This document provides an analysis of movements 3 and 4 from Bach's Cantata 78. Movement 3 is a recitative featuring the tenor singer depicting anguish and repentance through dissonant harmony. Movement 4 is a lighthearted aria duet between flute and tenor in a binary form with ritornellos, exploring themes of cleansing and freedom through word painting and modulation between G minor and B flat major.
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:
A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound (♪, ♫);
A pitched sound itself.
Notes are the "atoms" of much written music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis.[1]
The term note can be used in both generic and specific senses: one might say either "the piece 'Happy Birthday to You' begins with two notes having the same pitch", or "the piece begins with two repetitions of the same note". In the former case, one uses note to refer to a specific musical event; in the latter, one uses the term to refer to a class of events sharing the same pitch. (See also: Key signature names and translations.)
Have you ever felt a melody go in one ear and out the other? Like there was nothing concrete to grasp to help you remember? You create a great melody in your head or while humming along to a chord progression, but within a moment it’s gone.
Thankfully, not all is lost. In fact, hundreds of years ago, a system was developed to enable musicians to recognize and transcribe those sought-after melodies.
Solfege (a.k.a. solfa) provides a framework for melodies by establishing recognizable relationships between pitches, and training your ear to hear patterns. It is an excellent system for learning the architecture behind music, and is a fundamental concept of ear training.
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:
A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound (♪, ♫);
A pitched sound itself.
Notes are the "atoms" of much written music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis.[1]
The term note can be used in both generic and specific senses: one might say either "the piece 'Happy Birthday to You' begins with two notes having the same pitch", or "the piece begins with two repetitions of the same note". In the former case, one uses note to refer to a specific musical event; in the latter, one uses the term to refer to a class of events sharing the same pitch. (See also: Key signature names and translations.)
Have you ever felt a melody go in one ear and out the other? Like there was nothing concrete to grasp to help you remember? You create a great melody in your head or while humming along to a chord progression, but within a moment it’s gone.
Thankfully, not all is lost. In fact, hundreds of years ago, a system was developed to enable musicians to recognize and transcribe those sought-after melodies.
Solfege (a.k.a. solfa) provides a framework for melodies by establishing recognizable relationships between pitches, and training your ear to hear patterns. It is an excellent system for learning the architecture behind music, and is a fundamental concept of ear training.
Chapter 3 3Plainchant Alleluia, Caro mea”Composed ca. 1275This.docxwalterl4
Chapter 3 3Plainchant Alleluia, “Caro mea”
Composed: ca. 1275
This brief chant is from the Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi. It is a responsorial chant in which a chorus “responds” to a solo singer. As is so often the case with medieval plainchant, we do not know the identity of the composer, though it was probably written by a monk or priest. This chapter's recording, by an all-male ensemble, reflects the way this chant would have been sung in a medieval monastery.Learning Objectives
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3.1Describe how the Alleluia functioned in the context of the Mass.
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3.2Define responsorial chant.
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3.3Identify the unison texture of plainchant as it is heard in “Caro mea” from the Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi.
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3.4Explain the use of contrast in the performance of “Caro mea.”
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3.5Define melisma and identify melismas in “Caro mea.”
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3.6Describe how plainchant assists in promoting calm and well-being.
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Plainchant was an integral part of every service of worship in the Medieval church. The Alleluia “Caro mea” is one of many plainchants used during the Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for “Body of Christ”), which celebrates the Holy Sacrament, the body (bread) and blood (wine) of Christ. Like all Masses, the Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi consists of a combination of elements that are unchanging (the “Ordinary”—the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) and elements that change according to the specific Sunday or feast day (the “Propers”—Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion). The texts for the Propers of the Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi all deal in some way with the ritual of the Holy Sacrament.
The text for the Alleluia for this feast day is taken from the Gospel of John, 6:55–56. These are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples and others at the synagogue at Caprenaum, and they foreshadow the words he would say at the Last Supper the night before his crucifixion, when he distributed bread and wine to his disciples as part of the traditional Passover meal.
A priest (center) leads the celebration of Mass with the assistance of monks (left), who are singing from a notated manuscript.PERFORMANCEChilling to Chant
Plainchant has long been recognized as an element that enhances meditation, prayer, and devotion: It figures prominently in many of the world's religions (see Expand Your Playlist: Chant, Chapter 1). The gentle flow of the melodies, the absence of repetitive rhythms, and the relatively narrow range of timbre all help create a sense of calm and well-being. Scientists are gradually discovering that there is a physiological factor at work here as well. Dr. Alan Watkins, a senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London, has noted that “the musical structure of chanting can have a significant and positive physiological impact . . . studies also demonstrate that such practices have been shown to lower blood pressure, increase levels of the performance hormone DHEA as.
