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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846 - Wikipedia
2014-01-04
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	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-wtc1-prelude1-ms.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Bach's autograph (1722) of the first prelude of Book I</p></div></div>
<p>The <b>Prelude and Fugue in C major</b>, <a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">BWV</a> 846, is a keyboard composition written by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a>. It is the first <a href="/wiki/Prelude_and_fugue">prelude and fugue</a> in the first book of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i>, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the <i><a href="/wiki/Klavierb%C3%BCchlein_f%C3%BCr_Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a></i>.
</p>
<h2>Analysis[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Prelude[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Prelude_(music)">prelude</a> is 35 bars long and consists mostly of <a href="/wiki/Broken_chord">broken chords</a>. Below are the first four bars of the prelude:
</p>
<dl><dd><p></p></dd></dl>
<p>The prelude continues like this with different variations on harmony and <a href="/wiki/Key_change">change of key</a>. The prelude ends with a single C major chord.
</p>
<h3>Fugue[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<table><tbody><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg"></a></td><td><p>This section <b>needs expansion</b>. You can help by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=">adding to it</a>. <i>(October 2017)</i></p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugue</a> is 27 bars long and is written for <a href="/wiki/Four-part_harmony">four voices</a>. It starts with a two-measure <a href="/wiki/Subject_(music)">subject</a> in the alto voice. The first voice to join is the soprano, which replies with the answer in the dominant key (G major).
</p>
<dl><dd><div><p></p></div></dd></dl>
<p>The answer is repeated in the tenor and bass voices, respectively, when they enter. The piece then <a href="/wiki/Modulation_(music)">modulates</a> through various <a href="/wiki/Related_key_(music)">related keys</a>, with the subject being repeated in each of the four voices. The piece eventually ends up back in the home key. It ends with each voice stopping at a note and holding it until the end, forming a C-major chord.
</p>
<h2>Legacy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Schwencke measure[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Some earlier editions of the prelude contain an extra <a href="/wiki/Bar_(music)">bar</a> between bars 22 and 23 known as the "Schwencke measure", a measure allegedly added by <a href="/wiki/Christian_Friedrich_Gottlieb_Schwencke">Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke</a> in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression (though it may be accidentally corrupted manuscript(s) associated with Schwencke), even though this sort of progression was standard in the music of Bach's time.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Bach-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<dl><dd><div><p></p></div></dd></dl>
<p>However, according to <a href="/wiki/Hermann_Keller">Hermann Keller</a>, "Schwencke was a sophisticated and well-informed musician who was probably not thinking of improving Bach."<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>Measure 22 contains an F♯ in the <a href="/wiki/Bassline">bass</a>, which <a href="/wiki/Steps_and_skips">skips</a> to A♭ in measure 23, creating a <a href="/wiki/Diminished_third">diminished third</a>; while the Schwencke measure has a G in the <a href="/wiki/Bass_note">bass</a> of a <sup>6</sup><br /><sub>4</sub> (<a href="/wiki/Second_inversion">second inversion</a>) <a href="/wiki/Minor_chord">minor chord</a> with C as its <a href="/wiki/Root_(chord)">root</a> <a href="/wiki/Borrowed_chord">borrowed</a> from the <a href="/wiki/Parallel_key">parallel</a> <a href="/wiki/Harmonic_minor">harmonic minor</a>. The A♭ may be considered as its <a href="/wiki/Enharmonic">enharmonic</a>, G♯, which creates a <a href="/wiki/Major_second">major second</a> step with F♯, but A♭ <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_function">functions</a> as an <a href="/wiki/Upper_leading-tone">upper leading-tone</a> (parallel <a href="/wiki/Natural_minor">natural</a> or descending <a href="/wiki/Melodic_minor">melodic minor</a>). Franz Kroll may have been the first to question and edit the measure, first in 1862, and the measure does not occur in Bach's student Heinrich Gerber's 1725 manuscript copy.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Bach-1">[1]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/August_Halm">August Halm</a> was also critical of the measure,<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> questioning its logic as early as 1905.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Gounod's "Ave Maria"[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p></p></div>
<p><a href="/wiki/Charles_Gounod">Charles Gounod</a> composed a melody that was designed to be based on the prelude; a <a href="/wiki/Ave_Maria_(Bach/Gounod)">setting of that melody to <i>Ave Maria</i></a> is popular. The edition of the prelude used by Gounod contains the Schwencke measure.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Bach-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>20th century[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h3>
<p><a href="/wiki/Arvo_P%C3%A4rt">Arvo Pärt</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Credo_(P%C3%A4rt)">"Credo"</a> is built around Bach's C major prelude, first unravelling it through the central cacophonous <a href="/wiki/Twelve-tone_technique">twelve-tone</a> part of the work, then remerging on the piano with the chorus and orchestra joining in harmony for the massive finale.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Mstislav_Rostropovich">Mstislav Rostropovich</a> compared this Prelude to the introductory bars of the prelude of Bach's <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suite_No._1_(Bach)">Cello Suite No. 1</a>, in a video named <i>Rostropovich interprets Bach</i>, filmed in 1991 at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in <a href="/wiki/V%C3%A9zelay">Vézelay</a>, France.
</p><p>"Repent Walpurgis", the last track on the <a href="/wiki/Procol_Harum_(album)">debut album</a> by <a href="/wiki/Progressive_rock">progressive rock</a> group <a href="/wiki/Procol_Harum">Procol Harum</a> contains an arrangement of the prelude by band leader <a href="/wiki/Gary_Brooker">Gary Brooker</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Derived works and influence on popular culture[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter">Douglas R. Hofstadter</a>'s "Prelude... Ant Fugue"<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> dialogues are explicitly inspired by J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C major.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Andrew_Lloyd_Webber">Webber's</a> <a href="/wiki/Don%27t_Cry_for_Me_Argentina">Don't cry for me Argentina</a> is not only based on the Prelude but also on <a href="/wiki/Charles_Gounod">Gounod</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Ave_Maria_(Bach/Gounod)">Ave Maria</a> adaptation.<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Maurane">Maurane</a>: <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sur_un_pr%C3%A9lude_de_Bach">Sur un prélude de Bach</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Chava_Alberstein">Chava Alberstein</a>, <a href="https://shironet.mako.co.il/artist?type=lyrics&amp;lang=1&amp;prfid=383&amp;wrkid=2663">Paprarim barosh</a> (פרפרים בראש)<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2>Further media[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Full length audio of the prelude or fugue[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h3>
<h3>Excerpts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<hr /><hr /><div>
<p>... with comma differences with harmonic seventh</p></div></div></div>
</td>
<td>
<div><hr /><div>
<p>... with comma differences without harmonic seventh</p></div><hr /><div>
<p>... with comma differences with harmonic seventh</p></div></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Bach_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bach_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bach_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". <i><a href="/wiki/Bach_(journal)">Bach</a></i>. <b>1</b> (1): 19–22. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/41639775">41639775</a>. <q>The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression.</q></cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Hermann_Keller">Keller, Hermann</a> (1965). <i>Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach</i>, p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources">ISBN missing</a></i>]</sup>. Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert "<a href="http://www.henle.de/blog/en/2012/04/16/on-the-lookout-for-the-lost-measure-bach%E2%80%99s-c-major-prelude-from-the-well-tempered-clavier-i/">On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I</a>", <i>Henle.de</i>. Accessed: June 8, 2018.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite>Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). <i>August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music</i>. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781580463294"><bdi>9781580463294</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). <i>Beethoven Forum</i>, p. 70. University of Nebraska. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780803229211">9780803229211</a>. Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", <i>Der Kunstwart</i> 18, pp. 486-487.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite>Johanson, Claes (2000). <a href="https://archive.org/details/procolharumbeyon00joha/page/91"><i>Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale</i></a>. SAF Publishing. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/procolharumbeyon00joha/page/91">91</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-946-71928-0"><bdi>978-0-946-71928-0</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite><i>The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"</i>. Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-199-71870-2"><bdi>978-0-199-71870-2</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999]. <a href="http://worldcat.org/oclc/750541259"><i>Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid</i></a>. Basic Books. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-465-02656-7"><bdi>0-465-02656-7</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/750541259">750541259</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite>Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2218896">"The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul"</a>. <i>The Philosophical Quarterly</i>. <b>34</b> (134): 80. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2218896">10.2307/2218896</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/issn/0031-8094">0031-8094</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/2218896">2218896</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite>Snelson, John (2008-10-01). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=S3h5N8eYuakC&amp;q=webber%20argentina%20bach%20prelude"><i>Andrew Lloyd Webber</i></a>. Yale University Press. p. 175. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-12845-1"><bdi>978-0-300-12845-1</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Maurane/Sur-un-pr%C3%A9lude-de-Bach">"Maurane - Sur un prélude de Bach Lyrics"</a>. <i>musiXmatch</i>. Retrieved 2022-01-14.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9LvqxY5t4w"><i>פרפרים בראש</i></a>, retrieved 2022-01-14</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>Further reading[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major". <i>The Well Tempered Clavier</i>, Books 1 and 2. Ed. Saul Novak.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include">full citation needed</a></i>]</sup></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><b>Interactive media</b>
</p>
<ul><li>BWV 846 <a href="http://bach.nau.edu/clavier/nature/fugues/Fugue01.html">Fugue</a> (Flash) - David Korevaar performing</li>
<li>BWV 846-869 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140101052622/http://bach.nau.edu/clavier/wtc.html">Prelude and Fugue</a> (Flash) at the <a href="http://bach.nau.edu/">BinAural Collaborative Hypertext</a> David Korevaar, Philip Goeth, and Edward Parmentier performing</li></ul>
<p><b>Sheet Music</b>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Das_wohltemperierte_Klavier_I,_BWV_846-869_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian)"><i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, Book I</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.freesheetpianomusic.com/bach/content/Well-Tempered%20Clavier_Book_1/Prelude%20and%20Fugue%20No.1%20C%20major%20BWV%20846.pdf">Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major Sheet Music</a></li></ul>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Analysis
 + 1.1 Prelude
 + 1.2 Fugue
 * 2 Legacy
 + 2.1 Schwencke measure
 + 2.2 Gounod's "Ave Maria"
 + 2.3 20th century
 + 2.4 Derived works and influence on popular culture
 * 3 Further media
 + 3.1 Full length audio of the prelude or fugue
 + 3.2 Excerpts
 * 4 References
 * 5 Further reading
 * 6 External links
 Toggle the table of contents

 Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Bach's autograph (1722) of the first prelude of Book I

 The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, is a keyboard composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

 Analysis [ edit ]

 Prelude [ edit ]

 The prelude is 35 bars long and consists mostly of broken chords. Below are the first four bars of the prelude:

 The prelude continues like this with different variations on harmony and change of key. The prelude ends with a single C major chord.

 Fugue [ edit ]

 This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( October 2017 )
 

 The fugue is 27 bars long and is written for four voices. It starts with a two-measure subject in the alto voice. The first voice to join is the soprano, which replies with the answer in the dominant key (G major).

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The answer is repeated in the tenor and bass voices, respectively, when they enter. The piece then modulates through various related keys, with the subject being repeated in each of the four voices. The piece eventually ends up back in the home key. It ends with each voice stopping at a note and holding it until the end, forming a C-major chord.

 Legacy [ edit ]

 Schwencke measure [ edit ]

 Some earlier editions of the prelude contain an extra bar between bars 22 and 23 known as the "Schwencke measure", a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression (though it may be accidentally corrupted manuscript(s) associated with Schwencke), even though this sort of progression was standard in the music of Bach's time.[1]

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 However, according to Hermann Keller, "Schwencke was a sophisticated and well-informed musician who was probably not thinking of improving Bach."[2]

 Measure 22 contains an F ♯ in the bass, which skips to A ♭ in measure 23, creating a diminished third; while the Schwencke measure has a G in the bass of a 6
 4 (second inversion) minor chord with C as its root borrowed from the parallel harmonic minor. The A ♭ may be considered as its enharmonic, G ♯ , which creates a major second step with F ♯ , but A ♭ functions as an upper leading-tone (parallel natural or descending melodic minor). Franz Kroll may have been the first to question and edit the measure, first in 1862, and the measure does not occur in Bach's student Heinrich Gerber's 1725 manuscript copy.[1] August Halm was also critical of the measure,[3] questioning its logic as early as 1905.[4]

 Gounod's "Ave Maria" [ edit ]

 Ave Maria by Gounod
 Gounod's Ave Maria, arranged for piano and cello. Performed by John Michel
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 Charles Gounod composed a melody that was designed to be based on the prelude; a setting of that melody to Ave Maria is popular. The edition of the prelude used by Gounod contains the Schwencke measure.[1]

 20th century [ edit ]

 Arvo Pärt's "Credo" is built around Bach's C major prelude, first unravelling it through the central cacophonous twelve-tone part of the work, then remerging on the piano with the chorus and orchestra joining in harmony for the massive finale.

 Mstislav Rostropovich compared this Prelude to the introductory bars of the prelude of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, in a video named Rostropovich interprets Bach, filmed in 1991 at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, France.

 "Repent Walpurgis", the last track on the debut album by progressive rock group Procol Harum contains an arrangement of the prelude by band leader Gary Brooker.[5][6]

 Derived works and influence on popular culture [ edit ]

 * Douglas R. Hofstadter's "Prelude... Ant Fugue"[7][8] dialogues are explicitly inspired by J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C major.
 * Webber's Don't cry for me Argentina is not only based on the Prelude but also on Gounod's Ave Maria adaptation.[9]
 * Maurane: Sur un prélude de Bach[10]
 * Chava Alberstein, Paprarim barosh (פרפרים בראש)[11]

 Further media [ edit ]

 Full length audio of the prelude or fugue [ edit ]

 Prelude in C major (BWV 846) Fugue in C major (BWV 846) 
 Performed on a French harpsichord ... Performed on a piano ... 
 ... tuned in equal temperament by Robert Schröter ... by Kimiko Ishizaka 
 Performed in ... Performed on a Flemish harpsichord ...
 ... Kirnberger temperament ... by Martha Goldstein 
 Performed on a French harpsichord ...  
 ... tuned in Werckmeister III temperament by Robert Schröter 
 Performed in Werckmeister temperament  
 Performed on a piano ...  
 ... by Kimiko Ishizaka  
 performed on a Flemish harpsichord ...  
 ... by Martha Goldstein  
 Problems playing these files? See media help.  
 

 Excerpts [ edit ]

 Prelude in C major (BWV 846) Bars 5 to 11 ... 
 Bars 1 to 5... ... with wolf interval 
 ... with wolf interval Bars 5 to 11 ... 
 Bars 1 to 5 ... ... with comma differences without harmonic seventh
 ... with comma differences without harmonic seventh Bars 5 to 11 ... 
 Bars 1 to 5 ... ... with comma differences with harmonic seventh 
 ... with comma differences with harmonic seventh  
 

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ a b c Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". Bach. 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775. "The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression."
 2. ^ Keller, Hermann (1965). Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach , p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter. [ ISBN missing ] . Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert " On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I ", Henle.de . Accessed: June 8, 2018.
 3. ^ Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. ISBN 9781580463294.
 4. ^ Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). Beethoven Forum , p. 70. University of Nebraska. ISBN 9780803229211 . Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", Der Kunstwart 18, pp. 486-487.
 5. ^ Johanson, Claes (2000). Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale. SAF Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-946-71928-0.
 6. ^ The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-199-71870-2.
 7. ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999]. Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02656-7. OCLC 750541259.
 8. ^ Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". The Philosophical Quarterly. 34 (134): 80. doi:10.2307/2218896. ISSN 0031-8094. JSTOR 2218896.
 9. ^ Snelson, John (2008-10-01). Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-300-12845-1.
 10. ^ "Maurane - Sur un prélude de Bach Lyrics". musiXmatch . Retrieved 2022-01-14 .
 11. ^ פרפרים בראש , retrieved 2022-01-14

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major". The Well Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2. Ed. Saul Novak.[ full citation needed ]

 External links [ edit ]

 Interactive media

 * BWV 846 Fugue (Flash) - David Korevaar performing
 * BWV 846-869 Prelude and Fugue (Flash) at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext David Korevaar, Philip Goeth, and Edward Parmentier performing

 Sheet Music

 * The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major Sheet Music
 * v 
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 * e 
 Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach
  * Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful)  
  * Sonatas, BWV 525–530  
  * Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531  
  * Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532  
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  * Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538  
  * Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540  
  * Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542  
  * Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543  
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  * Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546  
  * Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548  
  * Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful)  
 Organ  * Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562  
  * Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564  
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  * Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566  
  * Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572  
  * Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578  
  * Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582  
  * Concertos, BWV 592–597  
  * Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644  
  * Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650  
  * Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668  
  * Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768  
  * Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769 
  * Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120  
  * Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128 
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 Keyboard  * Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938  
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 Lute  * Suite in C minor, BWV 997  
  * Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E ♭ major, BWV 998  
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  * Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E ♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805
 Mixed  * Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987  
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
      Bach's autograph (1722) of the first prelude of Book I  
The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, is a keyboard composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of  The Well-Tempered Clavier , a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the  Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach .
Analysis[edit]
Prelude[edit]
The prelude is 35 bars long and consists mostly of broken chords. Below are the first four bars of the prelude:
     
The prelude continues like this with different variations on harmony and change of key. The prelude ends with a single C major chord.
Fugue[edit]
        This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2017)     
The fugue is 27 bars long and is written for four voices. It starts with a two-measure subject in the alto voice. The first voice to join is the soprano, which replies with the answer in the dominant key (G major).
       
The answer is repeated in the tenor and bass voices, respectively, when they enter. The piece then modulates through various related keys, with the subject being repeated in each of the four voices. The piece eventually ends up back in the home key. It ends with each voice stopping at a note and holding it until the end, forming a C-major chord.
Legacy[edit]
Schwencke measure[edit]
Some earlier editions of the prelude contain an extra bar between bars 22 and 23 known as the "Schwencke measure", a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression (though it may be accidentally corrupted manuscript(s) associated with Schwencke), even though this sort of progression was standard in the music of Bach's time. [1] 
       
However, according to Hermann Keller, "Schwencke was a sophisticated and well-informed musician who was probably not thinking of improving Bach." [2] 
 Measure 22 contains an F♯ in the bass, which skips to A♭ in measure 23, creating a diminished third; while the Schwencke measure has a G in the bass of a 6  4 (second inversion) minor chord with C as its root borrowed from the parallel harmonic minor. The A♭ may be considered as its enharmonic, G♯, which creates a major second step with F♯, but A♭ functions as an upper leading-tone (parallel natural or descending melodic minor). Franz Kroll may have been the first to question and edit the measure, first in 1862, and the measure does not occur in Bach's student Heinrich Gerber's 1725 manuscript copy. [1]  August Halm was also critical of the measure, [3]  questioning its logic as early as 1905. [4] 
Gounod's "Ave Maria"[edit]
   
 Charles Gounod composed a melody that was designed to be based on the prelude; a setting of that melody to Ave Maria  is popular. The edition of the prelude used by Gounod contains the Schwencke measure. [1] 
20th century[edit]
 Arvo Pärt's "Credo" is built around Bach's C major prelude, first unravelling it through the central cacophonous twelve-tone part of the work, then remerging on the piano with the chorus and orchestra joining in harmony for the massive finale.
  Mstislav Rostropovich compared this Prelude to the introductory bars of the prelude of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, in a video named Rostropovich interprets Bach, filmed in 1991 at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, France.
 "Repent Walpurgis", the last track on the debut album by progressive rock group Procol Harum contains an arrangement of the prelude by band leader Gary Brooker. [5]   [6] 
Derived works and influence on popular culture[edit]
  Douglas R. Hofstadter's "Prelude... Ant Fugue" [7]   [8]  dialogues are explicitly inspired by J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C major.
 Webber's Don't cry for me Argentina is not only based on the Prelude but also on Gounod's Ave Maria adaptation. [9]  
 Maurane: Sur un prélude de Bach  [10]  
 Chava Alberstein, Paprarim barosh (פרפרים בראש) [11]   
Further media[edit]
Full length audio of the prelude or fugue[edit]
Excerpts[edit]
 
   
  
... with comma differences with harmonic seventh   
  
... with comma differences without harmonic seventh   
... with comma differences with harmonic seventh  
    
References[edit]
 
^    a       b       c    Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor".  Bach . 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775. The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression. 
  ^  Keller, Hermann (1965). Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach, p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter.[ ISBN missing ]. Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert "On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I", Henle.de. Accessed: June 8, 2018.
  ^  Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. ISBN  9781580463294 .
  ^  Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). Beethoven Forum, p. 70. University of Nebraska. ISBN 9780803229211. Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", Der Kunstwart 18, pp. 486-487.
  ^  Johanson, Claes (2000).  Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale . SAF Publishing. p. 91. ISBN  978-0-946-71928-0 .
  ^   The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. ISBN  978-0-199-71870-2 .
  ^  Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999].  Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid . Basic Books. ISBN  0-465-02656-7 . OCLC 750541259.
  ^  Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". The Philosophical Quarterly. 34 (134): 80. doi:10.2307/2218896. ISSN 0031-8094. JSTOR 2218896.
  ^  Snelson, John (2008-10-01).  Andrew Lloyd Webber . Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN  978-0-300-12845-1 .
  ^   "Maurane - Sur un prélude de Bach Lyrics". musiXmatch. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  ^    פרפרים בראש , retrieved 2022-01-14
 
Further reading[edit]
 Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major". The Well Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2. Ed. Saul Novak.[ full citation needed ]  
External links[edit]
 Interactive media
 BWV 846 Fugue (Flash) - David Korevaar performing
BWV 846-869 Prelude and Fugue (Flash) at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext David Korevaar, Philip Goeth, and Edward Parmentier performing 
 Sheet Music
   The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major Sheet Music
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846 - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_and_Fugue_in_C_major,_BWV_846
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_on_the_G_String
Air on the G String - Wikipedia
2006-04-29
Authority control MusicBrainz work 2
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<p>"<b>Air on the G String</b>", also known as "Air for G String" and "Celebrated Air", is <a href="/wiki/August_Wilhelmj">August Wilhelmj</a>'s 1871 <a href="/wiki/Arrangement">arrangement</a> of the second <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movement</a> of <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_suites_(Bach)#Suite_No._3_in_D_major,_BWV_1068">Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">BWV</a> 1068.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrench2014II,_p.&amp;nbsp;71-1">[1]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHöweler193947–48-2">[2]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Victor_64390-4">[4]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p><p>The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a> is <a href="/wiki/Transposition_(music)">transposed</a> down so that the entire piece can be played on just the violin's lowest string (the G string). In performance, that part is generally played by a single violin (instead of by the first violins as a group).
</p>
<h2>Bach's original[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Bach's third Orchestral Suite in <a href="/wiki/D_major">D major</a>, composed in the first half of the 18th century, has an "<a href="/wiki/Air_(music)">Air</a>" as second movement, following its <a href="/wiki/French_overture">French overture</a> opening movement. The suite is composed for three <a href="/wiki/Baroque_trumpet">trumpets</a>, <a href="/wiki/Timpani">timpani</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Oboe">oboes</a>, <a href="/wiki/String_section">strings</a> (two violin <a href="/wiki/Part_(music)">parts</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Viola">viola</a> part), and <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">basso continuo</a>. In the second movement of the suite however only the strings and the continuo play. This is the only movement of the suite where all other instruments are silent.
</p><p>The music of the "Air" is written on four <a href="/wiki/Staff_(music)">staves</a>, for first and second violins, viola(s), and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrast with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass.
</p>
<h2>Wilhelmj's arrangement[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<div>
<p>performed by Joel Belov (violin) and Robert Gayler (piano)</p></div><hr /><hr /><div>
<p>performed by David Hernando Vitores (alto saxophone) – "on the G String"-like arrangement for a solo instrument without strings</p></div></div></div>
<p>In 1871, violinist <a href="/wiki/August_Wilhelmj">August Wilhelmj</a> arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, <a href="/wiki/Piano">piano</a> or organ (harmonium).<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrench2014II,_p.&amp;nbsp;71-1">[1]</a></sup> On the score he wrote <i>auf der G-Saite</i> (on the G string) above the staff for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname.
</p><p>In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a> (D major) to <a href="/wiki/C_major">C major</a>. Then the part of the first violins is transposed further down an octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string.<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-6">[6]</a></sup> The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are more in line with a romantic interpretation than with the baroque original.
</p><p>As a violin can't play very loudly in its lowest register, all the other parts of Bach's music were firmly reduced in Wilhelmj's version: the keyboard part is to be played staccato and pianissimo, causing the effects of interweaving melodies and of drive in the bass part to get lost. The accompanying violins and violas play muted (<i><a href="/wiki/Con_sordino">con sordino</a></i>), and the bass part for <a href="/wiki/Cello">cellos</a> and <a href="/wiki/Double_bass">double basses</a> is to be played <a href="/wiki/Pizzicato">pizzicato</a> and <i>sempre pianissimo</i>, with the same change in effect compared to Bach's original.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p><p>Later, a spurious story circulated that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> The solo violin part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello. 
</p><p>Wilhelmj's arrangement greatly popularized the piece and although his version is rarely played anymore, his original title <i>on the G string</i> or <i>Air on the G string</i> has been retained as the commonly used name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string is involved.<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-6">[6]</a></sup> Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the material of the other parts of Bach's piece, although occasionally versions that stay more in line with Bach's original can go by the same name.
</p>
<h2>Reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In a period that stretched over three decades, and started in 1905, <a href="/wiki/Henry_Wood">Henry Wood</a> regularly programmed Wilhelmj's arrangement at the <a href="/wiki/London_Proms">London Proms</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrench2014I,_pp.&amp;nbsp;49,_162-9">[9]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> Wood recorded his orchestral rendering (i.e., the G string part performed by a group of violins) of the Bach/Wilhelmj "Air" in the early 1930s.<sup><a href="#cite_note-WoodDamian-12">[12]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-WoodBLSounds-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Early recordings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Recordings of Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String" arrangement, from the era preceding the <a href="/wiki/Second_World_War">Second World War</a>, include:
</p>
<table>
<caption>Early recordings of Air on the G String
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Rec.
</th>
<th>Soloist
</th>
<th>Accompaniment or Ensemble (Conductor)
</th>
<th>Company Matrix (Take)
</th>
<th>Title
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>1902
</td>
<td>Hartmann, Leopold
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Gramophone 2155B
</td>
<td>Air auf der G-Saite<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelly2009320-14">[14]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1903
</td>
<td><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bernhard_Dessau&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Dessau, Bernhard</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Dessau">de</a>]
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Gramophone 1528x
</td>
<td>Air auf der G-Saite<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelly2009321-15">[15]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1904-02-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Fritz_Kreisler">Kreisler, Fritz</a>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Gramophone 2087x
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1905-03-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Stefi_Geyer">Geyer, Stefi</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/w/index.php?title=Oszk%C3%A1r_Dienzl&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Dienzl, Oszkár</a> [<a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Dienzl,_Oszk%C3%A1r">scores</a>] [piano]
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1909-05
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Arnold_Ros%C3%A9">Rosé, Arnold</a>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Gramophone 14680u
</td>
<td>Air auf der G-Saite<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelly2009323-18">[18]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1911-01-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Franz_von_Vecsey">Vecsey, Ferenc</a>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1911-05-17
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Mischa_Elman">Elman, Mischa</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Percy_Kahn">Kahn, Percy B.</a> [piano]
</td>
<td>Victor C-9871 (3)
</td>
<td>Air for G string<sup><a href="#cite_note-Elman-19">[19]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1913-10-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Jan_Kubel%C3%ADk">Kubelík, Jan</a>
</td>
<td>Falkenstein, George [piano]
</td>
<td>Victor B-13892 (1)
</td>
<td>Air for G String<sup><a href="#cite_note-Victor_64390-4">[4]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1913-11-09
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Bournemouth_Municipal_Orchestra">Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra</a> (<a href="/wiki/Dan_Godfrey">Godfrey, Dan</a>)
</td>
<td>Gramophone
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1918-07
</td>
<td>Belov, Joel
</td>
<td>Gayler, Robert [piano]
</td>
<td>Edison 6289 (A–C)
</td>
<td>Air for G string<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1919-01-03
</td>
<td>Belov, Joel
</td>
<td>Gayler, Robert [piano]
</td>
<td>Edison 6289 (F–H)
</td>
<td>Air for G string<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1919-11-11
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Mischa_Elman">Elman, Mischa</a>
</td>
<td>Bonime, Joseph [piano]
</td>
<td>Victor C-9871 (5)
</td>
<td>Air for G string<sup><a href="#cite_note-Elman-19">[19]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1921-04-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Andreas_Wei%C3%9Fgerber">Weißgerber, Andreas</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Michael_Raucheisen">Raucheisen, Michael</a> [piano]
</td>
<td>Odéon xxB6659
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1923-01-24
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall">Royal Albert Hall</a> Orchestra (<a href="/wiki/Eugene_Aynsley_Goossens">Goossens, Eugene</a>)
</td>
<td>HMV Cc2215(-4)
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><abbr>c.</abbr> 1920–26
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Marie_Soldat-Roeger">Soldat-Roeger, Marie</a>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Union A3012 (3)
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a6–7-24">[24]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b2-25">[25]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1923-08-10
</td>
<td>Strockoff, Leo
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Columbia AX126
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1924-01-01
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/V%C3%A1%C5%A1a_P%C5%99%C3%ADhoda">Příhoda, Váša</a>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1927
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Arnold_Ros%C3%A9">Rosé, Arnold</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Ros%C3%A9_Quartet">Rosé Quartet</a>
</td>
<td>HMV Ck2847 (1)
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12-26">[26]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b1-27">[27]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1927-02-14
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Jacques_Thibaud">Thibaud, Jacques</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Harold_Craxton">Craxton, Harold</a> [piano]
</td>
<td>HMV Cc9913
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1928
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Arnold_Ros%C3%A9">Rosé, Arnold</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Ros%C3%A9_Quartet">Rosé Quartet</a>
</td>
<td>HMV Ck2847 (2)
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b3-28">[28]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1929-11-04
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Jen%C5%91_Hubay">Hubay, Jenő</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Budapest_Conservatory">Budapest Conservatory</a> Orchestra (<a href="/wiki/N%C3%A1ndor_Zsolt">Zsolt, Nándor</a>)
</td>
<td>HMV CV713
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12-26">[26]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1930-02-25
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Gaspar_Cassad%C3%B3">Cassadó, Gaspar</a> [cello]
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>Columbia WAX5416
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1930-09-16
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Bronis%C5%82aw_Huberman">Huberman, Bronisław</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/w/index.php?title=Siegfried_Schultze&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Schultze, Siegfried</a> [<a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Schultze">fr</a>] [piano]
</td>
<td>Columbia WAX5007
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1931-03-05
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Efrem_Zimbalist">Zimbalist, Efrem</a>
</td>
<td>Sanderberg, Theo [piano]
</td>
<td>Columbia 98737 (1)
</td>
<td>Air on the G string<sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1932-06-16
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/British_Symphony_Orchestra">British Symphony Orchestra</a> (<a href="/wiki/Henry_Wood">Wood, Henry</a>)
</td>
<td>Columbia CAX6441(-1)
</td>
<td>Air on G String<sup><a href="#cite_note-WoodDamian-12">[12]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-WoodBLSounds-13">[13]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1936-05-20
</td>
<td><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ren%C3%A9_Benedetti&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Benedetti, René</a> [<a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Benedetti">it</a>; <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Benedetti">de</a>]
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Orchestre_de_la_Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_des_Concerts_du_Conservatoire">Orch. de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire</a>
</td>
<td>Columbia CLX1919
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-CHARM-5">[5]</a></sup>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Soldat-Roeger's recorded performance of the "Air on the G String" was the subject of scholarly analysis.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12-26">[26]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECho201732,_36-31">[31]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Appreciation of Wilhelmj's arrangement[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<table><tbody><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg"></a></td><td><p>This section <b>needs expansion</b>. You can help by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=">adding to it</a>. <i>(October 2020)</i></p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>In the early 20th century, <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Joachim">Joseph Joachim</a> called Wilhelmj's arrangement "a shameless falsification of a work by Bach".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a7-32">[32]</a></sup> In <a href="/w/index.php?title=Casper_H%C3%B6weler&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Casper Höweler</a> [<a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_H%C3%B6weler">nl</a>; <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_H%C3%B6weler">fr</a>]'s <i>XYZ der Muziek</i> (1936, here quoted from the 1939 edition):
</p>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td><p>Het Air, alleen voor strijkers en continuo, met zijn volmaakte cantilenen in alle stemmen, van sfeer een onovertroffen ‘Der Welt abhanden gekommen’, heeft de ontstellendste majesteitschennis ondergaan, die de muziek meemaakte: de violist Wilhelmj maakte er een zwoel effect-stukje van, door het als ‘Aria op de g snaar’ te zetten, waarbij zoowel de evenwichtige polyphonie als de teere stemming vandalistisch vernield werden.
</p>
</td>
<td><p>The "Air", exclusively for strings and continuo, with its perfect singing in all voices, breathing an unsurpassed "lost to the world", has suffered the most appalling regicide in music: the violinist Wilhelmj converted it to sultry claptrap by setting it as "Aria on the G String", thus vandalising and annihilating both its equilibrated polyphony and delicate atmosphere.
</p>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>—<i>X-Y-Z der muziek</i> (1939)<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHöweler193947–48-2">[2]</a></sup>
</td>
<td>—translation
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>British musicologist <a href="/wiki/Donald_Francis_Tovey">Donald Francis Tovey</a> likewise criticized Wihelmj's arrangement, stating that "At my concerts [the Air] will be heard as Bach wrote it, in its original D major as an angelic soprano strain, not in C major as a display of contralto depths."<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>In popular music[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>The 1967 song "<a href="/wiki/A_Whiter_Shade_of_Pale">A Whiter Shade of Pale</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Procol_Harum">Procol Harum</a> used a bar or two of "Air on the G String" as its starting point according to its writer <a href="/wiki/Gary_Brooker">Gary Brooker</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup></li>
<li>The Dutch group <a href="/wiki/Ekseption">Ekseption</a> recorded a jazz-fusion version titled "Air" which reached No. 1 on the <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Single_Top_100">Dutch chart</a> in 1969.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup></li>
<li>The German group <a href="/wiki/Sweetbox">Sweetbox</a> recorded a rap song <a href="/wiki/Everything%27s_Gonna_Be_Alright_(Sweetbox_song)">"Everything's Gonna Be Alright"</a> backed with music from "Air on the G String" in 1997, which became a world-wide hit.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup></li>
<li>Swedish <a href="/wiki/Heavy_metal_music">heavy metal</a> band <a href="/wiki/Sabaton">Sabaton</a> used Air on the G String as the guitar solo for the song “Hearts of Iron,” the tenth track on their 2014 album <a href="/wiki/Heroes_(Sabaton_album)">Heroes</a>.</li>
<li>The South Korean girl group <a href="/wiki/Red_Velvet_(group)">Red Velvet</a> uses its sample for their song "<a href="/wiki/Feel_My_Rhythm">Feel My Rhythm</a>" taken from their 2022 EP <i><a href="/wiki/The_ReVe_Festival_2022_%E2%80%93_Feel_My_Rhythm">The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[36]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrench2014II,_p.&amp;nbsp;71_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrench2014II,_p.&amp;nbsp;71_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFFrench2014">French 2014</a>, II, p. 71.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHöweler193947–48_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHöweler193947–48_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFHöweler1939">Höweler 1939</a>, pp. 47–48.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_August_Wilhelmj">Works by August Wilhelmj</a>: list at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Victor_64390_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Victor_64390_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200014137/B-13892-Air_for_G_string">"Victor matrix B-13892. Air for G string / Jan Kubelík"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains several audio versions of this recording.</cite><code>{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_web">cite web</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: postscript (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_postscript">link</a>)
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CHARM_5-8"><sup><i><b>i</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="https://charm.cch.kcl.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&amp;parameterSel_0=composer&amp;parameterKey_0=compo_001510&amp;parameterKeyTxt_0=BACH,%20J.S.%20(arr.Wilhelmj)">"Search Results for BACH, J.S. (arr.Wilhelmj)"</a>. <i>CHARM</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Wen, Eric (2001). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41054328">"Stripped of the G String: Bach's Air from the Suite No. 3 in D"</a>. <i>Theory and Practice</i>. <b>26</b>: 87–98. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0741-6156">0741-6156</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41054328">41054328</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/about-air-on-the-g-string">"About "Air on the G String by J. S. Bach &amp; arranged by Wilhelmj"</a>. <i>Galaxy Music Notes</i>. Retrieved 2022-02-02.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <i><a href="/wiki/Grove%27s_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians">Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians</a></i>, 5th edition, 1954, Vol. IX, p. 298, "Wilhelmj, August"
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrench2014I,_pp.&amp;nbsp;49,_162_9-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFFrench2014">French 2014</a>, I, pp. 49, 162.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e8b4wh">Prom 61 - Last Night of the Proms 1907</a> at <a href="/wiki/BBC">BBC</a> website.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/epn9mb">Prom 19: 20:00 Sat 4 Sep 1909 Queen's Hall</a> at <a href="/wiki/BBC">BBC</a> website.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-WoodDamian_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-WoodDamian_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="http://music.damians78s.co.uk/artists/conductors/t-z/w/henry-j-wood/">Henry J Wood</a> at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-WoodBLSounds_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-WoodBLSounds_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="https://sounds.bl.uk/Classical-music/Bach/026M-1CL0047154XX-0100V0">1CL0047154</a> at <a href="/wiki/British_Library_Sounds">British Library Sounds</a> website (contains audio file).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelly2009320_14-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKelly2009">Kelly 2009</a>, 320.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelly2009321_15-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKelly2009">Kelly 2009</a>, 321.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&amp;parameterSel_0=performer&amp;parameterKey_0=artist_023747&amp;parameterKeyTxt_0=Kreisler">"Search Results for Kreisler"</a>. <i>CHARM</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&amp;parameterSel_0=performer&amp;parameterKey_0=artist_041244&amp;parameterKeyTxt_0=Stefi%20Geyer,%20violin,%20Oszk%C3%A1r%20Dienzl%20(p)">"Search Results for Stefi Geyer, violin, Oszkár Dienzl (p)"</a>. <i>CHARM</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelly2009323_18-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKelly2009">Kelly 2009</a>, 323.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Elman_19-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Elman_19-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200009981/C-9871-Air_for_G_string">"Victor matrix C-9871. Air for G string / Mischa Elman"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains audio of one of Elman's recordings.</cite><code>{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_web">cite web</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: postscript (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_postscript">link</a>)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&amp;parameterSel_0=performer&amp;parameterKey_0=artist_041244&amp;parameterKeyTxt_0=Stefi%20Geyer,%20violin,%20Oszk%C3%A1r%20Dienzl%20(p)">"Search Results for DAN GODFREY'S (BOURNEMOUTH MUNICIPAL) ORCHESTRA"</a>. <i>CHARM</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&amp;parameterSel_0=performer&amp;parameterKey_0=artist_008528&amp;parameterKeyTxt_0=DAN%20GODFREY%E2%80%99S%20(BOURNEMOUTH%20MUNICIPAL)%20ORCHESTRA">"Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains audio of take A.</cite><code>{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_web">cite web</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: postscript (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_postscript">link</a>)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000153411/6289-Air_for_G_string">"Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <a href="http://music.damians78s.co.uk/artists/conductors/g-m/a-b/eugene-goossens-iii/">Eugene Goossens III</a> at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a6–7_24-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015a">Milsom 2015a</a>, pp. 6–7.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b2_25-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015b">Milsom 2015b</a>, p. 2.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12_26-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12_26-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a12_26-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015a">Milsom 2015a</a>, p. 12.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b1_27-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015b">Milsom 2015b</a>, p. 1.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015b3_28-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015b">Milsom 2015b</a>, p. 3.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b> <cite><i>Jenő Hubay – Carl Flesch: The HMV Recordings</i> (Media notes). <a href="/wiki/Biddulph_Recordings">Biddulph</a>. 1991. LAB 045.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000145320/98737-Air_on_the_G_string">"Columbia matrix 98737. Air on the G string / Efrem Zimbalist"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. Retrieved 2020-10-03.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECho201732,_36_31-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFCho2017">Cho 2017</a>, pp. 32, 36.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMilsom2015a7_32-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMilsom2015a">Milsom 2015a</a>, p. 7.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b> <cite>Maconie, Stuart (2014). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_q4rAwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA82"><i>The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records</i></a>. Ebury Press. p. 82. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0091933807"><bdi>978-0091933807</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Ekseption&amp;titel=Air&amp;cat=s">"Ekseption - Air"</a>. <i>Dutch Charts</i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b> <cite>Taylor, Chuck (10 October 1998). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FQoEAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PA80">"Sweetbox Aims for Top 40 Sweet Spot with the Bach-backed Hit 'Everything'"</a>. <i>Billboard</i>. p. 80.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b> <cite>Chin, Carmen (March 10, 2022). <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/red-velvet-sample-bach-air-on-the-g-string-new-single-feel-my-rhythm-3179592">"Red Velvet to sample Bach's 'Air On The G String' on new single 'Feel My Rhythm'"</a>. <i>NME</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220310160345/https://www.nme.com/news/music/red-velvet-sample-bach-air-on-the-g-string-new-single-feel-my-rhythm-3179592">Archived</a> from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>Sources[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<ul><li><cite>Cho, Jung Yoon (2017). <a href="http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/17924/1/Cho_JY_Music_PhD_2017.pdf"><i>Re-interpreting Brahms Violin Sonatas: Understanding the Composer's Expectations</i></a> (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds.</cite></li>
<li><cite>French, Hannah Chloe (2014). <a href="http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/7515/1/Hannah%20French%20PhD%20Vols%20I%20and%20II%20combined.pdf"><i>The Role of Sir Henry J. Wood in the English Bach Awakening: Orchestral Bach at the Proms 1895-1944</i></a> (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_H%C3%B6weler">Höweler, Casper</a> [in French]; et al. (1939). <a href="https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/howe003xyzd01_01/howe003xyzd01_01_0037.php">"Bach, Johann Sebastian"</a>. <a href="https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/howe003xyzd01_01/index.php"><i>X-Y-Z der muziek</i></a> [<i>X-Y-Z of Music</i>] (in Dutch) (3rd ed.). Utrecht: W. de Haan. pp. 5–48.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Kelly, Allen (2009) [1994]. Capon, Brian (ed.). <a href="https://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/NEWGERM2.HTM">"The Gramophone Company – Standard German Catalogue (A–B–C)"</a>. <i>operadis-opera-discography.org.uk</i>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Milsom, David (2015a) [2007]. <a href="http://davidmilsom.com/PDFs/Marie_Soldat-Roeger_Significance.pdf">"Marie Soldat-Roeger (1863-1955): Her Significance to the Study of Nineteenth-Century Performing Practices"</a> (PDF). <i>String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance</i> (Report). Arts &amp; Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org).</cite></li>
<li><cite>Milsom, David (2015b) [2009]. <a href="http://www.davidmilsom.com/PDFs/Discography.pdf">"Discography"</a> (PDF). <i>String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance</i> (Report). Arts &amp; Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org).</cite></li></ul>
</div>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Air_on_the_G_String&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Orchestral_Suite_No.3_in_D_major,_BWV_1068_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian)#For_Violin.2C_Piano_and_Strings_.28Wilhelmj.29">"Air on the G String" (Wilhelmj arrangement)</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cantorion.org/pieces/293/Orchestral_Suite_(Overture)_No._3">Free sheet music</a> of "Air on the G String" from <i>Cantorion.org</i></li>
<li><a href="http://musescore.com/sheetmusic?text=air+on+g+string">"Air on the G String" sheet music</a> on MuseScore.com</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ljII_bRQQk">Video</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>, cellist <a href="/wiki/Julian_Lloyd_Webber">Julian Lloyd Webber</a></li></ul>
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 * 1 Bach's original
 * 2 Wilhelmj's arrangement
 * 3 Reception
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 + 3.1 Early recordings
 + 3.2 Appreciation of Wilhelmj's arrangement
 * 4 In popular music
 * 5 References
 * 6 Sources
 * 7 External links
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 Air on the G String

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Not to be confused with "Air" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3.

 "Air on the G String", also known as "Air for G String" and "Celebrated Air", is August Wilhelmj's 1871 arrangement of the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068.[1][2][3][4][5]

 The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first violins is transposed down so that the entire piece can be played on just the violin's lowest string (the G string). In performance, that part is generally played by a single violin (instead of by the first violins as a group).

 Bach's original [ edit ]

 "Air" from Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3
 String orchestra (2000)
 performed by the United States Air Force Band Strings (not an historically informed performance, but no transpositions)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.
 Further information: Orchestral Suite No. 3 (Bach)

 Bach's third Orchestral Suite in D major, composed in the first half of the 18th century, has an "Air" as second movement, following its French overture opening movement. The suite is composed for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings (two violin parts and a viola part), and basso continuo. In the second movement of the suite however only the strings and the continuo play. This is the only movement of the suite where all other instruments are silent.

 The music of the "Air" is written on four staves, for first and second violins, viola(s), and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrast with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass.

 Wilhelmj's arrangement [ edit ]

 "Air on the G String"
 Violin and piano (1920)
 performed by Joel Belov (violin) and Robert Gayler (piano)
 Violin and string orchestra (1990)
 performed by Takako Nishizaki (violin), Capella Istropolitana, Oliver von Dohnányi (conductor); courtesy of Naxos Records
 Saxophone and piano
 performed by David Hernando Vitores (alto saxophone) – "on the G String"-like arrangement for a solo instrument without strings
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 In 1871, violinist August Wilhelmj arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, piano or organ (harmonium).[1] On the score he wrote auf der G-Saite (on the G string) above the staff for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname.

 In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original key (D major) to C major. Then the part of the first violins is transposed further down an octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string.[6] The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are more in line with a romantic interpretation than with the baroque original.

 As a violin can't play very loudly in its lowest register, all the other parts of Bach's music were firmly reduced in Wilhelmj's version: the keyboard part is to be played staccato and pianissimo, causing the effects of interweaving melodies and of drive in the bass part to get lost. The accompanying violins and violas play muted (con sordino), and the bass part for cellos and double basses is to be played pizzicato and sempre pianissimo, with the same change in effect compared to Bach's original.[7]

 Later, a spurious story circulated that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone.[8] The solo violin part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello.

 Wilhelmj's arrangement greatly popularized the piece and although his version is rarely played anymore, his original title on the G string or Air on the G string has been retained as the commonly used name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string is involved.[6] Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the material of the other parts of Bach's piece, although occasionally versions that stay more in line with Bach's original can go by the same name.

 Reception [ edit ]

 In a period that stretched over three decades, and started in 1905, Henry Wood regularly programmed Wilhelmj's arrangement at the London Proms.[9][10][11] Wood recorded his orchestral rendering (i.e., the G string part performed by a group of violins) of the Bach/Wilhelmj "Air" in the early 1930s.[12][13]

 Early recordings [ edit ]

 Recordings of Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String" arrangement, from the era preceding the Second World War, include:

 Early recordings of Air on the G String
 Rec. Soloist Accompaniment or Ensemble (Conductor) Company Matrix (Take) Title 
 1902 Hartmann, Leopold Gramophone 2155B Air auf der G-Saite[14]
 1903 Dessau, Bernhard [ de ] Gramophone 1528x Air auf der G-Saite[15]
 1904-02-01 Kreisler, Fritz  Gramophone 2087x [16] 
 1905-03-01 Geyer, Stefi Dienzl, Oszkár [ scores ] [piano] [17] 
 1909-05 Rosé, Arnold  Gramophone 14680u Air auf der G-Saite[18]
 1911-01-01 Vecsey, Ferenc  [5] 
 1911-05-17 Elman, Mischa Kahn, Percy B. [piano] Victor C-9871 (3) Air for G string[19] 
 1913-10-01 Kubelík, Jan Falkenstein, George [piano] Victor B-13892 (1) Air for G String[4] 
 1913-11-09 Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra (Godfrey, Dan) Gramophone [20] 
 1918-07 Belov, Joel Gayler, Robert [piano] Edison 6289 (A–C) Air for G string[21] 
 1919-01-03 Belov, Joel Gayler, Robert [piano] Edison 6289 (F–H) Air for G string[22] 
 1919-11-11 Elman, Mischa Bonime, Joseph [piano] Victor C-9871 (5) Air for G string[19] 
 1921-04-01 Weißgerber, Andreas Raucheisen, Michael [piano] Odéon xxB6659 [5] 
 1923-01-24 Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (Goossens, Eugene) HMV Cc2215(-4) [23] 
 c. 1920–26 Soldat-Roeger, Marie Union A3012 (3) [24][25] 
 1923-08-10 Strockoff, Leo  Columbia AX126 [5] 
 1924-01-01 Příhoda, Váša  [5] 
 1927 Rosé, Arnold Rosé Quartet HMV Ck2847 (1) [26][27] 
 1927-02-14 Thibaud, Jacques Craxton, Harold [piano] HMV Cc9913 [5] 
 1928 Rosé, Arnold Rosé Quartet HMV Ck2847 (2) [28] 
 1929-11-04 Hubay, Jenő Budapest Conservatory Orchestra (Zsolt, Nándor) HMV CV713 [26][29] 
 1930-02-25 Cassadó, Gaspar [cello] Columbia WAX5416 [5] 
 1930-09-16 Huberman, Bronisław Schultze, Siegfried [ fr ] [piano] Columbia WAX5007 [5] 
 1931-03-05 Zimbalist, Efrem Sanderberg, Theo [piano] Columbia 98737 (1) Air on the G string[30]
 1932-06-16 British Symphony Orchestra (Wood, Henry) Columbia CAX6441(-1) Air on G String[12][13]
 1936-05-20 Benedetti, René [ it ; de ] Orch. de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire Columbia CLX1919 [5] 
 

 Soldat-Roeger's recorded performance of the "Air on the G String" was the subject of scholarly analysis.[26][31]

 Appreciation of Wilhelmj's arrangement [ edit ]

 This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( October 2020 )
 

 In the early 20th century, Joseph Joachim called Wilhelmj's arrangement "a shameless falsification of a work by Bach".[32] In Casper Höweler [ nl ; fr ] 's XYZ der Muziek (1936, here quoted from the 1939 edition):

 Het Air, alleen voor strijkers en continuo, met zijn volmaakte cantilenen in alle stemmen, van sfeer een onovertroffen ‘Der Welt abhanden gekommen’, heeft de ontstellendste majesteitschennis ondergaan, die de muziek meemaakte: de violist Wilhelmj maakte er een zwoel effect-stukje van, door het als ‘Aria op de g snaar’ te zetten, waarbij zoowel de evenwichtige polyphonie als de teere stemming vandalistisch vernield werden. The "Air", exclusively for strings and continuo, with its perfect singing in all voices, breathing an unsurpassed "lost to the world", has suffered the most appalling regicide in music: the violinist Wilhelmj converted it to sultry claptrap by setting it as "Aria on the G String", thus vandalising and annihilating both its equilibrated polyphony and delicate atmosphere.
             
 —X-Y-Z der muziek (1939)[2]       —translation      
 

 British musicologist Donald Francis Tovey likewise criticized Wihelmj's arrangement, stating that "At my concerts [the Air] will be heard as Bach wrote it, in its original D major as an angelic soprano strain, not in C major as a display of contralto depths."[6]

 In popular music [ edit ]

 * The 1967 song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum used a bar or two of "Air on the G String" as its starting point according to its writer Gary Brooker.[33]
 * The Dutch group Ekseption recorded a jazz-fusion version titled "Air" which reached No. 1 on the Dutch chart in 1969.[34]
 * The German group Sweetbox recorded a rap song "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" backed with music from "Air on the G String" in 1997, which became a world-wide hit.[35]
 * Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton used Air on the G String as the guitar solo for the song “Hearts of Iron,” the tenth track on their 2014 album Heroes.
 * The South Korean girl group Red Velvet uses its sample for their song "Feel My Rhythm" taken from their 2022 EP The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm.[36]

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ a b French 2014 , II, p. 71.
 2. ^ a b Höweler 1939 , pp. 47–48.
 3. ^ Works by August Wilhelmj : list at the International Music Score Library Project
 4. ^ a b "Victor matrix B-13892. Air for G string / Jan Kubelík". Discography of American Historical Recordings . Retrieved 2020-10-03 . Contains several audio versions of this recording.{{cite web}} : CS1 maint: postscript ( link )
 5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Search Results for BACH, J.S. (arr.Wilhelmj)". CHARM . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 6. ^ a b c Wen, Eric (2001). "Stripped of the G String: Bach's Air from the Suite No. 3 in D". Theory and Practice. 26: 87–98. ISSN 0741-6156. JSTOR 41054328.
 7. ^ "About "Air on the G String by J. S. Bach & arranged by Wilhelmj". Galaxy Music Notes . Retrieved 2022-02-02 .
 8. ^ Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians , 5th edition, 1954, Vol. IX, p. 298, "Wilhelmj, August"
 9. ^ French 2014 , I, pp. 49, 162.
 10. ^ Prom 61 - Last Night of the Proms 1907 at BBC website.
 11. ^ Prom 19: 20:00 Sat 4 Sep 1909 Queen's Hall at BBC website.
 12. ^ a b Henry J Wood at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
 13. ^ a b 1CL0047154 at British Library Sounds website (contains audio file).
 14. ^ Kelly 2009 , 320.
 15. ^ Kelly 2009 , 321.
 16. ^ "Search Results for Kreisler". CHARM . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 17. ^ "Search Results for Stefi Geyer, violin, Oszkár Dienzl (p)". CHARM . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 18. ^ Kelly 2009 , 323.
 19. ^ a b "Victor matrix C-9871. Air for G string / Mischa Elman". Discography of American Historical Recordings . Retrieved 2020-10-03 . Contains audio of one of Elman's recordings.{{cite web}} : CS1 maint: postscript ( link )
 20. ^ "Search Results for DAN GODFREY'S (BOURNEMOUTH MUNICIPAL) ORCHESTRA". CHARM . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 21. ^ "Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler". Discography of American Historical Recordings . Retrieved 2020-10-03 . Contains audio of take A.{{cite web}} : CS1 maint: postscript ( link )
 22. ^ "Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler". Discography of American Historical Recordings . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 23. ^ Eugene Goossens III at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
 24. ^ Milsom 2015a , pp. 6–7.
 25. ^ Milsom 2015b , p. 2.
 26. ^ a b c Milsom 2015a , p. 12.
 27. ^ Milsom 2015b , p. 1.
 28. ^ Milsom 2015b , p. 3.
 29. ^ Jenő Hubay – Carl Flesch: The HMV Recordings (Media notes). Biddulph. 1991. LAB 045.
 30. ^ "Columbia matrix 98737. Air on the G string / Efrem Zimbalist". Discography of American Historical Recordings . Retrieved 2020-10-03 .
 31. ^ Cho 2017 , pp. 32, 36.
 32. ^ Milsom 2015a , p. 7.
 33. ^ Maconie, Stuart (2014). The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records. Ebury Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0091933807.
 34. ^ "Ekseption - Air". Dutch Charts.
 35. ^ Taylor, Chuck (10 October 1998). "Sweetbox Aims for Top 40 Sweet Spot with the Bach-backed Hit 'Everything'". Billboard. p. 80.
 36. ^ Chin, Carmen (March 10, 2022). "Red Velvet to sample Bach's 'Air On The G String' on new single 'Feel My Rhythm'". NME. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022 . Retrieved June 17, 2022 .

 Sources [ edit ]

 * Cho, Jung Yoon (2017). Re-interpreting Brahms Violin Sonatas: Understanding the Composer's Expectations (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds.
 * French, Hannah Chloe (2014). The Role of Sir Henry J. Wood in the English Bach Awakening: Orchestral Bach at the Proms 1895-1944 (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds.
 * Höweler, Casper [in French] ; et al. (1939). "Bach, Johann Sebastian". X-Y-Z der muziek [X-Y-Z of Music] (in Dutch) (3rd ed.). Utrecht: W. de Haan. pp. 5–48.
 * Kelly, Allen (2009) [1994]. Capon, Brian (ed.). "The Gramophone Company – Standard German Catalogue (A–B–C)". operadis-opera-discography.org.uk.
 * Milsom, David (2015a) [2007]. "Marie Soldat-Roeger (1863-1955): Her Significance to the Study of Nineteenth-Century Performing Practices" (PDF) . String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance (Report). Arts & Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org).
 * Milsom, David (2015b) [2009]. "Discography" (PDF) . String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance (Report). Arts & Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org).

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air on the G string.
 * "Air on the G String" (Wilhelmj arrangement): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Free sheet music of "Air on the G String" from Cantorion.org
 * "Air on the G String" sheet music on MuseScore.com
 * Video on YouTube, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber
 * v  
 * t  
 * e  
 Chamber music and orchestral works by, and transcriptions after, Johann Sebastian Bach
  * Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001–1006 
  + Partita No. 1 
 Solo  + No. 2 
  + No. 3 
  * Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012 
  * Partita for Solo Flute, BWV 1013 
  * Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014–1019 
  * Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027–1029 
  * Flute Sonatas 
  + in B minor, BWV 1030 
  + in E ♭ major, BWV 1031 (doubtful) 
 Ensemble  + in A major, BWV 1032 
  + in C major, BWV 1033 (doubtful) 
  + in E minor, BWV 1034 
  + in E major, BWV 1035 
  * Trio Sonatas 
  + Sonata for two flutes and continuo, BWV 1039 
  + Canonic Sonata for oboe, violin and continuo, BWV 1040
  * Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 
  * Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 
  * Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043 
  * Triple Concerto, BWV 1044 
  * Sinfonia for violin and orchestra, BWV 1045 
 Concertos  * Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051 
  + No. 5 
  * Keyboard concertos, BWV 1052–1065 
  + No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 
  + No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053 
  + No. 4 in A major, BWV 1055 
  + For two harpsichords in C minor, BWV 1060 
 Suites  * Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066–1069 
  * Orchestral Suite in G minor, BWV 1070 (doubtful) 
  * The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 
 Fugal  * The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 
  + discography 
  * "Air on the G String" 
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 Adaptations  * "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" 
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
"Air on the G String", also known as "Air for G String" and "Celebrated Air", is August Wilhelmj's 1871 arrangement of the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. [1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5] 
 The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first violins is transposed down so that the entire piece can be played on just the violin's lowest string (the G string). In performance, that part is generally played by a single violin (instead of by the first violins as a group).
Bach's original[edit]
   
Bach's third Orchestral Suite in D major, composed in the first half of the 18th century, has an "Air" as second movement, following its French overture opening movement. The suite is composed for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings (two violin parts and a viola part), and basso continuo. In the second movement of the suite however only the strings and the continuo play. This is the only movement of the suite where all other instruments are silent.
 The music of the "Air" is written on four staves, for first and second violins, viola(s), and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrast with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass.
Wilhelmj's arrangement[edit]
   
performed by Joel Belov (violin) and Robert Gayler (piano)    
performed by David Hernando Vitores (alto saxophone) – "on the G String"-like arrangement for a solo instrument without strings   
In 1871, violinist August Wilhelmj arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, piano or organ (harmonium). [1]  On the score he wrote auf der G-Saite (on the G string) above the staff for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname.
 In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original key (D major) to C major. Then the part of the first violins is transposed further down an octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string. [6]  The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are more in line with a romantic interpretation than with the baroque original.
 As a violin can't play very loudly in its lowest register, all the other parts of Bach's music were firmly reduced in Wilhelmj's version: the keyboard part is to be played staccato and pianissimo, causing the effects of interweaving melodies and of drive in the bass part to get lost. The accompanying violins and violas play muted ( con sordino ), and the bass part for cellos and double basses is to be played pizzicato and sempre pianissimo, with the same change in effect compared to Bach's original. [7] 
 Later, a spurious story circulated that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone. [8]  The solo violin part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello. 
 Wilhelmj's arrangement greatly popularized the piece and although his version is rarely played anymore, his original title on the G string or Air on the G string has been retained as the commonly used name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string is involved. [6]  Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the material of the other parts of Bach's piece, although occasionally versions that stay more in line with Bach's original can go by the same name.
Reception[edit]
In a period that stretched over three decades, and started in 1905, Henry Wood regularly programmed Wilhelmj's arrangement at the London Proms. [9]   [10]   [11]  Wood recorded his orchestral rendering (i.e., the G string part performed by a group of violins) of the Bach/Wilhelmj "Air" in the early 1930s. [12]   [13] 
Early recordings[edit]
Recordings of Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String" arrangement, from the era preceding the Second World War, include:
Early recordings of Air on the G String
 
Rec.
Soloist
Accompaniment or Ensemble (Conductor)
Company Matrix (Take)
Title
 
1902
Hartmann, Leopold
Gramophone 2155B
Air auf der G-Saite [14] 
 
1903
 Dessau, Bernhard [de]
Gramophone 1528x
Air auf der G-Saite [15] 
 
1904-02-01
 Kreisler, Fritz
Gramophone 2087x
  [16] 
 
1905-03-01
 Geyer, Stefi
 Dienzl, Oszkár [scores] [piano]
  [17] 
 
1909-05
 Rosé, Arnold
Gramophone 14680u
Air auf der G-Saite [18] 
 
1911-01-01
 Vecsey, Ferenc
  [5] 
 
1911-05-17
 Elman, Mischa
 Kahn, Percy B. [piano]
Victor C-9871 (3)
Air for G string [19] 
 
1913-10-01
 Kubelík, Jan
Falkenstein, George [piano]
Victor B-13892 (1)
Air for G String [4] 
 
1913-11-09
 Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra (Godfrey, Dan)
Gramophone
  [20] 
 
1918-07
Belov, Joel
Gayler, Robert [piano]
Edison 6289 (A–C)
Air for G string [21] 
 
1919-01-03
Belov, Joel
Gayler, Robert [piano]
Edison 6289 (F–H)
Air for G string [22] 
 
1919-11-11
 Elman, Mischa
Bonime, Joseph [piano]
Victor C-9871 (5)
Air for G string [19] 
 
1921-04-01
 Weißgerber, Andreas
 Raucheisen, Michael [piano]
Odéon xxB6659
  [5] 
 
1923-01-24
 Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (Goossens, Eugene)
HMV Cc2215(-4)
  [23] 
 
 c. 1920–26
 Soldat-Roeger, Marie
Union A3012 (3)
  [24]   [25] 
 
1923-08-10
Strockoff, Leo
Columbia AX126
  [5] 
 
1924-01-01
 Příhoda, Váša
  [5] 
 
1927
 Rosé, Arnold
 Rosé Quartet
HMV Ck2847 (1)
  [26]   [27] 
 
1927-02-14
 Thibaud, Jacques
 Craxton, Harold [piano]
HMV Cc9913
  [5] 
 
1928
 Rosé, Arnold
 Rosé Quartet
HMV Ck2847 (2)
  [28] 
 
1929-11-04
 Hubay, Jenő
 Budapest Conservatory Orchestra (Zsolt, Nándor)
HMV CV713
  [26]   [29] 
 
1930-02-25
 Cassadó, Gaspar [cello]
Columbia WAX5416
  [5] 
 
1930-09-16
 Huberman, Bronisław
 Schultze, Siegfried [fr] [piano]
Columbia WAX5007
  [5] 
 
1931-03-05
 Zimbalist, Efrem
Sanderberg, Theo [piano]
Columbia 98737 (1)
Air on the G string [30] 
 
1932-06-16
 British Symphony Orchestra (Wood, Henry)
Columbia CAX6441(-1)
Air on G String [12]   [13] 
 
1936-05-20
 Benedetti, René [it; de]
 Orch. de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Columbia CLX1919
  [5] 
   
Soldat-Roeger's recorded performance of the "Air on the G String" was the subject of scholarly analysis. [26]   [31] 
Appreciation of Wilhelmj's arrangement[edit]
        This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2020)     
In the early 20th century, Joseph Joachim called Wilhelmj's arrangement "a shameless falsification of a work by Bach". [32]  In Casper Höweler [nl; fr]'s XYZ der Muziek (1936, here quoted from the 1939 edition):
 
 Het Air, alleen voor strijkers en continuo, met zijn volmaakte cantilenen in alle stemmen, van sfeer een onovertroffen ‘Der Welt abhanden gekommen’, heeft de ontstellendste majesteitschennis ondergaan, die de muziek meemaakte: de violist Wilhelmj maakte er een zwoel effect-stukje van, door het als ‘Aria op de g snaar’ te zetten, waarbij zoowel de evenwichtige polyphonie als de teere stemming vandalistisch vernield werden.
 The "Air", exclusively for strings and continuo, with its perfect singing in all voices, breathing an unsurpassed "lost to the world", has suffered the most appalling regicide in music: the violinist Wilhelmj converted it to sultry claptrap by setting it as "Aria on the G String", thus vandalising and annihilating both its equilibrated polyphony and delicate atmosphere.
 
—X-Y-Z der muziek (1939) [2] 
—translation
   
British musicologist Donald Francis Tovey likewise criticized Wihelmj's arrangement, stating that "At my concerts [the Air] will be heard as Bach wrote it, in its original D major as an angelic soprano strain, not in C major as a display of contralto depths." [6] 
In popular music[edit]
 The 1967 song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum used a bar or two of "Air on the G String" as its starting point according to its writer Gary Brooker. [33]  
The Dutch group Ekseption recorded a jazz-fusion version titled "Air" which reached No. 1 on the Dutch chart in 1969. [34]  
The German group Sweetbox recorded a rap song "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" backed with music from "Air on the G String" in 1997, which became a world-wide hit. [35]  
Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton used Air on the G String as the guitar solo for the song “Hearts of Iron,” the tenth track on their 2014 album Heroes.
The South Korean girl group Red Velvet uses its sample for their song "Feel My Rhythm" taken from their 2022 EP  The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm . [36]   
References[edit]
 
^    a       b    French 2014, II, p. 71.
^    a       b    Höweler 1939, pp. 47–48.
  ^  Works by August Wilhelmj: list at the International Music Score Library Project
^    a       b     "Victor matrix B-13892. Air for G string / Jan Kubelík". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains several audio versions of this recording. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^    a       b       c       d       e       f       g       h       i     "Search Results for BACH, J.S. (arr.Wilhelmj)". CHARM. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
^    a       b       c    Wen, Eric (2001). "Stripped of the G String: Bach's Air from the Suite No. 3 in D". Theory and Practice. 26: 87–98. ISSN 0741-6156. JSTOR 41054328.
  ^   "About "Air on the G String by J. S. Bach &amp; arranged by Wilhelmj". Galaxy Music Notes. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  ^   Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians , 5th edition, 1954, Vol. IX, p. 298, "Wilhelmj, August"
  ^  French 2014, I, pp. 49, 162.
  ^  Prom 61 - Last Night of the Proms 1907 at BBC website.
  ^  Prom 19: 20:00 Sat 4 Sep 1909 Queen's Hall at BBC website.
^    a       b    Henry J Wood at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
^    a       b    1CL0047154 at British Library Sounds website (contains audio file).
  ^  Kelly 2009, 320.
  ^  Kelly 2009, 321.
  ^   "Search Results for Kreisler". CHARM. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  ^   "Search Results for Stefi Geyer, violin, Oszkár Dienzl (p)". CHARM. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  ^  Kelly 2009, 323.
^    a       b     "Victor matrix C-9871. Air for G string / Mischa Elman". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains audio of one of Elman's recordings. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  ^   "Search Results for DAN GODFREY'S (BOURNEMOUTH MUNICIPAL) ORCHESTRA". CHARM. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  ^   "Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Contains audio of take A. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  ^   "Edison matrix 6289. Air for G string / Joel Belov ; Robert Gayler". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  ^  Eugene Goossens III at music.damians78s.co.uk website.
  ^  Milsom 2015a, pp. 6–7.
  ^  Milsom 2015b, p. 2.
^    a       b       c    Milsom 2015a, p. 12.
  ^  Milsom 2015b, p. 1.
  ^  Milsom 2015b, p. 3.
  ^   Jenő Hubay – Carl Flesch: The HMV Recordings (Media notes). Biddulph. 1991. LAB 045.
  ^   "Columbia matrix 98737. Air on the G string / Efrem Zimbalist". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  ^  Cho 2017, pp. 32, 36.
  ^  Milsom 2015a, p. 7.
  ^  Maconie, Stuart (2014).  The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records . Ebury Press. p. 82. ISBN  978-0091933807 .
  ^   "Ekseption - Air". Dutch Charts.
  ^  Taylor, Chuck (10 October 1998). "Sweetbox Aims for Top 40 Sweet Spot with the Bach-backed Hit 'Everything'". Billboard. p. 80.
  ^  Chin, Carmen (March 10, 2022). "Red Velvet to sample Bach's 'Air On The G String' on new single 'Feel My Rhythm'". NME. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
 
Sources[edit]
  Cho, Jung Yoon (2017).  Re-interpreting Brahms Violin Sonatas: Understanding the Composer's Expectations  (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds. 
 French, Hannah Chloe (2014).  The Role of Sir Henry J. Wood in the English Bach Awakening: Orchestral Bach at the Proms 1895-1944  (PDF) (PhD). University of Leeds. 
  Höweler, Casper [in French]; et al. (1939). "Bach, Johann Sebastian".  X-Y-Z der muziek  [X-Y-Z of Music] (in Dutch) (3rd ed.). Utrecht: W. de Haan. pp. 5–48. 
 Kelly, Allen (2009) [1994]. Capon, Brian (ed.). "The Gramophone Company – Standard German Catalogue (A–B–C)". operadis-opera-discography.org.uk. 
 Milsom, David (2015a) [2007]. "Marie Soldat-Roeger (1863-1955): Her Significance to the Study of Nineteenth-Century Performing Practices" (PDF). String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance (Report). Arts &amp; Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org). 
 Milsom, David (2015b) [2009]. "Discography" (PDF). String Chamber Music of the Classical German School, 1840-1900: A Scholarly Investigation through Reconstructive Performance (Report). Arts &amp; Humanities Research Council (ahrc.ukri.org).  
External links[edit]
  "Air on the G String" (Wilhelmj arrangement): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Free sheet music of "Air on the G String" from Cantorion.org 
 "Air on the G String" sheet music on MuseScore.com
 Video on YouTube, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber
Air on the G String - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_on_the_G_String
https://open.spotify.com/track/00LNIiVE0Im4PXr3fp6BVD
Partita No. 3 for Violin In E Major BWV 1006 (From Sonatas & Partitas for Violin BWV 1001-1006): Preludio
2013-01-16
None
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Partita No. 3 for Violin In E Major BWV 1006 (From Sonatas & Partitas for Violin BWV 1001-1006): Preludio
https://open.spotify.com/track/00LNIiVE0Im4PXr3fp6BVD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberg_Variations
Goldberg Variations - Wikipedia
2002-07-31
Authority control
<div><div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Goldberg-titlepage.png"></a></p><div><p>Title page of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> (first edition)</p></div></div>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The <i><b>Goldberg Variations</b></i>, <a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">BWV</a> 988, is a musical composition for <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_instrument">keyboard</a> by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a>, consisting of an <a href="/wiki/Aria">aria</a> and a set of 30 <a href="/wiki/Variation_(music)">variations</a>. First published in 1741, it is named after <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Goldberg">Johann Gottlieb Goldberg</a>, who may also have been the first performer of the work.
</p>
<h2>Composition[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The story of how the variations came to be composed comes from an early biography of Bach by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Nikolaus_Forkel">Johann Nikolaus Forkel</a>:<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<blockquote><p>[For this work] we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of <a href="/wiki/Saxony">Saxony</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hermann_Karl_von_Keyserling">Count Kaiserling</a>, who often stopped in <a href="/wiki/Leipzig">Leipzig</a> and brought there with him the aforementioned <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Goldberg">Goldberg</a>, in order to have him given musical instruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At such times, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in an antechamber, so as to play for him during his <a href="/wiki/Insomnia">insomnia</a>. ... Once the Count mentioned in Bach's presence that he would like to have some <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_instrument">clavier</a> pieces for Goldberg, which should be of such a smooth and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights. Bach thought himself best able to fulfill this wish by means of Variations, the writing of which he had until then considered an ungrateful task on account of the repeatedly similar harmonic foundation. But since at this time all his works were already models of art, such also these variations became under his hand. Yet he produced only a single work of this kind. Thereafter the Count always called them <i>his</i> variations. He never tired of them, and for a long time sleepless nights meant: "Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations." Bach was perhaps never so rewarded for one of his works as for this. The Count presented him with a golden goblet filled with 100 <i><a href="/wiki/Louis_d%27or">Louis d'or</a></i>. Nevertheless, even had the gift been a thousand times larger, their artistic value would not yet have been paid for.</p></blockquote>
<p>Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, more than 60 years after the events related, and its accuracy has been questioned. The lack of dedication on the title page also makes the tale of the commission unlikely. Goldberg's age at the time of publication (14 years) has also been cited as grounds for doubting Forkel's tale, although it must be said that he was known to be an accomplished keyboardist and sight-reader. <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2001">Williams (2001)</a> contends that the Forkel story is entirely spurious.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Arnold_Schering">Arnold Schering</a> has suggested that the <a href="/wiki/Aria">aria</a> on which the variations are based was not written by Bach.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup> More recent scholarly literature (such as the edition by <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>) suggests that there is no basis for such doubts.
</p>
<h2>Publication[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Rather unusually for Bach's works,<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> were published in his own lifetime, in 1741. The publisher was Bach's friend Balthasar Schmid of <a href="/wiki/Nuremberg">Nuremberg</a>. Schmid printed the work by making engraved copper plates (rather than using movable type); thus the notes of the first edition are in Schmid's own handwriting. The edition contains various printing errors.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Kirkpatrick_1938-3">[3]</a></sup>
</p><p>The title page, shown in the figure above, reads in German:
</p>
<dl><dd><table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>Clavier Ubung / bestehend / in einer ARIA / mit verschiedenen Verænderungen / vors Clavicimbal / mit 2 Manualen. / Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths- / Ergetzung verfertiget von / Johann Sebastian Bach / Königl. Pohl. u. Churfl. Sæchs. Hoff- / Compositeur, Capellmeister, u. Directore / Chori Musici in Leipzig. / Nürnberg in Verlegung / Balthasar Schmids<sup><a href="#cite_note-Kirkpatrick_1938-3">[3]</a></sup>
</td>
<td>Keyboard exercise, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, <a href="/wiki/Kapellmeister">Kapellmeister</a> and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher.
</td></tr></tbody></table></dd></dl>
<p>The term "<i>Clavier Ubung</i>" (nowadays spelled "<i>Klavierübung</i>") had been assigned by Bach to some of his previous keyboard works. Klavierübung part 1 was the six <a href="/wiki/Partitas,_BWV_825-830">partitas</a>, part 2 the <i><a href="/wiki/Italian_Concerto,_BWV_971">Italian Concerto</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/Overture_in_the_French_style,_BWV_831">French Overture</a></i>, and part 3 a series of <a href="/wiki/Chorale_prelude">chorale preludes</a> for organ framed by a <a href="/wiki/Prelude_and_fugue">prelude and fugue</a> in E♭ major. Although Bach also called his variations "<i>Klavierübung</i>", he did not specifically designate them as the fourth in this series.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>Nineteen copies of the first edition survive today. Of these, the most valuable is the <i>Handexemplar</i> (Bach's personal copy of the published score),<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff1976-5">[5]</a></sup> discovered in 1974 in <a href="/wiki/Strasbourg">Strasbourg</a> by the French musicologist <a href="/wiki/Olivier_Alain">Olivier Alain</a> and now kept in the <a href="/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France">Bibliothèque nationale de France</a>, Paris. This copy includes printing corrections made by the composer and additional music in the form of fourteen canons on the Goldberg <a href="/wiki/Ground_(music)">ground</a> (see <a href="#Canons_on_the_Goldberg_ground,_BWV_1087">below</a>). The nineteen printed copies provide virtually the only information available to modern editors trying to reconstruct Bach's intent, as the autograph (handwritten) score has not survived. A handwritten copy of just the aria is found in the 1725 <a href="/wiki/Notebook_for_Anna_Magdalena_Bach">Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach</a>. Christoph Wolff suggests on the basis of handwriting evidence that <a href="/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Bach">Anna Magdalena</a> copied the aria from the autograph score around 1740; it appears on two pages previously left blank.
</p>
<h2>Instrumentation[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>On the title page, Bach specified that the work was intended for harpsichord. It is widely performed on this instrument today, though there are also a great number of performances on the piano (see Discography below). The piano was rare in Bach's day and there is no indication that Bach would have either approved or disapproved of performing the variations on this instrument.
</p><p>Bach's specification is, more precisely, a two-<a href="/wiki/Manual_(music)">manual</a> <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord">harpsichord</a>, and he indicated in the score which variations ought to be played using one hand on each manual: Variations 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are specified for two manuals, while variations 5, 7 and 29 are specified as playable with either one or two. With greater difficulty, the work can nevertheless be played on a single-manual harpsichord or piano.
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<h2>Form[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>After a statement of the aria at the beginning of the piece, there are thirty variations. The variations do not follow the melody of the aria, but rather use its <a href="/wiki/Bass_line">bass line</a> and <a href="/wiki/Chord_progression">chord progression</a>. The bass line is notated by <a href="/wiki/Ralph_Kirkpatrick">Ralph Kirkpatrick</a> in his performing edition<sup><a href="#cite_note-Kirkpatrick_1938-3">[3]</a></sup> as follows.
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<p>The digits above the notes indicate the specified chord in the system of <a href="/wiki/Figured_bass">figured bass</a>; where digits are separated by comma, they indicate different options taken in different variations.
</p><p>Every third variation in the series of 30 is a <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">canon</a>, following an ascending pattern. Thus, variation 3 is a canon at the unison, variation 6 is a canon at the second (the second entry begins the interval of a <a href="/wiki/Interval_(music)">second</a> above the first), variation 9 is a canon at the third, and so on until variation 27, which is a canon at the ninth. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a <a href="/wiki/Quodlibet">quodlibet</a>, discussed below.
</p><p>As harpsichordist and musicologist <a href="/wiki/Ralph_Kirkpatrick">Ralph Kirkpatrick</a> has pointed out,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Kirkpatrick_1938-3">[3]</a></sup> the variations that intervene between the canons are also arranged in a pattern. If we leave aside the initial and final material of the work (specifically, the Aria, the first two variations, the Quodlibet, and the aria da capo), the remaining material is arranged as follows. The variations found just <i>after</i> each canon are genre pieces of various types, among them three <a href="/wiki/Baroque_dance">Baroque dances</a> (4, 7, 19); a <a href="/wiki/Fughetta">fughetta</a> (10); a <a href="/wiki/French_overture">French overture</a> (16); two ornate arias for the right hand (13, 25); and others (22, 28). The variations located <i>two</i> after each canon (5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, and 29) are what Kirkpatrick calls "arabesques"; they are variations in lively tempo with a great deal of hand-crossing. This ternary pattern—<i>canon</i>, <i>genre piece</i>, <i>arabesque</i>—is repeated a total of nine times, until the Quodlibet breaks the cycle.
</p><p>All the variations are in G major, apart from variations 15, 21, and 25, which are in G minor.
</p><p>At the end of the thirty variations, Bach writes <i>Aria da Capo e fine</i>, meaning that the performer is to return to the beginning ("<i>da capo</i>") and play the aria again before concluding.
</p>
<h3>Aria[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The aria is a <a href="/wiki/Sarabande">sarabande</a> in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> <a href="/wiki/Time_signature">time</a>, and features a heavily <a href="/wiki/Ornament_(music)">ornamented</a> melody:
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-aria.png"></a></p></div>
<p>The French style of ornamentation suggests that the ornaments are supposed to be parts of the melody; however, some performers (for example <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Kempff">Wilhelm Kempff</a> on piano) omit some or all ornaments and present the aria unadorned.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Williams</a> opines that this is not the theme at all, but actually the first variation (a view emphasising the idea of the work as a <a href="/wiki/Chaconne">chaconne</a> rather than a piece in true <a href="/wiki/Variation_form">variation form</a>).
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<h3>Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This sprightly variation contrasts markedly with the slow, contemplative mood of the aria. The rhythm in the right hand forces the emphasis on the second beat, giving rise to <a href="/wiki/Syncopation">syncopation</a> from bars 1 to 7. Hands cross at bar 13 from the upper register to the lower, bringing back this syncopation for another two bars. In the first two bars of the B part, the rhythm mirrors that of the beginning of the A part, but after this a different idea is introduced.
</p><p>Williams sees this as a sort of <a href="/wiki/Polonaise_(dance)">polonaise</a>. The characteristic rhythm in the left hand is also found in Bach's <a href="/wiki/Partita_for_Violin_No._3_(Bach)">Partita No. 3 for solo violin</a>, in the A♭ major prelude from the first book of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i>, and in the D minor prelude of the second book. Heinz Niemüller also mentions the polonaise character of this variation.
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<h3>Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a simple three-part contrapuntal piece in <sup><b>2</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time, two voices engage in constant motivic interplay over an incessant bass line. Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisono. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The first of the regular canons, this is a canon at the unison: the follower begins on the same note as the leader, a bar later. As with all canons of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> (except the 27th variation, canon at the ninth), there is a supporting bass line. The time signature of <sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> and the many sets of <a href="/wiki/Tuplet">triplets</a> suggest a kind of a simple dance.
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<h3>Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>Like the <a href="/wiki/Passepied">passepied</a>, a Baroque dance movement, this variation is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time with a preponderance of quaver rhythms. Bach uses close but not exact <a href="/wiki/Imitation_(music)">imitation</a>: the musical pattern in one part reappears a bar later in another (sometimes <a href="/wiki/Inverted_chord">inverted</a>).
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var4.png"></a></p></div>
<p>Each repeated section has alternate endings for the first or second time.
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<h3>Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is the first of the hand-crossing, two-part variations. It is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. A rapid melodic line written predominantly in sixteenth notes is accompanied by another melody with longer note values, which features very wide leaps:
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var5.png"></a></p><div><p>First four bars of Variation 5.</p></div></div>
<p>The Italian type of hand-crossing such as is frequently found in the sonatas of <a href="/wiki/Domenico_Scarlatti">Scarlatti</a> is employed here, with one hand constantly moving back and forth between high and low <a href="/wiki/Register_(music)">registers</a> while the other hand stays in the middle of the keyboard, playing the fast passages.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The sixth variation is a canon at the second: the follower starts a major second higher than the leader. The piece is based on a descending scale and is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time. The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick describes this piece as having "an almost nostalgic tenderness". Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The variation is in <sup><b>6</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> meter, suggesting several possible Baroque dances. In 1974, when scholars discovered Bach's own copy of the first printing of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i>, they noted that over this variation Bach had added the heading <i>al tempo di <a href="/wiki/Gigue">Giga</a></i>. But the implications of this discovery for modern performance have turned out to be less clear than was at first assumed. In his book <i>The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach</i><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchulenberg2006[httpsarchiveorgdetailskeyboardmusicjsb00schupagen388_380]-6">[6]</a></sup> the scholar and keyboardist David Schulenberg notes that the discovery "surprised twentieth-century commentators who supposed gigues were always fast and fleeting." However, "despite the Italian terminology [<i>giga</i>], this is a [less fleet] French gigue." Indeed, he notes, the dotted rhythmic pattern of this variation (pictured) is very similar to that of the gigue from Bach's second <a href="/wiki/French_Suites">French suite</a> and the gigue of the <i><a href="/wiki/Overture_in_the_French_style,_BWV_831">French Overture</a></i>. This kind of gigue is known as a "Canary", based on the rhythm of a dance which originated from the Canary islands.
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var7.png"></a></p></div><p> He concludes, "It need not go quickly." Moreover, Schulenberg adds that the "numerous short <a href="/wiki/Trill_(music)">trills</a> and <a href="/wiki/Appoggiaturas">appoggiaturas</a>" preclude too fast a tempo.
</p><p>The pianist <a href="/wiki/Angela_Hewitt">Angela Hewitt</a>, in the liner notes to her 1999 Hyperion recording, argues that by adding the <i>al tempo di giga</i> notation, Bach was trying to caution against taking too slow a tempo, and thus turning the dance into a <a href="/wiki/Forlane">forlane</a> or <a href="/wiki/Siciliano">siciliano</a>. She does however argue, like Schulenberg, that it is a French <i>gigue</i>, not an Italian <i>giga</i> and does play it at an unhurried tempo.
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<h3>Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is another two-part hand-crossing variation, in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. The French style of hand-crossing such as is found in the clavier works of <a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Couperin">François Couperin</a> is employed, with both hands playing at the same part of the keyboard, one above the other. This is relatively easy to perform on a two-manual harpsichord, but quite difficult to do on a piano.
</p><p>Most bars feature either a distinctive pattern of eleven <a href="/wiki/Sixteenth_note">sixteenth notes</a> and a sixteenth rest, or ten sixteenth notes and a single <a href="/wiki/Eighth_note">eighth note</a>. Large leaps in the melody occur. Both sections end with descending passages in <a href="/wiki/Thirty-second_note">thirty-second notes</a>.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a canon at the third, in <sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. The supporting bass line is slightly more active than in the previous canons.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=15">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Variation 10 is a four-voice fughetta, with a four-bar subject heavily decorated with <a href="/wiki/Ornament_(music)">ornaments</a> and somewhat reminiscent of the opening aria's melody.
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var10.png"></a></p><div><p>The first section of Variation 10.</p></div></div>
<p>The exposition takes up the whole first section of this variation (pictured). First the subject is stated in the bass, starting on the G below middle C. The answer (in the tenor) enters in bar 5, but it's a tonal answer, so some of the intervals are altered. The soprano voice enters in bar 9, but only keeps the first two bars of the subject intact, changing the rest. The final entry occurs in the alto in bar 13. There is no regular counter-subject in this fugue.
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The second section develops using the same thematic material with slight changes. It resembles a counter-exposition: the voices enter one by one, all begin by stating the subject (sometimes a bit altered, like in the first section). The section begins with the subject heard once again, in the soprano voice, accompanied by an active bass line, making the bass part the only exception since it doesn't pronounce the subject until bar 25.
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<h3>Variatio 11. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=16">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a virtuosic two-part <a href="/wiki/Toccata">toccata</a> in <sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>16</b></sub> time. Specified for two manuals, it is largely made up of various <a href="/wiki/Scale_(music)">scale</a> passages, <a href="/wiki/Arpeggio">arpeggios</a> and trills, and features much hand-crossing of different kinds.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=17">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a canon at the fourth in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time, of the inverted variety: the follower enters in the second bar in <a href="/wiki/Contrary_motion">contrary motion</a> to the leader.
</p><p>In the first section, the left hand accompanies with a bass line written out in repeated quarter notes, in bars 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This repeated note motif also appears in the first bar of the second section (bar 17, two Ds and a C), and, slightly altered, in bars 22 and 23. In the second section, Bach changes the mood slightly by introducing a few <a href="/wiki/Appoggiatura">appoggiaturas</a> (bars 19 and 20) and trills (bars 29–30).
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<h3>Variatio 13. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=18">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation is a slow, gentle and richly decorated sarabande in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. Most of the melody is written out using thirty-second notes, and ornamented with a few appoggiaturas (more frequent in the second section) and a few <a href="/wiki/Mordent">mordents</a>. Throughout the piece, the melody is in one voice, and in bars 16 and 24 an interesting effect is produced by the use of an additional voice. Here are bars 15 and 16, the ending of the first section (bar 24 exhibits a similar pattern):
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach.goldberg.var13.svg"></a></p></div>
<h3>Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=19">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a rapid two-part hand-crossing toccata in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time, with many trills and other ornamentation. It is specified for two manuals and features large jumps between registers. Both features (ornaments and leaps in the melody) are apparent from the first bar: the piece begins with a transition from the G two octaves below middle C, with a lower mordent, to the G two octaves above it with a trill with initial turn.
</p><p>Bach uses a loose inversion motif between the first half and the second half of this variation, "recycling" rhythmic and melodic material, passing material that was in the right hand to the left hand, and loosely (selectively) inverting it.
</p><p>Contrasting it with Variation 15, <a href="/wiki/Glenn_Gould">Glenn Gould</a> described this variation as "certainly one of the giddiest bits of neo-Scarlatti-ism imaginable."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Gould_Page-7">[7]</a></sup>
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<h3>Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.: Andante[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=20">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a canon at the fifth in <sup><b>2</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. Like Variation 12, it is in contrary motion with the leader appearing inverted in the second bar. This is the first of the three variations in G minor, and its melancholic mood contrasts sharply with the playfulness of the previous variation. Pianist Angela Hewitt notes that there is "a wonderful effect at the very end [of this variation]: the hands move away from each other, with the right suspended in mid-air on an open fifth. This gradual fade, leaving us in awe but ready for more, is a fitting end to the first half of the piece."
</p><p>Glenn Gould said of this variation, "It's the most severe and rigorous and beautiful canon ... the most severe and beautiful that I know, the canon in inversion at the fifth. It's a piece so moving, so anguished—and so uplifting at the same time—that it would not be in any way out of place in the St. Matthew's Passion; matter of fact, I've always thought of Variation 15 as the perfect Good Friday spell."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Gould_Page-7">[7]</a></sup>
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<h3>Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=21">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The entire set of variations can be seen as being divided into two halves, clearly marked by this grand French overture, commencing with particularly emphatic opening and closing <a href="/wiki/Chord_(music)">chords</a>. It consists of a slow prelude with dotted <a href="/wiki/Rhythm">rhythms</a> with a following fugue-like <a href="/wiki/Counterpoint">contrapuntal</a> section. Here Bach follows his custom of beginning the second half of a major collection with a movement in French style, as with the earlier <i><a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_(Bach)">Clavier-Übung</a></i> volumes, in both parts of the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, in the <i><a href="/wiki/Musical_Offering">Musical Offering</a></i> (#4 of the numbered canons) and in the early version of the <i><a href="/wiki/Art_of_Fugue">Art of Fugue</a></i> (#7 of P 200).
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<h3>Variatio 17. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=22">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation is another two-part virtuosic toccata. <a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Peter Williams</a> sees echoes of <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi">Antonio Vivaldi</a> and <a href="/wiki/Domenico_Scarlatti">Domenico Scarlatti</a> here. Specified for two manuals, the piece features hand-crossing. It is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time and usually played at a moderately fast tempo. <a href="/wiki/Rosalyn_Tureck">Rosalyn Tureck</a> is one of the very few performers who recorded slow interpretations of the piece. In making his 1981 re-recording of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i>, Glenn Gould considered playing this variation at a slower tempo, in keeping with the tempo of the preceding variation (Variation 16), but ultimately decided not to because "Variation 17 is one of those rather skittish, slightly empty-headed collections of scales and arpeggios which Bach indulged when he wasn't writing sober and proper things like fugues and canons, and it just seemed to me that there wasn't enough substance to it to warrant such a methodical, deliberate, Germanic tempo."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Gould_Page-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=23">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a canon at the sixth in <sup><b>2</b></sup><br /><sub><b>2</b></sub> time. The canonic interplay in the upper voices features many <a href="/wiki/Suspension_(music)">suspensions</a>. Commenting on the structure of the canons of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i>, Glenn Gould cited this variation as the extreme example of "deliberate duality of motivic emphasis ... the canonic voices are called upon to sustain the <a href="/wiki/Passacaglia">passacaille</a> role which is capriciously abandoned by the bass." <a href="/wiki/Nicholas_Kenyon">Nicholas Kenyon</a> calls Variation 18 "an imperious, totally confident movement which must be among the most supremely logical pieces of music ever written, with the strict imitation to the half-bar providing ideal impetus and a sense of climax."<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup>
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<h3>Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=24">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This is a dance-like three-part variation in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time. The same sixteenth note figuration is continuously employed and variously exchanged between each of the three voices. This variation incorporates the rhythmic model of variation 13 (complementary exchange of quarter and sixteenth notes) with variations 1 and 2 (syncopations).<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup>
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<h3>Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=25">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div><p>
This variation is a virtuosic two-part toccata in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. Specified for two manuals, it involves rapid hand-crossing. The piece consists mostly of variations on the texture introduced during its first eight bars, where one hand plays a string of eighth notes and the other accompanies by plucking sixteenth notes after each eighth note. To demonstrate this, here are the first two bars of the first section:</p><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach.goldberg.var20.svg"></a></p></div>
<h3>Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=26">edit</a>]</h3>
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<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>The second of the three minor key variations, variation 21 has a tone that is somber or even tragic, which contrasts starkly with variation 20.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Lederer-10">[10]</a></sup> The bass line here is one of the most eloquent found in the variations, to which Bach adds <a href="/wiki/Chromatic_interval">chromatic intervals</a> that provide tonal shadings.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Lederer-10">[10]</a></sup> This variation is a canon at the seventh in <sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time; <a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Gilbert">Kenneth Gilbert</a> sees it as an <a href="/wiki/Allemande">allemande</a> despite the lack of <a href="/wiki/Anacrusis">anacrusis</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-gilbert-11">[11]</a></sup> The bass line begins the piece with a low note, proceeds to a slow <a href="/wiki/Lament_bass">lament bass</a> and only picks up the pace of the canonic voices in bar 3:
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var21.png"></a></p><div><p>The first three bars of Variation 21</p></div></div>
<p>A similar pattern, only a bit more lively, occurs in the bass line in the beginning of the second section, which begins with the opening motif inverted.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=27">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation features four-part writing with many imitative passages and its development in all voices but the bass is much like that of a fugue. The only specified ornament is a trill which is performed on a <a href="/wiki/Whole_note">whole note</a> and which lasts for two bars (11 and 12).
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Ground_bass">ground bass</a> on which the entire set of variations is built is heard perhaps most explicitly in this variation (as well as in the Quodlibet) due to the simplicity of the bass voice.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 23. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=28">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>Another lively two-part virtuosic variation for two manuals, in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. It begins with the hands chasing one another, as it were: the melodic line, initiated in the left hand with a sharp striking of the G above middle C, and then sliding down from the B one octave above to the F, is offset by the right hand, imitating the left at the same pitch, but a quaver late, for the first three bars, ending with a small flourish in the fourth:
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var23.png"></a></p><div><p>The first four bars of Variation 23</p></div></div>
<p>This pattern is repeated during bars 5–8, only with the left hand imitating the right one, and the scales are ascending, not descending. We then alternate between hands in short bursts written out in short note values until the last three bars of the first section. The second section starts with this similar alternation in short bursts again, then leads to a dramatic section of alternating thirds between hands. <a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Williams</a>, marvelling at the emotional range of the work, asks: "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?"<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Inline_citation#When_you_must_use_inline_citations">This quote needs a citation</a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h3>Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=29">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation is a canon at the octave, in <sup><b>9</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time. The leader is answered both an octave below and an octave above; it is the only canon of the variations in which the leader alternates between voices in the middle of a section.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h3>Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.: Adagio[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=30">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>Variation 25 is the third and last variation in G minor; it is marked <a href="/wiki/Andantino_(music)">adagio</a> in Bach's own copy<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> and is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. The melody is written out predominantly in sixteenth and thirty-second notes, with many <a href="/wiki/Chromaticism">chromaticisms</a>. This variation generally lasts longer than any other piece of the set.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Wanda_Landowska">Wanda Landowska</a> famously described this variation as "the black pearl" of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Williams writes that "the beauty and dark passion of this variation make it unquestionably the emotional high point of the work",<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWilliams2001[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidMKguGysZmA8CpgPA82_82]-14">[14]</a></sup> and Glenn Gould said that "the appearance of this wistful, weary <a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_music_terminology#C">cantilena</a> is a master-stroke of psychology."<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> In an interview with Gould, <a href="/wiki/Tim_Page_(music_critic)">Tim Page</a> described this variation as having an "extraordinary chromatic texture"; Gould agreed: "I don't think there's been a richer lode of <a href="/wiki/Enharmonic">enharmonic</a> relationships any place between <a href="/wiki/Carlo_Gesualdo">Gesualdo</a> and <a href="/wiki/Richard_Wagner">Wagner</a>."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Gould_Page-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Variatio 26. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=31">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>In sharp contrast with the introspective and passionate nature of the previous variation, this piece is another virtuosic two-part toccata, joyous and fast-paced. Underneath the rapid arabesques, this variation is basically a sarabande.<sup><a href="#cite_note-gilbert-11">[11]</a></sup> Two time signatures are used, <sup><b>18</b></sup><br /><sub><b>16</b></sub> for the incessant melody written in sixteenth notes and <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> for the accompaniment in quarter and eighth notes; during the last five bars, both hands play in <sup><b>18</b></sup><br /><sub><b>16</b></sub>.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=32">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>Variation 27 is the last canon of the piece, at the ninth and in <sup><b>6</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time. This is the only canon where two manuals are specified not due to hand-crossing difficulties, and the only pure canon of the work, because it does not have a bass line.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 28. a 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=33">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation is a two-part toccata in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time that employs a great deal of hand crossing. Trills are written out using thirty-second notes and are present in most of the bars. The piece begins with a pattern in which each hand successively picks out a melodic line while also playing trills. Following this is a section with both hands playing in contrary motion in a melodic contour marked by sixteenth notes (bars 9–12). The end of the first section features trills again, in both hands now and mirroring one another:
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-goldberg-var28.png"></a></p><div><p>The last four bars of the first section of Variation 28</p></div></div>
<p>The second section starts and closes with the contrary motion idea seen in bars 9–12. Most of the closing bars feature trills in one or both hands.
</p>
<h3>Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=34">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>This variation consists mostly of heavy chords alternating with sections of brilliant arpeggios shared between the hands. It is in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. A rather grand variation, it adds an air of resolution after the lofty brilliance of the previous variation. Glenn Gould states that variations 28 and 29 present the only case of "motivic collaboration or extension between successive variations."
</p>
<h3>Variatio 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=35">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Quodlibet.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The Quodlibet as it appears in the first edition</p></div></div>
<p>This quodlibet is based on multiple German folk songs,<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> two of which are <i>Ich bin solang nicht bei dir g'west, ruck her, ruck her</i> ("I have so long been away from you, come closer, come closer") and <i>Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben, hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, wär ich länger blieben</i> ("Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, had my mother cooked meat, I'd have opted to stay"). The others remain unknown.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> The <i>Kraut und Rüben</i> theme, under the title of <i>La Capricciosa</i>, had previously been used by <a href="/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude">Dieterich Buxtehude</a> for his thirty-two partite in G major, BuxWV 250.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchulenberg2006[httpsarchiveorgdetailskeyboardmusicjsb00schupagen395_387]-18">[18]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians):
</p>
<blockquote><p>As soon as they were assembled a <a href="/wiki/Chorale">chorale</a> was first struck up. From this devout beginning they proceeded to jokes which were frequently in strong contrast. That is, they then sang popular songs partly of comic and also partly of indecent content, all mixed together on the spur of the moment. ... This kind of improvised harmonizing they called a Quodlibet, and not only could laugh over it quite whole-heartedly themselves, but also aroused just as hearty and irresistible laughter in all who heard them.</p></blockquote>
<p>Forkel's anecdote (which is likely to be true, given that he was able to interview Bach's sons), suggests fairly clearly that Bach meant the Quodlibet to be a joke.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h3>Aria da Capo[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=36">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano</p></div></div>
<p>A note-for-note repeat of the aria at the beginning. Williams writes that the work's "elusive beauty ... is reinforced by this return to the Aria. ... no such return can have a neutral <i><a href="/wiki/Affekt">Affekt</a></i>. Its melody is made to stand out by what has gone on in the last five variations, and it is likely to appear wistful or nostalgic or subdued or resigned or sad, heard on its repeat as something coming to an end, the same notes but now final."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWilliams200192-19">[19]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=37">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg"></a></p><div><p><a href="/wiki/Elias_Gottlob_Haussmann">Haussmann</a>'s portrait of Bach depicts him holding the manuscript to BWV 1076, which is also the thirteenth canon in the Goldberg Canon cycle.</p></div></div>
<p>When Bach's personal copy of the printed edition of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> (see above) was discovered in 1974, it was found to include an appendix in the form of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria. It is speculated that the number 14 refers to the ordinal values of the letters in the composer's name: B(2) + A(1) + C(3) + H(8) = 14.<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> Among those canons, the eleventh and the thirteenth are first versions of BWV 1077 and BWV 1076; the latter is included in the famous portrait of Bach painted by <a href="/wiki/Elias_Gottlob_Haussmann">Elias Gottlob Haussmann</a> in 1746.<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Transcribed and popularized versions[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=38">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The <i>Goldberg Variations</i> has been reworked freely by many performers, changing either the instrumentation, the notes, or both. The Italian composer <a href="/wiki/Ferruccio_Busoni">Busoni</a> prepared a greatly altered transcription for piano. According to the art critic <a href="/wiki/Michael_Kimmelman">Michael Kimmelman</a>, "Busoni shuffled the variations, skipping some, then added his own rather voluptuous coda to create a three-movement structure; each movement has a distinct, arcing shape, and the whole becomes a more tightly organized drama than the original."<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> Other arrangements include:
</p>
<ul><li>1883: <a href="/wiki/Josef_Rheinberger">Josef Rheinberger</a>, transcription (tr.) for two pianos, Op. 3 (rev. <a href="/wiki/Max_Reger">Max Reger</a>)</li>
<li>1912: Karl Eichler, tr. for piano four hands</li>
<li>1938: <a href="/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Koffler">Józef Koffler</a>, tr. for <a href="/wiki/Orchestra">orchestra</a> / <a href="/wiki/String_orchestra">string orchestra</a></li>
<li>1975: <a href="/wiki/Charles_Ramirez">Charles Ramirez</a> and Helen Kalamuniak, tr. for two guitars</li>
<li>1982: Lynn Harting-Ware, aria and variations 1, 2, 4, 13, 19, 9, 7, 15, 27, and 30 for guitar (in the order she plays them on her <i>Forest Scenes</i> album).<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup></li>
<li>1984: <a href="/wiki/Dmitry_Sitkovetsky">Dmitry Sitkovetsky</a>, tr. for <a href="/wiki/String_trio">string trio</a> (rev. in 2009; he also made an arrangement for string orchestra in 1992)</li>
<li>1987: <a href="/wiki/Jean_Guillou">Jean Guillou</a>, tr. for <a href="/wiki/Organ_(music)">organ</a></li>
<li>1988: <a href="/wiki/Joel_Spiegelman">Joel Spiegelman</a>, tr. for <a href="/wiki/Kurzweil_K250">Kurzweil 250 Digital Synthesizer</a></li>
<li>1996: Kurt Rodarmer, tr. for guitar</li>
<li>1997: <a href="/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_(musician)">József Eötvös</a>, tr. for <a href="/wiki/Guitar">guitar</a></li>
<li>1999 (at the latest): <a href="/wiki/Bernard_Labadie">Bernard Labadie</a> tr. for <a href="/wiki/String_orchestra">string orchestra</a> and <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">continuo</a></li>
<li>2000: <a href="/wiki/Jacques_Loussier">Jacques Loussier</a>, arrangement (arr.) for jazz trio</li>
<li>2000: <a href="/wiki/The_Goldberg_Variations_(Uri_Caine_album)">Uri Caine</a>, arr. for various ensembles</li>
<li>2003: <a href="/wiki/Karlheinz_Essl">Karlheinz Essl</a>, <i>Gold.Berg.Werk</i>, arr. for string trio and live electronics<sup><a href="#cite_note-Essl-24">[24]</a></sup></li>
<li>2009: <a href="/wiki/Catrin_Finch">Catrin Finch</a>, complete tr. for harp</li>
<li>2011: <a href="/wiki/James_Strauss_(flautist)">James Strauss</a>, complete tr. for <a href="/wiki/Western_concert_flute">flute</a> and harpsichord/flute and piano</li>
<li>2011: <a href="/wiki/Dan_Tepfer">Dan Tepfer</a>, <i>Goldberg Variations/Variations</i>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> each original variation followed by a jazz improvisation based on that variation</li>
<li>2012: Karlheinz Essl, <i>Gold.Berg.Werk</i> arr. for piano, transducer and live-electronics<sup><a href="#cite_note-Essl-24">[24]</a></sup></li>
<li>2016: <a href="/wiki/Mika_Pohjola">Mika Pohjola</a>, arr. for piano, harpsichord and string quartet</li>
<li>2017: <a href="/wiki/Rinaldo_Alessandrini">Rinaldo Alessandrini</a> and <a href="/wiki/Concerto_Italiano">Concerto Italiano</a>, <i>Variations on Variations</i>, arr. for ensemble<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup></li>
<li>2018: <a href="/wiki/Caio_Fac%C3%B3">Caio Facó</a>, orchestration for chamber orchestra</li>
<li>2018: Marcela Mendez and Maria Luisa Rayan, tr. for two harps</li>
<li>2020: Parker Ramsay, Bach: Goldberg Variations (arranged for harp)</li></ul>
<h2>Editions of the score[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=39">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ralph_Kirkpatrick">Ralph Kirkpatrick</a>. New York/London: G. Schirmer, 1938. Contains an extensive preface by the editor and a facsimile of the original title page.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Hans_Bischoff_(pianist)">Hans Bischoff</a>. New York: Edwin F. Kalmus, 1947 (editorial work dates from the nineteenth century). Includes interpretive markings by the editor not indicated as such.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1996. An urtext edition, making use of the new findings (1975) resulting from the discovery of an original copy hand-corrected by the composer. Includes suggested fingerings and notes on interpretation by the harpsichordist <a href="/wiki/Huguette_Dreyfus">Huguette Dreyfus</a>.</li>
<li>Reinhard Böß. München: edition <a href="/wiki/Text%2BKritik">Text+Kritik</a>, 1996. Verschiedene Canones ... von J. S. Bach (BWV 1087). <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-88377-523-1">3-88377-523-1</a> Edition of the canons in BWV 1087 only. The editor suggests a complete complement of all fourteen canons.</li>
<li>Werner Schweer, 2012. The Goldberg Variations, <a href="/wiki/MuseScore">MuseScore</a> Edition created for the <a href="http://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/">Open Goldberg Variations Project</a> and released as public domain. Available online at <a href="http://musescore.com/opengoldberg/goldberg-variations">MuseScore.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bachdocumenten.web.app/Goldberg_Variations_edited_by_Derk_van_der_Veen_150dpi.pdf">Free edition of the Goldberg Variations with a discussion of all the ins and outs</a></li></ul>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=40">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Goldberg_Variations_discography"><i>Goldberg Variations</i> discography</a></li>
<li><i><a href="/wiki/Goldberg_Variations_(play)">Goldberg Variations</a></i>, a satirical play by <a href="/wiki/George_Tabori">George Tabori</a></li></ul>
<h2>Notes[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=41">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> Translation from <a href="#CITEREFKirkpatrick1938">Kirkpatrick 1938</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> See <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach_printed_during_his_lifetime">List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime</a>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Kirkpatrick_1938_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kirkpatrick_1938_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kirkpatrick_1938_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kirkpatrick_1938_3-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFKirkpatrick1938">Kirkpatrick 1938</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> For discussion see <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2001">Williams (2001</a>, 8), who notes that the <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Bach-Ausgabe">Neue Bach-Ausgabe</a></i> and the <i><a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis</a></i> do refer to the variations as "<i>Klavierübung IV</i>".
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff1976_5-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1976">Wolff 1976</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchulenberg2006[httpsarchiveorgdetailskeyboardmusicjsb00schupagen388_380]_6-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchulenberg2006">Schulenberg 2006</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/keyboardmusicjsb00schu/page/n388">380</a>.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gould_Page_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gould_Page_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gould_Page_7-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gould_Page_7-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFGouldPage2002">Gould &amp; Page 2002</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Nicholas_Kenyon">Kenyon, Nicholas</a>. <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=x1fm8XWwvJkC&amp;pg=PA421">The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach</a></i>, p. 421 (Faber &amp; Faber, 2011).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> Melamed, Daniel. <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ixadkfy40bwC&amp;pg=PA67">Bach Studies 2</a></i>, p. 67 (Cambridge University Press 2006).
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Lederer_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Lederer_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> Lederer, Victor. <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cWZGBqb5iMMC&amp;pg=PA121">Bach's Keyboard Music</a></i>, p. 121 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2010).
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-gilbert_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-gilbert_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> Notes to Kenneth Gilbert's recording of the variations.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite>Tomita, Yo. <a href="http://www.qub.ac.uk/~tomita/essay/cu4.html#PC">"The "Goldberg" Variations, Essay by Yo Tomita (1997)"</a>. Qub.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-11.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite>Kanwischer, Alfred (15 May 2014). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aWqYAwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA41"><i>From Bach's Goldberg to Beethoven's Diabelli: Influence and Independence</i></a>. Rowman &amp; Littlefield. p. 41. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-3064-4"><bdi>978-1-4422-3064-4</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliams2001[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidMKguGysZmA8CpgPA82_82]_14-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2001">Williams 2001</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MKguGysZmA8C&amp;pg=PA82">82</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Glenn_Gould">Gould, Glenn</a> (1956). <a href="/wiki/Bach:_The_Goldberg_Variations_(Glenn_Gould_album)"><i>Bach: The Goldberg Variations</i></a> (liner notes). <a href="/wiki/Columbia_Records">Columbia Records</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/BWV988-Quodlibet%5BBraatz%5D.htm">"The Quodlibet as Represented in Bach's Final Goldberg Variation BWV 988/30. By Thomas Braatz (January 2005)"</a>. Bach-cantatas.com. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2012-08-11.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/audioarchive.shtml">BBC Radio 3 – Discovering Music</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchulenberg2006[httpsarchiveorgdetailskeyboardmusicjsb00schupagen395_387]_18-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchulenberg2006">Schulenberg 2006</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/keyboardmusicjsb00schu/page/n395">387</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliams200192_19-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2001">Williams 2001</a>, p. 92.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> See chapter 7 of <a href="/wiki/Richard_Taruskin">Richard Taruskin</a> (2009) <i>Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: The Oxford History of Western Music</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Or9RybF5lOwC&amp;pg=PT450&amp;dq=bach+canons+goldberg+14&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwio8ePQt9DMAhUBW2MKHV_nC_MQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=bach%20canons%20goldberg%2014&amp;f=false">Extract</a> viewable at Google Books.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/fourteencanonsgg.html">"Fourteen Canons on the First Eight Notes of the Goldberg Ground (BWV 1087)"</a>. Jan.ucc.nau.edu. Retrieved 2012-08-11.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Michael_Kimmelman">Kimmelman, Michael</a> (January 4, 1998). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/04/arts/recordings-view-exploring-busoni-as-anchored-by-bach-or-slightly-at-sea.html">"Exploring Busoni, As Anchored by Bach Or Slightly at Sea"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times">The New York Times</a></i>. Retrieved 2012-08-11.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite>Harting-Ware, Lynn (1996), <i></i>Forest Scenes<i></i>, Acoma, <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/70600140">70600140</a></cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Essl_24-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Essl_24-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="https://www.essl.at/works/goldbergwerk.html">"<i>Gold.Berg.Werk</i>"</a>, essl.at
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite>Margasak, Peter (29 November 2011). <a href="http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/11/29/dan-tepfers-goldberg-variations">"Dan Tepfer's "Goldberg Variations""</a>. <i>Chicago Reader</i>. Retrieved 24 June 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite>Freeman-Attwood, Jonathan. <a href="https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/js-bach-variations-on-variations">"JS BACH: Variations on Variations"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Gramophone_(magazine)">Gramophone</a></i>. Retrieved 2018-04-20.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>Sources</b>
</p>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Glenn_Gould">Gould, Glenn</a> and <a href="/wiki/Tim_Page_(music_critic)">Page, Tim</a> (2002). <i>A State of Wonder</i>, disc 3. Sony.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Ralph_Kirkpatrick">Kirkpatrick, Ralph</a> (1938). <i>Edition of the Goldberg Variations</i>. New York/London: G. Schirmer.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Schulenberg, David (2006). <i>The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach</i>. New York and Oxford: Routledge. pp. 369–388. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-97400-3"><bdi>0-415-97400-3</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Williams, Peter</a> (2001). <i>Bach: The Goldberg Variations</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-00193-5"><bdi>0-521-00193-5</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (Summer 1976). "Bach's <i>Handexemplar</i> of the Goldberg Variations: A New Source". <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_the_American_Musicological_Society">Journal of the American Musicological Society</a></i>. <b>29</b> (2): 224–241. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F831018">10.2307/831018</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/831018">831018</a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>Further reading[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=42">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Nikolaus_Forkel">Forkel, Johann Nikolaus</a> (1802). <i>Über Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst, und Kunstwerke</i> ("On Johann Sebastian Bach's Life, Art and Work"). A recent reprint is by Henschel Verlag, Berlin, 2000; <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-89487-352-3">3-89487-352-3</a>. An English translation was published by Da Capo Press in 1970.</li>
<li>Niemüller, Heinz Hermann (1985). "Polonaise und Quodlibet: Der innere Kosmos der Goldberg-Variationen" in <i>Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variationen,</i> Musik-Konzepte 42 (Kassel: Bärenreiter), pp. 3–28, esp. 22–26.</li>
<li>Schiassi, Germana (2007). <i>Johann Sebastian Bach. Le Variazioni Goldberg</i>. Bologna: Albisani Editore. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-95803-00-5">978-88-95803-00-5</a>.</li>
<li>Velikovskiy, Alexander (2021). Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach. Saint Petersburg: Planeta Musiki <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-5-8114-6876-8">978-5-8114-6876-8</a>. [in Russian]</li>
<li>Kennicott, Philip, Counterpoint: a Memoir of Bach and Mourning, WW Norton &amp; Company, New York, 2020, ISBN 978-0-393-86838-8</li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=43">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/148455347/goldberg-week">Goldberg Week at NPR's Deceptive Cadence</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sToqbqP0tFk">Video showing how the fifth canon of BWV 1087 can be written on a clear Mobius strip</a></li></ul>
<h3>Online scores[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=44">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Goldberg_Variations,_BWV_988_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian)"><i>Goldberg Variations</i></a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?searchingfor=goldberg"><i>Goldberg Variations</i></a> on <a href="/wiki/Mutopia">Mutopia</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtj_HurkS7ZwCF9m0EexWYOkwMtjlEuOT">Animated graphical scores of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i></a>, with harpsichord performances by Colin Booth</li></ul>
<h3>Essays[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=45">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="https://theclassicreview.com/best-of/bach-goldberg-variations-the-best-recordings/">"Goldberg Variations – The Best Recordings"</a> – theclassicreview.com</li>
<li><a href="https://slate.com/culture/2007/08/simone-dinnerstein-plays-the-goldberg-variations.html">The <i>Goldberg Variations</i> made new</a> – Review of Glenn Gould's and Simone Dinnerstein's renditions</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19971025113211/http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/~tomita/essay/cu4.html">An essay on the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> by Yo Tomita</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070108114318/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/%7Etas3/goldbergcanons.html">Canons of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i></a> – graphical analysis enables you to see the leader and follower in the canons</li>
<li><a href="https://www.themathesontrust.org/library/bach-architect-and-servant">J.S. Bach, the architect and servant of the spiritual – a closer look at the <i>Goldberg Variations</i></a></li></ul>
<h3>Recordings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Goldberg_Variations&amp;action=edit&amp;section=46">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.opengoldbergvariations.org/">Public-domain piano recording</a> by <a href="/wiki/Kimiko_Ishizaka">Kimiko Ishizaka</a> (Open Goldberg Variations project), with linked newly edited score.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.bach-cantatas.com/NVD/BWV988.htm">Bach-cantatas.com: The <i>Goldberg Variations</i></a> – Comprehensive discography</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080505133239/http://www.jsbach.org/988.html">jsbach.org: BWV 988</a> – Reviews of many recordings</li></ul>
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 Contents

 move to sidebar hide
 * (Top)
 * 1 Composition
 * 2 Publication
 * 3 Instrumentation
 * 4 Form
 + 4.1 Aria
 + 4.2 Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.3 Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.4 Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisono. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.5 Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.6 Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.
 + 4.7 Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.8 Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga
 + 4.9 Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.10 Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.11 Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.12 Variatio 11. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.13 Variatio 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario
 + 4.14 Variatio 13. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.15 Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.16 Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.: Andante
 + 4.17 Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.18 Variatio 17. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.19 Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.20 Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.21 Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.22 Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima
 + 4.23 Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve
 + 4.24 Variatio 23. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.25 Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav.
 + 4.26 Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.: Adagio
 + 4.27 Variatio 26. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.28 Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.29 Variatio 28. a 2 Clav.
 + 4.30 Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.
 + 4.31 Variatio 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet
 + 4.32 Aria da Capo
 * 5 Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087
 * 6 Transcribed and popularized versions
 * 7 Editions of the score
 * 8 See also
 * 9 Notes
 * 10 Further reading
 * 11 External links
 + 11.1 Online scores
 + 11.2 Essays
 + 11.3 Recordings
 Toggle the table of contents

 Goldberg Variations

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 For other uses, see Goldberg Variations (disambiguation).
 Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition)
 Aria to Variation 9
 Variations 10 to 22
 Variations 23 to Aria Da Capo
 All of the above performed by David Ezra Okonşar
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also have been the first performer of the work.

 Composition [ edit ]

 The story of how the variations came to be composed comes from an early biography of Bach by Johann Nikolaus Forkel:[1]

 [For this work] we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony, Count Kaiserling, who often stopped in Leipzig and brought there with him the aforementioned Goldberg, in order to have him given musical instruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At such times, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in an antechamber, so as to play for him during his insomnia. ... Once the Count mentioned in Bach's presence that he would like to have some clavier pieces for Goldberg, which should be of such a smooth and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights. Bach thought himself best able to fulfill this wish by means of Variations, the writing of which he had until then considered an ungrateful task on account of the repeatedly similar harmonic foundation. But since at this time all his works were already models of art, such also these variations became under his hand. Yet he produced only a single work of this kind. Thereafter the Count always called them his variations. He never tired of them, and for a long time sleepless nights meant: "Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations." Bach was perhaps never so rewarded for one of his works as for this. The Count presented him with a golden goblet filled with 100 Louis d'or. Nevertheless, even had the gift been a thousand times larger, their artistic value would not yet have been paid for.

 Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, more than 60 years after the events related, and its accuracy has been questioned. The lack of dedication on the title page also makes the tale of the commission unlikely. Goldberg's age at the time of publication (14 years) has also been cited as grounds for doubting Forkel's tale, although it must be said that he was known to be an accomplished keyboardist and sight-reader. Williams (2001) contends that the Forkel story is entirely spurious.

 Arnold Schering has suggested that the aria on which the variations are based was not written by Bach.[ citation needed ] More recent scholarly literature (such as the edition by Christoph Wolff) suggests that there is no basis for such doubts.

 Publication [ edit ]

 Rather unusually for Bach's works,[2] the Goldberg Variations were published in his own lifetime, in 1741. The publisher was Bach's friend Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg. Schmid printed the work by making engraved copper plates (rather than using movable type); thus the notes of the first edition are in Schmid's own handwriting. The edition contains various printing errors.[3]

 The title page, shown in the figure above, reads in German:

 Clavier Ubung / bestehend / in einer ARIA / mit verschiedenen Verænderungen / vors Clavicimbal / mit 2 Manualen. / Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths- / Ergetzung verfertiget von / Johann Sebastian Bach / Königl. Pohl. u. Churfl. Sæchs. Hoff- / Compositeur, Capellmeister, u. Directore / Chori Musici in Leipzig. / Nürnberg in Verlegung / Balthasar Schmids[3] Keyboard exercise, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher.
 

 The term "Clavier Ubung" (nowadays spelled "Klavierübung") had been assigned by Bach to some of his previous keyboard works. Klavierübung part 1 was the six partitas, part 2 the Italian Concerto and French Overture, and part 3 a series of chorale preludes for organ framed by a prelude and fugue in E ♭ major. Although Bach also called his variations "Klavierübung", he did not specifically designate them as the fourth in this series.[4]

 Nineteen copies of the first edition survive today. Of these, the most valuable is the Handexemplar (Bach's personal copy of the published score),[5] discovered in 1974 in Strasbourg by the French musicologist Olivier Alain and now kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. This copy includes printing corrections made by the composer and additional music in the form of fourteen canons on the Goldberg ground (see below). The nineteen printed copies provide virtually the only information available to modern editors trying to reconstruct Bach's intent, as the autograph (handwritten) score has not survived. A handwritten copy of just the aria is found in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Christoph Wolff suggests on the basis of handwriting evidence that Anna Magdalena copied the aria from the autograph score around 1740; it appears on two pages previously left blank.

 Instrumentation [ edit ]

 On the title page, Bach specified that the work was intended for harpsichord. It is widely performed on this instrument today, though there are also a great number of performances on the piano (see Discography below). The piano was rare in Bach's day and there is no indication that Bach would have either approved or disapproved of performing the variations on this instrument.

 Bach's specification is, more precisely, a two-manual harpsichord, and he indicated in the score which variations ought to be played using one hand on each manual: Variations 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are specified for two manuals, while variations 5, 7 and 29 are specified as playable with either one or two. With greater difficulty, the work can nevertheless be played on a single-manual harpsichord or piano.

 Form [ edit ]

 After a statement of the aria at the beginning of the piece, there are thirty variations. The variations do not follow the melody of the aria, but rather use its bass line and chord progression. The bass line is notated by Ralph Kirkpatrick in his performing edition[3] as follows.

 Bass line
 Chord progression
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 The digits above the notes indicate the specified chord in the system of figured bass; where digits are separated by comma, they indicate different options taken in different variations.

 Every third variation in the series of 30 is a canon, following an ascending pattern. Thus, variation 3 is a canon at the unison, variation 6 is a canon at the second (the second entry begins the interval of a second above the first), variation 9 is a canon at the third, and so on until variation 27, which is a canon at the ninth. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a quodlibet, discussed below.

 As harpsichordist and musicologist Ralph Kirkpatrick has pointed out,[3] the variations that intervene between the canons are also arranged in a pattern. If we leave aside the initial and final material of the work (specifically, the Aria, the first two variations, the Quodlibet, and the aria da capo), the remaining material is arranged as follows. The variations found just after each canon are genre pieces of various types, among them three Baroque dances (4, 7, 19); a fughetta (10); a French overture (16); two ornate arias for the right hand (13, 25); and others (22, 28). The variations located two after each canon (5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, and 29) are what Kirkpatrick calls "arabesques"; they are variations in lively tempo with a great deal of hand-crossing. This ternary pattern—canon, genre piece, arabesque—is repeated a total of nine times, until the Quodlibet breaks the cycle.

 All the variations are in G major, apart from variations 15, 21, and 25, which are in G minor.

 At the end of the thirty variations, Bach writes Aria da Capo e fine, meaning that the performer is to return to the beginning ("da capo") and play the aria again before concluding.

 Aria [ edit ]

 The aria is a sarabande in 3
 4 time, and features a heavily ornamented melody:

 Aria
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The French style of ornamentation suggests that the ornaments are supposed to be parts of the melody; however, some performers (for example Wilhelm Kempff on piano) omit some or all ornaments and present the aria unadorned.

 Williams opines that this is not the theme at all, but actually the first variation (a view emphasising the idea of the work as a chaconne rather than a piece in true variation form).

 Variatio 1. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This sprightly variation contrasts markedly with the slow, contemplative mood of the aria. The rhythm in the right hand forces the emphasis on the second beat, giving rise to syncopation from bars 1 to 7. Hands cross at bar 13 from the upper register to the lower, bringing back this syncopation for another two bars. In the first two bars of the B part, the rhythm mirrors that of the beginning of the A part, but after this a different idea is introduced.

 Williams sees this as a sort of polonaise. The characteristic rhythm in the left hand is also found in Bach's Partita No. 3 for solo violin, in the A ♭ major prelude from the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, and in the D minor prelude of the second book. Heinz Niemüller also mentions the polonaise character of this variation.

 Variatio 2. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a simple three-part contrapuntal piece in 2
 4 time, two voices engage in constant motivic interplay over an incessant bass line. Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.

 Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisono. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 3. a 1 Clav. Canone all'Unisuono
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The first of the regular canons, this is a canon at the unison: the follower begins on the same note as the leader, a bar later. As with all canons of the Goldberg Variations (except the 27th variation, canon at the ninth), there is a supporting bass line. The time signature of 12
 8 and the many sets of triplets suggest a kind of a simple dance.

 Variatio 4. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 Like the passepied, a Baroque dance movement, this variation is in 3
 8 time with a preponderance of quaver rhythms. Bach uses close but not exact imitation: the musical pattern in one part reappears a bar later in another (sometimes inverted).

 Each repeated section has alternate endings for the first or second time.

 Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is the first of the hand-crossing, two-part variations. It is in 3
 4 time. A rapid melodic line written predominantly in sixteenth notes is accompanied by another melody with longer note values, which features very wide leaps:

 First four bars of Variation 5.

 The Italian type of hand-crossing such as is frequently found in the sonatas of Scarlatti is employed here, with one hand constantly moving back and forth between high and low registers while the other hand stays in the middle of the keyboard, playing the fast passages.

 Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 6. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Seconda
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The sixth variation is a canon at the second: the follower starts a major second higher than the leader. The piece is based on a descending scale and is in 3
 8 time. The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick describes this piece as having "an almost nostalgic tenderness". Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.

 Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga [ edit ]

 Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The variation is in 6
 8 meter, suggesting several possible Baroque dances. In 1974, when scholars discovered Bach's own copy of the first printing of the Goldberg Variations, they noted that over this variation Bach had added the heading al tempo di Giga. But the implications of this discovery for modern performance have turned out to be less clear than was at first assumed. In his book The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach[6] the scholar and keyboardist David Schulenberg notes that the discovery "surprised twentieth-century commentators who supposed gigues were always fast and fleeting." However, "despite the Italian terminology [giga], this is a [less fleet] French gigue." Indeed, he notes, the dotted rhythmic pattern of this variation (pictured) is very similar to that of the gigue from Bach's second French suite and the gigue of the French Overture. This kind of gigue is known as a "Canary", based on the rhythm of a dance which originated from the Canary islands.

 He concludes, "It need not go quickly." Moreover, Schulenberg adds that the "numerous short trills and appoggiaturas" preclude too fast a tempo.

 The pianist Angela Hewitt, in the liner notes to her 1999 Hyperion recording, argues that by adding the al tempo di giga notation, Bach was trying to caution against taking too slow a tempo, and thus turning the dance into a forlane or siciliano. She does however argue, like Schulenberg, that it is a French gigue, not an Italian giga and does play it at an unhurried tempo.

 Variatio 8. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is another two-part hand-crossing variation, in 3
 4 time. The French style of hand-crossing such as is found in the clavier works of François Couperin is employed, with both hands playing at the same part of the keyboard, one above the other. This is relatively easy to perform on a two-manual harpsichord, but quite difficult to do on a piano.

 Most bars feature either a distinctive pattern of eleven sixteenth notes and a sixteenth rest, or ten sixteenth notes and a single eighth note. Large leaps in the melody occur. Both sections end with descending passages in thirty-second notes.

 Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a canon at the third, in 4
 4 time. The supporting bass line is slightly more active than in the previous canons.

 Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variation 10 is a four-voice fughetta, with a four-bar subject heavily decorated with ornaments and somewhat reminiscent of the opening aria's melody.

 The first section of Variation 10.

 The exposition takes up the whole first section of this variation (pictured). First the subject is stated in the bass, starting on the G below middle C. The answer (in the tenor) enters in bar 5, but it's a tonal answer, so some of the intervals are altered. The soprano voice enters in bar 9, but only keeps the first two bars of the subject intact, changing the rest. The final entry occurs in the alto in bar 13. There is no regular counter-subject in this fugue.

 Variatio 10 a 1 Clav. Fughetta
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The second section develops using the same thematic material with slight changes. It resembles a counter-exposition: the voices enter one by one, all begin by stating the subject (sometimes a bit altered, like in the first section). The section begins with the subject heard once again, in the soprano voice, accompanied by an active bass line, making the bass part the only exception since it doesn't pronounce the subject until bar 25.

 Variatio 11. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 11 a 2 Clava
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a virtuosic two-part toccata in 12
 16 time. Specified for two manuals, it is largely made up of various scale passages, arpeggios and trills, and features much hand-crossing of different kinds.

 Variatio 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario [ edit ]

 Variatio 12. Canone alla Quarta
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a canon at the fourth in 3
 4 time, of the inverted variety: the follower enters in the second bar in contrary motion to the leader.

 In the first section, the left hand accompanies with a bass line written out in repeated quarter notes, in bars 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This repeated note motif also appears in the first bar of the second section (bar 17, two Ds and a C), and, slightly altered, in bars 22 and 23. In the second section, Bach changes the mood slightly by introducing a few appoggiaturas (bars 19 and 20) and trills (bars 29–30).

 Variatio 13. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 13 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation is a slow, gentle and richly decorated sarabande in 3
 4 time. Most of the melody is written out using thirty-second notes, and ornamented with a few appoggiaturas (more frequent in the second section) and a few mordents. Throughout the piece, the melody is in one voice, and in bars 16 and 24 an interesting effect is produced by the use of an additional voice. Here are bars 15 and 16, the ending of the first section (bar 24 exhibits a similar pattern):

 Variatio 14. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a rapid two-part hand-crossing toccata in 3
 4 time, with many trills and other ornamentation. It is specified for two manuals and features large jumps between registers. Both features (ornaments and leaps in the melody) are apparent from the first bar: the piece begins with a transition from the G two octaves below middle C, with a lower mordent, to the G two octaves above it with a trill with initial turn.

 Bach uses a loose inversion motif between the first half and the second half of this variation, "recycling" rhythmic and melodic material, passing material that was in the right hand to the left hand, and loosely (selectively) inverting it.

 Contrasting it with Variation 15, Glenn Gould described this variation as "certainly one of the giddiest bits of neo-Scarlatti-ism imaginable."[7]

 Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.: Andante [ edit ]

 Variatio 15 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quinta
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a canon at the fifth in 2
 4 time. Like Variation 12, it is in contrary motion with the leader appearing inverted in the second bar. This is the first of the three variations in G minor, and its melancholic mood contrasts sharply with the playfulness of the previous variation. Pianist Angela Hewitt notes that there is "a wonderful effect at the very end [of this variation]: the hands move away from each other, with the right suspended in mid-air on an open fifth. This gradual fade, leaving us in awe but ready for more, is a fitting end to the first half of the piece."

 Glenn Gould said of this variation, "It's the most severe and rigorous and beautiful canon ... the most severe and beautiful that I know, the canon in inversion at the fifth. It's a piece so moving, so anguished—and so uplifting at the same time—that it would not be in any way out of place in the St. Matthew's Passion; matter of fact, I've always thought of Variation 15 as the perfect Good Friday spell."[7]

 Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 16 a 1 Clav. Ouverture
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The entire set of variations can be seen as being divided into two halves, clearly marked by this grand French overture, commencing with particularly emphatic opening and closing chords. It consists of a slow prelude with dotted rhythms with a following fugue-like contrapuntal section. Here Bach follows his custom of beginning the second half of a major collection with a movement in French style, as with the earlier Clavier-Übung volumes, in both parts of the Well-Tempered Clavier, in the Musical Offering (#4 of the numbered canons) and in the early version of the Art of Fugue (#7 of P 200).

 Variatio 17. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 17 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation is another two-part virtuosic toccata. Peter Williams sees echoes of Antonio Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti here. Specified for two manuals, the piece features hand-crossing. It is in 3
 4 time and usually played at a moderately fast tempo. Rosalyn Tureck is one of the very few performers who recorded slow interpretations of the piece. In making his 1981 re-recording of the Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould considered playing this variation at a slower tempo, in keeping with the tempo of the preceding variation (Variation 16), but ultimately decided not to because "Variation 17 is one of those rather skittish, slightly empty-headed collections of scales and arpeggios which Bach indulged when he wasn't writing sober and proper things like fugues and canons, and it just seemed to me that there wasn't enough substance to it to warrant such a methodical, deliberate, Germanic tempo."[7]

 Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 18 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Sexta
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a canon at the sixth in 2
 2 time. The canonic interplay in the upper voices features many suspensions. Commenting on the structure of the canons of the Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould cited this variation as the extreme example of "deliberate duality of motivic emphasis ... the canonic voices are called upon to sustain the passacaille role which is capriciously abandoned by the bass." Nicholas Kenyon calls Variation 18 "an imperious, totally confident movement which must be among the most supremely logical pieces of music ever written, with the strict imitation to the half-bar providing ideal impetus and a sense of climax."[8]

 Variatio 19. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This is a dance-like three-part variation in 3
 8 time. The same sixteenth note figuration is continuously employed and variously exchanged between each of the three voices. This variation incorporates the rhythmic model of variation 13 (complementary exchange of quarter and sixteenth notes) with variations 1 and 2 (syncopations).[9]

 Variatio 20. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 20 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation is a virtuosic two-part toccata in 3
 4 time. Specified for two manuals, it involves rapid hand-crossing. The piece consists mostly of variations on the texture introduced during its first eight bars, where one hand plays a string of eighth notes and the other accompanies by plucking sixteenth notes after each eighth note. To demonstrate this, here are the first two bars of the first section:

 Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima [ edit ]

 Variatio 21 Canone alla Settima
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 The second of the three minor key variations, variation 21 has a tone that is somber or even tragic, which contrasts starkly with variation 20.[10] The bass line here is one of the most eloquent found in the variations, to which Bach adds chromatic intervals that provide tonal shadings.[10] This variation is a canon at the seventh in 4
 4 time; Kenneth Gilbert sees it as an allemande despite the lack of anacrusis.[11] The bass line begins the piece with a low note, proceeds to a slow lament bass and only picks up the pace of the canonic voices in bar 3:

 The first three bars of Variation 21

 A similar pattern, only a bit more lively, occurs in the bass line in the beginning of the second section, which begins with the opening motif inverted.

 Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve [ edit ]

 Variatio 22 a 1 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation features four-part writing with many imitative passages and its development in all voices but the bass is much like that of a fugue. The only specified ornament is a trill which is performed on a whole note and which lasts for two bars (11 and 12).

 The ground bass on which the entire set of variations is built is heard perhaps most explicitly in this variation (as well as in the Quodlibet) due to the simplicity of the bass voice.

 Variatio 23. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 23 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 Another lively two-part virtuosic variation for two manuals, in 3
 4 time. It begins with the hands chasing one another, as it were: the melodic line, initiated in the left hand with a sharp striking of the G above middle C, and then sliding down from the B one octave above to the F, is offset by the right hand, imitating the left at the same pitch, but a quaver late, for the first three bars, ending with a small flourish in the fourth:

 The first four bars of Variation 23

 This pattern is repeated during bars 5–8, only with the left hand imitating the right one, and the scales are ascending, not descending. We then alternate between hands in short bursts written out in short note values until the last three bars of the first section. The second section starts with this similar alternation in short bursts again, then leads to a dramatic section of alternating thirds between hands. Williams, marvelling at the emotional range of the work, asks: "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?"[ This quote needs a citation ]

 Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 24 a 1 Clav. Canone all Ottava
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation is a canon at the octave, in 9
 8 time. The leader is answered both an octave below and an octave above; it is the only canon of the variations in which the leader alternates between voices in the middle of a section.[ citation needed ]

 Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.: Adagio [ edit ]

 Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 Variation 25 is the third and last variation in G minor; it is marked adagio in Bach's own copy[12] and is in 3
 4 time. The melody is written out predominantly in sixteenth and thirty-second notes, with many chromaticisms. This variation generally lasts longer than any other piece of the set.

 Wanda Landowska famously described this variation as "the black pearl" of the Goldberg Variations.[13] Williams writes that "the beauty and dark passion of this variation make it unquestionably the emotional high point of the work",[14] and Glenn Gould said that "the appearance of this wistful, weary cantilena is a master-stroke of psychology."[15] In an interview with Gould, Tim Page described this variation as having an "extraordinary chromatic texture"; Gould agreed: "I don't think there's been a richer lode of enharmonic relationships any place between Gesualdo and Wagner."[7]

 Variatio 26. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 26 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 In sharp contrast with the introspective and passionate nature of the previous variation, this piece is another virtuosic two-part toccata, joyous and fast-paced. Underneath the rapid arabesques, this variation is basically a sarabande.[11] Two time signatures are used, 18
 16 for the incessant melody written in sixteenth notes and 3
 4 for the accompaniment in quarter and eighth notes; during the last five bars, both hands play in 18
 16.

 Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 27 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 Variation 27 is the last canon of the piece, at the ninth and in 6
 8 time. This is the only canon where two manuals are specified not due to hand-crossing difficulties, and the only pure canon of the work, because it does not have a bass line.

 Variatio 28. a 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 28 a 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation is a two-part toccata in 3
 4 time that employs a great deal of hand crossing. Trills are written out using thirty-second notes and are present in most of the bars. The piece begins with a pattern in which each hand successively picks out a melodic line while also playing trills. Following this is a section with both hands playing in contrary motion in a melodic contour marked by sixteenth notes (bars 9–12). The end of the first section features trills again, in both hands now and mirroring one another:

 The last four bars of the first section of Variation 28

 The second section starts and closes with the contrary motion idea seen in bars 9–12. Most of the closing bars feature trills in one or both hands.

 Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. [ edit ]

 Variatio 29 a 1 ovvero 2 Clav
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 This variation consists mostly of heavy chords alternating with sections of brilliant arpeggios shared between the hands. It is in 3
 4 time. A rather grand variation, it adds an air of resolution after the lofty brilliance of the previous variation. Glenn Gould states that variations 28 and 29 present the only case of "motivic collaboration or extension between successive variations."

 Variatio 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet [ edit ]

 Variatio 30. Quodlibet. a 1 Clav.
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano
 The Quodlibet as it appears in the first edition

 This quodlibet is based on multiple German folk songs,[16] two of which are Ich bin solang nicht bei dir g'west, ruck her, ruck her ("I have so long been away from you, come closer, come closer") and Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben, hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, wär ich länger blieben ("Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, had my mother cooked meat, I'd have opted to stay"). The others remain unknown.[17] The Kraut und Rüben theme, under the title of La Capricciosa, had previously been used by Dieterich Buxtehude for his thirty-two partite in G major, BuxWV 250.[18]

 Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians):

 As soon as they were assembled a chorale was first struck up. From this devout beginning they proceeded to jokes which were frequently in strong contrast. That is, they then sang popular songs partly of comic and also partly of indecent content, all mixed together on the spur of the moment. ... This kind of improvised harmonizing they called a Quodlibet, and not only could laugh over it quite whole-heartedly themselves, but also aroused just as hearty and irresistible laughter in all who heard them.

