MiniSeries! 1: Bach's Christmas Puzzles

I never knew the authentic version of the world’s most famous canon, having only known arrangements which conceal the fact that the music is indeed a canon in three voices. Here is what the ‘real’ canon looks like: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.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.comEnough paid subscribers = exclusive content, monthly merchandise giveaways!You can also make a one-time donation here:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachThank you for listening! Thank you for your support. Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Continuing our mini-series exploring Bach’s canonic variations on the Christmas song, ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her’ BWV 769, we listen to the second canon: a canon at the perfect fifth. 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.) 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.comEnough paid subscribers = exclusive content, monthly merchandise giveaways!You can also make a one-time donation here:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachThank you for listening! Thank you for your support. Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

The first variation in these late variations for organ, is a canon at the octave. The two hands, each on a separate keyboard, play the same shape, one octave apart, while the feet provide the chorale melody. It looks like this: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: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!You can also make a one-time donation here:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachThank you for listening! Thank you for your support. Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

In this first of several related episodes, we will learn about Bach’s late contrapuntal masterpiece, the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her, BWV 769. 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_herWe Rely On Listener Support! How to Donate to this Podcast:The best way to support this podcast, is to become a paid Substack subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com Enough paid subscribers = exclusive content, monthly merchandise giveaways!You can also make a one-time donation here:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachThank you for listening! Thank you for your support. Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Since I was a child I’ve known the story of Bach pulling out a blade. What really happened? In this short episode, I read the contemporary reports from the Arnstadt Consistory Court, where this famous fisticuffs was first recorded. 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.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.comYou can also make a one-time donation here:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbach Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Last week I posted this piece on YouTube: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 1705-1714P 801 J. Tobias Krebs; copyist, between 1710-1717P 804 J. Peter Kellner; copyist, before 1725In 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.How To Support This Podcast:Become a paid subscriber! at wtfbach.substack.com or donate using any of these links:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbach Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Yes, that recording at the end is none other than Jascha Heifetz with Primrose and Piatigorksy, who apparently recorded three of the sinfonias. The wonderful pianist with that golden sound playing before the string trio arrangement is (I think!) Marcelle Meyer recorded sometime around 1948. WTF Bach needs your support! Consider becoming a subscriber.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 $3.70 paying per month.) Your contribution ensures the existence of this podcast. I really couldn’t— and wouldn’t be able to— continue devoting the time without your support. Thank you.How To Support This Podcast:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachor become a paid subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

Becoming familiar with Bach’s music is a never-ending process. First, there is the initial reading, which alone can occupy many happy years. What’s remarkable is that with each further reading, you’re astonished by the details you missed before—quite honestly amazed. You ask yourself: Where—or even who—was I during those earlier readings? You begin to measure your growth as a musician against the depth with which you can now understand the pieces.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.How To Support This Podcast:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachor become a paid subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we’ll explore Bach’s constant involvement with weddings. Weddings and funerals occupied a weekly place in Bach’s life in Leipzig and we’ll shed light on the various ways in which he was involved musically. [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_00002475How To Support This Podcast:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachor become a paid subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe

A brief(er) episode for you today: Bach’s first published opus was his six partitas for keyboard. In some of the sources within Bach’s circle, copies retained as a ‘Handexemplar’ include revisions by a scribe we can almost say with certainty is Bach himself. The most consequential of these revisions appears at the end of the third partita, where the second half of the Gigue is re-written with what one might call ‘updated’ or ‘refined’ counterpoint. 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.How To Support This Podcast:https://www.paypal.me/wtfbachhttps://venmo.com/wtfbachhttps://cash.app/$wtfbachor become a paid subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com Get full access to WTF Bach at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe