in which are arranged for singers as well as for instrumentalists all types of musical pieces for different voice parts and nearly all commonly used instruments and containing moral, operatic, and other arias, as well as trios, duets, solos, etc., sonatas, overtures, etc., and also fugues, counterpoints, canons, etc., hence all the most current music according to the Italian, French, English, Polish, etc., manners both serious as well as spirited, and lighthearted…you might conceive of performing.
Although much less comprehensive than Telemann’s project (which was never fully realized), the four parts of Bach’s Clavier-Übungemerged as a systematic and complete survey of the art of keyboard music as seen from Bach’s perspective. First, he included music specifically for the most important keyboard instruments: one-manual harpsichord (part I), two-manual harpsichord (parts II and IV), and large organ as well as organ without pedals (part III). Second, the leading national styles (part II) are complemented by an enormously rich spectrum of other styles, both retrospective and modern (parts III and IV); we find religious hymns (part III) and even a burlesque quodlibet (part IV). In the end, all the standard genres, forms, and categories are represented: suite, concerto, prelude, fugue, chorale settings of all kinds, and variations. All fundamental compositional methods are to be found, from free-voiced improvisatory pieces to imitative polyphony, cantus firmus technique, and strict canon. Everything from solo works and duets to settings with five and six obbligato voices makes an appearance, and Bach fully exploits keys (for commercial reasons, short of the well-tempered system) and the principal church modes. Finally, the collection presents tremendous challenges to the performer, since there are no easy pieces included. On the contrary, with its use of advanced keyboard technique (from pièces croisées requiring hand-crossing skills to the most complex double-pedal technique), the Clavier-Übung sets new performance standards that match the rigorous principles of compositional organization.
The partitas of part I were followed in the spring of 1735 by the Italian Concerto and French Overture of part II, now published by Christoph Weigel, Jr. The concerto recalls Bach’s Weimar keyboard settings of Italian instrumental concertos by Vivaldi and others, while the overture (suite) has no direct counterpart in Bach’s previous work in its imaginative exhibition of French manners of genre and style. That the Italian Concerto in particular was enthusiastically received is indicated by a 1739 review written by Johann Adolph Scheibe, who two years earlier had attacked Bach’s compositional style for demanding “that singers and instrumentalists should be able to do with their throats and instruments whatever he can play on the clavier.”84 Now Scheibe wrote—perhaps in an attempt to repair the damage he had done previously—that
preeminent among works known through published prints is a clavier concerto of which the author is the famous Bach in Leipzig…. Since this piece is arranged in the best fashion for this kind of work, I believe that it will doubtless be familiar to all composers and experienced clavier players, as well as to amateurs of the clavier and music in general. Who is there who will not admit at once that this clavier concerto is to be regarded as a perfect model of a well-designed solo concerto? But at the present time we shall be able to name as yet very few or practically no concertos of such excellent qualities and such well-designed execution. It would take as great a master of music as Mr. Bach, who has almost alone taken possession of the clavier.85
With part III, Bach returned to the principle of self-publishing, but he apparently ran into some production problems with the Krügner engraving firm so that the publication date had to be postponed from the Easter Fair in 1739 to the St. Michael’s Fair half a year later. Devoting this installment entirely to organ music, Bach created his own version of the Livre d’orgue like those by Nicolas de Grigny, Pierre Du Mage, and others, with which he was familiar. Picking up on these French models, he included free pieces (prelude, fugue, duets) and chorale settings of general applicability (the Kyrie and Gloria hymns of the Mass and the classic Lutheran Catechism hymns), shunning hymns with specific themes that tied them to the ecclesiastical year, such as those in the Orgel-Büchlein and in the “Great Eighteen” Chorales.86 The conception of part III also relates to Bach’s growing interest in broadening the stylistic spectrum from old techniques of motet style (which he adopted for the large Kyrie settings and “Aus tiefer Not”) and ancient church modality87 to the most modern musical idioms (epitomized in the organ Chorales “Vater unser im Himmelreich” and “Jesus Christus, unser Heiland”). In part III, Bach created not only his most extensive but also his most significant organ work. Lorenz Christoph Mizler correctly remarks in his 1740 review: “The author has here given new proof that in this field of composition he is more practiced and more fortunate than many others. No one will surpass him in it, and few will be able to imitate him.” Mizler then states, in direct reference to Scheibe’s criticism, that “this work is a powerful refutation of those who have made bold to criticize the composition of the Honorable Court Composer,”88 but fails to observe the practical side that Georg Andreas Sorge addresses in the preface to his own 1750 collection of chorale preludes: “The preludes on the Catechism Chorales by Capellmeister Bach in Leipzig…deserve the great renown they enjoy” at the same time, they “are so difficult as to be all but unusable by young beginners and others who may lack the considerable proficiency they require.”89
