Outlines:

1. Biographical Background
   
   
   1. Born (1685) in Germany to a large family that included several good musicians
      
      
   2. Trained first by his father, then studied with an older brother (Johann Christoph), an organist
      
      
   3. Studied the works of other composers by copying or arranging their scores, and continued to do this throughout his life
      
      
   4. His positions dictated the type of composition he composed:
      1. Composed mostly organ music in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and Weimar
         1. 1703–7, Arnstadt, organist
         2. 1707–8, Mühlhausen, organist
         3. 1708–17,Weimar, organist
      2. 1717–23, music director at the court of the prince in Cöthen (instrumental music)
      3. 1723–50, Leipzig, cantor of St. Thomas School (cantatas and other church music)
         
         
2. Bach's Organ Music (Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar)
   
   
   1. Young Bach made trips to hear the famous organists of his day, including a trip to Lübeck to hear Buxtehude.
      
      
   2. Early organ music
      1. Pieces based on chorales, including chorale preludes and variations on chorales
      2. Improvisatory pieces, including toccatas and fantasias patterned after Buxtehude's
         
         
   3. Weimar period music
      1. Bach absorbed the Italian style by arranging scores of Italian composers such as Vivaldi.
      2. His themes became more concise and the harmonic scheme became tighter.
      3. He used more formal structures such as concerto-ritornello.
      4. The result of the Italian influence was an international style combining characteristics of Italian, French, and German music.
         
         
   4. Preludes and fugues
      1. The pairing of a prelude (or toccata or fantasia) with a fugue was standard in the period.
      2. Bach's compositions are technically difficult and idiomatic for the organ but not empty displays of virtuosity.
      3. Example: Prelude and Fugue in A Minor BWV 543 (NAWM 79)
         1. Prelude: Italian concerto influences include violinistic figures in the theme and alternation of chains of suspensions in the style of Corelli.
         2. Fugue: The episodes of the fugue have soloistic qualities and the appearances of the fugue subject function like tuttis in Italian concertos.
      4. Later preludes and fugues include the gigantic St. Anne's Prelude and Fugue, BWV 552, a triple fugue composed for his Clavier-übung (Keyboard Practice) of 1739.
         
         
   5. Chorale preludes
      1. Bach composed about 170 organ chorales in all types of forms and styles.
      2. Short chorale preludes are included in his Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), compiled in Weimar and Cöthen for students.
         1. The chorale tune is heard once through in readily recognizable form.
         2. Example: NAWM 80b, Durch Adams Fall
            1. NAWM 80a is the chorale melody, which is heard in the top line at the beginning of NAWM 80b.
            2. Jagged descending lines portray Adam's fall.
            3. Leaps go from consonant intervals to dissonant ones, representing the fall from innocence to sin.
            4. Twisting lines represent the serpent.
               
               
3. Music for Harpsichord and Clavichord
   
   
   1. Well-Tempered Keyboard (Das wohltemperirte Clavier), 1722 and ca. 1740
      1. Double set of preludes and fugues in each key
      2. Each prelude functions as an etude with a single technical task.
      3. The fugues each have one theme but with every possible treatment of that theme.
         
         
   2. Suites for harpsichord ("English," "French" and the partitas BWV 825–30)
      1. These three collections blend French and Italian qualities in a personal style.
      2. Each set consists of the standard fourmovement sequence (allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue) with short movements following the sarabande.
      3. English Suites (1715)
         1. Each opens with a prelude imitating Italian ensemble idioms, such as a concerto.
         2. The dances are based on French models and include examples of the double, or ornamented repetition of a movement.
            
            
   3. Goldberg Variations (BWV 988, 1741 or 1742)
      1. Published as part of the Clavier-übung
      2. Thirty variations on a sarabande
      3. All thirty variations preserve the bass and harmonic structure of the theme.
      4. Every third variation is a canon, and the other variations are in different forms.
         
         
4. Bach at Cöthen
   
   
   1. Works for solo instruments create the illusion of a harmonic and contrapuntal texture.
      1. Sonatas and partitas for violin alone (BWV 1001–6, 1720), suites for cello alone (BWV 1007–12, ca. 1720), partita for solo flute (BWV 1013)
      2. Stringed instruments stop (play) several strings at once to create chords (e.g., in the famous chaconne from the violin partite in D minor).
         
         
   2. Sonatas for one instrument with harpsichord
      1. Six for violin; three for viola da gamba; six for flute
      2. Four movements, slow-fast-slow-fast, as in the sonata da chiesa
      3. The right hand part for the harpsichord often has a melodic role, making these sonatas seem more like trio-sonatas.
         
