What an opening:

In this episode we listen to at least 14 different interpreters play this expressive trill. Such a simple idea, but how many different ways this idea can be realized! At an even speed or speeding up? With a turn at the end or a turn at the beginning or no turn at all? Crescendo all the way through or perhaps even diminuendo?

Between earliest version and the fair copy, Bach seems to smooth out the rhythm in the solo voices. This is a rare case where the earliest version is rhythmically more nuanced than the revision.

Bar 6. The last beat is more varied in the early version:

It is smoothed out in revision:

Bar 9. The top two voices sing in different rhythms in the early version:

In revision, Bach makes them consistent:

Penultimate bar. Note the 64th notes in the early version:

Everything is more uniform in revision:

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As we progress through Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier, our fugal themes become increasingly complex and chromatic. Here, the fugue’s subject is angular, modern even:

The subjects come in an memorable stretto toward the end:

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Topics Covered in this episode:J.S. Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book One, BWV 861 prelude and fugue analysis, also Baroque ornamentation and how to play a trill, performance practice. We examine Bach’s manuscript sources in the early vs late versions of this pair. A general discussion of Baroque keyboard music, harpsichord vs piano performance, fugue structure and form, and Bach’s counterpoint.

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The three-voice fugue begins:

But after only a few bars, Bach is ready to bring in all the voices again— this time with the melodies upside down. (Inverted exposition.) N.B. The middle voice’s theme began on the previous page:

And there are stretti in this fugue, one melody interrupting another. Here’s one where the themes are rhythmically shifted to the second half of the bar:

The prelude is equally joyous. The earliest version of this prelude is a mere 15 bars long, compared to the 19 bars of the latest version. Notice, too, how Bach changed the key signature of only one (!) staff. The earliest version reads:

But later, on the top staff, Bach changes it to 24/16 (!) in the fair copy, P. 415:

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Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721, in f-sharp minor (note the Phrygian key signature!) is an extraordinary little piece. Written around 1709, it is a profound and most elusive chord progression. Here is the first page:

The text from 1524, based on Psalm 51, was translated by the English ecclesiastical reformer Myles Coverdale. I know nothing about him but his Wiki page is fascinating!

Finally, John Milton. If, one day, you sit down to read Paradise Lost you may feel… well, lost. It was the writing of the late John Carey that led me through this beautiful poem. Spoiler alert: Milton wrote the poem between sleeping and waking, totally blind, by dictating what he was receiving from a ‘Heavenly Muse’ he thought was the same muse responsible for inspiring the Mosaic books of the bible— Wow. Reading the poem with this in mind is a completely different experience. For Milton, the poem was a purely audible experience, hence reading it aloud brings it to life. He, after all, never saw it on a page.

Got Bach?

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Concepts Covered: Bach in the Phrygian Mode, Tone III, Missing flats, missing sharps, Bach’s Key signatures, John Milton, how did Milton write Paradise Lost, Etymology and Entomology, The Origins of the Negroni Cocktail

Source quoted:Leaver, Robin A. Luther's Liturgical Music: Principles and Implications. Eerdmans, 2007.

Individual keys are often loaded with personal significance to the composer. To what extent was Bach thinking of the double sense of Kreuze— both as ‘cross’ and the musical sign for a sharp?

As discussed in the episode, f# minor wasn’t necessarily the key signature with three ‘crosses,’ as Bach’s f# minor looks like this on the page:

Is it more likely that Bach saw b minor as the image of Golgotha on the page? Dare we speculate further and claim that the symmetry of the C# between the two F’s is Christus between the two thieves? Speculation adds nothing of substance… but it’s fun! Bach’s b minor on the page:

In any case, Kreuze was probably never far from Bach’s mind, and f# minor was usually a key for expressing pain and suffering in the cantatas. The fugue from Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 859 is full of blatant passion language, seen in the weeping of the countersubject:

Does The World Need More Bach?

One question I have concerning modern editions is the tenor voice in bar 36. In the earliest version, Bach has given— as a cautionary accidental— D natural:

But in the revision, he forgets the cautionary accidental (or deems it unnecessary.) Does this omission justify D#?! I don’t think so. Both Henle and Bärenreiter suggest D#:

At the end of the episode, we explore the canon from the sonata in A Major for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1015. The third movement (in f# minor) is a strict canon from beginning to end. Check this out:

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Concepts Covered:

Bach and religion, composition as theological thought, the symbolic meaning of musical keys in Bach’s works, f♯ minor & b minor, Calvary or Golgotha. Kreuze in Bach studies: the double meaning of “cross” and the sharp (♯) sign in German language. f♯ minor as a key of suffering and affliction in Bach’s cantatas and keyboard works. Passion rhetoric in BWV 859 (WTC I)

Canon analysis of BWV 1015, the Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in A major.

In this episode I seek (in 18 minutes) to demonstrate mathematically pure intervals, alongside ‘tempered’ intervals. The circle of fifths is in fact a spiral of fifths— it is infinite. We seek to make it a circle for convenience, but this means that the distance between what would be mathematically pure intervals must be altered (!) in order to force the spiral into a circle.

The question remains: how do we do that? Music today is heard in equal temperament, where all keys, all tonalities sound the same. Pure intervals have been forced into identical ‘impure’ ones— convenient, but this deprives us not only of a beautiful natural simplicity, but also the individual character of each key found in unequal temperaments. From the earliest European music, numerous solutions to this immortal problem have been offered. By the time Bach arrives, his solution, laid out for us in The Well-Tempered Clavier, is certainly an elegant one…but we don’t quite know exactly what it is.

The remainder of the episode analyzes the prelude and fugue, no. 13, in F-sharp major, BWV 858. A look at the opening of the prelude in earliest version offers lovely insights into Bach’s working mind:

In revision Bach changes the repeated note — a recognizable motif of the early version— into a trill, now acting as its own motif:

Particularly fascinating is the way Bach changes the harmonic rhythm from the early version here, bar 17:

Now again from measure 17 in the revision. Bach inserts two full bars, extending the harmonic length of g# minor and C# Major:

“Thank Bach for God.”

A huge thanks to Bradly Lehman for helping preparing this episode. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what his work covers, but hopefully you’ve got some idea how deep the topic of tuning can go. Lehman has some great online resources illuminating the fascinating world of temperament. For starters, try:

www.larips.com (Spiral spelled backward)

Dig deeper with this essay here, published by the Reimenschneider Bach Institute:

And finally, more Articles and Essays by Bradley Lehman

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Concepts Covered:

Pure vs tempered intervals, ‘spiral of fifths,’ vs. the circle of fifths, equal temperament, loss of key character, Bradly Lehman temperament, historical tuning systems, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, temperament and tuning, F-sharp major Prelude and Fugue No. 13, Bach’s compositional revisions, and BWV 858

German mystic, Heinrcih Seuse, author of ‘In Dulci Jubilo’

English composer R. J. Pearsell’s setting of the melody.

Spread the Love, Doubly Canonic:

N.B. I’ve been wanting to make this rebrand for a while: The title of this podcast is no longer “The WTF Bach Podcast” but simply, “WTF Bach” — I hope this doesn’t cause any problems, if you run in to any issues as all, please alert us! Thanks!

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Our conversation spans how to memorize, scholars vs. performers, pianists playing the organ, pop music, music for consumption, ‘social media musicians,’ music as a substitute for God, The Art of Fugue (harpsichord or organ?) and more…

Become Your Best Buxtehude:

Some links mentioned in the chat:

Organmaster Shoes

The Robertsbridge Codex

Schumann’s advice for young musicians

and of course, Paul’s website.

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Let’s get our good new habits in early in the year! In this episode, I read practical advice from three organists/organ method books. The organ method books are in a class of their own— highly entertaining reading.

We begin with Francis Routh’s Teach Yourself The Organ (1958.) His asterisk marking the complete works of Buxtehude as ‘fairly easy’ is representative of this amusing book:

Harold Gleason’s method book of 1962 makes up the bulk of this episode, the complete advice is pasted below.

We feature some of Fayth Freese’s excellent article from The Diapason. I recommend the full read.

And here is the advice to teens I made for the Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland Florida. I cannot emphasize enough how music should be a joyous process at this age, never an abusive one.

From Gleason (bold type is my emphasis)

HOW TO PRACTICE:

* Make a schedule for daily practice. Devote a definite amount of time to technique, to new music, to perfecting music already studied, and to memorizing. Devote at least one hour a day to piano practice. Later the student will need to reserve time for perfecting the many skills required for playing the church service.

* Practice as if the piece were being memorized (see the section on Memorizing).

* Study the music before beginning to practice. Note the key signature, time signature, note values, fingering, pedaling, structure, special problems, and general style. If the fingering and pedaling is not given or is inadequate, it should be carefully worked out according to the principles given in the sections on Fingering and Pedaling.

* Memorize and always use the same fingering and pedaling. Incorporate the articulation, phrasing and interpretation into the practice.

* Try to avoid playing wrong notes or incorrect time values from the first time an exercise or piece is practiced. If a wrong note or rhythm is played, do not immediately correct it. Go back to the beginning of the phrase and repeat the passage correctly a number of times.

* Concentrate on the work at hand and avoid mechanical, unthinking practice and repetition. Always practice after a lesson.

* Practice slowly in the following sequence: right hand; left hand; both hands; pedal; right hand and pedal; left hand and pedal; both hands and pedal. Begin the slow practice of short sections for both hands and pedal while working on separate parts.

* When the phrases and sections of a composition have been mastered at a low tempo, play it all the way through. When this has been accomplished with complete muscular control and accuracy, the tempo may be gradually increased. Return to slow, detailed practice of sections which are not secure, and repeat this process at succeeding practice periods.

* Always practice at a steady tempo. Do not play easy places fast and difficult places slowly.

* Devote the most attention to difficult passages.

* In contrapuntal music, play one or more parts and sing another part.

* In passages of a technical nature, the practice of four-note groups in the various rhythmic patterns is helpful in developing speed and control.

* Stop practicing and relax for a few minutes at the first sign of tension.

* When practicing technical exercises for manuals and pedals, and when first learning a piece, use clear, quick-speaking stops of 8’ or 8’ and 4’ pitch (Gedackt 8’, Principal 4’).

* As soon as the notes in a composition have been mastered, work out an appropriate registration.

* The drawing of stops and the use of combination pistons and reversibles should be carefully practiced and synchronized, in order not to interfere with the performance of the music.

* Above all, the student should learn to listen and hear that the parts are sounding together, are released together, and that the touch, rhythm, accents, and interpretation are actually being realized as intended.

How’s Your Contrapuntal Journey Fugueing?

HOW TO MEMORIZE:

The principal reason for playing from memory lies in the fact that it will result in a better performance, both technically and musically. The perfectly memorized work becomes a part of the performer and gives him complete freedom of expression.

When a piece of music is practiced correctly and efficiently, it is also being memorized, and good practice habits will lead to a continual improvement in the ability to memorize.

After a composition has been thoroughly learned with the notes, the complete process of memory should be undertaken. Concentration and interest in learning are indispensable to the memory process.

There are four types of memory which are used in music. Three of these types—aural, visual, and motor memory—depend on our senses or imagery. The fourth, and most important type, is known as cognitive memory. It is based on knowledge and is the memory we use in the analytical study of the music.

The memorization of music requires the combination and collaboration of the four types of memory. We all vary in our natural gifts and capacities, but all types of memory should be cultivated and can be improved.

Cognitive Memory

This memory is the basis of all study, from the time the piece is first practiced until it is performed from memory. Every detail of the music should be analyzed technically and musically, and be consciously known. Organize notes into patterns, groups, and phrases. Note all sequences and variations from the sequential pattern. Analyze harmonic progressions and relate them to each other. Contrapuntal lines, rhythm, and interpretative factors are all a part of analytical study. Study the form and relate the details to the whole.

Aural Memory

This memory is useful in enabling us to hear mentally what the next note or chord is, and it strengthens the other types of memory. The ability to hear accurately and retain what we hear should be developed until individual lines of the music can be played and sung without errors. Eventually a whole composition can be “practiced” by going through it and hearing the sound mentally.

Visual Memory

This type of memory gives us a mental image of the way the notes look on the printed page, or the place of the notes and the shape of each passage on the keyboard. Visual memory may be developed by concentrating on a measure of music, consciously noting all its details, and then reproducing it from the mental image. Gradually more measures can be added, and a mental image of whole phrases and sections can be retained. Avoid using different editions of a composition during the learning process.

Motor Memory

This is one of the most useful and also the most dangerous types of musical memory. Motor memory involves the touch sensations and training of the muscles so that the movements in playing become automatic. They should, however, never be mechanical. In developing motor memory the same fingering and pedaling must always be used. Avoid repeating phrases endlessly without thought or purpose. Never depend on motor memory alone in memorizing a piece. The slightest interruption in the automatic process will inevitably lead to a breakdown.

Summary

* Begin to learn all the techniques of memorizing with the first lesson. The basic principles of position, manual technique, and practicing should be memorized. Analyze the exercises and studies and memorize the fingering. A few of the manual studies in which the student is particularly interested should be memorized after they have been learned perfectly with the music.

* Memorizing should continue throughout the organist’s career and be made a part of every practice period.

* Memorize when the mind is alert and the power of concentration is strongest. Do not attempt to memorize when fatigued.

* Always begin with analysis and then introduce the other memory techniques. The more thoroughly the music is learned the longer it will be retained and the more positive will be its recall.

* Memorize phrases or short sections at first and gradually develop the ability to learn longer sections. Always be sure the sections are connected in the mind and make a unified whole.

* Work on at least one new section of music each day and then review the previous sections.

* Memorize landmarks at cadential points and practice beginning at any one of these landmarks.

* Memorize and be able to play the parts for each hand alone and the pedal part alone.

* In reviewing a work previously memorized always consult the score and repeat the original memory process.