 Forkel's anecdote (which is likely to be true, given that he was able to interview Bach's sons), suggests fairly clearly that Bach meant the Quodlibet to be a joke.[ citation needed ]

 Aria da Capo [ edit ]

 Aria da Capo
 Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano

 A note-for-note repeat of the aria at the beginning. Williams writes that the work's "elusive beauty ... is reinforced by this return to the Aria. ... no such return can have a neutral Affekt. Its melody is made to stand out by what has gone on in the last five variations, and it is likely to appear wistful or nostalgic or subdued or resigned or sad, heard on its repeat as something coming to an end, the same notes but now final."[19]

 Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087 [ edit ]

 Haussmann's portrait of Bach depicts him holding the manuscript to BWV 1076, which is also the thirteenth canon in the Goldberg Canon cycle.

 When Bach's personal copy of the printed edition of the Goldberg Variations (see above) was discovered in 1974, it was found to include an appendix in the form of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria. It is speculated that the number 14 refers to the ordinal values of the letters in the composer's name: B(2) + A(1) + C(3) + H(8) = 14.[20] Among those canons, the eleventh and the thirteenth are first versions of BWV 1077 and BWV 1076; the latter is included in the famous portrait of Bach painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann in 1746.[21]

 Transcribed and popularized versions [ edit ]

 The Goldberg Variations has been reworked freely by many performers, changing either the instrumentation, the notes, or both. The Italian composer Busoni prepared a greatly altered transcription for piano. According to the art critic Michael Kimmelman, "Busoni shuffled the variations, skipping some, then added his own rather voluptuous coda to create a three-movement structure; each movement has a distinct, arcing shape, and the whole becomes a more tightly organized drama than the original."[22] Other arrangements include:

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2022 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
 
 * 1883: Josef Rheinberger, transcription (tr.) for two pianos, Op. 3 (rev. Max Reger)
 * 1912: Karl Eichler, tr. for piano four hands
 * 1938: Józef Koffler, tr. for orchestra / string orchestra
 * 1975: Charles Ramirez and Helen Kalamuniak, tr. for two guitars
 * 1982: Lynn Harting-Ware, aria and variations 1, 2, 4, 13, 19, 9, 7, 15, 27, and 30 for guitar (in the order she plays them on her Forest Scenes album).[23]
 * 1984: Dmitry Sitkovetsky, tr. for string trio (rev. in 2009; he also made an arrangement for string orchestra in 1992)
 * 1987: Jean Guillou, tr. for organ
 * 1988: Joel Spiegelman, tr. for Kurzweil 250 Digital Synthesizer
 * 1996: Kurt Rodarmer, tr. for guitar
 * 1997: József Eötvös, tr. for guitar
 * 1999 (at the latest): Bernard Labadie tr. for string orchestra and continuo
 * 2000: Jacques Loussier, arrangement (arr.) for jazz trio
 * 2000: Uri Caine, arr. for various ensembles
 * 2003: Karlheinz Essl, Gold.Berg.Werk, arr. for string trio and live electronics[24]
 * 2009: Catrin Finch, complete tr. for harp
 * 2011: James Strauss, complete tr. for flute and harpsichord/flute and piano
 * 2011: Dan Tepfer, Goldberg Variations/Variations,[25] each original variation followed by a jazz improvisation based on that variation
 * 2012: Karlheinz Essl, Gold.Berg.Werk arr. for piano, transducer and live-electronics[24]
 * 2016: Mika Pohjola, arr. for piano, harpsichord and string quartet
 * 2017: Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano, Variations on Variations, arr. for ensemble[26]
 * 2018: Caio Facó, orchestration for chamber orchestra
 * 2018: Marcela Mendez and Maria Luisa Rayan, tr. for two harps
 * 2020: Parker Ramsay, Bach: Goldberg Variations (arranged for harp)

 Editions of the score [ edit ]

 * Ralph Kirkpatrick. New York/London: G. Schirmer, 1938. Contains an extensive preface by the editor and a facsimile of the original title page.
 * Hans Bischoff. New York: Edwin F. Kalmus, 1947 (editorial work dates from the nineteenth century). Includes interpretive markings by the editor not indicated as such.
 * Christoph Wolff. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1996. An urtext edition, making use of the new findings (1975) resulting from the discovery of an original copy hand-corrected by the composer. Includes suggested fingerings and notes on interpretation by the harpsichordist Huguette Dreyfus.
 * Reinhard Böß. München: edition Text+Kritik, 1996. Verschiedene Canones ... von J. S. Bach (BWV 1087). ISBN 3-88377-523-1 Edition of the canons in BWV 1087 only. The editor suggests a complete complement of all fourteen canons.
 * Werner Schweer, 2012. The Goldberg Variations, MuseScore Edition created for the Open Goldberg Variations Project and released as public domain. Available online at MuseScore.com
 * Free edition of the Goldberg Variations with a discussion of all the ins and outs

 See also [ edit ]

 * Goldberg Variations discography
 * Goldberg Variations, a satirical play by George Tabori

 Notes [ edit ]

 1. ^ Translation from Kirkpatrick 1938 .
 2. ^ See List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime
 3. ^ a b c d Kirkpatrick 1938
 4. ^ For discussion see Williams (2001 , 8), who notes that the Neue Bach-Ausgabe and the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis do refer to the variations as " Klavierübung IV ".
 5. ^ Wolff 1976 .
 6. ^ Schulenberg 2006 , p. 380 .
 7. ^ a b c d Gould & Page 2002
 8. ^ Kenyon, Nicholas . The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach , p. 421 (Faber & Faber, 2011).
 9. ^ Melamed, Daniel. Bach Studies 2 , p. 67 (Cambridge University Press 2006).
 10. ^ a b Lederer, Victor. Bach's Keyboard Music , p. 121 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2010).
 11. ^ a b Notes to Kenneth Gilbert's recording of the variations.
 12. ^ Tomita, Yo. "The "Goldberg" Variations, Essay by Yo Tomita (1997)". Qub.ac.uk . Retrieved 2012-08-11 .
 13. ^ Kanwischer, Alfred (15 May 2014). From Bach's Goldberg to Beethoven's Diabelli: Influence and Independence. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-4422-3064-4.
 14. ^ Williams 2001 , p. 82 .
 15. ^ Gould, Glenn (1956). Bach: The Goldberg Variations (liner notes). Columbia Records.
 16. ^ "The Quodlibet as Represented in Bach's Final Goldberg Variation BWV 988/30. By Thomas Braatz (January 2005)". Bach-cantatas.com. 2010-11-01 . Retrieved 2012-08-11 .
 17. ^ BBC Radio 3 – Discovering Music .
 18. ^ Schulenberg 2006 , p. 387 .
 19. ^ Williams 2001 , p. 92.
 20. ^ See chapter 7 of Richard Taruskin (2009) Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: The Oxford History of Western Music . Oxford: Oxford University Press. Extract viewable at Google Books.
 21. ^ "Fourteen Canons on the First Eight Notes of the Goldberg Ground (BWV 1087)". Jan.ucc.nau.edu . Retrieved 2012-08-11 .
 22. ^ Kimmelman, Michael (January 4, 1998). "Exploring Busoni, As Anchored by Bach Or Slightly at Sea". The New York Times . Retrieved 2012-08-11 .
 23. ^ Harting-Ware, Lynn (1996), Forest Scenes, Acoma, OCLC 70600140
 24. ^ a b "Gold.Berg.Werk" , essl.at
 25. ^ Margasak, Peter (29 November 2011). "Dan Tepfer's "Goldberg Variations"". Chicago Reader . Retrieved 24 June 2015 .
 26. ^ Freeman-Attwood, Jonathan. "JS BACH: Variations on Variations". Gramophone . Retrieved 2018-04-20 .

 Sources

 * Gould, Glenn and Page, Tim (2002). A State of Wonder, disc 3. Sony.
 * Kirkpatrick, Ralph (1938). Edition of the Goldberg Variations. New York/London: G. Schirmer.
 * Schulenberg, David (2006). The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach. New York and Oxford: Routledge. pp. 369–388. ISBN 0-415-97400-3.
 * Williams, Peter (2001). Bach: The Goldberg Variations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00193-5.
 * Wolff, Christoph (Summer 1976). "Bach's Handexemplar of the Goldberg Variations: A New Source". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 29 (2): 224–241. doi:10.2307/831018. JSTOR 831018.

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Forkel, Johann Nikolaus (1802). Über Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst, und Kunstwerke ("On Johann Sebastian Bach's Life, Art and Work"). A recent reprint is by Henschel Verlag, Berlin, 2000; ISBN 3-89487-352-3. An English translation was published by Da Capo Press in 1970.
 * Niemüller, Heinz Hermann (1985). "Polonaise und Quodlibet: Der innere Kosmos der Goldberg-Variationen" in Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variationen, Musik-Konzepte 42 (Kassel: Bärenreiter), pp. 3–28, esp. 22–26.
 * Schiassi, Germana (2007). Johann Sebastian Bach. Le Variazioni Goldberg. Bologna: Albisani Editore. ISBN 978-88-95803-00-5.
 * Velikovskiy, Alexander (2021). Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach. Saint Petersburg: Planeta Musiki ISBN 978-5-8114-6876-8. [in Russian]
 * Kennicott, Philip, Counterpoint: a Memoir of Bach and Mourning, WW Norton & Company, New York, 2020, ISBN 978-0-393-86838-8

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Goldberg Variations.
 * Goldberg Week at NPR's Deceptive Cadence
 * Video showing how the fifth canon of BWV 1087 can be written on a clear Mobius strip

 Online scores [ edit ]

 * Goldberg Variations: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Goldberg Variations on Mutopia
 * Animated graphical scores of the Goldberg Variations, with harpsichord performances by Colin Booth

 Essays [ edit ]

 * "Goldberg Variations – The Best Recordings" – theclassicreview.com
 * The Goldberg Variations made new – Review of Glenn Gould's and Simone Dinnerstein's renditions
 * An essay on the Goldberg Variations by Yo Tomita
 * Canons of the Goldberg Variations – graphical analysis enables you to see the leader and follower in the canons
 * J.S. Bach, the architect and servant of the spiritual – a closer look at the Goldberg Variations

 Recordings [ edit ]

 * Public-domain piano recording by Kimiko Ishizaka (Open Goldberg Variations project), with linked newly edited score.
 * Bach-cantatas.com: The Goldberg Variations – Comprehensive discography
 * jsbach.org: BWV 988 – Reviews of many recordings
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 Bach publications 
 Music / * Printed during the composer's lifetime: cantata Gott ist mein König (1708); Clavier-Übung I (1726–1730; 1731); Picander's 1728–29 cycle of cantata librettos; Clavier-Übung II (1735); Clavier-Übung III (1739); Goldberg Variations (1741); Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" (1747); The Musical Offering (1747); Schübler Chorales (1748)
 lyrics * After 1750: The Art of Fugue (1751); Four-part chorales (1765–1787); Bach-Gesellschaft edition (1851-1899); New Bach Edition (1954–2007)    
 * Nekrolog (1754)      
 * Forkel's Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke (1802)     
 Biography / * Spitta's Johann Sebastian Bach (Vol. I: 1873; Vol. II: 1880)     
 scholarship * Bach-Jahrbuch (1904–...)      
 * Schmieder's Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (1950; 21990; 2a1998)     
 * Bach Digital (2010–...)      
 * Bach Gesellschaft 
 * Neue Bachgesellschaft 
 * Bach Archive 
 * Johann Sebastian Bach Institute
 
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach
  * Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful)  
  * Sonatas, BWV 525–530  
  * Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531  
  * Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532  
  * Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537  
  * Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538  
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  * Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful)  
 Organ  * Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562  
  * Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564  
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  * Concertos, BWV 592–597  
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  * Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650  
  * Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668  
  * Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768  
  * Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769 
  * Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120  
  * Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128 
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Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition)  
   
The  Goldberg Variations , BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also have been the first performer of the work.
Composition[edit]
The story of how the variations came to be composed comes from an early biography of Bach by Johann Nikolaus Forkel: [1] 
 [For this work] we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony, Count Kaiserling, who often stopped in Leipzig and brought there with him the aforementioned Goldberg, in order to have him given musical instruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At such times, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in an antechamber, so as to play for him during his insomnia. ... Once the Count mentioned in Bach's presence that he would like to have some clavier pieces for Goldberg, which should be of such a smooth and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights. Bach thought himself best able to fulfill this wish by means of Variations, the writing of which he had until then considered an ungrateful task on account of the repeatedly similar harmonic foundation. But since at this time all his works were already models of art, such also these variations became under his hand. Yet he produced only a single work of this kind. Thereafter the Count always called them his variations. He never tired of them, and for a long time sleepless nights meant: "Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations." Bach was perhaps never so rewarded for one of his works as for this. The Count presented him with a golden goblet filled with 100  Louis d'or . Nevertheless, even had the gift been a thousand times larger, their artistic value would not yet have been paid for. 
Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, more than 60 years after the events related, and its accuracy has been questioned. The lack of dedication on the title page also makes the tale of the commission unlikely. Goldberg's age at the time of publication (14 years) has also been cited as grounds for doubting Forkel's tale, although it must be said that he was known to be an accomplished keyboardist and sight-reader. Williams (2001) contends that the Forkel story is entirely spurious.
  Arnold Schering has suggested that the aria on which the variations are based was not written by Bach.[ citation needed ] More recent scholarly literature (such as the edition by Christoph Wolff) suggests that there is no basis for such doubts.
Publication[edit]
Rather unusually for Bach's works, [2]  the Goldberg Variations were published in his own lifetime, in 1741. The publisher was Bach's friend Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg. Schmid printed the work by making engraved copper plates (rather than using movable type); thus the notes of the first edition are in Schmid's own handwriting. The edition contains various printing errors. [3] 
 The title page, shown in the figure above, reads in German:
  
 
Clavier Ubung / bestehend / in einer ARIA / mit verschiedenen Verænderungen / vors Clavicimbal / mit 2 Manualen. / Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths- / Ergetzung verfertiget von / Johann Sebastian Bach / Königl. Pohl. u. Churfl. Sæchs. Hoff- / Compositeur, Capellmeister, u. Directore / Chori Musici in Leipzig. / Nürnberg in Verlegung / Balthasar Schmids [3] 
Keyboard exercise, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher.
     
The term "Clavier Ubung" (nowadays spelled "Klavierübung") had been assigned by Bach to some of his previous keyboard works. Klavierübung part 1 was the six partitas, part 2 the  Italian Concerto  and  French Overture , and part 3 a series of chorale preludes for organ framed by a prelude and fugue in E♭ major. Although Bach also called his variations "Klavierübung", he did not specifically designate them as the fourth in this series. [4] 
 Nineteen copies of the first edition survive today. Of these, the most valuable is the Handexemplar (Bach's personal copy of the published score), [5]  discovered in 1974 in Strasbourg by the French musicologist Olivier Alain and now kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. This copy includes printing corrections made by the composer and additional music in the form of fourteen canons on the Goldberg ground (see below). The nineteen printed copies provide virtually the only information available to modern editors trying to reconstruct Bach's intent, as the autograph (handwritten) score has not survived. A handwritten copy of just the aria is found in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Christoph Wolff suggests on the basis of handwriting evidence that Anna Magdalena copied the aria from the autograph score around 1740; it appears on two pages previously left blank.
Instrumentation[edit]
On the title page, Bach specified that the work was intended for harpsichord. It is widely performed on this instrument today, though there are also a great number of performances on the piano (see Discography below). The piano was rare in Bach's day and there is no indication that Bach would have either approved or disapproved of performing the variations on this instrument.
 Bach's specification is, more precisely, a two-manual harpsichord, and he indicated in the score which variations ought to be played using one hand on each manual: Variations 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are specified for two manuals, while variations 5, 7 and 29 are specified as playable with either one or two. With greater difficulty, the work can nevertheless be played on a single-manual harpsichord or piano.
Form[edit]
After a statement of the aria at the beginning of the piece, there are thirty variations. The variations do not follow the melody of the aria, but rather use its bass line and chord progression. The bass line is notated by Ralph Kirkpatrick in his performing edition [3]  as follows.
   
 
The digits above the notes indicate the specified chord in the system of figured bass; where digits are separated by comma, they indicate different options taken in different variations.
 Every third variation in the series of 30 is a canon, following an ascending pattern. Thus, variation 3 is a canon at the unison, variation 6 is a canon at the second (the second entry begins the interval of a second above the first), variation 9 is a canon at the third, and so on until variation 27, which is a canon at the ninth. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a quodlibet, discussed below.
 As harpsichordist and musicologist Ralph Kirkpatrick has pointed out, [3]  the variations that intervene between the canons are also arranged in a pattern. If we leave aside the initial and final material of the work (specifically, the Aria, the first two variations, the Quodlibet, and the aria da capo), the remaining material is arranged as follows. The variations found just after each canon are genre pieces of various types, among them three Baroque dances (4, 7, 19); a fughetta (10); a French overture (16); two ornate arias for the right hand (13, 25); and others (22, 28). The variations located two after each canon (5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, and 29) are what Kirkpatrick calls "arabesques"; they are variations in lively tempo with a great deal of hand-crossing. This ternary pattern—canon, genre piece, arabesque—is repeated a total of nine times, until the Quodlibet breaks the cycle.
 All the variations are in G major, apart from variations 15, 21, and 25, which are in G minor.
 At the end of the thirty variations, Bach writes Aria da Capo e fine, meaning that the performer is to return to the beginning ("da capo") and play the aria again before concluding.
Aria[edit]
The aria is a sarabande in  3    4  time, and features a heavily ornamented melody:
   
     
The French style of ornamentation suggests that the ornaments are supposed to be parts of the melody; however, some performers (for example Wilhelm Kempff on piano) omit some or all ornaments and present the aria unadorned.
  Williams opines that this is not the theme at all, but actually the first variation (a view emphasising the idea of the work as a chaconne rather than a piece in true variation form).
Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This sprightly variation contrasts markedly with the slow, contemplative mood of the aria. The rhythm in the right hand forces the emphasis on the second beat, giving rise to syncopation from bars 1 to 7. Hands cross at bar 13 from the upper register to the lower, bringing back this syncopation for another two bars. In the first two bars of the B part, the rhythm mirrors that of the beginning of the A part, but after this a different idea is introduced.
 Williams sees this as a sort of polonaise. The characteristic rhythm in the left hand is also found in Bach's Partita No. 3 for solo violin, in the A♭ major prelude from the first book of  The Well-Tempered Clavier , and in the D minor prelude of the second book. Heinz Niemüller also mentions the polonaise character of this variation.
Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a simple three-part contrapuntal piece in  2    4  time, two voices engage in constant motivic interplay over an incessant bass line. Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.
Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisono. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The first of the regular canons, this is a canon at the unison: the follower begins on the same note as the leader, a bar later. As with all canons of the Goldberg Variations (except the 27th variation, canon at the ninth), there is a supporting bass line. The time signature of  12    8  and the many sets of triplets suggest a kind of a simple dance.
Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
Like the passepied, a Baroque dance movement, this variation is in  3    8  time with a preponderance of quaver rhythms. Bach uses close but not exact imitation: the musical pattern in one part reappears a bar later in another (sometimes inverted).
     
Each repeated section has alternate endings for the first or second time.
Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is the first of the hand-crossing, two-part variations. It is in  3    4  time. A rapid melodic line written predominantly in sixteenth notes is accompanied by another melody with longer note values, which features very wide leaps:
      First four bars of Variation 5.  
The Italian type of hand-crossing such as is frequently found in the sonatas of Scarlatti is employed here, with one hand constantly moving back and forth between high and low registers while the other hand stays in the middle of the keyboard, playing the fast passages.
Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The sixth variation is a canon at the second: the follower starts a major second higher than the leader. The piece is based on a descending scale and is in  3    8  time. The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick describes this piece as having "an almost nostalgic tenderness". Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat.
Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The variation is in  6    8  meter, suggesting several possible Baroque dances. In 1974, when scholars discovered Bach's own copy of the first printing of the Goldberg Variations, they noted that over this variation Bach had added the heading al tempo di Giga . But the implications of this discovery for modern performance have turned out to be less clear than was at first assumed. In his book The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach  [6]  the scholar and keyboardist David Schulenberg notes that the discovery "surprised twentieth-century commentators who supposed gigues were always fast and fleeting." However, "despite the Italian terminology [giga], this is a [less fleet] French gigue." Indeed, he notes, the dotted rhythmic pattern of this variation (pictured) is very similar to that of the gigue from Bach's second French suite and the gigue of the  French Overture . This kind of gigue is known as a "Canary", based on the rhythm of a dance which originated from the Canary islands.
       He concludes, "It need not go quickly." Moreover, Schulenberg adds that the "numerous short trills and appoggiaturas" preclude too fast a tempo.
 The pianist Angela Hewitt, in the liner notes to her 1999 Hyperion recording, argues that by adding the al tempo di giga notation, Bach was trying to caution against taking too slow a tempo, and thus turning the dance into a forlane or siciliano. She does however argue, like Schulenberg, that it is a French gigue, not an Italian giga and does play it at an unhurried tempo.
Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is another two-part hand-crossing variation, in  3    4  time. The French style of hand-crossing such as is found in the clavier works of François Couperin is employed, with both hands playing at the same part of the keyboard, one above the other. This is relatively easy to perform on a two-manual harpsichord, but quite difficult to do on a piano.
 Most bars feature either a distinctive pattern of eleven sixteenth notes and a sixteenth rest, or ten sixteenth notes and a single eighth note. Large leaps in the melody occur. Both sections end with descending passages in thirty-second notes.
Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a canon at the third, in  4    4  time. The supporting bass line is slightly more active than in the previous canons.
Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav.[edit]
Variation 10 is a four-voice fughetta, with a four-bar subject heavily decorated with ornaments and somewhat reminiscent of the opening aria's melody.
      The first section of Variation 10.  
The exposition takes up the whole first section of this variation (pictured). First the subject is stated in the bass, starting on the G below middle C. The answer (in the tenor) enters in bar 5, but it's a tonal answer, so some of the intervals are altered. The soprano voice enters in bar 9, but only keeps the first two bars of the subject intact, changing the rest. The final entry occurs in the alto in bar 13. There is no regular counter-subject in this fugue.
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The second section develops using the same thematic material with slight changes. It resembles a counter-exposition: the voices enter one by one, all begin by stating the subject (sometimes a bit altered, like in the first section). The section begins with the subject heard once again, in the soprano voice, accompanied by an active bass line, making the bass part the only exception since it doesn't pronounce the subject until bar 25.
Variatio 11. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a virtuosic two-part toccata in  12    16  time. Specified for two manuals, it is largely made up of various scale passages, arpeggios and trills, and features much hand-crossing of different kinds.
Variatio 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a canon at the fourth in  3    4  time, of the inverted variety: the follower enters in the second bar in contrary motion to the leader.
 In the first section, the left hand accompanies with a bass line written out in repeated quarter notes, in bars 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This repeated note motif also appears in the first bar of the second section (bar 17, two Ds and a C), and, slightly altered, in bars 22 and 23. In the second section, Bach changes the mood slightly by introducing a few appoggiaturas (bars 19 and 20) and trills (bars 29–30).
Variatio 13. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation is a slow, gentle and richly decorated sarabande in  3    4  time. Most of the melody is written out using thirty-second notes, and ornamented with a few appoggiaturas (more frequent in the second section) and a few mordents. Throughout the piece, the melody is in one voice, and in bars 16 and 24 an interesting effect is produced by the use of an additional voice. Here are bars 15 and 16, the ending of the first section (bar 24 exhibits a similar pattern):
     
Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a rapid two-part hand-crossing toccata in  3    4  time, with many trills and other ornamentation. It is specified for two manuals and features large jumps between registers. Both features (ornaments and leaps in the melody) are apparent from the first bar: the piece begins with a transition from the G two octaves below middle C, with a lower mordent, to the G two octaves above it with a trill with initial turn.
 Bach uses a loose inversion motif between the first half and the second half of this variation, "recycling" rhythmic and melodic material, passing material that was in the right hand to the left hand, and loosely (selectively) inverting it.
 Contrasting it with Variation 15, Glenn Gould described this variation as "certainly one of the giddiest bits of neo-Scarlatti-ism imaginable." [7] 
Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.: Andante[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a canon at the fifth in  2    4  time. Like Variation 12, it is in contrary motion with the leader appearing inverted in the second bar. This is the first of the three variations in G minor, and its melancholic mood contrasts sharply with the playfulness of the previous variation. Pianist Angela Hewitt notes that there is "a wonderful effect at the very end [of this variation]: the hands move away from each other, with the right suspended in mid-air on an open fifth. This gradual fade, leaving us in awe but ready for more, is a fitting end to the first half of the piece."
 Glenn Gould said of this variation, "It's the most severe and rigorous and beautiful canon ... the most severe and beautiful that I know, the canon in inversion at the fifth. It's a piece so moving, so anguished—and so uplifting at the same time—that it would not be in any way out of place in the St. Matthew's Passion; matter of fact, I've always thought of Variation 15 as the perfect Good Friday spell." [7] 
Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The entire set of variations can be seen as being divided into two halves, clearly marked by this grand French overture, commencing with particularly emphatic opening and closing chords. It consists of a slow prelude with dotted rhythms with a following fugue-like contrapuntal section. Here Bach follows his custom of beginning the second half of a major collection with a movement in French style, as with the earlier  Clavier-Übung  volumes, in both parts of the Well-Tempered Clavier, in the  Musical Offering  (#4 of the numbered canons) and in the early version of the  Art of Fugue  (#7 of P 200).
Variatio 17. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation is another two-part virtuosic toccata. Peter Williams sees echoes of Antonio Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti here. Specified for two manuals, the piece features hand-crossing. It is in  3    4  time and usually played at a moderately fast tempo. Rosalyn Tureck is one of the very few performers who recorded slow interpretations of the piece. In making his 1981 re-recording of the Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould considered playing this variation at a slower tempo, in keeping with the tempo of the preceding variation (Variation 16), but ultimately decided not to because "Variation 17 is one of those rather skittish, slightly empty-headed collections of scales and arpeggios which Bach indulged when he wasn't writing sober and proper things like fugues and canons, and it just seemed to me that there wasn't enough substance to it to warrant such a methodical, deliberate, Germanic tempo." [7] 
Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a canon at the sixth in  2    2  time. The canonic interplay in the upper voices features many suspensions. Commenting on the structure of the canons of the Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould cited this variation as the extreme example of "deliberate duality of motivic emphasis ... the canonic voices are called upon to sustain the passacaille role which is capriciously abandoned by the bass." Nicholas Kenyon calls Variation 18 "an imperious, totally confident movement which must be among the most supremely logical pieces of music ever written, with the strict imitation to the half-bar providing ideal impetus and a sense of climax." [8] 
Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This is a dance-like three-part variation in  3    8  time. The same sixteenth note figuration is continuously employed and variously exchanged between each of the three voices. This variation incorporates the rhythmic model of variation 13 (complementary exchange of quarter and sixteenth notes) with variations 1 and 2 (syncopations). [9] 
Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano   
This variation is a virtuosic two-part toccata in  3    4  time. Specified for two manuals, it involves rapid hand-crossing. The piece consists mostly of variations on the texture introduced during its first eight bars, where one hand plays a string of eighth notes and the other accompanies by plucking sixteenth notes after each eighth note. To demonstrate this, here are the first two bars of the first section:      
Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
The second of the three minor key variations, variation 21 has a tone that is somber or even tragic, which contrasts starkly with variation 20. [10]  The bass line here is one of the most eloquent found in the variations, to which Bach adds chromatic intervals that provide tonal shadings. [10]  This variation is a canon at the seventh in  4    4  time; Kenneth Gilbert sees it as an allemande despite the lack of anacrusis. [11]  The bass line begins the piece with a low note, proceeds to a slow lament bass and only picks up the pace of the canonic voices in bar 3:
      The first three bars of Variation 21  
A similar pattern, only a bit more lively, occurs in the bass line in the beginning of the second section, which begins with the opening motif inverted.
Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation features four-part writing with many imitative passages and its development in all voices but the bass is much like that of a fugue. The only specified ornament is a trill which is performed on a whole note and which lasts for two bars (11 and 12).
 The ground bass on which the entire set of variations is built is heard perhaps most explicitly in this variation (as well as in the Quodlibet) due to the simplicity of the bass voice.
Variatio 23. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
Another lively two-part virtuosic variation for two manuals, in  3    4  time. It begins with the hands chasing one another, as it were: the melodic line, initiated in the left hand with a sharp striking of the G above middle C, and then sliding down from the B one octave above to the F, is offset by the right hand, imitating the left at the same pitch, but a quaver late, for the first three bars, ending with a small flourish in the fourth:
      The first four bars of Variation 23  
This pattern is repeated during bars 5–8, only with the left hand imitating the right one, and the scales are ascending, not descending. We then alternate between hands in short bursts written out in short note values until the last three bars of the first section. The second section starts with this similar alternation in short bursts again, then leads to a dramatic section of alternating thirds between hands. Williams, marvelling at the emotional range of the work, asks: "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?"[ This quote needs a citation ]
Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation is a canon at the octave, in  9    8  time. The leader is answered both an octave below and an octave above; it is the only canon of the variations in which the leader alternates between voices in the middle of a section.[ citation needed ]
Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.: Adagio[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
Variation 25 is the third and last variation in G minor; it is marked adagio in Bach's own copy [12]  and is in  3    4  time. The melody is written out predominantly in sixteenth and thirty-second notes, with many chromaticisms. This variation generally lasts longer than any other piece of the set.
  Wanda Landowska famously described this variation as "the black pearl" of the Goldberg Variations. [13]  Williams writes that "the beauty and dark passion of this variation make it unquestionably the emotional high point of the work", [14]  and Glenn Gould said that "the appearance of this wistful, weary cantilena is a master-stroke of psychology." [15]  In an interview with Gould, Tim Page described this variation as having an "extraordinary chromatic texture"; Gould agreed: "I don't think there's been a richer lode of enharmonic relationships any place between Gesualdo and Wagner." [7] 
Variatio 26. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
In sharp contrast with the introspective and passionate nature of the previous variation, this piece is another virtuosic two-part toccata, joyous and fast-paced. Underneath the rapid arabesques, this variation is basically a sarabande. [11]  Two time signatures are used,  18    16  for the incessant melody written in sixteenth notes and  3    4  for the accompaniment in quarter and eighth notes; during the last five bars, both hands play in  18    16 .
Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
Variation 27 is the last canon of the piece, at the ninth and in  6    8  time. This is the only canon where two manuals are specified not due to hand-crossing difficulties, and the only pure canon of the work, because it does not have a bass line.
Variatio 28. a 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation is a two-part toccata in  3    4  time that employs a great deal of hand crossing. Trills are written out using thirty-second notes and are present in most of the bars. The piece begins with a pattern in which each hand successively picks out a melodic line while also playing trills. Following this is a section with both hands playing in contrary motion in a melodic contour marked by sixteenth notes (bars 9–12). The end of the first section features trills again, in both hands now and mirroring one another:
      The last four bars of the first section of Variation 28  
The second section starts and closes with the contrary motion idea seen in bars 9–12. Most of the closing bars feature trills in one or both hands.
Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
This variation consists mostly of heavy chords alternating with sections of brilliant arpeggios shared between the hands. It is in  3    4  time. A rather grand variation, it adds an air of resolution after the lofty brilliance of the previous variation. Glenn Gould states that variations 28 and 29 present the only case of "motivic collaboration or extension between successive variations."
Variatio 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
      The Quodlibet as it appears in the first edition  
This quodlibet is based on multiple German folk songs, [16]  two of which are Ich bin solang nicht bei dir g'west, ruck her, ruck her ("I have so long been away from you, come closer, come closer") and Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben, hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, wär ich länger blieben ("Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, had my mother cooked meat, I'd have opted to stay"). The others remain unknown. [17]  The Kraut und Rüben theme, under the title of La Capricciosa, had previously been used by Dieterich Buxtehude for his thirty-two partite in G major, BuxWV 250. [18] 
 Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians):
 As soon as they were assembled a chorale was first struck up. From this devout beginning they proceeded to jokes which were frequently in strong contrast. That is, they then sang popular songs partly of comic and also partly of indecent content, all mixed together on the spur of the moment. ... This kind of improvised harmonizing they called a Quodlibet, and not only could laugh over it quite whole-heartedly themselves, but also aroused just as hearty and irresistible laughter in all who heard them. 
Forkel's anecdote (which is likely to be true, given that he was able to interview Bach's sons), suggests fairly clearly that Bach meant the Quodlibet to be a joke.[ citation needed ]
Aria da Capo[edit]
   
Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano  
A note-for-note repeat of the aria at the beginning. Williams writes that the work's "elusive beauty ... is reinforced by this return to the Aria. ... no such return can have a neutral  Affekt . Its melody is made to stand out by what has gone on in the last five variations, and it is likely to appear wistful or nostalgic or subdued or resigned or sad, heard on its repeat as something coming to an end, the same notes but now final." [19] 
Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087[edit]
       Haussmann's portrait of Bach depicts him holding the manuscript to BWV 1076, which is also the thirteenth canon in the Goldberg Canon cycle.  
When Bach's personal copy of the printed edition of the Goldberg Variations (see above) was discovered in 1974, it was found to include an appendix in the form of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria. It is speculated that the number 14 refers to the ordinal values of the letters in the composer's name: B(2) + A(1) + C(3) + H(8) = 14. [20]  Among those canons, the eleventh and the thirteenth are first versions of BWV 1077 and BWV 1076; the latter is included in the famous portrait of Bach painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann in 1746. [21] 
Transcribed and popularized versions[edit]
The Goldberg Variations has been reworked freely by many performers, changing either the instrumentation, the notes, or both. The Italian composer Busoni prepared a greatly altered transcription for piano. According to the art critic Michael Kimmelman, "Busoni shuffled the variations, skipping some, then added his own rather voluptuous coda to create a three-movement structure; each movement has a distinct, arcing shape, and the whole becomes a more tightly organized drama than the original." [22]  Other arrangements include:
 1883: Josef Rheinberger, transcription (tr.) for two pianos, Op. 3 (rev. Max Reger)
1912: Karl Eichler, tr. for piano four hands
1938: Józef Koffler, tr. for orchestra / string orchestra 
1975: Charles Ramirez and Helen Kalamuniak, tr. for two guitars
1982: Lynn Harting-Ware, aria and variations 1, 2, 4, 13, 19, 9, 7, 15, 27, and 30 for guitar (in the order she plays them on her Forest Scenes album). [23]  
1984: Dmitry Sitkovetsky, tr. for string trio (rev. in 2009; he also made an arrangement for string orchestra in 1992)
1987: Jean Guillou, tr. for organ 
1988: Joel Spiegelman, tr. for Kurzweil 250 Digital Synthesizer 
1996: Kurt Rodarmer, tr. for guitar
1997: József Eötvös, tr. for guitar 
1999 (at the latest): Bernard Labadie tr. for string orchestra and continuo 
2000: Jacques Loussier, arrangement (arr.) for jazz trio
2000: Uri Caine, arr. for various ensembles
2003: Karlheinz Essl, Gold.Berg.Werk, arr. for string trio and live electronics [24]  
2009: Catrin Finch, complete tr. for harp
2011: James Strauss, complete tr. for flute and harpsichord/flute and piano
2011: Dan Tepfer, Goldberg Variations/Variations, [25]  each original variation followed by a jazz improvisation based on that variation
2012: Karlheinz Essl, Gold.Berg.Werk arr. for piano, transducer and live-electronics [24]  
2016: Mika Pohjola, arr. for piano, harpsichord and string quartet
2017: Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano, Variations on Variations, arr. for ensemble [26]  
2018: Caio Facó, orchestration for chamber orchestra
2018: Marcela Mendez and Maria Luisa Rayan, tr. for two harps
2020: Parker Ramsay, Bach: Goldberg Variations (arranged for harp) 
Editions of the score[edit]
  Ralph Kirkpatrick. New York/London: G. Schirmer, 1938. Contains an extensive preface by the editor and a facsimile of the original title page.
 Hans Bischoff. New York: Edwin F. Kalmus, 1947 (editorial work dates from the nineteenth century). Includes interpretive markings by the editor not indicated as such.
 Christoph Wolff. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1996. An urtext edition, making use of the new findings (1975) resulting from the discovery of an original copy hand-corrected by the composer. Includes suggested fingerings and notes on interpretation by the harpsichordist Huguette Dreyfus.
Reinhard Böß. München: edition Text+Kritik, 1996. Verschiedene Canones ... von J. S. Bach (BWV 1087). ISBN 3-88377-523-1 Edition of the canons in BWV 1087 only. The editor suggests a complete complement of all fourteen canons.
Werner Schweer, 2012. The Goldberg Variations, MuseScore Edition created for the Open Goldberg Variations Project and released as public domain. Available online at MuseScore.com 
 Free edition of the Goldberg Variations with a discussion of all the ins and outs  
See also[edit]
   Goldberg Variations discography 
  Goldberg Variations , a satirical play by George Tabori  
Notes[edit]
 
  ^  Translation from Kirkpatrick 1938.
  ^  See List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime
^    a       b       c       d    Kirkpatrick 1938
  ^  For discussion see Williams (2001, 8), who notes that the  Neue Bach-Ausgabe  and the  Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis  do refer to the variations as "Klavierübung IV".
  ^  Wolff 1976.
  ^  Schulenberg 2006, p. 380.
^    a       b       c       d    Gould &amp; Page 2002
  ^  Kenyon, Nicholas.  The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach , p. 421 (Faber &amp; Faber, 2011).
  ^  Melamed, Daniel.  Bach Studies 2 , p. 67 (Cambridge University Press 2006).
^    a       b    Lederer, Victor.  Bach's Keyboard Music , p. 121 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2010).
^    a       b    Notes to Kenneth Gilbert's recording of the variations.
  ^  Tomita, Yo. "The "Goldberg" Variations, Essay by Yo Tomita (1997)". Qub.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  ^  Kanwischer, Alfred (15 May 2014).  From Bach's Goldberg to Beethoven's Diabelli: Influence and Independence . Rowman &amp; Littlefield. p. 41. ISBN  978-1-4422-3064-4 .
  ^  Williams 2001, p. 82.
  ^   Gould, Glenn (1956).  Bach: The Goldberg Variations  (liner notes). Columbia Records.
  ^   "The Quodlibet as Represented in Bach's Final Goldberg Variation BWV 988/30. By Thomas Braatz (January 2005)". Bach-cantatas.com. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  ^  BBC Radio 3 – Discovering Music.
  ^  Schulenberg 2006, p. 387.
  ^  Williams 2001, p. 92.
  ^  See chapter 7 of Richard Taruskin (2009) Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Extract viewable at Google Books.
  ^   "Fourteen Canons on the First Eight Notes of the Goldberg Ground (BWV 1087)". Jan.ucc.nau.edu. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  ^   Kimmelman, Michael (January 4, 1998). "Exploring Busoni, As Anchored by Bach Or Slightly at Sea".  The New York Times . Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  ^  Harting-Ware, Lynn (1996),  Forest Scenes , Acoma, OCLC 70600140 
^    a       b    "Gold.Berg.Werk", essl.at
  ^  Margasak, Peter (29 November 2011). "Dan Tepfer's "Goldberg Variations"". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  ^  Freeman-Attwood, Jonathan. "JS BACH: Variations on Variations".  Gramophone . Retrieved 2018-04-20.
 
 Sources
   Gould, Glenn and Page, Tim (2002). A State of Wonder, disc 3. Sony. 
  Kirkpatrick, Ralph (1938). Edition of the Goldberg Variations. New York/London: G. Schirmer. 
 Schulenberg, David (2006). The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach. New York and Oxford: Routledge. pp. 369–388. ISBN  0-415-97400-3 . 
  Williams, Peter (2001). Bach: The Goldberg Variations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN  0-521-00193-5 . 
  Wolff, Christoph (Summer 1976). "Bach's Handexemplar of the Goldberg Variations: A New Source".  Journal of the American Musicological Society . 29 (2): 224–241. doi:10.2307/831018. JSTOR 831018.  
Further reading[edit]
  Forkel, Johann Nikolaus (1802). Über Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst, und Kunstwerke ("On Johann Sebastian Bach's Life, Art and Work"). A recent reprint is by Henschel Verlag, Berlin, 2000; ISBN 3-89487-352-3. An English translation was published by Da Capo Press in 1970.
Niemüller, Heinz Hermann (1985). "Polonaise und Quodlibet: Der innere Kosmos der Goldberg-Variationen" in Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variationen, Musik-Konzepte 42 (Kassel: Bärenreiter), pp. 3–28, esp. 22–26.
Schiassi, Germana (2007). Johann Sebastian Bach. Le Variazioni Goldberg. Bologna: Albisani Editore. ISBN 978-88-95803-00-5.
Velikovskiy, Alexander (2021). Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach. Saint Petersburg: Planeta Musiki ISBN 978-5-8114-6876-8. [in Russian]
Kennicott, Philip, Counterpoint: a Memoir of Bach and Mourning, WW Norton &amp; Company, New York, 2020, ISBN 978-0-393-86838-8 
External links[edit]
  Goldberg Week at NPR's Deceptive Cadence 
 Video showing how the fifth canon of BWV 1087 can be written on a clear Mobius strip  
Online scores[edit]
   Goldberg Variations : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
  Goldberg Variations  on Mutopia 
 Animated graphical scores of the Goldberg Variations , with harpsichord performances by Colin Booth 
Essays[edit]
  "Goldberg Variations – The Best Recordings" – theclassicreview.com
 The Goldberg Variations made new – Review of Glenn Gould's and Simone Dinnerstein's renditions
 An essay on the Goldberg Variations by Yo Tomita 
 Canons of the Goldberg Variations  – graphical analysis enables you to see the leader and follower in the canons
 J.S. Bach, the architect and servant of the spiritual – a closer look at the Goldberg Variations   
Recordings[edit]
  Public-domain piano recording by Kimiko Ishizaka (Open Goldberg Variations project), with linked newly edited score.
 Bach-cantatas.com: The Goldberg Variations  – Comprehensive discography
 jsbach.org: BWV 988 – Reviews of many recordings
Goldberg Variations - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberg_Variations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Wikipedia
2003-09-19
Authority control
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Serenade No. 13</th></tr><tr><td>by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Mozart_drawing_Doris_Stock_1789.jpg"></a><div><p>Drawing by <a href="/wiki/Doris_Stock">Doris Stock</a>, 1789</p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Other name</th><td><i>Eine kleine Nachtmusik</i></td></tr><tr><th>Key</th><td><a href="/wiki/G_major">G major</a></td></tr><tr><th>Catalogue</th><td><a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 525</td></tr><tr><th>Composed</th><td>10 August 1787</td></tr><tr><th>Published</th><td>1827, <a href="/wiki/Offenbach_am_Main">Offenbach am Main</a></td></tr><tr><th>Duration</th><td>about 16 minutes</td></tr><tr><th>Movements</th><td>Four</td></tr><tr><th>Scoring</th><td><div><ul><li>two <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Viola">viola</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Cello">cello</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Double_bass">double bass</a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><b><i>Eine kleine Nachtmusik</i></b><sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[a]</a></sup> (<b>Serenade No. 13</b> for strings in <a href="/wiki/G_major">G major</a>), <a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 525, is a 1787 composition for a <a href="/wiki/Chamber_music">chamber ensemble</a> by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a> (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music".<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[b]</a></sup> The work is written for an ensemble of two <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a>, <a href="/wiki/Viola">viola</a>, <a href="/wiki/Cello">cello</a> and <a href="/wiki/Double_bass">double bass</a>, but is often performed by <a href="/wiki/String_orchestra">string orchestras</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397-5">[3]</a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Serenade">serenade</a> is one of Mozart's most famous works.
</p>
<h2>Composition, publication, and reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Serenade">serenade</a> was completed in Vienna on 10 August 1787,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397-5">[3]</a></sup> around the time Mozart was working on the second act of his opera <i><a href="/wiki/Don_Giovanni">Don Giovanni</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEinstein1962206-6">[4]</a></sup> It is not known why it was composed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992398-7">[5]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Hildesheimer">Wolfgang Hildesheimer</a>, noting that most of Mozart's serenades were written on commission, suggests that this serenade, too, was a commission, whose origin and first performance were not recorded.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215-8">[6]</a></sup>
</p><p>The traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalog, which begins, "Eine kleine Nacht-Musik".<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[c]</a></sup> As <a href="/wiki/Neal_Zaslaw">Zaslaw</a> and Cowdery point out, Mozart almost certainly was not giving the piece a special title, but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZaslawCowdery1991250-10">[7]</a></sup>
</p><p>The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart's death, by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Anton_Andr%C3%A9">Johann André</a> in <a href="/wiki/Offenbach_am_Main">Offenbach am Main</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397-5">[3]</a></sup> It had been sold to this publisher in 1799 by Mozart's widow <a href="/wiki/Constanze_Mozart">Constanze</a>, part of a large bundle of her husband's compositions.
</p><p>Today, the serenade is widely performed and recorded; indeed, both Jacobson and Hildesheimer opine that the serenade is the most popular of all Mozart's works.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215-8">[6]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJacobson200338-11">[8]</a></sup> Of the music, Hildesheimer writes, "even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215-8">[6]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Movements[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The work has four <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movements</a>:
</p>
<div><ol><li><a href="/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markings">Allegro</a> (G major)</li><li><a href="/wiki/Romance_(music)">Romanze</a>: Andante (C major)</li><li><a href="/wiki/Minuet">Menuetto</a>: Allegretto (G major, with trio in D major)</li><li>Finale: Allegro (G major)</li></ol></div>
<h3>I. Allegro[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra</p></div></div>
<p>This first movement is in <a href="/wiki/Sonata_form">sonata-allegro form</a>. It opens with an ascending <a href="/wiki/Mannheim_school#Musical_innovations">Mannheim rocket</a> <a href="/wiki/Theme_(music)">theme</a>. The second theme is more graceful and in <a href="/wiki/D_major">D major</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Dominant_key">dominant key</a> of <a href="/wiki/G_major">G major</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Exposition_(music)">exposition</a> closes in D major and is repeated. The <a href="/wiki/Musical_development">development</a> section begins on D major and touches on <a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a> and <a href="/wiki/C_major">C major</a> before the work returns to G major for the <a href="/wiki/Recapitulation_(music)">recapitulation</a>.
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<dl><dd>The first theme</dd></dl>
<h3>II. Romanze: Andante[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The second movement, with the tempo marked <i><a href="/wiki/Andante_(tempo)">Andante</a></i>, is a <a href="/wiki/Romance_(music)">Romanze</a> in the subdominant key of <a href="/wiki/C_major">C major</a>. It is in <a href="/wiki/Rondo_form">rondo form</a>, taking the shape A–B–A–C–A plus a final <a href="/wiki/Coda_(music)">coda</a>. The keys of the sections are C major for A and B, C minor for C. The middle appearance of A is truncated, consisting of only the first half of the theme. <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Heartz">Daniel Heartz</a> describes the movement as evoking <a href="/wiki/Gavotte">gavotte</a> rhythm: each of its sections begins in the middle of the measure, with a double upbeat.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHeartz2009185-12">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The third movement, marked <i><a href="/wiki/Allegretto">Allegretto</a></i>, is a <a href="/wiki/Minuet">minuet</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ternary_form">trio</a>, both in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> time. The minuet is in the home key of G major, the contrasting trio in the dominant key of D major. As is normal in this form, the minuet is played again <a href="/wiki/Da_capo">da capo</a> following the trio.
</p>
<h3>IV. Finale: Allegro[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The fourth and last movement is in lively <a href="/wiki/Tempo">tempo</a>, marked <i>Allegro</i>; the key is again G major. The movement is written in <a href="/wiki/Sonata_form">sonata form</a>. Mozart specifies repeats not just for the exposition section but also for the following <a href="/wiki/Musical_development">development</a> and <a href="/wiki/Recapitulation_(music)">recapitulation</a> section. The recapitulation's first theme is unusual because only its last two bars return in the <a href="/wiki/Parallel_minor">parallel minor</a>. The work ends with a long <a href="/wiki/Coda_(music)">coda</a>.
</p>
<h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In the catalog entry mentioned <a href="#catalog">above</a>, Mozart listed the work as having five movements ("Allegro – Minuet and Trio – Romance – Minuet and Trio – Finale.").<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZaslawCowdery1991250-10">[7]</a></sup> The second movement in his listing — a minuet and trio — was long thought lost, and no one knows if Mozart or someone else removed it. In his 1984 recording, <a href="/wiki/Christopher_Hogwood">Christopher Hogwood</a> used a minuet of <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Attwood_(composer)">Thomas Attwood</a> (found in his sketchbooks used while he took lessons from Mozart), and an additional newly composed trio to substitute the missing movement. Musicologist <a href="/wiki/Alfred_Einstein">Alfred Einstein</a> suggested, however, that a minuet in the <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonata_in_B-flat_major,_K._498a">Piano Sonata in B♭ major, K. 498a</a>, is the missing movement.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEinstein1962[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidEp4PXMszMv4CpgPA207_207]-13">[10]</a></sup> K. 498a, which is credited to the composer <a href="/wiki/August_Eberhard_M%C3%BCller">August Eberhard Müller</a>, incorporates significant amounts of Mozart's work in the form of reworkings of material from the piano concertos <a href="/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._15_(Mozart)">K. 450</a>, <a href="/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._18_(Mozart)">K. 456</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._27_(Mozart)">K. 595</a>, leading Einstein to suggest that the minuet in Müller's sonata might be an arrangement of the missing movement from <i>Eine kleine Nachtmusik</i>.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>In 1971, this movement was incorporated into a recording of the work prepared by the musicologist and performer <a href="/wiki/Thurston_Dart">Thurston Dart</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDart1971-14">[11]</a></sup> In 1989, the minuet and trio of K. 498a was again recorded as part of an arrangement of <i>Eine Kleine Nachtmusik</i> made by <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Del_Mar">Jonathan Del Mar</a> for <a href="/wiki/Nimbus_Records">Nimbus Records</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoodman-15">[12]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>Parodies by <a href="/wiki/Peter_Schickele">Peter Schickele</a>:
<ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Portrait_of_P._D._Q._Bach#Eine_Kleine_Nichtmusik">Eine kleine Nichtmusik</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="/wiki/A_Little_Nightmare_Music">A Little Nightmare Music</a></i></li></ul></li></ul>
<h2>Notes and references[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><b>Notes</b>
</p>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> German pronunciation: <small></small><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German">[ˈaɪnə ˈklaɪnə ˈnaxtmuˌziːk]</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> See "Nachtmusik"<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEUnverrichtEisen2001a-2">[1]</a></sup> and "Notturno"<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEUnverrichtEisen2001b-3">[2]</a></sup> entries in <a href="/wiki/Grove_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> The full entry reads (in German) "Eine kleine Nachtmusik, bestehend in einem Allegro.Menuett und Trio.–Romance.Menuett und Trio, und Finale.–2 violini, viola e bassi."; "A little serenade, consisting of an allegro, a minuet and trio, a romance, [another] minuet and trio, and a finale. For two violins, viola, and bass instruments." Mozart's "incipit" (quotation for identification purposes) consists of the first two bars of the first movement. The catalog is posted at <a href="http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/mozart/mozart_broadband.htm?middle">the web site</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121019171214/http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/mozart/mozart_broadband.htm?middle">Archived</a> 19 October 2012 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> of the British Library.
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>References</b>
</p>
<div>
<ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUnverrichtEisen2001a_2-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFUnverrichtEisen2001a">Unverricht &amp; Eisen 2001a</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUnverrichtEisen2001b_3-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFUnverrichtEisen2001b">Unverricht &amp; Eisen 2001b</a>.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992397_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFHoloman1992">Holoman 1992</a>, p. 397.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEinstein1962206_6-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEinstein1962">Einstein 1962</a>, p. 206.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHoloman1992398_7-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFHoloman1992">Holoman 1992</a>, p. 398.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHildesheimer1991215_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFHildesheimer1991">Hildesheimer 1991</a>, p. 215.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZaslawCowdery1991250_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEZaslawCowdery1991250_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFZaslawCowdery1991">Zaslaw &amp; Cowdery 1991</a>, p. 250.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJacobson200338_11-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFJacobson2003">Jacobson 2003</a>, p. 38.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHeartz2009185_12-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFHeartz2009">Heartz 2009</a>, p. 185.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEinstein1962[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidEp4PXMszMv4CpgPA207_207]_13-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEinstein1962">Einstein 1962</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ep4PXMszMv4C&amp;pg=PA207">207</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDart1971_14-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDart1971">Dart 1971</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGoodman_15-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGoodman">Goodman</a>.
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>Sources</b>
</p>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Thurston_Dart">Dart, Thurston</a> (1971) <i><a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/1534747">Chamber Music by Mozart</a></i> at <a href="/wiki/Discogs">Discogs</a> (list of releases)</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Alfred_Einstein">Einstein, Alfred</a> (1962). <a href="https://archive.org/details/mozarthischaract00eins"><i>Mozart, His Character, His Work</i></a>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Mendel">Arthur Mendel</a>, Nathan Broder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-500732-9"><bdi>978-0-19-500732-9</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/31827291">31827291</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Roy_Goodman">Goodman, Roy</a>. <a href="https://www.wyastone.co.uk/mozart-eine-kleine-nachtmusik.html">"Mozart, <i>Eine kleine Nachtmusic</i>"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Nimbus_Records">Nimbus Records</a>. NI7023. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090426025029/http://www.wyastone.co.uk/nrl/main/7023b.html">Archived</a> from the original on 26 April 2009.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Heartz">Heartz, Daniel</a> (2009). <i>Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven, 1781–1802</i>. New York: W. W. Norton.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Hildesheimer">Hildesheimer, Wolfgang</a> (1991). <i>Mozart</i>. Translated by Marion Faber. Macmillan. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-374-52298-7"><bdi>0-374-52298-7</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/D._Kern_Holoman">Holoman, D. Kern</a> (1992). <a href="https://archive.org/details/eveningswithorch00holo"><i>Evenings with the orchestra: a Norton companion for concertgoers</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/W._W._Norton_%26_Company">W. W. Norton &amp; Company</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-393-02936-0"><bdi>0-393-02936-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Jacobson, Julius H. (2003). <a href="https://archive.org/details/classicalmusicex0000jaco"><i>The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World's Greatest Composers</i></a>. Vol. 2. narrated by <a href="/wiki/Kevin_Kline">Kevin Kline</a>. Sourcebooks. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-57071-950-0"><bdi>1-57071-950-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Hubert_Unverricht">Unverricht, Hubert</a>; <a href="/wiki/Cliff_Eisen">Eisen, Cliff</a> (2001a). "Nachtmusik (Ger.: 'night music')". <i><a href="/wiki/Grove_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.19524">10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19524</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Unverricht, Hubert; Eisen, Cliff (2001b). "Notturno (It.: 'nocturnal')". <i>Grove Music Online</i>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.20135">10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20135</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Neal_Zaslaw">Zaslaw, Neal</a>; Cowdery, William (1991). <i>The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</i>. Norton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-393-02886-0"><bdi>0-393-02886-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li></li>
<li><i>Serenade in G. Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=125&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=43">Score</a> and <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=126&amp;l=1&amp;p1=15">critical report</a> (in German) in the <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik,_K.525_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)"><i>Eine kleine Nachtmusik</i></a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/mozart_kv525_afarcry.mp3">Performance of <i>Eine kleine Nachtmusik</i></a> by <a href="/wiki/A_Far_Cry">A Far Cry</a> from the <a href="/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum">Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum</a> in <a href="/wiki/MP3">MP3</a> format</li></ul>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Composition, publication, and reception
 * 2 Movements
 + 2.1 I. Allegro
 + 2.2 II. Romanze: Andante
 + 2.3 III. Menuetto: Allegretto
 + 2.4 IV. Finale: Allegro
 * 3 Possible extra movement
 * 4 See also
 * 5 Notes and references
 * 6 External links
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 Eine kleine Nachtmusik

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Serenade No. 13 
 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
 Drawing by Doris Stock, 1789
 Other name Eine kleine Nachtmusik 
 Key G major 
 Catalogue K. 525 
 Composed 10 August 1787 
 Published 1827, Offenbach am Main
 Duration about 16 minutes 
 Movements Four 
 * two violins 
 Scoring * viola 
 * cello 
 * double bass 
 

 Eine kleine Nachtmusik[a] (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music".[b] The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras.[3] The serenade is one of Mozart's most famous works.