The concluding part IV was published (like part II, in Nuremberg) in the fall of 1741. Forkel relates the anecdote that the work came into being at the request of Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk in Dresden, who “once said to Bach that he should like to have some clavier pieces for his [house harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb] Goldberg, which should be of such a soft and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepness nights.”90 However, all internal and external clues (lack of any formal dedication to Keyserlingk as required by eighteenth-century protocol, and Goldberg’s tender age of fourteen) indicate that the so-called Goldberg Variations did not originate as an independently commissioned work, but were from the outset integrated into the overall concept of the Clavier-Übung series, to which they constitute a grandiose finale. The variations are based on a thirty-two-measure theme, exposed in the ostinato bass line of an aria and in its first eight measures identical with the theme of Handel’s Chaconne avec 62 variations, HWV 442, a work dating from 1703–6 that was published later in his 1733 Suites de Pièces pour le clavecin. The chaconne had already been printed separately around 1732 by Witvogel in Amsterdam, a publisher known to have used Bach as a distributor of the harpsichord works of the German-Dutch virtuoso Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch (according to an announcement of 1735–36, Hurlebusch’s Compositioni musicali per il Cembalo were available “from Capellmeister Bach at the St. Thomas School in Leipzig”).91 Bach would have known Handel’s chaconne from either the Amsterdam or London edition, and he must have noticed the simple two-part canon forming the final variation (as well as flaws in its contrapuntal design). His considering the traditional eight-note ostinato model that Handel used as a ground triggered the kind of complex chain reaction described in the Obituary: “He needed only to have heard any theme to be aware—it seemed in the same instant—of almost every intricacy that artistry could produce in the treatment of it.”92 So Bach’s investigation into the canonic potential of the eight-note subject resulted in a series of Fourteen Canons, BWV 1087, which he later entered into his personal copy of Clavier-Übung IV. For the variation cycle itself, Bach decided not to stick with the limiting straitjacket of the eight notes nor with the confining notion of a totally canonic work. He thus expanded the original ostinato bass significantly so that it could provide the harmonic underpinning of an aria whose captivating melody ingeniously distracts from its bass and thereby from the true structural backbone of the variation cycle. And he interspersed the canonic movements systematically but as unobtrusively as possible, with the apparent aim of leveling the performer’s and the listener’s perception o
f canonic versus noncanonic counterpoint—a powerful demonstration of his ideal that artful design and natural appeal need not be mutually exclusive.
The well-thought-out design of the Clavier-Übung series is mirrored in the careful planning of its individual parts (Table 10.7), each of which represents a well-rounded entity often featuring fine-tuned subunits. In part I, all six partitas conform to the same basic suite scheme (Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gigue), but each one pursues the principle of variety in its own way; each begins with a distinctive opening movement (from Praeludium to Toccata) and then presents different choices of gallantry pieces (from dances to character pieces such as Scherzo and Burlesca). In part II, the two predominant national styles are contrasted in more than one way: three-movement concerto form versus eleven-movement suite structure; F major versus B minor, that is, opposite modes compounded by the tritone interval between them (attained by transposing the earlier C-minor version of the French Overture). Part III exhibits a multilevel formal organization, held together by the frame of an overture-like prelude and a fugue with three subjects, both for full organ. Corresponding to these two pieces are four duets for organ without pedal, in ascending keys (E to A, in symmetric modes). The overall framing device embraces twenty-one chorales. A first group consists of nine settings of strophic German versifications of the Kyrie “fons bonitatis” (three large stile antico chorales with migrating cantus firmi from soprano to pedal, followed by three miniature settings of the same melodies) and the Gloria (three trios in ascending keys, from F to A), with the central piece a pedal trio. A second group of twelve chorales (each of the six large-scale Catechism hymns with a corresponding small-sized pendant) features a subgroup comprising two canonic cantus firmus settings and a setting for full organ as centerpiece, and a second subgroup comprising two pieces with pedal cantus firmus and another centerpiece with full organ. The inclusion of smaller, less demanding settings made the collection more accessible to a broader circle of customers. Finally, part IV as a large-scale but unified performing cycle contrasts with the character of the preceding parts. Here, a chain of thirty variations is placed between an opening aria and its repetition at the end, which mark both the point of departure and the point of arrival for the work. An overture designates the beginning of the second half of the cycle (thereby fulfilling the same “symbolic” function as the overture opening Partita No. 4 does in part I). The internal variations are punctuated by canons that end each of the ten threefold groups of pieces; the canons themselves are arranged in ascendingly ordered imitation intervals, from unison to ninth, leading up to the quodlibet, with its several tuneful melodies fancifully combined, as a relaxed culmination.
The overall circulation of the Clavier-Übung series must have been considerable, with single print runs of at least one hundred copies keeping the process profitable.93 For parts III and IV, we know of only one printing; parts I and II had two printings each, part I possibly even three. The price of engraved music was relatively high: for example, part I sold for 2 talers (the same price as Heinichen’s thoroughbass treatise, 994 typeset pages long) and part III for 3 talers, figures that prohibited distribution beyond the circle of genuinely interested parties. Nevertheless, copies of parts I and III found their way, for instance, into the hands of Giambattista Martini in Bologna. While Padre Martini knew much more about Bach than what is contained in the two Clavier-Übungvolumes,93 he recognized the significance of this particular collection of clavier and organ music, which had, in its far-ranging and all-encompassing form, no precedent or parallel. Indeed, with his kaleidoscope of published keyboard music, Bach had erected nothing short of a monument to his own artistry, anticipating the Obituary’s declaration that he was “the greatest organ and clavier player that we have ever had.”