* Do not think of difficulties ahead, or the association of chord to chord and phrase to phrase will be lost.

* In performing from memory, the subconscious mind will function if it is not interfered with by fear.

* The fear of forgetting can be eliminated by the knowledge that every detail of the music and its interpretation has been engraved in the mind and that the aural, visual, and motor senses have been well trained.

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saw quite a few revisions between its conception and the version we know. For starters, note the earliest version’s key signature, and the E-flat in bar 2:

The most striking feature of the early version is the abrupt end:

No presto? No adagio? No allegro?

The fugue (in 3 voices) is a fugue with two countersubjects. See them here, the first on top, the second below. Both countermelodies occur with every entrance of the main theme:

Become your best Buxtehude.

We also have a brief look at the c minor invention, BWV 773. The piece is almost entirely a canon.

I also mentioned the issue of “stemming” at the beginning of the episode. Here is the chord I mentioned (BWV 867.) Note how Bach’s nine individual stems imply nine separate voices, whereas the print reduces them to only four:

N.B. Most of the episodes of this podcast have been newly catalogued according to genre or theme or BWV on my Substack. Yet another reason for you to join the platform! You can now browse according to BWV, instrumentation, et cetera. Have a gander at wtfbach.substack.com

Thanks to all my listeners for supporting me in 2025! Thanks to Romain Villet for reminding me to make this episode. Best of luck to him and to all brave enough to transpose Bach in 2026!

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Supporting this show ensures its longevity.

Concepts Covered:

This podcast episode discusses Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, book 1, (1722) the second prelude and fugue in C minor. Including revisions, fugue structure, and contrapuntal technique, with a few hints at BWV 773 and BWV 867. There is a double countersubject, canonic writing, BWV 847a, and the earliest versions before source P. 415

This is one of the only fugues to make strict use of the countersubject, occurring in all but one (!) appearances of the subject.

This motif, which we call the head of the countersubject, dominates all the episodic material both right side up, and upside down:

Got Bach?

The prelude contains some interesting revisions. Here is one I thought would be too subtle to hear, but I think it’s quite audible in the episode:

The latter represents a rare simplification of harmony and texture in revision.

The biggest addendum of all is the additional measures at the end of the piece. See how abruptly the early version ends:

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Concepts Covered:

J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, Tuning, Revisions, Early verisions. The f minor prelude and fugue BWV 857, with its countersubject, analysis and study. Organ and harpsichord performances, Chromaticism, tone-rows,

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In the last of Bach’s four layerings to the fair copy of The Well-Tempered Clavier, we see some beautiful details that would have been lost had Bach not made this last series of revisions in the 1740s. It makes you wonder if Bach would have made even more, should he have lived as long as Telemann!

Bar 42 reads like this in A1-A3 into the 1740s:

Then, in A4, Bach found expression in the tie and 32nd notes:

Such a revision physically looks like this on fair copy:

This particular revision may not be immediately clear to the naked eye, but some are (see the e minor revisions at the bottom of the post.) I believe it was X-ray technology that led to such breakthroughs in the scholarship, but some layers might be a sort of ‘white-out’ or paste that physically would stand out on the paper— any expertise would be appreciated in the comments! We know that in the Saint Matthew Passion, Bach quite literally ‘layered’ smaller pieces of paper onto the manuscript, but I think that has to do with repair, not necessarily revision. One famous layering in A4 looks as if it’s been pasted onto the manuscript… but it could be my imagination. From the first fugue, BWV 846:

WTF Bach is free to all! Let’s spread the awareness of contrapuntal mastery. However, if you support financially, you’re much less likely to write parallel 5ths.

There are a number of revisions also in the F Major prelude. Interestingly, the length of both prelude and fugue remains unchanged between earliest versions and the fair copy. Bach had the general harmonic rhythm right, but smooths out the insides of some measures:

(Early versions, followed by the fair copy)

And so on… (more demonstrations in the episode.)

I finish the episode with four beautiful revisions to the e minor prelude (covered in Ep. 114) again made in A4. These are typical of his final revisions to the WTC1, bursting with 32nds. Here, one can somewhat plainly see the difference between inks:

Before these revisions, the melody was as follows:

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Concepts Covered:

J.S. Bach’s late A4 revisions to the Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 846–869) in the F-major fugue BWV 856, the F major prelude, the discant adjustments that earlier manuscript stages (A1–A3) lack. The late embellishments in the E-minor prelude BWV 855, The genesis of WTK I, variant readings, fair-copy corrections, Harmonic analysis, contrapuntal rules, and the general genius of Bach.

The original Spanish of the Borges poem, as read by my good friend, Andrea Profili.

Otro poema de los dones

Gracias quiero dar al divinoLaberinto de los efectos y de las causasPor la diversidad de las criaturasQue forman este singular universo,Por la razón, que no cesará de soñarCon un plano del laberinto,Por el rostro de Elena y la perseverancia de Ulises,Por el amor, que nos deja ver a los otrosComo los ve la divinidad,Por el firme diamante y el agua suelta,Por el álgebra, palacio de precisos cristales,Por las místicas monedas de Ángel Silesio,Por Schopenhauer,Que acaso descifró el universo,Por el fulgor del fuego,Que ningún ser humano puede mirar sin un asombro antiguo,Por la caoba, el cedro y el sándalo,Por el pan y la sal,Por el misterio de la rosa,Que prodiga color y que no lo ve,Por ciertas vísperas y días de 1955,Por los duros troperos que en la llanuraArrean los animales y el alba,Por la mañana en Montevideo,Por el arte de la amistad,Por el último día de Sócrates,Por las palabras que en un crepúsculo se dijeronDe una cruz a otra cruz,Por aquel sueño del Islam que abarcóMil noches y una noche,Por aquel otro sueño del infierno,De la torre del fuego que purificaY de las esferas gloriosas,Por Swedenborg,Que conversaba con los ángeles en las calles de Londres,Por los ríos secretos e inmemorialesQue convergen en mí,Por el idioma que, hace siglos, hablé en Nortumbria,Por la espada y el arpa de los sajones,Por el mar, que es un desierto resplandecienteY una cifra de cosas que no sabemosY un epitafio de los vikings,Por la música verbal de Inglaterra,Por la música verbal de Alemania,Por el oro, que relumbra en los versos,Por el épico invierno,Por el nombre de un libro que no he leído:Gesta Dei per Francos,Por Verlaine, inocente como los pájaros,Por el prisma de cristal y la pesa de bronce,Por las rayas del tigre,Por las altas torres de San Francisco y de la isla de Manhattan,Por la mañana en Texas,Por aquel sevillano que redactó la Epístola MoralY cuyo nombre, como él hubiera preferido, ignoramos,Por Séneca y Lucano, de Córdoba,Que antes del español escribieronToda la literatura española,Por el geométrico y bizarro ajedrezPor la tortuga de Zenón y el mapa de Royce,Por el olor medicinal de los eucaliptos,Por el lenguaje, que puede simular la sabiduría,Por el olvido, que anula o modifica el pasado,Por la costumbre,Que nos repite y nos confirma como un espejo,Por la mañana, que nos depara la ilusión de un principio,Por la noche, su tiniebla y su astronomía,Por el valor y la felicidad de los otros,Por la patria, sentida en los jazmines,O en una vieja espada,Por Whitman y Francisco de Asís, que ya escribieron el poema,Por el hecho de que el poema es inagotableY se confunde con la suma de las criaturasY no llegará jamás al último versoY varía según los hombres,Por Frances Haslam, que pidió perdón a sus hijosPor morir tan despacio,Por los minutos que preceden al sueño,Por el sueño y la muerte, esos dos tesoros ocultos,Por los íntimos dones que no enumero,Por la música, misteriosa forma del tiempo

Enjoying your contrapuntal journey? Here’s how you can help:

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The fact that this piece was conceived independently of its solo line is a marvelous insight into Bach’s compositional process. Somewhere along the way, Bach revisited the piece and added the upper line:

Here is a link to the video where Schiff talks about the Well-Tempered.And don’t miss the Kurt Vonnegut moment at 32:45!

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Concepts Covered:

BWV 854 and BWV 855 in the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One, two-voice fugue, the early versions, Bach’s revision. A look at finding the right character, as seen in the Christmas Oratorio, where motivic cells show a consistent compositional logic. Bach’s improvisation, or at least improvisatory style while writing a solo line over a preformed prelude, and predetermined harmonic rhythm. We also see Bach’s use of parallel octaves in Bach, and parallel octaves in the Well-Tempered Clavier. Contrapuntal analysis, study.

Know someone who’d enjoy hearing about this joyous discovery?

A link to the source of d minor Chaconne, BWV 1178A link to the source of the g minor Chaconne, BWV 1179

The live stream link (English overdub.)

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P.S. The music at the end is a taste of a forthcoming W.T.F. Bach album: arrangements of the Orgelbüchlein. Album title suggestions welcome!

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A prelude in E-flat minor, with a fugue in its enharmonic other. The image attached to this episode is from the Czerny edition, who felt the need to dispense with the enharmonic intrigue, and publish the fugue in E-flat minor.

Is the prelude the most crushingly beautiful thing Bach wrote? The fugue, devoid of the sensitivity found in the prelude, displays the largest repertoire of fugal technique thus far: stretto, inversion, canon in all voices, augmentation— a veritable dictionary of thematic possibilities.

Here, for example, is a passage I find most striking: stretto and strict canon in all voices. First, the theme appears in blue, ascending in perfect fourths, and a moment later, in red, inverts into perfect fifths.

Bach seems to have been fond of this idea (and perhaps the shape of this subject as lending itself to fugal techniques) as he employs it in four voices —nearly at the exact same spot in the fugue— in the fifth contrapuntus in The Art of Fugue:

We heard from Edwin Fischer, ukuleleist Herb Ohta (whose Ukulele Bach Playlist is a trip) and at the end, Pierre Hantai.

Do check out Alfredo Sanchez’ recording on guitar, he’s got a great feel for this music.

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Concepts Covered:

The Well-Tempered Clavier, J.S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor / D-sharp minor Expression vs. technical complexity. The prelude, written in E-flat minor, is introspective, harmonically rich. Its fugue, in the enharmonic key of D-sharp minor, moves from emotion to intellect, showcasing the most extensive use of fugal technique seen so far in the cycle: A survey of contrapuntal possibilities. Analysis, early versions such as BWV 853a, history, revisions, and study.

https://arpschnitger.nl/scappel.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_of_St._Peter_and_Paul_in_Cappel

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The prelude begins more contrapuntally than the preludes we have met thus far:

After a few bars of this, Bach dashes our hope that the prelude will continue exclusively with this motif. A flourish of virtuosity vanishes into what seems to be a fugue— of completely unrelated material— nearly in stile antico:

Not content to remain a simple fugue, Bach doubles down by introducing a second subject derived from the opening gestures. Notice how the new subject contrasts with the first, moving not only quicker, but in stepwise motion rather than by leaps.

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As mentioned in the episode, here is a chart illustrating the symmetrical placement of the two double fugues within Bach’s collection. Such symmetry, I feel, is not merely coincidental.

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Concepts Covered:

In this analysis of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 852, E-flat Major, Es Dur, we examine Bach’s contrapuntal design, double fugue prelude, and development. This new fugal prelude, Bach transitions from free texture to strict imitation, introducing a second subject derived from the opening motif. This new theme contrasts with the first, employing stepwise motion, Baroque counterpoint and architectural symmetry in the prelude and fugue. The episode also discusses Bach’s placement of the two double fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier as an act of structural balance. Early version, BWV852a, also covered.

Enjoy this short story— one of the great American short stories— by John Cheever.

Thanks!-Evan

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Admittedly, I still find that beautiful, but Bach is one note ahead of me:

We have a prelude propelled by its instability. This might be something to pay attention to in The Well-Tempered Clavier —if not all his writing in the early 1720s— ordinary melodic shapes that become more compelling when slightly offset.

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We are 25% of the way through this triumph of tonality. Now, for the first time in the collection, the fugue makes explicit use of inverted entrances. Here is the subject ‘right-side up’ at the opening:

Exactly halfway through the fugue, Bach brings the subjects in a second exposition, only now they are upside down:

He also inverts the order of voices in the beautifully expressive episode that occurred earlier, and makes explicit use of stretto in the second half. Other fugal techniques such as ‘splintering’ fragments of the subject in stretto or in parallel thirds make for a brilliant finale on the first quarter of his 1722 masterpiece. Have a listen to the episode for more analysis!

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Concepts covered:

Preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, the D minor BWV 851 (and others, such as BWV 850) Bach’s compositional technique in revision. The early version, BWV 851a is a mere 15 bars long. Counterpoint, voice leading, and harmonic direction, inversion, (the first inversions in the WTK) and stretto in this fugue. Also, instability in melodic design and rhythmic offsetting. Bach marks periods of structure through the book by placing more complicated techniques at these symmetrical points. Also, articulation added to the revised versions, the autograph fair copy.

Continuing our tour through The Well-Tempered Clavier, in the D Major Fugue now, BWV 850, we see a possible implication of double-dots in the subject:

Playing the dotted 8ths as double-dotted 8ths, hence changing the following 16th notes into 32nds, might be considered correct— even stylish! But we are thrown into doubt when we meet the phrase:

If we are to play the 16th note chords together, double-dotting the motif would now not be possible. What to do? Separate the chords? Swing the 16ths? Play one phrase double-dotted and the other not?

In this episode we listen to 14 interpretations in an attempt to find the ‘correct’ answer.

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The following performers offer their solution:

Edwin FischerGlenn GouldRalph KirkpatrickTon KoopmanWanda LandowskaGustav LeonhardtSviatoslav RichterScott RossWolfgang RubsamAndras SchiffLouis ThiryRosalyn TureckHelmut WalchaZuzana Ruzickova

There is also a good wikipedia article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotted_note

Reminder!J.S. Bach: Complete Keyboard Works, Vol. 5- Musical Offering, Suite 823 is now available everywhere you listen to music— have a listen!

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Concepts Covered:

Double dotting in Baroque music remains one of the most debated topics in performance practice, especially when interpreting J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier alongside the broader French style. French composers such as Lully and Rameau often used double-dotted rhythms in overtures and dances, creating a sharp long–short contrast that was part of their national style, while German composers absorbed and transformed these conventions. Bach, familiar with both Italian and French idioms, never notated double dots explicitly, relying on performers to apply the convention, leaving modern interpreters uncertain whether to play rhythms strictly (7:1) or with more flexibility. This ambiguity, double-dot, notes inégales in Bach, continues to challenge harpsichordists and pianists alike, making historically informed performance of Bach’s keyboard works, especially the Well-Tempered Clavier, a central field of research in Baroque interpretation. BWV 850 Prelude and Fugue, its early versions and revisions also explored.

Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

instamus tamen inmemores caecique furore,et monstrum infelix sacrata sistimus arce.

Aeneid, II.244-245

(Yet blindly we persist, forgetful in our fury, and we place the monster, unhappy, upon our sacred citadel.)

I like to think about the origins of phrases we use in English. Imagine you’re a foreigner and someone says, “go on, spill the beans…”

Here are a few idioms we use without thinking about them:

Bite the bullet. Here’s an actual example from the Cambridge dictionary of how this might be used today:

“I decided I had to bite the bullet and take a couple of math classes even though I knew they were hard.”

…But really, biting the bullet meant, “No, it’s not algebra for you son, you’re going into surgery! It’s the 1860s so instead of a nice oxygen mask and a cute little countdown, you’ll calmly bite on a bullet while they saw something off. I imagine after a few minutes of that, the dentist will be on his way to see you as well.”

Let the cat out of the bag. “Don’t let the cat out of the bag!”

This is one a butcher told me about. Really, you should let the cat out of the bag before you leave the butcher. He said a rabbit and a cat will look exactly alike when skinned except for a few signs. Hence you could fool someone hoping to make a rabbit stew by skinning a couple cats. —Ooh, skin the cat, there’s another one.

Anyhow, you get home to the wife and kids, and instead of letting a delicious rabbit or piglet out of the bag, you let a cat out of the bag to show them just how badly papa’s been scammed at the slaughterhouse.

The whole nine yards. You ever hear that and think, “but isn’t it ten yards to a first down?” Well, this one’s not football related folks, it’s war related! Machine gun related. Another gruesome one: “Go on boy! Mow the lot of them down. Give it your all, chap! Feed the gun the whole nine yards— of bullets.”

Raining cats and dogs. Isn’t that a cute one? “Wow, it’s raining cats and dogs outside!” Sorry— not cute. I quote Jonathan Swift’s famous poem, ‘A Description of a City Shower,’

Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud,Dead cats and turnip-tops come tumbling down the flood.

It’s raining so hard, dogs and cats are now washing up in the gutters.

And, saved by the bell, “Gee! I’m sure glad I was saved by the bell!” Well, this might be related to boxing, but it also could be related to a device they put in coffins— only a few hundred years ago, mind you— where, should you just happen to be buried alive, naturally after your funeral and after your many days of exhibiting no pulse or breathing, should you just happen to be buried alive, instead of frantically clawing on the back of your coffin without any dignity, you could simply pull on a little string connected to a small bell six feet above. Caution: upon waking in a coffin to total darkness you previously hadn’t been able to conceive, remember not to pull too hard and break the string. Remain calm. Ring daintily. A nearby gardener, whistling while trimming the flowers on a surrounding tombstone, will hear your patient plea and dig you up again. You’ll be back at the pub in a few hours— saved by the bell. Phew!

So you see, most of these expressions come from gruesome, if not downright morbid backgrounds. …But I think that gives our language its special grit, don’t you?

—

Today anyhow I want to talk about a proverb, not an idiom. Proverbs are supposedly rooted in folk wisdom, rather than sentences that no longer make literal sense.

So, sure, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, this makes sense to me, but I still have no idea why I can’t put all my eggs in one basket. I’m not going to the coop with two baskets. Can we just save some time here and make the proverb, don’t drop the basket!

The proverb I want to dissect is ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’

It generally means something like, when your uncle gifts you a snow globe from a city you’ve never visited, don’t remind yourself that he shares only 25% of your DNA, just pretend to be thrilled, hug him and say thanks. Don’t look the gift horse in the mouth. You may, however, throw the gift horse straight in the garbage.

You probably don’t hear many people saying that anymore— the horses have all disappeared— but when ‘driving’ meant riding on a horse, and not turning the ignition, there was horse wisdom, and one piece of wisdom was that you could tell how healthy a horse was, by looking at its teeth.

So imagine how this phrase originates: your neighbor comes bearing the gift of horses, but you’re not supposed to check if they’re healthy.

The nerve of these people, bringing you horses that are soon your problem!

“Honey, Ol’ Shadow’s looking pretty weak, and I don’t have the nerve to put him out of his misery. What d’ya say I bring ‘em round to the Campbell’s… I think that daughter of theirs had a birthday last week?”

Get real. If my neighbor comes with marmalade I’m checking it for mold. If he comes with a horse? I’m going straight for the mouth. …Well, as a pianist I personally am not sticking my hands into a horse’s mouth, but if Farmer Joe, who previously has brought me no gifts, suddenly shows up with a cheeky grin and a horse with a bow on its head that appears to be tied just so it’s clamping the horse’s jaws shut— I'm gonna make sure an equine dentist is on staff.

‘Oh hey, Farmer Joe! To what do I owe this pleasure? I see you’ve brought your horse. He’s looking a bit… is he alright? What’s that? You want me to ha— a horse? For me? Farmer Joe, Wow! I don’t really ride hor— I shouldn’t ride him? Oh, well I suppose I’d better get some hay anyho— oh, he’s not eating much. I see… well, is he, perhaps… I should look in his— no? Honestly, you’re looking a little tense, Farmer Joe. Look, if you just prefer if I pay the knacker and we forget the whole thing, I’ll pretend you wouldn’t let me look your gift horse in the mouth. You know, Farmer Joe, I’m starting to think you’ve invented a pointless proverb because you’re out of bullets and your shovel is broken.’

Always look a gift horse in the mouth. That’s what I say.

A friend bearing gifts requiring medical attention is a terrible friend. How’s that for a proverb?

You know who didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth? The Trojans.

Note:The outro music is one of the movements Bach cut from his Magnificat during its transposition from E-flat into D. You can find it, and a few more movements not included in the later version, listed under BWV 243a.

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A Musical Offering (Ein Musikalisches Opfer) BWV 1079, is one of Bach’s late mono-thematic masterpieces. When Bach visited his son and King Frederick the Great in 1747, he was challenged to improvise upon the following, extemporaneously:

Bach did so to the amazement of all. Two months later, already engraved on copper plates, The Musical Offering was ready. It included two fugues on the theme, a trio sonata and ten ‘puzzle canons.’

See here the permutations of the ‘royal theme’ as they appear in the canons alone. Altering a melody so imaginatively is already fascinating— and this doesn’t even speak of the ingenious canons he fastens to them. (This is a ridiculously detailed image, so it’s available for download.)

I hope you enjoy this episode and the album! Thanks to Yamaha Artist Services in New York, especially Bonnie Barrett, Aaron Ross and Shane Hoshino.

Available Here (Spotify)

And Here (Apple Music)

https://music.apple.com/nl/album/j-s-bach-complete-keyboard-works-vol-5-musical-offering/1837359653

And Here (YouTube)

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k2wf1S1hboQzMDL-4SYawCQDCuaBE9bH4&si=N4M3U_jlDrwZVH0R

Finally, the episode dealing with more in-depth history of BWV 1079:

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Concepts Covered:

J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering (1747) stands as one of the most profound works of the Baroque era, composed after his famous meeting with Frederick the Great in Potsdam. At its core is the celebrated crab canon, a musical palindrome that exemplifies Bach’s fascination with mathematics in music, loop canons, Möbius stips, and intricate contrapuntal design. Alongside the ricercare in six voices and other canons and fugues, the so-called Prussian Fugue, the Musical Offering illustrates the height of Bach’s late contrapuntal style, where intellectual puzzles and spiritual depth converge. We analyze the work and its canon riddles, Bach’s fugues and canons, its role as the composer’s mastery of counterpoint. We see its mathematical structure, admired for its late Baroque complexity, and celebrated as a true masterpiece of canonic writing, revealing why Bach remains central to discussions of music theory, musical palindromes, and the art of fugue.

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There are only two five-voice fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier, and only two triple fugues. This fugue is both— a five voice triple fugue. Should I be tempted to add some (perhaps too convenient) theological rhetoric to this fugue, an analysis might read like this:

Three subjects in one fugue? Why yes, the trinity in music! The themes enter, Son, Holy Spirit, and God the Father. See first God the Son, a man, very nearly B-A-C-H:

The first entrance of the Pentecostal waves comes, aptly, from the top down. The Holy Spirit is rendered:

God the Father finally makes an appearance, with his perfect interval, and three repeated notes:

On the final page, the Holy Spirit vanishes, leaving father and son in an impressive stretto:

N.B. I’m not convinced Bach had any of this in mind. At least since Schweitzer, however, people have seen the image of the triune God in Bach’s triple fugues. I believe at this time in Bach’s career, he had not quite codified his theological word painting, so if in fact Bach was thinking of the trinity, it is in any case represented more clearly in the triple fugue from Book Two, in f-sharp minor. There, the themes enter in order (as they do in the ‘Saint Anne’s’ Prelude and Fugue BWV 552) Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Biographical and theological readings aside, this is a striking and important fugue. Its prelude is no less beautiful. A most interesting revision comes at bar 14. The earliest version reads:

Only two bars, dominant to tonic. In revision, Bach seamlessly adds an additional two bars, stretching (and perhaps smoothing) out the harmonic rhythm. Bach the master surgeon leaves no scar:

People Mentioned:

Albert SchweitzerMieczysław HorszowskiShirley PerleSeymour LipkinPierre Hantaï

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Concepts covered:

The Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846–893) is one of the great monuments of Baroque music, counterpoint with theological tone painting. A remarkable triple fugue: the C-sharp minor fugue from Book I (BWV 849) (another triple fugue is the F-sharp minor fugue from Book II BWV 883). The C-sharp minor stands out as a five-voice fugue and triple fugue, an extraordinary rarity in the keyboard literature. Some interpreters have seen theological symbolism in the three subjects—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—Bach’s mastery of structure, harmonic rhythm, and Bach in revision. The development of contrapuntal technique, musical spelling, such as the B-A-C-H motif

In this short episode (11 minutes of talking + 10 minutes of music) I read an entry from my practice diary which may be interesting enough to ponder…

As it was passed around during covid, the “Coronavirus Etude” looked something like this:

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the lesson I got out of the few ‘performances’ made of such a meme.

Meanwhile, Rosalyn Tureck is featured for the first time on this show. Here is a picture of her at a Moog. (I didn’t mention that one of my favorite facts about her is that she espoused this instrument as a perfectly valid way to capture Bach’s music.) Her personal “revelation” about Bach, as related in David Dubal’s Reflections from the Keyboard is read in full.

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To which ill-tempered friend will you send this?

We are lucky Bach bothered writing out his arpeggio preludes. Here, for example, is what would later become the C-sharp Major prelude, from Book 2:

Who, without the aid of Bach’s revisions, would be so bold to turn that into:

So too, in the early versions of the opening of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach loses little time writing out the figures. He even stops writing half-notes toward the end:

Only 24 bars in its conception! A further revision in W.F.’s notebook sees a 28 bar version of the piece— the fair copy of 1722 is 35 bars (not 36! Listen for my discussion of the Schwencke measure.)

Some other pieces in this style:

The fugue also underwent revisions, especially to its theme. Layers A1 and A2 have:

Landowska recorded this version and wrote program notes about her decision (heard in the episode.) The 32nd notes of the subject were added in the third ‘layering’. Finally, Bach makes the finest revision in A4— in the 1740s(!), changing the bass in bar 15:

to this:

Finer and finer. Curvier and curvier. The image of Bach in the workshop with the chisel is a fascinating one.

Links mentioned:

The earlier episode covering this prelude (inverting it chromatically and other fun tricks)

Regarding the 2nd note each arpeggio in the earliest version of the prelude, see Legato playing and hidden polyphony on the harpsichord (Thanks to Erzdorf for sharing this, highly recommended.)

And, as mentioned in the episode, Wanda with Leo Tolstoy:

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Concepts Covered:

We discuss the prelude as a possible invitation to check the new system tuning, the famous pieces of Bach, and the Minuet in G being not by Bach but by Petzold. Explore the evolution and historical significance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, a landmark in keyboard literature and tuning theory. This episode traces Bach’s compositional development of key preludes and fugues, such as the C-sharp Major Prelude (Book II) and the C Major Prelude (Book I), BWV 846 analysis, revealing how Bach expanded brief sketches—some only 24 bars—into fully realized works through meticulous revisions. The Schwencke measure- his mistake. Discussions of simplifying Bach, also we examine counterpoint in detail, including changes to fugue subjects, rhythmic diminution, and voice leading, with examples from layers A1–A4. The discussion includes the function of the preludes as tools to demonstrate well-tempered tuning, their pedagogical role, and Bach’s workshop-like revision process. Also covered: authorship controversies, authentic Bach, such as the Minuet in G, long attributed to Bach but now credited to Christian Petzold. An in-depth look at how Bach's compositional process shaped one of the most enduring works in Western music.

The episode on temperament I mentioned.

I think of the two books of this collection as having only outward similarities. The music in both parts are as separate as The Art of Fugue and the Inventions— even more so. Book One, incidentally the only part to be called “The Well-Tempered Clavier” was written in a condensed period of time, whereas its counterpart was ‘assembled,’ as it were, over some twenty years.

We begin not quite at the beginning, (a special episode will be devoted to the C Major pair) but with the third prelude and fugue, in C-sharp Major, BWV 848. Compare the earliest version which I play in the episode:

to the version which we know:

We’ll discuss Bach in revision, the four ‘layerings’ in the first part, as well as the source tradition of both books, the stylistic differences between Book One and Book Two.

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Concepts Covered:

This is an introduction to the Well-Tempered Clavier. Explore the depth and legacy of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, a collection that Robert Schumann famously called a musician’s “daily bread.” This post examines the differences between Book I and Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, focusing on their distinct compositional histories and structural identities. The Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Major, BWV 848, comparing its earliest version to the final form familiar today. Along the way, we’ll unpack Bach’s process of revision, the layered construction of Book I, and the source tradition of Book II, offering valuable insight for students of Bach analysis, keyboard music, and Baroque performance practice.

Literally Can't Thank You Enough in Advance

I try to “bear the burden of bitterness which experience forces on us with as much uncomplaining dignity as strength will allow” as restaurants around me tell me to eat beautiful, as any person who pockets their phone to listen is crowned empathetic, as those who literally died walk among us. Language evolves. Oh well.

Still, there has got to be something to the way we shift around our words, carefully wringing any sentiment out of the last remaining fabric of a once powerful tongue. We no longer feel with our words. We miss out on basic communication. We’ve lost even the ability to thank and receive thanks:

Once, we said, you're welcome. Now we say, no problem. I don’t really mind: other languages have de nada, de rien. But something happens in our psychology when one goes from feeling welcome, to not a problem. Once, we were welcome, now we’re …simply not a pest. Fine, can you blame us? What modern human has time to make anyone feel welcome? I just feel bad for the re-printings of all the phrasebooks, textbooks, tourist maps, dictionaries, flashcards, everything that now has to change you're welcome to no problem. Surely, the truest way to show you’re a foreigner is to say you're welcome.

That’s receiving thanks, how about giving it?

For starters, there’s thank you in advance. Have you ever been thanked in advance? How did that feel? I recently got a request from someone asking to stay at my house — thanking me in advance. I wonder if she was equally thankful when I said, no thanks. Thanking people in advance is holding them hostage, so when someone thanks me in advance I tell them to get f****d on short notice.

Then there’s, I can’t thank you enough. This has got to be one of the weakest sentiments ever uttered. When I hear this, I note the lack of any real thanks in the first place. I can't thank you enough reminds me of that eerie phrase in the business, said just before you agree to play for free, “And you know, Mr. Shinners, we just couldn’t possibly pay you enough…”

I can't thank you enough.Really? Have you tried?Tried what?Thanking me.…thanking you?Yeah, sure, go ahead and try.…oh… thank you…Okay. That's enough.

You can't thank me enough? What am I, a sultan? I can't thank you enough is an outgrowth of our desire to over-blow sentiment to the point where anything— especially a meal— could be compared to the profound. Amazing brunch. It’s the same sentiment as the best thing ever. So many people I know have experienced the best thing ever. Poor folks… if I had experienced the best thing ever, my life would thereafter seem empty, down-hill, constantly in pursuit of that once happier moment. Going immediately to the superlatives in our language leaves no room for improvement, and once again, we’ve exhausted our expressive power on lunch.

Having an occasion where one couldn’t thank enough seems to be reserved for the Cherokee Chief who pulls your drowning family out of a freezing river and nurses them back to health. Maybe then you couldn’t find enough thanks.

… in the room, dim light and steam. Under his dark hair I could see his hands, working tirelessly, deftly. My daughter, blue around the lips and limp, lay at the man’s knee: it had been two days since she had moved. I had no hope, perhaps I already resigned her to a frozen fate. At last, as if cued by his movements, as if rising with the steam, she opened her eyes, restored to life. Tears flowed from her eyes, and then from mine. The Chief kept his gaze fixed on her chest, focused on her breathing. I was at a loss. Finally, he relaxed his hands and sank away from her, as if his own life had left him and became hers.

I turned my wet eyes to the Chief and uttered, ‘Sir… my dear man, were I to thank you every day until I die, I would still feel that I cannot thank you enough.

No problem. Said he.

Notes:

The opening quote: “bear the burden of bitterness which experience forces on us with as much uncomplaining dignity as strength will allow” is from one of the essays I live by: Phillip Lopate: Against Joie de Vivre: Personal Essays. Poseidon Press, 1986.

The closing music is my teacher, the great Jerome Lowenthal, playing Liszt’s Christmas Tree.

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Topics Covered (Chronologically)

Works of doubtful authenticity (Violin Sonata, BWV 1025)Continuo playing (Figured bass, Improvisation, Ornamentation)Legato in the BaroqueWanda Landowska (“I play Bach his way”)Tuning (Meantone and Werckmeister)Student copies with different ornamentsTempo and the connection with ornamentationHeinrich SchützBach’s repertoire in concertsPedal harpsichord and pedal clavichordBach’s toccatas on organ without pedalsBach ‘counting’ bars (Kabbalah and numerology in Bach)The ending of ‘The Art of Fugue’ BWV 1080The Fuga a 3 Soggetti’s inclusion in ‘The Art of Fugue’Koopman as pianistThe touch on piano vs. harpsichordBeginning organist repertoire (pianists learning organ)Pedal techniqueGustav Leonhardt (also as organist)’Touch’ on harpsichord and organ (quick and slow attack)Performing and musicologyEarly fingeringMy Lady Neville’s BookBook collecting (and indexing)L'art de toucher le clavecin (Couperin)Roger North’s comments on musical performance practicePrefaces by FrescobaldiN.B. BWV 1025 was played by Robert Hill and Reinhard Goebel. The charming piece around min 39 is Giles Farnaby’s (1560-1640) ‘Up Tails All.’

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https://modernclassicalx.lnk.to/BachCompleteKeyboardWorksVol4PartitasPtOne

Today I’ve released Volume 4 in my “Complete Keyboard Works” of JSB. This album contains three pieces by the master:

Partita no. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825Partita no. 2 in c minor, BWV 826Partita no. 3 in a minor, BWV 827

Bach’s Opus One—the six Partitas of Clavier-Übung I—were first issued individually from 1726, with the complete set published in 1731. Bach pays homage to his Leipzig predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, who established the model in 1689 with his own Neuer Clavier-Übung. Even the title pages show Bach’s awareness of Kuhnau’s legacy:

Here is (an edition based on) the all-interesting source G 25, with its crucial revisions to the 2nd and 3rd partitas. These tempo indications, for example, withheld from publication in the Neue Bach Ausgabe, greatly affect this transitional passage in BWV 826:

Finally, the episode covering the most dramatic revision in this source:

Many thanks to Bonnie Barrett, Aaron Ross, the YASI team in NYC, and Armand Hirsch for their help in this release!

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After Shakespeare’s Memory, (1983) which I believe is his last published story, I offer my somewhat chaotic rendition of the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch, BWV 769.

Following this, Donald Barthelme, an exciting, quirky read: The School (1976.) The frontispiece of my Barthelme book is a painting by Kandinsky— perhaps this is the right metaphor.

June 13th, episode 99, sees the release of volume 4 in my J.S. Bach Complete Keyboard Works series. You can save the release here in eager anticipation:

https://modernclassicalx.lnk.to/BachCompleteKeyboardWorksVol4PartitasPtOne

The two tracks I made for this episode are available as a free download. Here you are!

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BWV 569, composed around 1708 when Bach was 23, is a single-rhythm experiment in modulation—akin to his Fantasy, BWV 922. On the page, it looks repetitive, but harmonically it’s anything but:

I mentioned I’d link to my own recording of its sister piece, BWV 922 (this cover art: under appreciated.)

The second piece, BWV 551, recently dated to around 1700, shows stunning compositional command for a young teenager. If Mozart and Mendelssohn are the poster children of musical precocity, Bach must now be added to the whizz-kid list. As Schweitzer puts it:

“If ever a composer’s period of probation was short, it was his.” -Schweitzer, Vol. 2, p. 122.

This piece, based on the keyboard toccatas of Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667) is an absolute blast. For our purposes, we can call it a double fugue. Look to the pedal line to identify both subjects, and imagine tap-dancing the 16th-note theme:

The first time I played it, the ending is what had me cracking up (alone and in an organ loft.) Not only does the piece seem like it’s coming to a stop in d minor:

But on the last bar, Bach adds the raised fourth degree! Exceptional.

Performers in today’s episode:

Rübsam, Koopman, Preston, Walcha, Hans Fagius.

I read excerpts from:

Pirsig, Robert M. Lila: An Inquiry into Morals. Bantam Books, 1991.

Wolff, Christoph, and Markus Zepf. The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook. Translated by Lynn Edwards Butler, University of Illinois Press, 2012.

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Concepts Covered:

In this episode on early Bach organ works, we highlight two lesser-known compositions in A minor: the Prelude (Fantasy) BWV 569 and the Prelude with Fugue BWV 551. These pieces, rarely featured in standard organ repertoire, showcase the astonishing talent of young Johann Sebastian Bach. BWV 569, composed around 1708, reveals experimental rhythmic modulation reminiscent of BWV 922. Bach enthusiasts, organ music lovers, and anyone interested in the early genius of J.S. Bach, will be interested in the fugal analysis, the discussion on double fugues, the influence of Froberger, and Bach’s copy of Frescobaldi.

What kind of music could Bach compose for such a joyous word? In every instance, it demands a distinctly exalted treatment.

We discuss the origins of the word Alleluia, and analyze the music when the word appears in his motets, cantatas and a four-part chorale. Plus, the story of the discovery of Bach’s personal bible, the Calov Bible.

Here’s the word in the autograph of Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (can’t you feel his joy writing this?)

Performers in today’s episode:

BWV 225, Vocalconsort Berlin, Daniel Reuss

BWV 230, Le Petite Band, Sigiwald Koken

BWV 140, Academy of Ancient Music, Choir of King's College, Stephen Cleobury

BWV 4, Pigmaleon, Raphael Pinchon

BWV 276, Chamber Choir of Europe, Nichol Matt

BWV 143, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman

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Concepts Covered:

This study explores the origins of the German resurrection hymn Christ ist erstanden, transformed by Luther into Christ lag in Todesbanden, and how Bach distinctively set the jubilant "Hallelujah" across motets, cantatas, and a four-part chorale. It examines the etymology of "Alleluia," its liturgical role in the tempus clausum—when festive music ceased—and its observance under the Rule of Saint Benedict. The discussion concludes with the discovery of Bach’s annotated Calov Bible, offering insight into his theological and musical mindset.

But wait, I thought the St. John Passion was:

In this episode, beyond outlining the basic revisions between the 1724 and 1725 (and a few other) versions of BWV 245, we’ll study how people heard passion music, the purpose of a passion setting, and how Bach, by changing the opening and closing movements, or swapping an aria here and there, envisioned he might guide the listener into a different state of reflection to receive the same Gospel.

Today’s performers were M. Suzuki, H. Rilling and P. Herreweghe. Here is a link to the Weimar Passion theory I mentioned. Finally, the excerpt by Daniel Melamed comes from his excellent book: Hearing Bach’s Passions. Revised ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016, 73–74.

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Concepts covered:

Various versions of BWV 245, especially the 1724 and 1725 layers, analyzing changes in opening and closing choruses, aria placement, as well as theological emphasis. Topics include Lenten music practices, the music during tempus clausum, the Passion oratorio, Passion hymns such as “O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß,” the liturgical and devotional role of chorales, and how Bach’s compositional decisions recalibrate the listener’s reception of the Johannine Passion text. We discuss changes in orchestration and the change in venue from St. Thomaskirche to St. Nikolaikirche in 1724.

In J.S. Bach’s second collection of chorale prelude for organ, he introduces obligato pedal parts. Below is an image from his Bach’s earliest chorale settings for organ, as preserved in the Neumeister Collection:

Whereas we do not see any explicit pedal markings, we imagine the adept player added them when tasteful. A decade or so later, Bach’s chorale settings look more like this:

Note the small staves on the left, indicating that the source still had two staves, but the counterpoint in the pedal is specifically called for. Here is the autograph:

That little “P.” below the bottom staff is the clue. The title page of the Orgelbüchlein contains a flowery description, indicating its intended use:

Here is the text of Saint-Saëns’ charming autobiography.

And here is the episode where I introduce the Neumeister Collection.

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Concepts covered:

This episode explores the rich tradition of Baroque organ music, focusing on J.S. Bach’s organ works and his chorale preludes. We examine historical performance practice, particularly the use of ad libitum pedal technique and the development of obbligato pedal lines in Bach’s compositions. A deep dive into the Neumeister Collection sheds light on early Baroque keyboard music, revealing how Bach’s pedal technique evolved over time. Finally, we analyze the Orgelbüchlein, its structure, and its lasting impact on organ repertoire.

Here is the tuning video with chorale in question toward the end of the episode:

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Let’s have a look at BWV 106. I focus on the two recorders and their almost unison playing. The effect of one flute dropping a few notes from their otherwise identical melody is marvelous:

The theme of the cantata joins the Old-Testament ‘fear of death’ with the New-Testament ‘joy in death.’ Bach combines both testaments’ text in multiple movements. This idea of the soul rising above the old world, ‘as if hastening hither from another,’ musically detached from the fugue in the lower voices, a soprano floats over the texture, quoting Revelations:

And who can forget this moment? It even looks striking to the eye:

We find a similar image of the comforted soul floating above the music in the duet toward the end of the cantata. Over Jesus’ dying words, the alto slowly sings a Lutheran hymn:

Bach so carefully wants to paint the idea of peace in death, he gives one word (sleep) its own dynamic:

Performers today were: Masaaki Suzuki, Joshua Rifkin, Rudoplh Lutz. The additional organ chorale at the end of the episode is BWV 616.

