Unity in Bach's Cantata No.78

* Duration – the rhythmic pattern heard at the start of each gavotte, is reiterated many times throughout the piece. This also links to Pitch – the opening melody of the piece is heard many times throughout

The Baroque musical period occurred throughout Europe from 1600 to 1750. The compositions during this period had certain characteristics. Some of these characteristics included unity of mood, continuity of rhythm and melody, and most compositions, in the middle to late Baroque period, included polyphonic textures (Kamien, 2011). Many musicians, such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Arcangelo Corelli, thrived during this period. They composed hundreds to thousands of compositions in various different musical forms and each piece holds the characteristics of the Baroque period uniquely. This paper will review the

Renaissance and Baroque composers were faced with the task of creating complex pieces that express both human emotion and ideas. While this is primarily one of the main purposes of all forms of music itself, including genres today, in the 15th through 18th centuries, this was largely done through the musical composition of a piece rather than the lyrics. Composers utilized several different techniques in order to portray to the listener the purpose and meaning of the piece. Renaissance composers were focused on furthering the texts in music, fully developing the lyrics Therefore, the use of word painting, the musical representation of a literal word, phrase, or poetic image, is clearly seen in many pieces. Baroque music, with the

This loss of emotional control is heard through the first two lines of poetry in the second stanza being repeated in a heart aching sequence that seems to describe tears that do not stop falling. The piano line is reminiscent of falling tears in the first two lines of the second stanza with the descending line and syncopation. In the last two lines of the second stanza, the same piano syncopations with a rising line evoke the heartbeat of the singer as they sing “laß ab, main herz, zo klopfen” (“cease, my heart, your beating”). After the heart wrenching second stanza, Schubert repeats the first stanza with similar but not identical harmonic movement. The repeat of the first stanza returns the song to a more self-controlled and resigned tone. A common idea of Schubert’s lied and poetry of Schubert’s time was resignation to whatever troubles were about. A return to the first stanza of poetry suggests that the singer as resigned to his or her fate of lost love.

Bach loved church music and was regarded as one of the finest organists of his day. Since he was raised up with strong ties to the church, he was always involved in church music both as a singer and an organist. He wrote many of his marvelous series of cantatas for the Sunday services at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, which were

In 1829, Mendelssohn conducted and performance the St. Matthew passion in Berlin Singakadamie(The first performance in a hundred year). Fanny Mendelssohn was sang the alto part during performance, they prepared for the concert about this piece into four-hands version to study. Indeed, there was a big successful of the performance and J.S Bach’s name show up into people’s view again. Mendelssohn was continued to performance all-Bach program on the organ to retake the Master’s valued piece into public. He was not only as a person who had promoted the Bach’s art, but also putting the Bach composition way into his own works. He published the Seven Characteristic Pieces op.7 in 1827, which was influenced by J.S. Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier. [9]

The greatest composer of music who has ever lived. Bach did not invent any new styles of forms of music, but rather perfected every single one of them which existed in his day. He remains the all-time master of the fugue, a form which is so difficult to write that even Mozart and Beethoven, both of whom wrote fugal masterpieces, hated writing them. Bach, however, improvised fugues for 2 hours at a stretch, and then wrote them down from memory afterward. Bach wrote universal masterpieces in every genre, including the 6 finest concerti grossi ever written, nicknamed the Brandenburg Concerti (clip above). He also wrote the finest single work of sacred music in history, the Mass in b minor, which has been argued by many musicologsts and composers

After some years after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the ornate, formal and strict form of the High Baroque became “old-fashion” and lost its favor. Music slowly began to change form the style and forms of the High Baroque to a simpler yet tuneful form around 1750. The period

Baroque music is characterized through contrasts as dramatic elements, monody and the advent of the basso continuo, and different instrumental sounds. Contrast is an essential feature in the production of baroque arrangements. The alternations between bold and flamboyant and soft, solo and ensemble, different instruments and timbres all constitute a key portion in various baroque compositions. Composers similarly created more precise instrumental arrangements regularly stipulating the instruments on a musical piece that ought to be executed instead of allowing the performing musician to select.