         
   3. Concertos
      1. Brandenburg concertos (BWV 1046–51) were composed in 1721 and dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg.
         1. Three-movement form was adapted from the Italian concerto (fast-slow-fast).
         2. Allegro movements use ritornello form.
         3. Long cadenzas and other devices expand the form.
         4. The third and sixth are ripieno concertos—having no solo instrument.
         5. The others are concerti grossi, with varying combinations of concertino instruments.
      2. Harpsichord concertos
         1. Most, and possibly all, are arrangements of violin concertos.
         2. Seven are for solo harpsichord with orchestra.
         3. Others are for two, three, or four harpsichords with orchestra.
            
            
   4. Music for orchestra
      1. Four Ouvertures, or orchestral suites (BWV 1066–69), include two that were probably intended for outdoor performance.
      2. These works contain some of his most attractive music.
         
         
   5. A Musical Offering, Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079
      1. Contains a variety of instrumental music for King Frederick the Great of Prussia, composed or revised after Bach visited him
      2. Ricercares and canons on a single theme proposed by Frederick the Great (CHWM, ex. 12.4).
      3. Trio sonata for flute (the king's instrument), violin, and continuo
         
         
   6. The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge) was intended to demonstrate all types of fugal writing, but Bach did not finish it.
      
      
5. Bach at Leipzig
   
   
   1. Bach was responsible for the music of Leipzig's two most important churches, St. Nicholas and St. Thomas.
      
      
   2. Bach was also responsible for teaching music and Latin at the St. Thomas School for boys.
      
      
   3. Bach composed over two hundred cantatas for church and for special occasions.
      1. The church cantatas figured prominently in the Lutheran liturgy of Leipzig.
      2. Fifty-eight cantatas per year were needed for the churches, along with other special music for church and civic ceremonies.
      3. Bach's cantatas were composed with an infinite variety of musical features.
         1. Early cantatas reflect the emotions and images of the text.
         2. Later cantatas have more regular structures and less subjectivity.
         3. Neumeister's texts, e.g. Nun komm', der Heiden Heiland (BWV 61, 1714).
            1. Composed for the first Sunday of the church year
            2. First chorus in the form of a French overture
            3. Other movements are in operatic forms.
      4. Chorale cantatas are based on chorale texts and melodies.
         1. Bach uses a variety of methods to treat the chorales.
         2. Example: BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden (Christ lay in the bonds of death), 1708
            1. The seven strophes of the chorale's text are set to variations on the tune.
            2. After the opening sinfonia the sections are arranged symmetrically around a quartet of soloists, possibly to symbolize the cross.
         3. Typical cantatas start and end with choral statements of the chorale, with interior movements only rarely referring to the chorale melody, e.g. NAWM 81, Wachet auf (Wake up), BWV 140
            1. The middle movement is constructed like a chorale prelude, with each phrase of the chorale sung by the tenor.
            2. Two movements are arias introduced by recitatives.
               
               
   4. Secular cantatas
      1. Bach titled these "dramma per musica."
      2. These were composed for special occasions, such as Schleicht, spielende Wellen (Glide gently, playful waves) for a birthday in 1736.
         
         
   5. Passions
      1. Bach composed two oratorio-style settings of the Passion story.
      2. One tells the version from John.
      3. The other uses the St. Matthew version (BWV 244).
         1. It was first performed on Good Friday, 1727.
         2. A tenor narrates the text from Matthew (and some other sources).
         3. The "Passion Chorale" appears five times (CHWM, ex. 8.1).
         4. The chorus sometimes participate in the action.
         5. Operatic elements pervade the Passion, although Bach never composed opera
            
            
   6. Mass in B Minor (BWV 232)
      1. Compiled between 1747 and 1749 from music he had composed earlier
      2. The Credo (NAWM 82) includes several different preexisting works:
         
         
6. Reception History
   
   
   1. During Bach's lifetime
      1. Only A Musical Offering, The Art of the Fugue, and a few other works were published during his lifetime.
      2. Even before his death, in the 1720s and 1730s, new trends in Italian opera began to penetrate much of Europe, making Bach's style seem old-fashioned.
      3. See vignette in CHWM by Scheibe (1737) criticizing Bach's style as being too elaborate and confused.
         
         
   2. 1750–1800
      1. None of his large works was published during this time, although some preludes and fugues appeared in print.
      2. The Well-Tempered Keyboard and some other works circulated in manuscripts and many composers, including Haydn and Mozart, were familiar with at least some of Bach's works.
         
         
   3. Nineteenth century
      1. Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography of Bach awoke interest in Bach.
      2. The St. Matthew Passion was revived in performances directed by Carl Friedrich Zelter and Felix Mendelssohn (1829).
      3. The 1850 establishment of the Bach Gesellschaft (Bach Society) led to the first collected edition of Bach's works, completed by 1900.