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Concepts Covered:This episode is an Actus Tragicus, BWV 106 analysis, one of Bach's early cantatas. We examine the influence of Albert Schweitzer’s Bach research on our understanding of this work today. We also discuss Baroque cantata interpretation, and how Italian opera influence permeates Bach’s sacred compositions. The episode touches on historically informed performance, the comparison of recorder vs. flute in Bach's works and Cantata text interpretation. We spend time considering Bach Lutheran hymn settings and his chorale harmonizations. Additionally, we explore the symbolism in Bach’s music, examining the use of Bach musical rhetoric to convey deeper meanings, and how Bach’s sacred vocal music reflects both New Testament and Old Testament themes. The episode touches on themes of Revelation in Bach’s music, Baroque musical theology, and Bach’s death and peace themes, all within the context of Baroque counterpoint in sacred music.

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Here is my reading of Shakespeare’s first publication, Venus and Adonis, a poem that is pure music. If I were to list my favorite lines, I might as well copy out half the poem. Just something that pops into my head would be a line like,

“Rain added to a river that is rankPerforce will force it overflow the bank.”

It bursts with melody and rhythm! And at least one moment, such as when Venus addresses Death,

'Hard-favour'd tyrant, ugly, meagre, lean,Hateful divorce of love,'--thus chides she Death,--'Grim-grinning ghost, earth's worm, what dost thou meanTo stifle beauty and to steal his breath,Who when he lived, his breath and beauty setGloss on the rose, smell to the violet?

'If he be dead,--O no, it cannot be,Seeing his beauty, thou shouldst strike at it:--O yes, it may; thou hast no eyes to see,But hatefully at random dost thou hit.Thy mark is feeble age, but thy false dartMistakes that aim and cleaves an infant's heart.

Why, this might well be compared with the later tragedies. Grim-grinning ghost! As Keats wrote in the margin of his copy of the Sonnets, ‘Lo!’

I hope you enjoy this diversion. I’ve been toying with this for about a year now. I suggest reading along while listening to best absorb the poem. You can read the full text in modern English here, and as it appeared (with older spelling) in 1593, here.

Poor queen of love, in thine own law forlorn,To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn!

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Don’t miss the end of this episode where I play three of Bach’s earlier settings of the same tune, BWVs 700, 701, & 738!

We finish our study of this late masterpiece by reading some scholarship on the two different versions Bach made of his canonic variations on Luther’s 1539 melody. Whereas Wolff suggests both versions could be ‘authentic,’ Gregory Butler reveals that he believes the Original Edition was a mistake— one that prompted the handwritten fair copy.

As for the signature in the augmented canon— the finale in the fair copy— it is first spelled out in bar 19. See the top line, G, F#, A, G#:

These are not the same notes, but it is the same shape as B-A-C-H. The line that imitates this upper line is moving at half its speed. Therefore, it must repeat the spelling twice as slow later in the piece. See how it is joined by an independent line of counterpoint, now singing out the signature in parallel 3rds:

Two signatures in two different final movements!

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Concepts Covered:

In this episode, we explore Bach canonic variations, as well as other chorale setting of BWV 700, BWV 701, and BWV 738, and their connection to the Luther 1539 melody. We dive into Bach scholarship, focusing on insights from P. 271 and Gregory Butler’s Bach Research. You’ll also learn about Bach's original editions and the handwritten fair copy Bach created, as well as the significance of the augmented canon signature — the iconic B-A-C-H motif. We examine Bach counterpoint techniques, analyze Baroque music in detail, and explore Bach's final movements in these canonic counterpoint studies. This episode serves as a gateway to understanding Bach's late masterpieces, with special attention given to the use of Bach’s signature in these variations.

Changes like this (first beat, alto) are minute, yet fascinating:

(Top: engraving. Bottom: fair copy.) Bach made three revisions dealing with a similar leap of a fifth.

The most important revision in the inverted canon variation, is in this pedal line:

(Top: engraving. Bottom: fair copy.) Notice the ornament in the fair copy— we often see more ornaments in handwritten versions, but this is not consistently the case in this piece.

Heading over to the augmented canon, this revision (in the bottom line) seems to be the only one of major consequence:

(Top: engraving. Bottom: fair copy.) The need to change this canonic line stems from a revision Bach made 11 bars earlier— the lines being in augmentation with one another. Admire Bach’s brazenness as he changes what was D over B, to D over C#!

Here, as I mentioned, is a very early episode introducing the concept of Bach in revision:

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Notice the finale comes in two stages, first diminution, then stretto. The signature in the final bar is noteworthy (though it should be mentioned that the letters are an addition by the editor.)

And here is a video of the Mandelbrot set fractal, as promised (with perfect background music:)

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(If you can’t see that the shapes are inversions, hold up a mirror — seriously!) Yet here, only a few bars later, the imitation seems to be at a different interval:

The follower is no longer a sixth below, but a third. How rare! And going on, something else:

(We’re looking at the lower two voices in this picture, the quarter notes.) We see the canonic imitation has shifted yet again, to the interval of a second. What is happening? Dare I say… W.T.F. Bach?

This type of composition is, I believe, completely unique. I’d love to see another example elsewhere in music. Bach writes the chorale melody four times, and in all four appearances, finds a different interval at which inverted imitation works.

The man’s capacity to combine a single shape with itself, to abstract the DNA of the smallest musical cell, to spin it, lengthen it, shrink it, to construct a world from a grain of sand; this is late Bach.

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Let’s see what our augmented canon looks like on the page. Here is the opening of the ‘quick’ line:

And now see the same shape, moving in augmentation:

Those images are from the print, which as I mentioned is in open-score, and particularly difficult to read. The left hand is on the 2nd and 4th lines, the pedal sandwiched between them on line 3, and, did I mentioned? Four different clefs. Have a look:

We’ve seen this type of composition before on the podcast. Here is the episode from Season One about the augmentation canon (as well as in inversion) from the Art of Fugue:

Stay tuned for the final variation!

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Notice how the notes of the bottom line don’t continue after the fifth note!

See two other canons, each with the comes omitted:

Variatio 2 omits the follower after only three notes, while the last image shows the second voice dropping out after two full bars.

Because of such condensed notation, a copy working out the solutions would be necessary for anyone wishing to play the work; Bach himself made one— and couldn’t stop himself from making very minor changes. Those intriguing revisions are the subject of this episode.

P.S. In the episode I mention that for time’s sake, I cut three revisions from our comparative study of the canon at the 7th. For reference, they are found below. The staves show the pedals and left hand, engraving copy on top, followed by the handwritten copy:

Bar 7:

Bar 13:

Bar 22:

P.P.S. I received a notification that the featured recording of Stravinsky conducting his own arrangement is banned in certain countries in which I have listeners. Pardon me if the sound drops out at the end of the episode! If this happens, you’ll have to look the piece up on your own: it can be found searching Stravinsky’s music under the title “Choral-Variationen” (or “Chorale Variations” in other languages) with either W83, K087, or BH-2629 as the catalogue number.

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Two versions of this piece exist: the ‘fair copy’ and the ‘publication’ (Stichfassung), which present the variations in a different order. In this episode, we follow the publication, where the canon at the 7th appears as the third variation.

The previous two variations featured canons between right and left hands, while the pedals carried the slow moving chorale melody. This variation introduces something new: a canon between the pedals and left hand. On that page that looks like this:

Above those two lines, the right hand plays a quick-flowing accompaniment marked cantabile, but the chorale melody is missing…

Note the rest up top, and the downward-facing stems on all the notes. This implies a second voice is coming: the Christmas melody sung in half notes.

Together, the two voices of the right hand, combined with the canon between the pedals and the left hand, create a four-voice texture— the previous variations were in three voices. As we’ve seen in his other late canonic works, Bach will gradually increase the complexity of the canonic treatment toward the finale.

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It continues for over 50 bars as a three voice canon at the unison. In my brief survey of this piece, I found one theory that suggests the 9-year-old J.S. Bach was in attendance at the first performance in history.

While the canonic treatment is clever and not worthy of our loathing— we blame its ill fate on others— Bach’s contributions to the genre outshine this example. We continue with Bach’s canonic art in the next episodes.

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Concepts Covered:

The musical canon has long been a cornerstone of Baroque music, with J.S. Bach canons exemplifying the height of Bach’s canonic art and canonic structure in Bach’s compositions. This episode explores Bach’s musical contributions, from his early compositions to his sophisticated fugue and canon techniques. We also discuss Pachelbel’s Canon in D, one of the most recognizable pieces in classical music, analyzing its compositional style, melody, and Baroque influences. Through Bach musical theory, Bach analysis and theory, and comparisons with Pachelbel’s influence, we uncover the lasting impact of these works on Bach music history and the broader canon of Baroque music masterpieces.

Here is what the initial shape looks like in the right hand:

So the same shape must be imitated down the perfect fifth. It appears like this in the left hand:

I briefly mention the difference between ‘tonal’ and ‘real’ answers. Although the majority of the imitating line appears a perfect fifth below the leader, several accidentals are changed to keep the overall tonality. Hence Bach here gives us a ‘real answer.’ (I.e. where the F# and G# appear in the left hand, find the corresponding notes in the right hand, note the resulting intervals are diminished fifths, not perfect.)

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Those are the first three measures of 18 measures. That’s right: the shape is imitated note for note for 18 bars! If you’re having trouble seeing that the two upper lines are in fact the same melody, one octave apart, try this image:

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The variations— although certainly not as familiar— should be considered alongside Bach’s other late achievements, the Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and A Musical Offering. They employ many similar ideas and highlight the composers uncanny ability to ‘squeeze water from a stone,’ making elaborate pieces with minimal material.

This first episode discusses the origins of the chorale melody and for what purpose Bach used this piece.

Drop me a note to tell me if you like this shorter episode length. Are you the type of listener who loves the hour long podcast? Or did this fit into your schedule better?

I mention the title page:

And the Wikipedia link to the chorale melody: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vom_Himmel_hoch,_da_komm_ich_her

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About halfway through the episode (14 minutes), I’ve given you some “chill” chorales, played over a drone. One of my listeners mentioned they wanted some Bach for doing yoga/meditation, so this is what I came up with. If you like the way it sounds, I’ll put a full hour-long track on Spotify for all my Bach enthusiast yogis.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for some cool episodes coming up during the holiday season.

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In this episode, we delve into the Bach Zippelfagottist controversy, a fascinating chapter of Bach’s biography mysteries, where we examine the famous Bach dagger incident and the events surrounding the Arnstadt Consistory Court. We also touch on the historical Bach disputes that hint at Bach’s temperament and behavior, including the Bach and Geyersbach conflict. Bach’s fisticuffs story sheds light on Bach’s early years and his early career troubles. The episode also explores the historical records from the Arnstadt Consistory Court, providing a glimpse into Bach’s self-defense incident and the Bach Arnstadt brawl. Whether you're drawn to Bach's historical documents, his unusual stories, or his works for meditation, this episode offers a thorough exploration of Bach's personal life drama, his clashes with church authorities, and his early controversies that set the stage for his monumental legacy.

The most intriguing part of studying this piece was the overwhelming amount of differences between the three earliest sources of this work. Here is a list of the sources I reference in the episode , the copyists, and when they were made:

The ‘Andreas Bach Book’ (D-LE III.8.4) J. Christoph Bach; copyist, between 1705-1714

P 801 J. Tobias Krebs; copyist, between 1710-1717

P 804 J. Peter Kellner; copyist, before 1725

In the episode I simply refer to these as Andreas Bach, Krebs, and Kellner.

You will hear a great amount of textual variation between these sources. Part of any performer’s job of playing music from Bach’s era includes combing through sources, determining how and why certain discrepancies appear. In the Aria Variata, however, the discrepancies are inconsistent— and perplexing.

My current understanding of source tradition hasn’t led me to any conclusion, but were I bold enough to take a stab, I’d guess Andreas Bach is the most accurate source, Kellner made a very sloppy copy from which Krebs copied. Kellner’s copy is full of corrections, but these were probably entered at a later date, and Krebs didn’t get the memo. A taste of what this looks like:

That is Kellner’s copy. Notice the ornaments. Compare to Krebs:

Both have an E-flat in on the downbeat of the third bar (all three sources in this episode use soprano clef on top). Now here is Andreas Bach:

D-sharp in bar three! Also, the ornamentation is fuller.

There are many other details in the episode, so please, enjoy! Here are more images to stimulate your fancy:

Krebs’ wavy hand.

Kellner making mistakes, corrected by— whom? Kellner himself?

The baffling passage in variation 4 in Andreas Bach. Notice what look like erasures on some of the notes.

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Concepts Covered:

In this episode, we explore the Bach Aria Variata sources and delve into the fascinating world of Bach manuscript discrepancies, specifically examining the Andreas Bach Book, J. Christoph Bach manuscript, and the works of J. Tobias Krebs and J. Peter Kellner. We discuss how Bach’s early keyboard works are presented in various historical music sources, uncovering differences in notation, ornamentation, and textual variants that shape Bach’s source tradition. Through a comparison of the Kellner manuscript errors and the contributions of Krebs vs. Kellner Bach, we gain insights into Bach’s performer scholarship and the challenges of interpreting Baroque music textual variants. Additionally, we explore the authenticity of Bach’s handwritten manuscripts and how these sources influence the understanding of his music today.

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Today’s episode focuses on the ‘black pearl’ of the inventions and sinfonias. The f minor sinfonia is highly complex piece of passion music embedded within a seemingly innocent collection of music intended for the beginner. Here, rather than the more typical obligato upper voices with the bass occasionally joining in with a theme here and there, the f minor sinfonia relies on convertible counterpoint where all three voices are judged— and juggled— equally. Bach shows us this technique using different themes:

A lament bass:

Musical crosses:

And a wildly avant-garde motif, which I refer to as the wailing motif:

Writing certainly exists on these three motifs seen as “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.” Not for any particular reason, I refrain from making such an analogy in this episode.