The music that I choose from the Baroque era is Bach’s Contapunctus I, the Art of Fugue which consists of 14 fugues and four canons. The art of Fugue also named Die Kunst Der Fuge in German are the works from Johann Sebastian Bach and it is believed that Bach worked on these pieces from late 1730’s and finished in 1750 this was because of interruptions, his deteriorating health and Bach wanted the pieces to be what he envisioned and so he took his time on forming the styles and to edit the fugues and continued to revise the movements. Born in Germany on March 31, 1685, Bach was a remarkable baroque era composer and a spectacular keyboard composer and has been respected for his melodic work and elaborate developments. Bach first began singing

The Requiem is divided in fourteen movements in Sussmayr’s completion. The first movement is Introitus which includes Requiem aeternam (choir and Soprano solo) in D minor. The second one is Kyrie (choir) in D minor. The third movement is Sequentia which includes Dies irae (choir) in D minor; Tuba mirum (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solo) in B flat major; Rex tremendae (choir) in G minor-D minor; Confutastis (choir) in A minor-F major, last chord V of D minor; and Lacrimosa (choir) in D minor. The fourth movement is Offertorium which includes Domine Jesu (choir with solo quartet) in G minor and Hostias (choir) in E-flat major-G minor. The fifth movement is Sanctus (choir) in D major. The sixth movement is Benedictus (solo quartet and

To most Baroque theorists, recitatives were simply a form of sung speech, an "oration in tones" (25). Buelow points out that while Bach is a skilled rhetorician, he is also unusually sensitive to words in his recitative style, finding "such a variety of musical and rhetorical means to express them," an atypical accomplishment for the Baroque period (26). Buelow notes several approaches that Bach takes to express his text as he looks in depth at a specific cantata. Cantata No. 78 reveals similar trends, demonstrating Bach's expressivity through vocal and instrumental

Following the strings intro is a beautiful recorder duet adding to the tenderness and gentleness of the piece. The two recorder parts are very close to each other sometimes moving apart from unison ever so slightly so as to get an effect that the two are being interwoven forming a long chord or rope, perhaps signifying that life does not end with death but only begins. It is not a sad piece written for a funeral, it is instead more empathetic and soothing, reminding us that death of a loved one is painful for us but for the one who has died, it is only the beginning. After the introductory sonatina there is a 4 part chorus reminding us that it is God’s choosing when we should go and that the time of his choosing is always best.

During the Renaissance the focus shifted on Classical Antiquity (hence the name) and people tried emulate that in new art and architecture. While the emphases, was still on formality and hierarchy just like during the Baroque, the focus was more on clear division, strong contrast, and a simpler style, unlike the complex, ornamental style of the Baroque. In simple terms, the polyphony gave way to a single melody accompanied by subordinate harmony. Revealing the shift in modulation, such as between the first and second theme of a sonata became increasingly important. The knowledge of the older musicians with their technical expertise was needed, but the newer style came from the younger musicians. C.P.E. Bach proved a great combination of these

The Highlights of the piece are its opening ensemble "Herr, unser Herrscher ..." ("Lord, our lord, ...") There is a symphonic inflection of 36 bars before the touchy passageway of the chorale. Each of these bars is a solitary worry of lower tones, debilitating till the finish of the bar. These bass beats are joined by the rest of the instruments of higher tunes, by legato singing the planned topic. The last six bars of the instrumental introduction deliver a hearty crescendo, touching base to yelling specialty beginning three bars of the chorale, where the tune joins to the long arrangement of deep stresses by Herr, Herr, Herr. Before long, after the primary part of the topic, comes the triple Herr, Herr, Herr once more, however this time, toward the finish of the bars, as a contra respond in due order regarding the relating