Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist,
harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and
secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo
instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque
period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, p...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist,
harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and
secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo
instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque
period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy
and France.
The Fugue in Bb Major (BWV 954) is perhaps the most
immediately gratifying of all the early fugues to play
and the most successful in reconciling the impulses of
the keyboard virtuoso and the contrapuntist. The
subject, originally for violin, is rendered more
brilliant by Bach's elimination of most of the repeated
notes found in the original, except for those in the
opening motive. As emended by Bach, the subject
provides the motivic material for most of the
subsequent passagework; only one extended episode
contains figuration not directly derived from the
subject (M71). The fluency of the figuration,
especially in the bass, marks an advance over earlier
fugues; instead of the stolid bass lines in halves or
quarters typical of earlier fugues, the bass here
almost always moves in small note values. This reflects
Bach's adoption of the motoric pulse of the Italian
sonata and concerto style and the abandonment of the
declamatory or rhetorical manner of his earlier works.
Only in a few spots, for example the brief series of
"sighs" and chromatic harmony in M41, does Bach seem
unable to resist a momentary return to the rhetoric of
his earlier style, which makes sense in this context
only if the tempo is somewhat slower than the opening
bars may suggest. Although there are still some poorly
hidden consecutives (e.g., in M11), the overall form of
BWV 954 has a firm tonal basis, organized symmetrically
with an entry of the subject in the subdominant at the
center (M47) and statements in minor keys (G and C,
respectively) on either side of it (M37 & M54). The
style is brilliant throughout, but the most striking
figuration—scales descending through three octaves
(C''' to Bb)—serves to dramatize the return of the
subject in the tonic, after the last episode
(M71-M80)." Perhaps the surest sign of Bach's mastery
of the new style is his ability to bring the fugue to a
convincing conclusion without a thematically irrelevant
coda. Instead, a short extension of the final entrance
of the subject (bass, M90) leads naturally and
unpretentiously to the final cadence, without any break
in the rhythmic texture.
Although originally written for Harpsichord. I created
this Interpretation of the Fugue in Bb Major (BWV 954)
for Woodwind Trio (Flute, Oboe & Bassoon).
PARTITION