As mentioned in the episode, Bach changed some of the enharmonics when transfering the piece from the Notebook for W.F. Bach into the Aufrichtige Anleitung. Here are some examples:

The E-double-flat (middle voice) in the notebook for his son:

is later changed to a D natural:

The B-double-flat in the top voice in the previous examples remain, but Bach will change the spelling in the bass voice of the same note (again, in the notebook:)

to an A natural:

There are a few other similar changes throughout.

Thanks for listening! Have you told your high-school band teacher you’re super into Bach?

N.B. My substack is about 1 year old, and in that time I released some 27 episodes and three essays. Should you decide to become a paid subscriber, that’s less than 3 dollars an episode (paying per year: about $3.70 paying per month.) Your contribution ensures the existence of this podcast. I really couldn’t— and wouldn’t be able to— continue devoting the time without your support. Thank you.

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Concepts Covered:

The F minor Sinfonia, BWV 795, stands out among Bach’s inventions and sinfonias, showcasing his counterpoint techniques and expressive depth. Elements like the lament bass, musical crosses, and the haunting wailing motif, this work reveals Bach’s ability to embed passion music into seemingly simple pieces. Through an analysis of enharmonic changes and Bach in revision, we gain insight into his intricate writing, preserved in the W.F. Bach notebook. Legendary musicians such as Jascha Heifetz and Marcelle Meyer have interpreted these works. Join the Bach fan community to continue to explore his legacy through Bach music scholarship, uncovering new dimensions of his sacred motifs and theoretical innovations.

One fugue, which I initially read with little interest, is the one featured in this episode: BWV 537. Suddenly, I’m struck by its raw power and its structural reliance on a chromatic line. Now that it has revealed itself to me, it will forever remain a favorite. I hope to share with you a glimpse of this experience in today’s episode.

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Concepts Covered:

The Fantasy & Fugue in C minor, BWV 537, exemplifies Bach’s musical complexity, combining a dramatic chromatic line with masterful fugue techniques. This episode explores the structural analysis of the piece, highlighting Bach’s intricate approach to fugue composition and his use of chromaticism to heighten musical tension. Through Bach music analysis, we gain deeper insight into his musical influence and the enduring power of his Baroque fugues. Understanding the Fugue in C minor reveals the depth of Bach’s structural ingenuity, offering a fascinating study in fugue performance techniques and the brilliance of Bach’s music.

[I forgot to credit the last recording in this episode to Rudolph Lutz and the J.S. Bach foundation.]

Here are (some of) the beautiful parts which make up the chorales, BWVs 250-252. They are beautiful examples of Bach’s handwriting ca. 1730. Note that all three chorales are on the same page.

Soprano:

Alto:

Tenor:

Bass:

And the second horn part I fondly discuss in this episode:

All the parts are viewable at:

https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002475

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Here we see the main source (G 25) in question:

Hard to see here, but if we zoom in, we see that this:

Is a correction of the original printings, which read:

This link here should allow you to download the original print of all six partitas.

N.B. As that link is the download of the original print, it will not contain any of the corrections mentioned in this episode. For a full list of the scholarship on these changes, see:

Wolff, C. (1999). Text-critical comments on the original print of the Partitas. In Bach: Essays on his life and music (pp. 214-222). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Concepts Covered:

The 3rd Keyboard Partita, BWV 827, stands as a defining work in Bach’s Partitas for keyboard, marking his first published opus and showcasing his mastery of counterpoint. This episode examines the Handexemplar revisions, where Bach’s scribe corrections reveal musical updates that refined the Partita Gigue’s counterpoint. These manuscript corrections provide insight into Bach’s compositional process, highlighting his meticulous approach to keyboard music. As we explore Bach’s revised versions, we engage with the broader landscape of Baroque keyboard music, tracing his influence on counterpoint and the evolution of Bach music performance. Through this Bach partitas analysis, we uncover how his musical revisions continue to shape our understanding of his genius.

You can stream and individually purchase any track including the performer’s commentary from the third volume below. [More streaming links (including youtube playlists) at the bottom:]

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The first three albums of the 'Complete Works for Solo Keyboard' are live everywhere. Stream while sleeping to achieve maximum effect.

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“…from the natural to the artificial, and from the lofty to the obscure ... one wonders at the painful labor of it all, that nevertheless comes to nothing, since it is at variance with reason.”

Let’s examine the controversy from the beginning.

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The first three albums of the 'Complete Works for Solo Keyboard' are live everywhere. Stream while sleeping to achieve maximum effect.

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Today’s episode covers this canon in depth. What does it mean? How does it sound?

Here is a link to the article by scholar, Anatoly Milka.

The book, Bach and the meaning of Counterpoint, by David Yearsley is available here.

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Concepts Covered:

The Mi Fa et Fa Mi canon, BWV 1078, is one of Bach’s puzzle canons, demonstrating his unparalleled command of counterpoint theory and inventive compositional techniques. Written as a 7-voice canon, this work, inscribed in a Stammbuch on March 1, 1749, reflects his late-period fascination with musical puzzles and structured complexity. Scholars such as Anatoly Milka and David Yearsley have explored its deeper significance, shedding light on Bach’s innovative canons and their place in Bach music scholarship. As we analyze Bach’s use of counterpoint, we uncover the intricate interplay of voices that define his style. This episode delves into Bach music history, his compositional techniques, and the broader implications of Bach’s musical meaning in this enigmatic work.

You can stream and individually purchase any track including the performer’s commentary from the second volume here. —More streaming links (including youtube playlists) at the bottom:

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The first three albums of the 'Complete Works for Solo Keyboard' are live everywhere. Stream while sleeping to achieve maximum effect.

Volume One:

Youtube playlist!

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ycy2fab7

Apple Music: https://tinyurl.com/nhfuws4t

Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/mrxj7pws

Volume Two:

Youtube playlist!

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/msjyhamh

Apple Music: https://tinyurl.com/mtykbxnz

Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/3m7b9v6w

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The eight surviving canons, BWVs 1072-1078 (+BWV deest) were written on small pieces of paper or penned into registry books. Their compact content, usually only a few notes, is then ‘solved:’ copied and transformed to make a perpetual piece of music in several voices.

You will hear the solutions in the episode. Here is how they appear on the page:

This is the first canon discussed. From these two measures of music, eight voices are formed.

This is the second canon discussed: a four-voice canon with each voice entering a successive fifth higher than the last. It’s the four clefs at the beginning of the line that clue you in on this. The %-like symbol shows you where the next voice enters.

This is BWV 1074, the mysterious ‘Houdemann’ canon. Note the four clefs on the left of the staff, but also the four clefs to the right. They are inverted with a different key signature. Bach here was exploring the a truly symmetrical— not merely diatonic— inversion.

The final canon of the episode. The charming two-voice canon for one of his Godchildren. This canon is simple to solve and the easiest to comprehend.

Yes, the famous F-A-B-E-R, “mi fa, et fa mi est tota musica” canon will be in one of the next episodes— rest assured!

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The first three albums of the 'Complete Works for Solo Keyboard' are live everywhere. Stream while sleeping to achieve maximum effect.

Volume One:

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ycy2fab7

Apple Music: https://tinyurl.com/nhfuws4t

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Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/msjyhamh

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Volume Three:

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4xneak6r

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Each album in my ‘J.S. Bach Complete Solo Keyboard Works’ will be accompanied by this type of work, my commentating as the music plays.

You can stream (and individually purchase) any track including the performer’s commentary from the first album here:

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The first three albums of the 'Complete Works for Solo Keyboard' are live everywhere. Stream while sleeping to achieve maximum effect.

Volume One:

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Apple Music: https://tinyurl.com/nhfuws4t

Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/mrxj7pws

Volume Two:

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Volume Three:

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4xneak6r

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That piece of paper is a six-voice, triple canon: number thirteen in the fourteen additional canons found on the back of Bach’s personal copy of the Goldberg Variations. (Analysis of that specific canon around 32 min.)

We’ve covered nine of these puzzling pieces in three previous episodes, but now it’s time to call it a wrap on all fourteen. These additional canons were discovered only as late as the 1970s. For a more detailed history, check the three previous episodes dealing with these canons:

Here is the image of the canon, “Christ will Crown the Cross-bearers” that appears in the family registry book belonging to J.G. Fulde:

And of course, Bach and his “business card:”

The bass line in both the images (and in all of the canons) is our beloved “first eight fundamental notes of the preceding aria” on which all the canons are based.

Be sure to get my forthcoming three albums on PRESALE before they go live on May 17th!

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As for the music covered today, we will hear Doubles layered over their preceding dance movements. A Double is an elaboration on the preceding movement, where the melody is quickened— often twice as quickly. The harmonic structure of the Double and its preceding movement is the same, allowing for one to play both movements at the same time with very interesting results.

Pieces studied:

Sarabande and Double from Sixth English Suite, BWV 811

Gigue and Double from the c minor lute suite, BWV 997

Partita in b minor for solo violin, BWV 1002

People/places mentioned:

Burp Castle at 41 East 7th Street in the East Village of Manhattan (between 2nd Ave & Cooper Square).

Paul Spring (guitarist)

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Concepts Covered:In today’s episode, we explore the concept of Doubles in Baroque music. Doubles are essentially melodic embellishments that accelerate the original melody while maintaining the harmonic structure of the original dance movement. This creates an interesting contrast when heard alongside its corresponding dance. We’ll dive into specific examples from Bach’s repertoire, including the Sarabande and Double from the Sixth English Suite, BWV 811, the Gigue and Double from the c minor lute suite, BWV 997, and the Partita in b minor for solo violin, BWV 1002.

Be sure to mark your calendars: April 24th, 2024, my new albums will be on PRE-sale. It marks the beginning of my most ambitious project to date: a very thorough, if possible, ‘complete’ set of the keyboard works of Bach. I will certainly send another reminder as the date approaches.

And now for a brief journey into Bach around this date in 1724: today’s episode covers the cantata for the second Sunday after Easter, BWV 104, Du Hirte Israel, höre. Unlike the other cantatas I have recently discussed, this cantata is not based on a chorale melody.

And don’t miss out on your WTF Bach merchandise! Here are seven magnets for your fridge. Send me a note to arrange a sale (T-Shirts, Pins, Bags, 3D Printed Heads, Lighters, also available).

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—

Meanwhile, the music in today’s episode comes from the “Neumeister Collection,” a collection of over 80 chorale preludes from multiple composers, published for the first time in 1985. More than 30 of the pieces come from J.S. Bach ca. 1700, when the composer was only 15 year old. Hence one of the newest Bach discoveries showed us the youngest portraits of the composer. I played three of them, one on a ‘real’ organ (Saint Anne’s, London) and two on Organteq (by Modartt.)

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We tackle here what I find is the most complex composition in the repertoire: the first movement of the b minor sonata, BWV 1030.

Pieces heard:

BWV 1030.1 Source P. 1008, early version, harpsichord part.

BWV 1030.2 The later version, arranged as a flute sonata.

Articles:

Contentious writing on flute vs. recorder

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Concepts Covered:

Bach’s flute sonatas stand as essential works in the Baroque flute repertoire, with the B minor sonata, BWV 1030, being one of the most important. This masterpiece of Bach’s chamber music showcases intricate counterpoint and structure, making it a highlight of flute repertoire. Through an exploration of Bach’s early drafts, such as BWV 1030.1, we uncover Bach’s approach to flute sonata composition. The discussion of flute vs. recorder further enriches our understanding of Baroque music history and performance practice. Whether analyzing Bach’s compositions or appreciating the beauty of music for flute, this sonata remains a testament to Bach’s genius.

Here, the next two cantatas see less predictable treatments of the old melodies. Bach evidently valued these two cantatas, as later in life he arranged single movements from both BWV 10 and BWV 93 into his publication of organ music known as the “Schübler Chorales.”

Pieces heard:

BWV 10, Meine Seel erhebt den Herren (Full Performance of the cantata)

BWV 648, Meine Seel erhebt den Herren (Organ version)

BWV 93, Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten

I mentioned this playlist in the episode: all the cantatas in the 1724 cycle. Love to my fans!

The book I mentioned on the use of ‘Tonus Peregrinus”

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This episode we will explore the next two cantatas where Bach sets the cantus firmus in the tenors in BWV 7, and the basses in BWV 135.

About the melody you may know as “O Sacred Head Surrounded”

Pieces heard:

BWV 7, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam (Full Performance)

BWV 135, Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (Full Performance)

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A fan of the show made this great Spotify playlist with all the cantatas in the second cycle! Thank you! Love to my fans-

Become Your Inner Buxtehude

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Peter Schickele’s Obituary, NY Times

Beethoven’s 5th announced as a baseball game (a classic!)

The Short-Tempered Clavier

Report from Hoople (full album- the Beethoven sketch is included)

The Definitive Autobiography of P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742?)

and we should also mention,

Victor Borge (anything you can find will amuse you!)

Good Ol’ Piano Slapstick

Mozart Opera

Inflationary Language

Television Special (75+ Min)

Pieces heard:

BWV 20, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (Click here to see the live video)

BWV 2, Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein

BWV 684, Chirst unser Herr zum Jordan Kamm

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The quote I read to introduce this short concert is by Mortimer J. Adler.

Bach wrote this music before 1717 (at the latest.) These are fugues whose themes originated in the work of other composers. Bach borrows these themes and creates his own work. These fugues are not commonly played which make them all the more fun to listen to and study.

As always, thanks for listening, thanks for spreading the word and supporting this podcast. I’m looking forward to 2025 with you Bach enthusiasts.

Fugues I performed:

Fugue in C major, BWV 966 (on a theme by Adam Reinken)

Fugue in C major, BWV 946 (on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni)

Fugue in a minor, BWV 965 (on a theme by Adam Reinken)

Fugue in A major, BWV 949 (probably on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni)

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According to the Neue Bach Ausgabe, this fugue is the first double fugue in history.

