Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582

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The first page of a copy of BWV 582

The Passacaglia in C minor ( BWV 582) is an organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach . It consists of two movements, the actual Passacaglia and a fugue . Probably a fairly early work, it is one of his most important and well-known compositions and had a decisive influence on Passacaglia of the 19th and 20th centuries.

General

The autograph manuscript is now considered lost; Like many compositions by Bach and his contemporaries, the work has only survived through copies. It was probably originally notated in organ tablature . The exact date of creation is uncertain, but the sources point to the period between 1706 and 1713. It may have been written in Arnstadt shortly after Bach's return from Lübeck , where he probably got to know corresponding works by Dietrich Buxtehude .

The first half of the ostinato theme (that is, the repeated bass theme on which the work is based), which also serves as the fugue theme, most likely comes from a short work by the French composer André Raison , Christe: Trio en passacaille from Messe du deuxieme ton in Premier livre d'orgue . The second half of the ostinato may also come from Raison, as it is very similar to Christe's bass line : Trio en chaconne from Messe du sixieme ton in the same book:

Middle: The ostinato from Bach's Passacaglia; above and below: the corresponding themes from Raison's works ( Christe: Trio en passacaille ) and ( Christe: Trio en chaconne ). Even if the Trio en chaconne (below) deviates from Bach's theme, it has a similar construction and also a fifth case at the end.

In addition to Raison's influence, the work clearly refers to the north German organ tradition and its ostinato works - especially two chaconnas (BuxWV 159–160) and a passacaglia (BuxWV 161) Buxtehudes - and in some variations and the overall structure is clearly influenced by Pachelbel's chaconnas. Bach succeeds here in a convincing way in merging northern German and French traditions.

analysis

Passacaglia

Passacaglias are typically in 3/4 time - Bach's work is no exception. The theme consists of fifteen tones, of which a total of ten tones - especially the first and last tones - are the four elementary Pythagorean tones . The ostinato is quite long with eight bars, but this also happened (the theme of an organ passacaglia by Johann Krieger is of the same length). The beginning with the ostinato alone as an unaccompanied pedal solo is a bit more unusual, although this idea also occurs elsewhere and could also be found in Buxtehude.

20 variations follow. The first begins with a typical C minor affect , according to Philipp Spitta a “painful tendon”, similar to the beginning of Buxtehude's Chaconne in C minor (BuxWV 159). There have been many attempts to demonstrate an overarching symmetry structure in this work, but no agreement has been reached here. Important analyzes were undertaken by Christoph Wolff and Siegfried Vogelsänger in particular . Symbolic elements in the structure were also postulated; so has Michael Radulescu represented, the set had the "shape of a cross."

The Passacaglia increases significantly up to its climax in variation 12; then pausing the pedal makes three calm variations clear as an intermezzo before the next five variations lead to the end.

The interpreter and musicologist Marie-Claire Alain suggested that the 21 thematic passages should be interpreted as seven groups of three from similar variations; Each of these groups would then begin with a quotation from a chorale, which is treated similarly to the little organ book from the same period:

  • Bars 8–12: The soprano contains the opening notes of Come on now, the Gentile Savior .
  • Measure 24–48: A cantilena quoted I will not let go of God .
  • Measure 49–72: The scales are reminiscent of The angels came from heaven .
  • Bar 72–96: Here Alain associates the “star motif” from Mr. Christ, the one-time Son of God .
  • Bar 96–120: A decorative figure similar to the one from Christ was in Todes Banden accompanies the theme in the soprano and then goes into the alto and further into the bass.
  • Bar 144–168: ascending intervals in the bass are reminiscent of the Easter chorale. The holy Christian has arisen .

Alain also points out the visual similarity of the numbers: 21 themed passages of the Passacaglia and the 12 themed inserts of the fugue.

Gap

The Passacaglia merges seamlessly into a subsequent fugue. Only the first half of the theme is used as the fugue theme; a reshaping of the second part pulsating in eighths appears as a counter-subject. Right at the beginning, both halves can be heard simultaneously, followed by a second counter-theme in sixteenths, which is also used throughout the composition. The themes are combined at three different tempo levels; if they appear in combination, this does not happen more than once in any of the possible combinations of votes; therefore the fugue can be seen as a permutation fugue , possibly inspired by Johann Adam Reincken's works.

In the further course of the fugue, Bach modulates in E flat and B flat major, and the time between thematic entries increases from one to three bars to seven to thirteen. The whole thing reaches its climax in a Neapolitan sixth chord ( D flat major ), which leads into the eight-bar coda, which was very unusual for the mid-tone tuning common at the time .

Edits

reception

  • The orchestral arrangement of the Passacaglia accompanies the opening scene in the film White Nights (1985), in which Mikhail Baryshnikov performs the ballet Le Jeune Homme et La Mort .
  • An adaptation of some of the opening sections of the Passacaglia can be heard twice in the “Baptism Sequence” of the film The Godfather - together with other organ music and the end of the Prelude BWV 532, which concludes the sequence.
  • A short passage from the piano arrangement by Eugen d'Albert (in a recording by Angela Hewitt ) appears in the film The Deep Sea Divers .
  • A jazz interpretation was published in 1973 by the flautist Hubert Laws on his live album Carnegie Hall . A studio version is available on his album Afro-Classic (1970).
  • The Passacaglia is featured on Robert Fripp's album The Bridge Between .

Web links

Commons : Passacaglia in C minor  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians .
  2. ^ Peter F. Williams: The Organ Music of JS Bach . Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-521-81416-2 (page 182).
  3. ^ Christoph Wolff : Johann Sebastian Bach , 2nd edition 2007. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 978-3-596-16739-5 .
  4. ^ Grove Dictionary.
  5. ↑ Peter F. Williams, see above.
  6. ↑ Yoshitaki Kobayashe: The variation principle in JS Bach's Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582 . In: Daniel R. Melamed (Ed.): Bach Studies 2 . Cambridge University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-521-47067-6 .
  7. ↑ Michael Radulescu. On the form of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passacaglia in c minor , The Organ Yearbook 1980: 95, page 103.
  8. ↑ Marie-Claire Alain : record sleeve of the CD Bach: Orgelwerke Vol. 14 . Erato, 1993. Catalog number 4509-96747-2.
  9. ↑ Christoph Wolff.
  10. ↑ Markus Bautsch: On the Effect of the Neapolitan Sixth Chord - In Middle-Tone Tuning - C minor , accessed on December 8, 2014.