Term Paper Studies in Music Analysis Analyzing BachDecember 1.docxmehek4
Term Paper
Studies in Music Analysis: Analyzing Bach
December 19, 2016
French Suite No.6 in E Major, BWV 817
The French Suites (BWV 812–817) are a set of six keyboard suites Bach compiled in his late thirties, during the year in Cöthen, from 1717 to 1723, the most productive period of Bach’s life producing a series of important instrumental works. Together with the Inventions, sinfonias and the Well-Tempered Clavier, the French Suites formed an integral part of Bach’s comprehensive programmed for the education of his pupils. The keyboard suites is considered a popular genre consisting of about half a dozen stylized dances, which has a high educational value. Keyboard learners were expected to learn from them the essence of manners and good tastes.
Traditionally, the French Suites were considered as pair with the English Suites, the other unpublished collection of suites Bach wrote earlier. The ‘French’ are distinguished from the ‘English’ by both the lack of prelude and being smaller in scale. Stylistically, the ‘French’ are the more charming and elegant of the two: they tend to avoid the use of counterpoint, and focus more sharply on the exploration of such Galant elements as cantabile melodies, sonorous and idiomatic keyboard texture. When discussing these characters, one cannot disassociate them from their origin: a sort of wedding gift to his young, musical wife, Anna Magdalena Bach (née Wilcke, 1701–60). Early in their marriage, Bach took seriously his role as teacher to Anna Magdalena. The dutiful and eager wife started an album, which she titled Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bachin, Anno 1722, in which Johann Sebastian entered instructive compositions intended to help improve her keyboard skills and her musicianship. The entries include scores of five harpsichord suites, the first versions of pieces that eventually became the six French Suites.
About the stylistic features, the most prominent feature of the French Suites is the way Bach actively seeks the style Galant. This meant simpler, more song-like melodies, thinner use of polyphony, short, periodic phrases, a reduced harmonic vocabulary emphasizing tonic and dominant, and a clear distinction between soloist and accompaniment.
The construction, four dance types had become standard: allemande (the French word for German); courante (a French dance) or its Italian equivalent, corrente; sarabande (of Spanish origin); and gigue (developed from the Irish or English jig). Optional movements fleshed out the suites, e.g., overtures and sinfonias preceded the allemande, while minuets, airs, bourrées, etc., were interspersed among the four.
In Allemande, it is a renaissance and baroque dance, and one of the most popular instrumental dance styles in baroque music. It is often the first movement of a baroque suite of dances, paired with a subsequent courante, though it is sometimes preceded by an introduction or prelude.
Beginning in E major and it is in ¾ time. It is a binary form whi ...
2. Recitative Recitative is a declamatory or speech-like form of singing used often in opera, oratorio or cantata It is usually syllabic (one note per syllable) The words are extremely important – they dictate the rhythm of the melody (a bit like rap!) A recitative is always sung by a solo singer Melodies tend not to be as lyrical as in arias and are instead dissonant and jagged
3. Text of Movement 3 “My failings sorely grieve me! My sins are very great, The curse of Adam never more will leave me…” The mood of this movement is shockingly dark when compared with that of movement 2 The text refers to “children of sin”. Bach uses dissonant harmony and wide intervals to emphasise the anguish of the words As the text becomes more repentant, with the singer praying that he be forgiven, the setting becomes more gentle and pleading in nature
4. Movement 3 – Recitative Secco This movement is an example of a Recitative Secco, which means that the recitative is quite bare with a very sparse accompaniment Tenor and continuo play in this movement Movement is in common time but there is not a strong sense of pulse Tonality is quite uncertain. At different points it appears to be in c minor and f minor
5. Movement 3 – Recitative Secco (contd.) The melody line is full of large leaps and dissonantaugmented intervals The harmony includes many diminished and augmented chords The vocal part ends its phrases unaccompanied The style changes towards the end of the movement. A new tempo is imposed by a repeated pedal note in the continuo. The vocal line become more lyrical with the introduction of melisma on the word erzurnet(angry)
6. Movement 4 - Aria Text: “Thy sacrifice has cleansed the stain, making my heart all pure again, happy and free.” Light-hearted and lyrical contrast to the previous movement Aria duet between flute and tenor with continuo accompaniment 6/8 time (compound duple) Begins and ends in G minor, with a modulation to B flat major in the B section Form: Binary (A B1 B2) and ritornello form
7. Ritornello The opening 12 bar ritornello introduces the flute descant or obbligato The flute line is very florid, containing appogiatura and semiquaver sequences, which continue throughout the movement Meanwhile the continuo moves mainly in pizzicato quavers
8. Section A Mainly in G minor Opens with ritornello Tenor enters with the opening flute part, 12 bars later 4 bar ritornello Flute and tenor have a polyphonic 8 bar duet 4 bar ritornello, ending with a perfect cadence in B flat major
9. Section B Moves from B flat major to C minor to E flat major Semiquaver sequences in both the flute and continuo part Large leaps, notably on the words “Streite” (fight) and “beherzt” (brave), dominate the tenor part
10. Section B2 Opens with 2 bar ritornellotheme in E flat major Very similar to the B1 section This time there are more extended melismason the word “Streite” (“fight”). This word painting captures the ongoing battle with evil A dominant pedal note is sustained on the word “stehet” (stand) Dal Segno means that, after section B2, the music returns to the symbol in bar one and concludes with the opening 12 bar ritornello