Here is a picture of the title page in his brother’s hand with the erroneous attribution to Legrenzi:

You can download the music to the fugue here. (The MIDI version I created at the end of the episode is BWV574b.)

Today’s sponsor is Modartt. I am playing the organ using their wonderful software, Organteq. Read about the physical modeling here. Thanks to them, and thanks to all my listeners.

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Firstly, here is the image of what’s in question:

If you’ve ever wondered what all the ‘squiggles’ are about over certain notes in sheet music, this episode will you give you a good idea.

Here is the ‘Applicatio,’ the little piece which would have shown Bach’s son (and other future students) how to apply these ornaments- notice the fingering and the ‘J.N.J.’:

Just a quick episode today! Stay tuned for more writings and longer episodes soon.

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For the first episode where I mentioned the golden section and Bach, click here.

Pieces covered:

Fugue in C major, BWV 846

Invention in C major, BWV 770

Allegro from Sonata in a minor, BWV 1003

Confiteor and Et Expecto from Mass in b minor, BWV 232

Contrapuntus 10 from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080

Phi as seen as a structural principle in BWVs 1001-1006, The Sei Solo Book One (Violin Sonatas and Partitas) will be written about soon!

Fugue in b minor, BWV 869

Performers featured:

Trevor Pinnock

Nathan Milstein

Sigiswald Kuijken (and La Petite Bande)

Ralph Kirkpatrick

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Here is a link to Bach’s own autograph of the Leipzig chorales. Beautiful handwriting!

Marie-Claire Alain’s recording of BWV 655 (completely different to Koopman’s)

The “Organ Sonatas” I recorded with LH/RH hard panning On Spotify on Apple Music

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--

Thanks for listening! In this episode we discuss the history of the Chorale- how it became called 'Chorale' and how it factors into Bach's music.

Pieces featured:

BWV 691 and BWV 93 (Chorale) at the same time

BWV 651

BWV 682

Performers were: Michel Chapuis, Kay Johannsen

--

Here are the links to the cantata cycles mentioned at the end, thank you, Tucker! From the profile you can access different ensembles' complete cantata cycles as well as other great selections.

Tucker's Spotify Playlists

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EPISODE THREE

In a four-part study into the 14 additional canons on the back of the Goldbergs, BWV1087.

Here in this video, we dismiss a popular Bach video, and examine which videos are in fact Möbius strips. 

Here is the disproven crab canon video.

Here are two studies which don't quite go far enough:

One. I love this channel, don't get me wrong- they just didn't quite examine the consequences of chromatic inversion.

Two. The American Mathematical Society publishes similarly.

Both studies miss the technical inversions that I have pointed out in this episode.

--

And now the blurb from the other two episodes studying BWV 1087:

On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 

From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we discuss engraving and canons 5-9.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.

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Rifkin made Bach fame with his groundbreaking (and controversial!) theory that Bach’s vocal works (and other 17th & 18th century) composers’ works were sung with only one singer per part. He recorded the b minor mass, several cantatas, and other Bach works in this format. 

We spoke for almost three hours about ragtime, the Beatles, PDQ Bach (my distant uncle), even crossword puzzles, coffee and meditation. For this episode, though, I culled it quite severely to only that which deals with Bach’s music. 

It’s fascinating to hear him talk about his scholastic endeavors dealing with first-hand examination of source material. Do you agree with Rifkin? Do you like the sound of one singer per part?

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A: Exactly.

https://www.jsbachcellosuites.com - check out this website! It's a great source on the history of the recordings of these pieces.

Thanks for all your feedback, donations, ideas, everything. Please follow @wtfbach on instagram for (almost) daily Bach content.

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What makes Bach, BACH?!

As a special celebration, the 50th episode of The WTF Bach Podcast is a live lecture presented by Tonebase.

The topic is the ever looming one: why is Bach's importance so great? Studying the ideas behind a few of his instrumental collections, we see that Bach's ideas are always expanding outward, perhaps lending to his all-pervasive influence. 

Learn more about Tonebase.

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On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 

From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we discuss engraving and canons 5-9.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and HERE is the link to engraving- you can see how Balthasar Schmid (I accidentally added an 'S' to his name in the episode) engraved Bach's BWV988.

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Bach's fugue based on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni in B minor, BWVs 951, and 951a: the subject itself contains a chromatic descent (B, A#, A, G#, G, F#) and though Albinoni himself wrote it, it was Bach who brought the ideas behind such chromaticism to the next level. 

HERE is the recording which I was not able to credit. If you know whose recording this is, please write me, I'll fix it!

and HERE is the version (BWV 951, not BWV951a) which I played on the MIDI harpsichord, highlighting the chromatic lines on one of my favorite youtube channels. 

As always, thank you for your support, your feedback, your passion! -es

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From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we introduce the history, the idea behind the canons and the first four canons.

Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy:

and here are the Handel variations on the Chaccone of which I speak in this episode:

https://youtu.be/X_Lp9ZWWI-Q?t=73

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We also listen to fugue BWV 959, very early, very wild, very W.T.F. in unequal temperament. 

More episodes on the way! Spread the love!

--

LINKS:

The text of the Borges story I mentioned

Donald Francis Tovey (author of the article I read)

The archived scan of a 1926 Encyclopedia Britannica volume containing, "Bach, J.S.

Homepage of the EB: https://www.britannica.com

--

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Plus: 

-Actually listen to a pythagorean comma, the root of the problem...

-The circle of (pure) fifths

-Bach chorales in different temperaments

-The Art of Fugue, 6th fugue in a funky temperament

Try the frequencies experiment yourself! 

Pull up multiple windows on: https://onlinetonegenerator.com

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The Prelude BWV 846, the first prelude in the Well-Tempered Clavier, is heard everywhere, but why? How? What purpose could such a piece have served in Bach's day?

We discuss two early, shorter versions of the prelude, and one erroneous version with an inauthentic bar (the 'Schwenke measure' - be on the look out if your copy has 36 bars and not 35!)

Answering, "How has this prelude influenced musicians even today?" we explore modern versions by John K. Stone, Elaine Comparone, my challenge to Brad Mehldau, and invert this prelude (and a few others) note for note to hear the 'photo negative'. 

Links:

'Jesu Joy' in a Japanese Forest (Cell Phone Ad)

John K. Stone's 'Fantasy on a Bach Prelude'

Elaine Comparone's version of the same prelude

As always: Thank you for listening!

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Longest how? Minutes? In terms of Measures? In terms of the longest single piece on a concert? ...wait, what is a 'piece' anyhow? Does one of the passions count as a single piece? What about just the amount of notes? 

You may be surprised to hear the answers... or maybe you've know the answer in your heart of hearts all along.

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The work is famous for, if nothing else, the two chorales that we know as 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.' As it was suggested by a listener, this is part two of the previous listener's choice episode. 

--

People or Music mentioned:

Rudolph Lutz

Joshua Rifkin

Robert Bridges (English poet laureate)

Wendy Carlos

Lady Lynda (Song by The Beach Boys)

Myra Hess

--

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--

WTF Bach and the Cantatas:

These are daunting pieces with very complicated histories, hence the delay in getting this episode to you. As is the case with all research, one has to be rather careful before making even the simplest of statements about a piece of Bach. The cantatas are largely orchestrated pieces as well, for many instruments, which makes a 'dissection' of such a piece much more difficult. Due to their numerous sections, they are often longer in length compared to a prelude and fugue or many other instrumental pieces. For many (if not most) people who enjoy Bach, their 'ignorance' of his music usually falls somewhere within the cantatas. 

This is all to say, on a personal note, that while creating this episode, I spent some five times longer than I normally would. I enjoyed doing this as everyone needs to brush up on the cantatas, still, as I always love hearing from you, send me a note: let me know if you want more episodes on the cantatas and I will find a way to make these episodes come quicker. As always, sincerely, -e

--

To begin your week! Three pieces you requested were:

Toccata in g minor BWV915

Allabreve in D major BWV589

Cantata BWV147 (NEXT EPISODE!)

--

Please enjoy my brief analysis of these pieces which, in their own right, could take up many episodes each, and THANK YOU for suggesting I cover them. Please keep your suggestions coming! 

--

Bach's Music Floating in Outer Space

Performers featured today were, in order:

Trevor Pinnock

Christine Schornsheim

Ton Koopman

Simon Preston

--

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The piece was this gorgeous fantasy for organ BWV 562, discussed in this episode. Enjoy!

The unfinished harpsichord fugue discussed by me 

Marie-Claire Alain's performance of BWV 562

Martin Lücker's performance of BWV 562

I know I said this last time but for real this time:

NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE- SEND ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS

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NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE- SEND ME THE PIECE YOU WANT: Bach (at) WTFBACH (dot com)

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Here then, is a brief episode of four Bach MIDI files, played with very basic computer operations (quantized 16th notes, panning between speakers, mechanical slowing down and speeding up). 

It's likely you've never heard Bach in this way before. The question therefore is, 'Did you learn something?' 

--

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In this episode we learn how MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files, that is, a sort of sheet-music for computers, can help us explore Bach’s music in modern and novel ways. 

If you don’t read music or play an instrument, MIDI files might be your way into Bach’s mind. Even if you are a virtuoso Bachian, there will be something in MIDI technology that can help you uncover further details throughout Bach’s most fascinating constructions.

Dave (of Dave's J.S. Bach page) talks about the 'art of MIDI'

My album featuring 'panning' between two upper voices in Bach

Three links to Bach MIDI files:

1) https://www.midiworld.com/bach.htm

2) http://www.jsbach.net/midi/

3) https://www.kunstderfuge.com/bach.htm

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Alfred Cortot

Glenn Gould’s video mentioned is here:

https://youtu.be/gvs4v_aswfk

Ton Koopman’s featured live performance is here:

https://youtu.be/eLJ24CnVRyQ

And the film in which Leonhardt himself plays Bach (The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach) is here:

https://youtu.be/MhZ71owC7Ps

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The genesis of the Brandenburg concerti,

What Bach’s job was like when these compositions came about,

Who his employer was then,

How much music Bach was composing at that time,

Why a Baroque composer writes anything at all,

The difference between a modern composer and one in the Baroque.

Then finally, we will disprove another famous Bach myth:

‘Bach composed the last of the Brandenburg concerti to get fired’ 

--

**PS: Any of my listeners want to start correcting some of the Wikipedia pages with Bach BS (Bad Scholarship) and linking the sources to these episodes? Write me (email below)

—

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__

I love my listener feedback! Keep it coming! Bach (at) WTFBACH (dot com)

The recording featured in this episode is Il Giardino Armonico (probably my favorite recording of all six Brandenburg Concerti). This is the YouTube link.

Thank you for your emails, your donations and your suggestions. Keep ‘em coming Bach (at) wtfbach (dot) com

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THE BACH STORE is in GERMANY March25-April8. Stream it here:

Twitch.tv/wtf_Bach

Let's kick off this season discussing the fugue for violin in G minor BWV1001, and its arrangement for Organ BWV539. There is also one for lute (perhaps lute harpsichord) BWV1000. 

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Links to music played in this episode:

Milstein 1957

Milstein 1975

Robert Hill arranges the Adagio

Helmut Walcha BWV539

Narisco Yepes, Lute

Reitze Smits BWV539

Email me at Bach at WTFBACH dot com

Topics covered:

The golden sections in other Bach pieces and how this could help us find the golden section here, even in this fugal fragment. 

'God the Father' 'God the Spirit' 'God the Son' as three themes.

--

THE LAST PAGE ! CLICK HERE to see the 'corrupt' staves on which it would have been impossible to complete such a dense fugue. **Note the staff three from the bottom**

--

Koopman playing the B-flat minor, book two

--

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THE LAST PAGE ! CLICK HERE to see the 'corrupt' staves on which it would have been impossible to complete such a dense fugue. **Note the staff three from the bottom**

Topics covered:

B+A+C+H = 14

B-A-C-H as a melody and fugue subject.

Where the missing, 4th theme, comes in this quadruple fugue. 

The final combination of all four themes and its 'note for note' inversion as mentioned in Bach's obituary of 1754.

 --

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I had the privilege of speaking to Christoph Wolff, certainly the most distinguished Bach scholar of the 20th century, even until today. From Jimi Hendrix to Rudolph Serkin, from the music Bach's composed which is lost, to the famous "Seal of 1722", this interview has it all folks. Take a listen!

Browse Mr. Wolff's Books Here:

--

People / Topics Covered:

Albert Schweitzer (His Bach biography, Volume 1)

"Bach's Seal"

Bach's Handexemplar of the Goldberg Variations

Caldara's Magnificat 

Other composers Bach performed: Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Froberger, Buxtehude, Handel, Porpura, Pergolesi

Neue Bach Ausgabe

Saint Mark Passion

Bach's Obituary

The Zimmermann Coffee House

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Was Bach dictating this? Blind? On his deathbed? 

Printed as the original conclusion to The Art of Fugue, "Wenn wir im höchsten Nöten sein" was not meant to be part of the work, but was meant to be compensation for the missing fugue. Even with this piece, there are myths surrounding it. Let's debunk.

--

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Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu (Canon in augmentation and contrary motion [inversion]). 

This form of this canon is very similar in construction to the previous ones, though rather than increasing the interval of imitation, the following voice appears in inversion and moving twice as slowly! A very complicated procedure.

--

Evan is every day on his instagram stories uploading the great works of J.S.B: Watch 

Check out Bach's 'gift canon' here: 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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Among the errors in the assembly of the first printing of The Art of Fugue was the inclusion of an arrangement of fugue number 13 for two harpsichords. We look at the music, how it differs from the original 13th counterpoint (for one harpsichord) and how such an error could have been committed. It appears under the title, 'Alio Modo' ...another way. It contains a fourth, newly composed, non-imitative voice. And yes, since fugue 13 is a mirror fugue, Bach made two arrangements with two newly composed voices. 