TABLE 10.7. The Clavier-Übung Series, 1731–41
Part I: Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, and Other Gallantries (Leipzig, 1731), 73 pages of music: BWV 825–830
Partita 1 in B-flat major:
Praeludium, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Menuet I/II, Giga
Partita 2 in C minor:
Sinfonia, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Rondeaux, Capriccio
Partita 3 in A minor:
Fantasia, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Burlesca, Scherzo, Gigue
Partita 4 in D major:
Ouverture, Allemande, Courante, Aria, Sarabande, Menuet, Gigue
Partita 5 in G major:
Praeambulum, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Tempo di Minuetta, Passepied, Gigue
Partita 6 in E minor:
Toccata, Allemande, Corrento, Air, Sarabande, Tempo di Gavotta, Gigue
Part II: A Concerto after the Italian Taste and an Overture after the French Manner (Christoph Weigel, Jr.: Nuremberg, 1735), 27 pages: BWV 971, 831
Concerto in F major: [Allegro], Andante, Presto Overture in B minor: Ouverture, Courante, Gavotte I/II, Passepied I/II, Sarabande, Bourrée I/II, Gigue, Echo
Part III: Various Preludes on the Catechism and Other Hymns (Leipzig, 1739), 77 pages: BWV 552, 669–689, 802–805
(for large organ:)
(for small organ:)
Prelude in E-flat major
Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit )
Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit
(cantus firmus in soprano
Christe, aller Welt Trost (c.f. in tenor)
Christe, aller Welt Trost
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist (c.f. in pedal,
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist
organo pleno)
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (F major)
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (G major;
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (A major)
2 clav. e ped.)
Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot
Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot
(c.f. in canone)
Wir glauben all an einen Gott
Wir glauben all an einen Gott
(organo pleno)
Vater unser im Himmelreich
Vater unser im Himmelreich
(c.f. in canone)
Christ, unser Herr zum Jordan kam
Christ, unser Herr zum Jordan kam
(c.f. in ped.)
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir
(organo pleno)
Jesus Christus unser Heiland
Jesus Christus unser Heiland
(c.f. in ped.)
Duets: E minor, F major, G major, A minor
Fugue in E-flat major
Part IV: Aria with Divers Variations (Balthasar Schmid: Nuremberg, [1741]), 32 pages: BWV 988
Aria
Variatio 1, 2, 3 (canon at the unison),
16 (Ouverture), 17, 18 (canon at the sixth),
4, 5, 6 (canon at the second),
19, 20, 21 (canon at the seventh),
7, 8, 9 (canon at the third),
22, 23, 24 (canon at the octave),
10, 11, 12 (canon at the fourth),
25, 26, 27 (canon at the ninth),
13, 14, 15 (canon at the fifth),
28, 29, 30 (Quodlibet)
Aria
AT THE COMPOSER’S DESK
One of the most remarkable chapters of Forkel’s 1802 biography deals with Bach as “the reviser of his own works.”94 Here Forkel draws on his philological experience as an adviser to Hoffmeister and Kühnel’s projected complete edition of Bach’s keyboard works, which was begun in 1800 and which led him to consult many unpublished manuscripts. “I have had opportunities,” he writes, “of comparing together many copies of his principal works, written in different years, and I confess that I have often felt both surprise and delight at the means with which he employed to make, little by little, the faulty good, the good better, and the better perfect.” Unfamiliar with Bach’s handwriting development and not always correctly differentiating between autographs and scribal copies, Forkel often arrives at problematic conclusions and attributes certain major c
hanges to fleeting fashions and tastes. On the other hand, Bach’s sons may have pointed him in the right direction because he so clearly recognized one of the most characteristic traits of Bach’s compositional activities: the never-ending process of reviewing and improving his musical scores:
Unity of style and character are often achieved by the alteration of a single note against which, in its former situation, the most rigid musical grammarian could not make any objection, but which yet did not entirely satisfy the connoisseur. Even commonplace passages are frequently changed into the most elegant by changing, taking away, or adding a single note. In these cases only the most thoroughly trained feeling and the finest, most polished taste can decide. This fine feeling and polished taste were possessed by Bach in the greatest perfection. He had gradually so improved both that at last no thought could occur to him which, in all its properties and relations, did not accord with the whole as it should and must. His later works, therefore, are all as if they were one cast: so gentle, soft, and even flows the inconceivably rich stream in them of the most diversified ideas blended together. This is the lofty summit of perfection in art which, in the most intimate union of melody and harmony, nobody besides Johann Sebastian Bach has ever yet attained.”
Johann Sebastian Bach Page 54