft Davidsson
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ BuxWV 188 Score Recordings: Kraft Davidsson
Written assignment 12
Write 350-400 words on an analytical aspect of a setting from the Tabulatura nova (modern edition here).
Resources
Autograph: D B Mus. ms. Bach P 283
Modern score: BG ["Leere Blätter im Autographe" means "Empty pages in the autograph"]
1. For background, please read
Russell Stinson. Bach. The Orgelbüchlein. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Chapter 1.
2. Stinson suggests (in a later chapter), as do other authors, that most of the chorales in this collection fall into one of three categories distinguished by their treatment of the chorale melody. Look through the entire collection; can you discern three basic types? (Note: "Christum wir sollen loben schon" and "In dir ist Freude" are outliers.)
3. Study in particular the following settings. Excerpted scores are here.
"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" BWV 599
"Das alte Jahr vergangen ist" BWV 614
"O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid" BWV Anh. 200 [BG score p. 38; autograph score page here]
"Christ lag in Todesbanden" BWV 625
"Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag" BWV 629
"Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt" BWV 637
Written assignment 13.
Write 400-500 words on a setting from the Orgelbüchlein not from this assignment.
J. S. Bach: Large-scale settings
Study the following chorale settings, representative of various types and procedures. There is an overview in
Robert L. Marshall and Robin A. Leaver. "Chorale settings." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Section 2.5
1. A fantasia in the North German tradition
Christ lag in Todes Banden BWV 718 Score Recordings: Fagius Butler
2. Preludes of the so-called Pachelbel type.
Aus tiefer Not BWV 686 Score Recordings: Albrecht Johannsen
Aus tiefer Not BWV 687 Score Recordings Lippincott Chapuis
What do these have in common? How does Bach derive such different pieces from the same tune and technique?
3. A concertante fugue
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 664 Score Recordings: Fagius Rakich
From the construction of this piece, what do you understand by the (modern) term "concertante fugue?"
4. Extended cantus firmus settings cast as other musical types
A fugue: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 661 Score Recordings: Tillmanns Oortmerssen
A trio sonata: Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam BWV 684 Score Recordings: Weinberger Dirst
A three-part invention: Komm, Heiliger Geist BWV 651 Score Recordings: Bryndorf Bowyer
[Written assignment listed above under the Orgelbüchlein]
Study the following six chorale setting published by Bach in the late 1740s, the Sechs Choräle von verschiedener Art, known as the "Schübler chorales." How do they work? How is the collection organized? What makes these a group?
Resources: Score Recordings: Lippincott Rubsam [with other pieces] Oortsmerssen
At least five of the six organ works are transcriptions of cantata movements. Study the models, listed below. Why did Bach choose these pieces for transcription? How much of their original character do they bring with them? Are the cantata movements, in retrospect, organ-like? What do you suppose the model for BWV 646 looked like, assuming there was one?
| BWV | Model | |||
| 645 | Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme | BWV 140/4 | Score | Recording |
| 646 | Wo soll ich fliehen hin | ? | ||
| 647 | Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten | BWV 93/4 | Score | Recording |
| 648 | Meine Seele erhebt den Herren | BWV 10/5 | Score | Recording |
| 649 | Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ | BWV 6/3 | Score | Recording |
| 650 | Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter | BWV 137/2 | Score | Recording |
J. S. Bach: Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch" BWV 769
Study the following settings published by Bach around the same time as the Schübler chorales (late 1740s), probably after submitting it for his admission to a society of learned musicians.
Resources: Score Recordings: Dirst Albrecht Stravinsky's arrangement
The order in the printed edition is this:
Var. I. Canone all' ottava
Var. II. Alio Modo in Canone alla Quinta
Var. III. Canone alla Settima
Var. IV. Canon per augmentationem
Var. V. L'altra Sorte del'Canone all'rovercio, 1) alla Sesta, 2) alla Terza, 3) alla Seconda è 4) alla Nona
The order in an autograph copy evidently made after the print is I, II, V, III, IV.
What aspects of the tune does Bach explore? How are the "variations" organized?