Chapter 10: The Late Baroque: Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

• Career:– Weimer (1708-1717), organist– Cöthen (1717-1723), court composer, conductor– Leipzig (1723-1750), cantor

• Reputation– Renowned as an organ virtuoso – Most famous for cantatas and fugues– Greatest composer of counterpoint

Fugue• A composition with three or more parts, vocal or

instrumental• Begins with successive statements of the subject• Continues with alternations of subject and episodes• Subject: • Exposition: • Episode:

Organ Fugue in G Minor (c. 1710)• Written while Bach was court organist and chamber

musician for the duke of Weimar• Four “voices”: soprano, alto, tenor, bass

• Use of a pedal point:

Bach’s Orchestral Music• Cöthen• Wrote the bulk of his orchestral music

The Brandenburg Concertos (1715-1721)• Presented to prospective employer Margrave Christian

Ludwig of Brandenburg • Set of concerto grossi • Brandenburg Concerto No. 5– Concertino in this piece: solo violin, flute, harpsichord– Use of cadenza:

The Church Cantata• 1723, Bach assumed the position of cantor of Saint

Thomas’s Church and choir school in Leipzig• Church cantata:

Wacht auf, ruft uns die Stimme(Awake, A Voice is Calling, 1731)

• Written for the Sunday before Advent • Text from the Gospel of Matthew• Based on a traditional chorale of the Lutheran church– Chorale:

• Seven movements

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Choruschorale

1st stanza

Recitative Aria(duet)

Choruschorale

2nd

stanza

Recitative Aria(duet)

Choruschorale

1st stanza