--

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In the previous fugue, fugue twelve, we saw Bach took four voices, a turned everything upside down: 1234 became 4321 and what went up came crashing down. Now, fugue 13 is again a 'mirror' fugue... or is it?

This thirteenth fugue is in three voices and uses a technique almost identical to it's sister fugue, number 12, but is still more complicated. 

Topics Covered: Which comes first in number 13, the rectus or the inversus? 

--

DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH INSTAGRAM (they think Bach's music is 'Branded Content' - yikes. Public domain y'all) I AM MOVING STREAMS TO TWITCH.TV/WTF_BACH PLEASE FOLLOW ME THERE

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

... have you seen: http://bachchurch.com ???

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--

Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):

Bach, Beethoven, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe, Edgar Meyer, Glenn Gould, Mike Marshall, Mozart, Nickle Creek, Radiohead, Richard Green, Russel Sherman, Vivaldi, Yo-Yo Ma

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Music/Books/Booze mentioned:

Russel Sherman, 'Piano Pieces' 

Saint Anne's Reel: https://thesession.org/tunes/103

What does a mandolin look like?

Tolkien, 'The Lord of the Rings'

Smith & Cross rum

Plymouth Gin

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Check out Chris' new album here: http://smarturl.it/laysongs

--

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A few important things I neglected to mention in the 11th counterpoint, but where to go after that 11th fugue anyhow? Into the mirror…

Look into *CLICK* the mirror! 

Bach, not satisfied with creating a triple fugue whose subjects were the same three subjects of the previous triple fugue- inverted- now pens a four-voice fugue where the entire texture will be inverted to create a new composition altogether. It's like writing two fugues at once. This can be done with any piece of music, but only Bach could make such a complicated composition sound like beautiful and convincing music both right-side-up and upside-down.  

--

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

... have you seen: http://bachchurch.com ???

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Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quina (Canon at the twelfth in counterpoint at the fifth). 

This canon is very similar in construction to the previous canon, though at the larger interval of the 12th. 

--

Evan is now mid-49 days of toccatas every day on his instagram stories: Watch 

Check out Bach's 'gift canon' here: 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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https://mintable.app/music/item/JS-Bach-The-Art-of-Fugue--Electronic--The-First-Ever-Bachs-Music-as-NFT--Presented-by-WTF-Bach/f9CWCc0ho7bbad8

Topics covered:

The original order of the fugues found in P 200 (the autograph score).

The 11th fugue as a possible early finale to The Art of Fugue. 

Glenn Gould’s version of this fugue. 

Could there be an ‘anti-golden section’ in this one?

--

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a selected playlist of the music found and discussed in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all? ... p.s. ... have you seen: http://bachchurch.com ???

Write us:

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Topics covered: What does it mean when music is in a 'key' what keys did Bach often write in, and does it mean anything special that The Art of Fugue is in the key of d minor? 

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more Bachian content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

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Bach Vision Test (Vulfpeck): https://youtu.be/vJfiOuDdetg

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Find a playlist of the music here.

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

--

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--

Sleepify (Silent album by Vulfpeck)

Vulfpeck Arranges the ninth contrapunctus from The Art of Fugue:

Version 1: https://youtu.be/YcxQdRIY11o

Version 2: https://youtu.be/vJfiOuDdetg

Fugue State (song by Vulfpeck)

Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):

Bach, The Beatles, Beethoven, Naftule Brandwein, Cream, ELO, Glenn Gould, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Liszt, Louis Marchand, Reinhold Mack, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Nirvana, Oscar Peterson, Queen,  Bernard Purdy, Albert Schweitzer, Nate Smith, Steely Dan, Dave Tarras, Michael Winograd,

Jack’s non-musical influences (Alphabetically):

Caldwell Esselstyn, Larry David, Dean Ornish

Other things mentioned (Chronologically):

A Musical Offering, Silberman Pianofortes, Encore Records (Ann Arbor), The Blind Pig (Ann Arbor), Alan Watts, S.J. Perleman The Ill Mannered Clavichord, The Well Tempered Clavier, 

--

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Instead of going from a ‘simple’ to a double fugue, Bach drops a voice (all previous fugues were in 4 voices) and composes immediately a triple fugue for three voices. Like perfectly symmetrical juggling, this fugue is filled with beauty and amazing structural points. 

--

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

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bach@wtfbach.com

‘Evening in the Palace of Reason’ is a piece of Bach fan fiction, not the work of a Bach scholar. When I began to formally dismiss it, I found myself overcome with the sense of being a bully: Each sentence about Bach’s life and music is so full of holes, so shrouded in pseudo-scholarship, I felt like I was 'taking shots at a toothless tiger.' Still, this book is published by none other than Harper Collins and probably more read than any book by a musicologist. It may amuse and inform as a general history, which seems innocent, but this is followed by careless conclusions, hasty sweeping statements as to Bach’s general character, his morality, and the reasons for writing a major piece of music— this is not harmless. The truth about Bach’s life and work is more beautiful than any provocative reinterpretation. We should know how to identify such a piece of B.S.

We Rely On Listener Support! How to Donate to this Podcast:

The best way to support this podcast, is to become a paid subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com

Enough paid subscribers = exclusive content, monthly merchandise giveaways!

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Thank you for listening! Thank you for your support.

Reach us at Bach (at) WTFBach (dot com)

Two episodes ago, I began with a quote from Aldous Huxley. That quote came from an article written in 1985. The article focused on Bach's relationship to words and various writer's relationships with Bach. The whole article is fascinating and, well, I read it to you. 

A piece of what I consider 'good scholarship', it takes stabs at what Bach playing would be like today, in 2020, but sets the standard for the next episode, in which we will be de-bunking poor Bach scholarship.

Here is the link to the article:

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/24/books/bach-at-300-words-notes-and-numbers.html

And here is the link to the obituary of the James A. Winn, who wrote it (d.2019)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/03/27/james-winn-writer-english-professor-and-flautist/ZFGI9AJa9pvRcU13TyuOmJ/story.html

Follow me on instagram: Each day I am posting the cello complete suites on a portable clavichord: @wtfbach

As always, thanks for listening,

-evan

You know how at the end of every episode, Gaby says, "Want to have evan analyze a specific piece of Bach... just for you?"

Boom: Listener's choice volume one.

Three pieces you requested were:

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV855 (Book one)

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV849 (Book one)

Capriccio on the Departure of the Beloved Brother, BWV992

--

Forgive my delay in getting this to all of you: I have a noble undertaking regarding a popular Bach book which is doing nothing but leading you further from the truth about the master! But have no fear, in a few weeks I will unleash an attack and clear up this confusion: meanwhile please enjoy my brief analysis of these three pieces which, in their own right, could take up many episodes each.

Also: Lament Aria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lament_bass

Follow me on IG! Right now I am instagramming inner movements of the cello suites on a portable clavichord: @wtfbach

As always, thanks for listening,

-evan

Topics covered: Aldous Huxley said that Bach is a manifestation of God? How does this second canon differ from the previous canon? What is a 'Cadenza'? So, you can play a canon with a delay pedal, but to what extent? 

Check out a picture of Bach's 'gift canon' here: 

NEXT EPISODE IS LISTENER'S CHOICE: DM EVAN WHAT PIECES YOU WANT TO HEAR

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Support us:

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--

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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bach@wtfbach.com

I had the privilege of speaking to Robert Hill, one of the foremost harpsichordists alive. Our discussion spans many different topics including harpsichord tuning and repair, clavichords, piano actions, lute-harpsichords, early Bach, old Bach, figured bass, inaudible sounds, metronomes, partimento, and anything else listed here:

People / Topics Covered:

Keith Hill (Instrument maker, Robert’s Brother)

Jaap Schröder (Dutch violinist Hill heard in Michigan)

Fernando Valenti (American Harpsichordist)

Charles Burney (English Music Historian)

Lute Harpsichord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lautenwerck

Gustav Leonhardt 

John Dryden (the poet Leonhardt Quoted)

The Goethe Haus, Weimar (paint color)

Andreas Bach Book (french text only) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Bach_Buch

Andreas Staier Harpsichordist with whom Hill recorded BWV1080

David Stanwood https://www.stanwoodpiano.com/ (Piano Technician)

The Squiggle on the title page of the Well Tempered Clavier

"Bach's face reconstructed"

"Bach's Seal"

Partimento (Reduction Technique): 

--

Randy Rainbow (comedian) 

Madame de Villedieu (authoress), novel of note: "Desordres d'Amour

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

--

Find a playlist of this episode’s music here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xyzZShf0RrAx75nvF1zUb?si=xRgHdqtNRtmogsUfvhlf7Q

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--

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Topics covered: What does it mean to play in the ‘French style?’ What does ‘diminution’ mean?

Pianists mentioned: Zoltán Kocsis, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,

Harpsichordists (organists) mentioned: Helmut Walcha, Davitt Moroney, Robert Hill, Gustav Leonhardt, Isolde Ahlgrimm,

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

--

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Support us:

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--

Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

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Topics covered: Bach's cousin taught a 12-year old prince about fugues? 'Fleshing out' our Art of Fugue theme, Canons within fugues, The Art of Fugue orchestrated 

E.H. Gombrich's 'Little History of the World' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_History_of_the_World

The Art of Fugue arranged for Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUnOx6hfBE

--

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

Support us:

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

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bach@wtfbach.com

Bach's Table of Ornaments: http://www.pennuto.com/music/jsb_ornm.htm

Hear the music mentioned (in the order we mention it) here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iP9EMbyCBoB6hEyK5waK4?si=ukZQ0wy2T62vjGImM_Okfw

Read the literature from our discussion here:

Book of Jeremiah: (New American Bible translation) http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PPE.HTM

The Upanishads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads

Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_(novel)

Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_a_Young_Poet

George Bernard Shaw music criticism: https://www.abebooks.com/Shaws-Music-Complete-Musical-Criticism-Bernard/30253564275/bd

Brad's favorite video game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millipede_(video_game)

Musicians/Bands mentioned (Alphabetically):

Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Jon Brion, Wendy Carlos, Chopin, John Coltrane, Critters Buggin', Nick Drake, Fauré, Gershwin, Glenn Gould, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Haydn, Fred Hersch, Wynton Kelly, Jacques Loussier, Jerome Lowenthal, Lightning Bolt, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Willie Nelson, Phineas Newborn, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Charlie Parker, Murray Perahia, Oscar Peterson, András Schiff, Schubert, Schumann, Wayne Shorter, Nina Simone, Art Tatum, Tom Waits, Ween. 

--

Follow Evan on Instagram for interactive content: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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Canon in Hypodiapason (Canon at the octave). 

Topics covered: What is an octave? Who is 'The Great One'? Why do musicians love Bach so? So... you can play a canon with a delay pedal?  

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

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bach@wtfbach.com

In it, you will hear the first three fugues from “The Art of Fugue” in their 'early versions', meaning, the versions which Bach conceived before he sent them to be published. This is a rare moment to observe Bach making improvements or corrections on his own compositions. Noticing how Bach revises his own work is a pretty rare and- may I say?- exclusive look into the mind of the great genius. 

The 'Original Print', as I said, is found here: https://imslp.simssa.ca/files/imglnks/usimg/2/21/IMSLP23444-PMLP05843-Bach_Art_of_Fugue_1st_edition.pdf (DOWNLOAD IT! look at page 17 and 20, and 30! 30 has 'Bach's seal'... another podcast is in oder)

An important topic covered is the 'source tradition' of The Art of Fugue, and how the two principle sources differ. We also discuss what an autograph is, and what it means to have a composition 'published' in Bach's day.

I play the first three fugues in the original versions, expose the slight variants, and dissect these slight variants and how they came to become the printed version. 

I have not yet promoted this, but I will in my next 'regular' episode: 

I 'instagramed' the entire art of fugue, and wrote in the 'stories' important facts: just google: Art of Fugue Instagram -- obviously I am the only one. This could help ye who are zealous with visuals to get inside this great work. 

Therefore, follow me on IG!: @wtfbach

-evan

Topics covered: A blind organist from Leipzig... Helmut who? The official Latin terms for the first two entering voices. A fugue made entirely of a subject and a two-note motif? What on earth is a golden section and how does one go about finding one? 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Follow Evan on Instagram for even more content about Bach: www.instagram.com/WTFBach

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We hear them played on a clavichord and a piano, then both arranged electronically with some new insights. 

Topics covered: How quiet is a clavichord? So... what's the vibe in general of The Art of Fugue? Countersubjects, inverted entrances, and the subject beginning to change. 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Support us:

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

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In it, you will hear the first contrapunctus from “The Art of Fugue” (which, by now, you can tell your friends is called, ‘Die Kunst der Fuge’ in German) in eleven different ways.

Eleven is an important number in ‘Die Kunst der Fuge', and this first counterpoint- or fugue- or contrapunctus has eleven entrances.

If you hear the entirety of this bonus episode, you will have mastered the first counterpoint and could recognize it even if you heard an ice-cream truck playing it passing you at 70 MPH. That would be the day.

Also, if you haven't followed:

wtfbach on instragram

Topics covered: How does a harpsichord work?, Must one bring out, or even hear every entrance of the subject?, What about authenticity vs. modern approaches to Bach?, Was Evan really called Slim-E? 

Find a playlist of the music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

And the 16 year-old Evan Shinners' fugue is found here: https://soundcloud.com/emigrationposse/14-fuga

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

Write us:

bach@wtfbach.com

-- 

Find a playlist of the music in this podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ha250UDFktGqZjpt1hk7L?si=fIqZwtTUQJmzB9SYwskeYA

Support us:

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Suggestions? Want Evan to analyze a specific piece of Bach? Have other questions for Evan about music or anything at all?

Write us:

bach@wtfbach.com