 Composition, publication, and reception [ edit ]

 The serenade was completed in Vienna on 10 August 1787,[3] around the time Mozart was working on the second act of his opera Don Giovanni.[4] It is not known why it was composed.[5] Wolfgang Hildesheimer, noting that most of Mozart's serenades were written on commission, suggests that this serenade, too, was a commission, whose origin and first performance were not recorded.[6]

 The traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalog, which begins, "Eine kleine Nacht-Musik".[c] As Zaslaw and Cowdery point out, Mozart almost certainly was not giving the piece a special title, but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade.[7]

 The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart's death, by Johann André in Offenbach am Main.[3] It had been sold to this publisher in 1799 by Mozart's widow Constanze, part of a large bundle of her husband's compositions.

 Today, the serenade is widely performed and recorded; indeed, both Jacobson and Hildesheimer opine that the serenade is the most popular of all Mozart's works.[6][8] Of the music, Hildesheimer writes, "even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen."[6]

 Movements [ edit ]

 The work has four movements:

 1. Allegro (G major)
 2. Romanze: Andante (C major)
 3. Menuetto: Allegretto (G major, with trio in D major)
 4. Finale: Allegro (G major)

 I. Allegro [ edit ]

 1. Allegro
 Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 This first movement is in sonata-allegro form. It opens with an ascending Mannheim rocket theme. The second theme is more graceful and in D major, the dominant key of G major. The exposition closes in D major and is repeated. The development section begins on D major and touches on D minor and C major before the work returns to G major for the recapitulation.

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.
 The first theme

 II. Romanze: Andante [ edit ]

 2. Andante
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The second movement, with the tempo marked Andante, is a Romanze in the subdominant key of C major. It is in rondo form, taking the shape A–B–A–C–A plus a final coda. The keys of the sections are C major for A and B, C minor for C. The middle appearance of A is truncated, consisting of only the first half of the theme. Daniel Heartz describes the movement as evoking gavotte rhythm: each of its sections begins in the middle of the measure, with a double upbeat.[9]

 III. Menuetto: Allegretto [ edit ]

 The third movement, marked Allegretto, is a minuet and trio, both in 3
 4 time. The minuet is in the home key of G major, the contrasting trio in the dominant key of D major. As is normal in this form, the minuet is played again da capo following the trio.

 IV. Finale: Allegro [ edit ]

 4. Allegro
 Synthesized version
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The fourth and last movement is in lively tempo, marked Allegro; the key is again G major. The movement is written in sonata form. Mozart specifies repeats not just for the exposition section but also for the following development and recapitulation section. The recapitulation's first theme is unusual because only its last two bars return in the parallel minor. The work ends with a long coda.

 Possible extra movement [ edit ]

 In the catalog entry mentioned above, Mozart listed the work as having five movements ("Allegro – Minuet and Trio – Romance – Minuet and Trio – Finale.").[7] The second movement in his listing — a minuet and trio — was long thought lost, and no one knows if Mozart or someone else removed it. In his 1984 recording, Christopher Hogwood used a minuet of Thomas Attwood (found in his sketchbooks used while he took lessons from Mozart), and an additional newly composed trio to substitute the missing movement. Musicologist Alfred Einstein suggested, however, that a minuet in the Piano Sonata in B ♭ major, K. 498a, is the missing movement.[10] K. 498a, which is credited to the composer August Eberhard Müller, incorporates significant amounts of Mozart's work in the form of reworkings of material from the piano concertos K. 450, K. 456, and K. 595, leading Einstein to suggest that the minuet in Müller's sonata might be an arrangement of the missing movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik.[ citation needed ]

 In 1971, this movement was incorporated into a recording of the work prepared by the musicologist and performer Thurston Dart.[11] In 1989, the minuet and trio of K. 498a was again recorded as part of an arrangement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik made by Jonathan Del Mar for Nimbus Records.[12]

 See also [ edit ]

 * Parodies by Peter Schickele:
 + Eine kleine Nichtmusik
 + A Little Nightmare Music

 Notes and references [ edit ]

 Notes

 1. ^ German pronunciation: [ˈaɪnə ˈklaɪnə ˈnaxtmuˌziːk] .
 2. ^ See "Nachtmusik" [1] and "Notturno" [2] entries in Grove Music Online .
 3. ^ The full entry reads (in German) "Eine kleine Nachtmusik, bestehend in einem Allegro.Menuett und Trio.–Romance.Menuett und Trio, und Finale.–2 violini, viola e bassi."; "A little serenade, consisting of an allegro, a minuet and trio, a romance, [another] minuet and trio, and a finale. For two violins, viola, and bass instruments." Mozart's "incipit" (quotation for identification purposes) consists of the first two bars of the first movement. The catalog is posted at the web site Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine of the British Library.

 References

 1. ^ Unverricht & Eisen 2001a .
 2. ^ Unverricht & Eisen 2001b .
 3. ^ a b c Holoman 1992 , p. 397.
 4. ^ Einstein 1962 , p. 206.
 5. ^ Holoman 1992 , p. 398.
 6. ^ a b c Hildesheimer 1991 , p. 215.
 7. ^ a b Zaslaw & Cowdery 1991 , p. 250.
 8. ^ Jacobson 2003 , p. 38.
 9. ^ Heartz 2009 , p. 185.
 10. ^ Einstein 1962 , p. 207 .
 11. ^ Dart 1971 .
 12. ^ Goodman .

 Sources

 * Dart, Thurston (1971) Chamber Music by Mozart at Discogs (list of releases)
 * Einstein, Alfred (1962). Mozart, His Character, His Work. Translated by Arthur Mendel, Nathan Broder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-500732-9. OCLC 31827291.
 * Goodman, Roy. "Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusic". Nimbus Records. NI7023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
 * Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven, 1781–1802. New York: W. W. Norton.
 * Hildesheimer, Wolfgang (1991). Mozart. Translated by Marion Faber. Macmillan. ISBN 0-374-52298-7.
 * Holoman, D. Kern (1992). Evenings with the orchestra: a Norton companion for concertgoers. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-02936-0.
 * Jacobson, Julius H. (2003). The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World's Greatest Composers. Vol. 2. narrated by Kevin Kline. Sourcebooks. ISBN 1-57071-950-0.
 * Unverricht, Hubert; Eisen, Cliff (2001a). "Nachtmusik (Ger.: 'night music')". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19524.
 * Unverricht, Hubert; Eisen, Cliff (2001b). "Notturno (It.: 'nocturnal')". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20135.
 * Zaslaw, Neal; Cowdery, William (1991). The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Norton. ISBN 0-393-02886-0.

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
 * 
 * Serenade in G. Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 * Eine kleine Nachtmusik: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Performance of Eine kleine Nachtmusik by A Far Cry from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
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 * No. 7 in D, K. 250 ("Haffner") 
 * No. 9 in D, K. 320 ("Posthorn") 
 * No. 10 in B ♭ , K. 361 ("Gran Partita") 
 * No. 11 in E ♭ , K. 375 
 * No. 12 in C minor, K. 388 
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   Serenade No. 13   by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart        Drawing by Doris Stock, 1789     Other name  Eine kleine Nachtmusik    Key  G major    Catalogue  K. 525   Composed 10 August 1787   Published 1827, Offenbach am Main    Duration about 16 minutes   Movements Four   Scoring    two violins   viola   cello   double bass       
  Eine kleine Nachtmusik   [a]  (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music". [b]  The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras. [3]  The serenade is one of Mozart's most famous works.
Composition, publication, and reception[edit]
The serenade was completed in Vienna on 10 August 1787, [3]  around the time Mozart was working on the second act of his opera  Don Giovanni . [4]  It is not known why it was composed. [5]  Wolfgang Hildesheimer, noting that most of Mozart's serenades were written on commission, suggests that this serenade, too, was a commission, whose origin and first performance were not recorded. [6] 
 The traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalog, which begins, "Eine kleine Nacht-Musik". [c]  As Zaslaw and Cowdery point out, Mozart almost certainly was not giving the piece a special title, but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade. [7] 
 The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart's death, by Johann André in Offenbach am Main. [3]  It had been sold to this publisher in 1799 by Mozart's widow Constanze, part of a large bundle of her husband's compositions.
 Today, the serenade is widely performed and recorded; indeed, both Jacobson and Hildesheimer opine that the serenade is the most popular of all Mozart's works. [6]   [8]  Of the music, Hildesheimer writes, "even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen." [6] 
Movements[edit]
The work has four movements:
   Allegro (G major)  Romanze: Andante (C major)  Menuetto: Allegretto (G major, with trio in D major) Finale: Allegro (G major)  
I. Allegro[edit]
   
Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra  
This first movement is in sonata-allegro form. It opens with an ascending Mannheim rocket theme. The second theme is more graceful and in D major, the dominant key of G major. The exposition closes in D major and is repeated. The development section begins on D major and touches on D minor and C major before the work returns to G major for the recapitulation.
   
 The first theme 
II. Romanze: Andante[edit]
   
The second movement, with the tempo marked  Andante , is a Romanze in the subdominant key of C major. It is in rondo form, taking the shape A–B–A–C–A plus a final coda. The keys of the sections are C major for A and B, C minor for C. The middle appearance of A is truncated, consisting of only the first half of the theme. Daniel Heartz describes the movement as evoking gavotte rhythm: each of its sections begins in the middle of the measure, with a double upbeat. [9] 
[edit]
The third movement, marked  Allegretto , is a minuet and trio, both in  3    4  time. The minuet is in the home key of G major, the contrasting trio in the dominant key of D major. As is normal in this form, the minuet is played again da capo following the trio.
IV. Finale: Allegro[edit]
   
The fourth and last movement is in lively tempo, marked Allegro; the key is again G major. The movement is written in sonata form. Mozart specifies repeats not just for the exposition section but also for the following development and recapitulation section. The recapitulation's first theme is unusual because only its last two bars return in the parallel minor. The work ends with a long coda.
[edit]
In the catalog entry mentioned above, Mozart listed the work as having five movements ("Allegro – Minuet and Trio – Romance – Minuet and Trio – Finale."). [7]  The second movement in his listing — a minuet and trio — was long thought lost, and no one knows if Mozart or someone else removed it. In his 1984 recording, Christopher Hogwood used a minuet of Thomas Attwood (found in his sketchbooks used while he took lessons from Mozart), and an additional newly composed trio to substitute the missing movement. Musicologist Alfred Einstein suggested, however, that a minuet in the Piano Sonata in B♭ major, K. 498a, is the missing movement. [10]  K. 498a, which is credited to the composer August Eberhard Müller, incorporates significant amounts of Mozart's work in the form of reworkings of material from the piano concertos K. 450, K. 456, and K. 595, leading Einstein to suggest that the minuet in Müller's sonata might be an arrangement of the missing movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik.[ citation needed ]
 In 1971, this movement was incorporated into a recording of the work prepared by the musicologist and performer Thurston Dart. [11]  In 1989, the minuet and trio of K. 498a was again recorded as part of an arrangement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik made by Jonathan Del Mar for Nimbus Records. [12] 
See also[edit]
 Parodies by Peter Schickele:
   Eine kleine Nichtmusik  
  A Little Nightmare Music     
Notes and references[edit]
 Notes
 
  ^  German pronunciation:   [ˈaɪnə ˈklaɪnə ˈnaxtmuˌziːk].
  ^  See "Nachtmusik" [1]  and "Notturno" [2]  entries in Grove Music Online.
  ^  The full entry reads (in German) "Eine kleine Nachtmusik, bestehend in einem Allegro.Menuett und Trio.–Romance.Menuett und Trio, und Finale.–2 violini, viola e bassi."; "A little serenade, consisting of an allegro, a minuet and trio, a romance, [another] minuet and trio, and a finale. For two violins, viola, and bass instruments." Mozart's "incipit" (quotation for identification purposes) consists of the first two bars of the first movement. The catalog is posted at the web site Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine of the British Library.
 
 References
  ^  Unverricht &amp; Eisen 2001a.
  ^  Unverricht &amp; Eisen 2001b.
^    a       b       c    Holoman 1992, p. 397.
  ^  Einstein 1962, p. 206.
  ^  Holoman 1992, p. 398.
^    a       b       c    Hildesheimer 1991, p. 215.
^    a       b    Zaslaw &amp; Cowdery 1991, p. 250.
  ^  Jacobson 2003, p. 38.
  ^  Heartz 2009, p. 185.
  ^  Einstein 1962, p. 207.
  ^  Dart 1971.
  ^  Goodman.
 
 Sources
   Dart, Thurston (1971)  Chamber Music by Mozart  at Discogs (list of releases) 
  Einstein, Alfred (1962).  Mozart, His Character, His Work . Translated by Arthur Mendel, Nathan Broder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN  978-0-19-500732-9 . OCLC 31827291. 
  Goodman, Roy. "Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusic". Nimbus Records. NI7023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. 
  Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven, 1781–1802. New York: W. W. Norton. 
  Hildesheimer, Wolfgang (1991). Mozart. Translated by Marion Faber. Macmillan. ISBN  0-374-52298-7 . 
  Holoman, D. Kern (1992).  Evenings with the orchestra: a Norton companion for concertgoers . W. W. Norton &amp; Company. ISBN  0-393-02936-0 . 
 Jacobson, Julius H. (2003).  The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World's Greatest Composers . Vol. 2. narrated by Kevin Kline. Sourcebooks. ISBN  1-57071-950-0 . 
  Unverricht, Hubert; Eisen, Cliff (2001a). "Nachtmusik (Ger.: 'night music')".  Grove Music Online . doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19524. 
 Unverricht, Hubert; Eisen, Cliff (2001b). "Notturno (It.: 'nocturnal')". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20135. 
  Zaslaw, Neal; Cowdery, William (1991). The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Norton. ISBN  0-393-02886-0 .  
External links[edit]
  
 Serenade in G. Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525: Score and critical report (in German) in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
  Eine kleine Nachtmusik : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Performance of Eine kleine Nachtmusik  by A Far Cry from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eine_kleine_Nachtmusik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
2001-08-02
Authority control databases
<div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>The Marriage of Figaro</th></tr><tr><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera">Opera</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">W. A. Mozart</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Early 19th-century engraving depicting Count Almaviva and Susanna in act 3</p></td></tr><tr><th>Native title</th><td><p><i>Le nozze di Figaro</i></p></td></tr><tr><th>Librettist</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Lorenzo Da Ponte</a></td></tr><tr><th>Language</th><td>Italian</td></tr><tr><th>Based on</th><td><br/>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Beaumarchais">Pierre Beaumarchais</a></td></tr><tr><th>Premiere</th><td><div><p>1 May 1786</p><div><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgtheater#History">Burgtheater</a>, Vienna</p></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><i><b>The Marriage of Figaro</b></i> (Italian: <i><b>Le nozze di Figaro</b></i>, ), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 492, is a <i>commedia per musica</i> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_buffa">opera buffa</a>) in four acts composed in 1786 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a>, with an Italian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libretto">libretto</a> written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Lorenzo Da Ponte</a>. It premiered at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgtheater">Burgtheater</a> in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Beaumarchais">Pierre Beaumarchais</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_folle_journ%C3%A9e,_ou_le_Mariage_de_Figaro">La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro</a></i> ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"). It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.
</p><p>Considered one of the greatest operas ever written,<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> it is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operabase">Operabase</a> list of most frequently performed operas.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> In 2017, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_News_Magazine">BBC News Magazine</a> asked 172 opera singers to vote for the best operas ever written. <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> came in first out of the 20 operas featured, with the magazine describing the work as being "one of the supreme masterpieces of operatic comedy, whose rich sense of humanity shines out of Mozart’s miraculous score".<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>Beaumarchais's earlier play <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville_(play)">The Barber of Seville</a></i> had already made a successful transition to opera in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville_(Paisiello)">version by Paisiello</a>. Beaumarchais's <i>Mariage de Figaro</i>, with its frank treatment of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_conflict">class conflict</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-NPR-4">[4]</a></sup> was at first banned in Vienna: Emperor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor">Joseph II</a> stated that "since the piece contains much that is objectionable, I therefore expect that the Censor shall either reject it altogether, or at any rate have such alterations made in it that he shall be responsible for the performance of this play and for the impression it may make", after which the Austrian Censor duly forbade performing the German version of the play.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> Mozart's librettist managed to get official approval from the emperor for an operatic version, which eventually achieved great success.
</p><p>The opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte, followed by <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni">Don Giovanni</a></i> and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos%C3%AC_fan_tutte">Così fan tutte</a></i>. It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais's play and brought it to Da Ponte, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original's political references. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaro's climactic speech against inherited nobility with an equally angry aria against unfaithful wives.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> The libretto was approved by the Emperor before any music was written by Mozart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup>
</p><p>The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Hungarian_florin">florins</a> for the work;<sup><a href="#cite_note-Deutsch274-9">[9]</a></sup> this was three times his meagre yearly salary when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Solomon1995-10">[10]</a></sup> Da Ponte was paid 200 florins.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Deutsch274-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p><i>Figaro</i> premiered at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgtheater">Burgtheater</a> in Vienna on 1 May <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1786_in_music#Opera">1786</a>, with a cast listed in the "<a href="#Roles">Roles</a>" section below. Mozart himself conducted the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Later performances were conducted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Weigl">Joseph Weigl</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> The first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786.<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup>
</p><p>Although the total of nine performances was nothing like the frequency of performance of Mozart's later success, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute">The Magic Flute</a></i>, which for months was performed roughly every other day,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Solomon1995-10">[10]</a></sup> the premiere is generally judged to have been a success. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encore">encored</a>, seven on 8 May.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Emperor Joseph, in charge of the Burgtheater,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERice1999331-14">[14]</a></sup> was concerned by the length of the performance and directed his aide <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Xaver_Wolfgang_von_Orsini-Rosenberg&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Count Orsini–Rosenberg</a> as follows:
</p>
<blockquote><p>
To prevent the excessive duration of operas, without however prejudicing the fame often sought by opera singers from the repetition of vocal pieces, I deem the enclosed notice to the public (that no piece for more than a single voice is to be repeated) to be the most reasonable expedient. You will therefore cause some posters to this effect to be printed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>The requested posters were printed up and posted in the Burgtheater in time for the third performance on 24 May.<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p><p>The newspaper <i>Wiener Realzeitung</i> carried a review of the opera in its issue of 11 July 1786. It alludes to interference probably produced by paid hecklers, but praises the work warmly:
</p>
<blockquote><p>Mozart's music was generally admired by connoisseurs already at the first performance, if I except only those whose self-love and conceit will not allow them to find merit in anything not written by themselves.
</p><p>The <i>public</i>, however ... did not really know on the first day where it stood. It heard many a <i>bravo</i> from unbiased connoisseurs, but obstreperous louts in the uppermost storey exerted their hired lungs with all their might to deafen singers and audience alike with their <i>St!</i> and <i>Pst</i>; and consequently opinions were divided at the end of the piece.
</p><p>Apart from that, it is true that the first performance was none of the best, owing to the difficulties of the composition.
</p><p>But now, after several performances, one would be subscribing either to the <i>cabal</i> or to <i>tastelessness</i> if one were to maintain that Herr <i>Mozart's</i> music is anything but a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpiece">masterpiece</a> of art.
</p><p>
It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be drawn only from the source of innate genius.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>The Hungarian poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_Kazinczy">Ferenc Kazinczy</a> was in the audience for a May performance, and later remembered the powerful impression the work made on him:
</p>
<blockquote><p>[Nancy] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Storace">Storace</a> [see below], the beautiful singer, enchanted eye, ear, and soul. – Mozart conducted the orchestra, playing his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortepiano">fortepiano</a>; but the joy which this music causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy?<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn">Joseph Haydn</a> appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams.<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> In summer 1790 Haydn attempted to produce the work with his own company at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eszterh%C3%A1za">Eszterháza</a>, but was prevented from doing so by the death of his patron, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Esterh%C3%A1zy">Nikolaus Esterházy</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>The Emperor requested a special performance at his palace theatre in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxenburg">Laxenburg</a>, which took place in June 1786.<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup>
</p><p>The opera was produced in Prague starting in December 1786 by the Pasquale Bondini company. This production was a tremendous success; the newspaper <i>Prager Oberpostamtszeitung</i> called the work "a masterpiece",<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> and said "no piece (for everyone here asserts) has ever caused such a sensation."<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup> Local music lovers paid for Mozart to visit Prague and hear the production; he listened on 17 January 1787, and conducted it himself on the 22nd.<sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> The success of the Prague production led to the commissioning of the next Mozart/Da Ponte opera, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni">Don Giovanni</a></i>, premiered in Prague in 1787 (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Prague">Mozart and Prague</a>).
</p><p>The work was not performed in Vienna during 1787 or 1788, but starting in 1789 there was a revival production.<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> For this occasion Mozart replaced both arias of Susanna with new compositions, better suited to the voice of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana_Ferrarese_del_Bene">Adriana Ferrarese del Bene</a> who took the role. To replace "" he wrote "" – "[come and fly] To the desire of [the one] who adores you" (K. 577) in July 1789, and to replace "" he wrote "" – "A joyous emotion", (K. 579), probably in mid-1790.<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_type">voice types</a> that appear in this table are those listed in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_edition_(opera)">critical edition</a> published in the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-NMA2-27">[27]</a></sup> In modern performance practice, Cherubino and Marcellina are usually assigned to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezzo-soprano">mezzo-sopranos</a>, and Figaro to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass-baritone">bass-baritone</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup>
</p>
<table>
<caption>
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Role<sup><a href="#cite_note-NMA2-27">[27]</a></sup>
</th>
<th><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_type">Voice type</a>
</th>
<th>Premiere cast, 1 May 1786<br/><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conducting">Conductor</a>: W. A. Mozart<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>Count Almaviva</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone">baritone</a></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stefano_Mandini&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Stefano Mandini</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Countess Rosina Almaviva</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soprano">soprano</a></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_Laschi">Luisa Laschi</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Susanna, <i>the countess's maid</i></td>
<td>soprano</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Storace">Nancy Storace</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Figaro, <i>personal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valet">valet</a> to the count</i></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_(voice_type)">bass</a></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Benucci">Francesco Benucci</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Cherubino, <i>the Count's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_(servant)">page</a></i></td>
<td>soprano (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches_role">breeches role</a>)</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dorotea_Bussani&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Dorotea Bussani</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Marcellina, <i>Doctor Bartolo's housekeeper</i></td>
<td>soprano</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maria_Mandini&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Maria Mandini</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Bartolo, <i>doctor from Seville, also a practicing lawyer</i></td>
<td>bass</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francesco_Bussani&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Francesco Bussani</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Basilio, <i>music teacher</i></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenor">tenor</a></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kelly_(tenor)">Michael Kelly</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Don Curzio, <i>judge</i></td>
<td>tenor</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kelly_(tenor)">Michael Kelly</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Barbarina, <i>Antonio's daughter, Susanna's cousin</i></td>
<td>soprano</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Gottlieb">Anna Gottlieb</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Antonio, <i>the Count's gardener, Susanna's uncle</i></td>
<td>bass</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francesco_Bussani&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Francesco Bussani</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choir">Chorus</a> of peasants, villagers, and servants
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2></h2>
<p><i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> continues the plot of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville_(play)">The Barber of Seville</a></i> several years later, and recounts a single "day of madness" () in the palace of Count Almaviva near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville">Seville</a>, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess. Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself, and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of <i>Barber</i>, (a tenor in Paisiello's 1782 opera), into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to exercise his <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_du_seigneur">droit du seigneur</a></i> – his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – with Figaro's bride-to-be, Susanna, who is the Countess's maid. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through the clever manipulations of Susanna and the Countess, Figaro and Susanna are finally able to marry.
</p>
<dl><dd>Place: Count Almaviva's estate, Aguas-Frescas, three <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_(unit)">leagues</a> outside Seville, Spain.<sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup></dd></dl>
<h3></h3>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overture">overture</a> is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_major">D major</a>; the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo">tempo</a> marking is <i>presto</i>; i.e. quick. The work is well known and often played independently as a concert piece.
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p><i>A partly furnished room, with a chair in the centre.</i>
</p><p>Figaro happily measures the space where the bridal bed will fit while Susanna tries on her wedding bonnet (which she has sewn herself) in front of a mirror. (Duet: "" – "Five, ten, twenty"). Figaro is quite pleased with their new room; Susanna far less so (Duettino: "" – "If the Countess should call you during the night"). She is bothered by its proximity to the Count's chambers: it seems he has been making advances toward her and plans on exercising his <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_du_seigneur">droit du seigneur</a></i>, the feudal right of a lord to bed a servant girl on her wedding night before her husband can sleep with her. The Count had the right abolished when he married Rosina, but he now wants to reinstate it. The Countess rings for Susanna and she rushes off to answer. Figaro, confident in his own resourcefulness, resolves to outwit the Count (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavatina">Cavatina</a>: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se_vuol_ballare">Se vuol ballare</a>, Signor Contino" – "If you want to dance, Sir Count").
</p><p>Figaro departs, and Dr. Bartolo arrives with Marcellina, his old housekeeper. Figaro had previously borrowed a large sum of money from her, and in lieu of collateral, had promised to marry her if unable to repay at the appointed time; she now intends to enforce that promise by suing him. Bartolo, seeking revenge against Figaro for having facilitated the union of the Count and Rosina (in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville_(play)">The Barber of Seville</a></i>), agrees to represent Marcellina <i>pro bono</i>, and assures her, in comical lawyer-speak, that he can win the case for her (aria: "" – "Vengeance").
</p><p>Bartolo departs, Susanna returns, and Marcellina and Susanna exchange very politely delivered sarcastic insults (duet: "" – "After you, brilliant madam"). Susanna triumphs in the exchange by congratulating her rival on her impressive age. The older woman departs in a fury.
</p>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nozze_di_Figaro_Scene_19th_century.jpg"></a><figcaption>Act 1: Cherubino hides behind Susanna's chair as the Count arrives.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Cherubino then arrives and after describing his emerging infatuation with all women, particularly with his "beautiful godmother" the Countess, (aria: "" – "I don't know anymore what I am") asks for Susanna's aid with the Count. It seems the Count is angry with Cherubino's amorous ways, having discovered him with the gardener's daughter, Barbarina, and plans to punish him. Cherubino wants Susanna to ask the Countess to intercede on his behalf. When the Count appears, Cherubino hides behind a chair, not wanting to be seen alone with Susanna. The Count uses the opportunity of finding Susanna alone to step up his demands for favours from her, and offers to pay money if she will submit to him. As Basilio, the music teacher, arrives, the Count, not wanting to be caught alone with Susanna, hides behind the chair. Cherubino leaves that hiding place just in time, and jumps onto the chair while Susanna scrambles to cover him with a dress.
</p><p>When Basilio starts to gossip about Cherubino's obvious attraction to the Countess, the Count angrily leaps from his hiding place (terzetto: "" – "What do I hear!"). He disparages the "absent" page's incessant flirting and describes how he caught him with Barbarina under the kitchen table. As he lifts the dress from the chair to illustrate how he lifted the tablecloth to expose Cherubino, he finds ... the self same Cherubino! The count is furious, but is reminded that the page overheard the Count's advances on Susanna, information that the Count wants to keep from the Countess. The young man is ultimately saved from punishment by the entrance of the peasants of the Count's estate, a preemptive attempt by Figaro to make the Count commit to a formal gesture symbolizing his promise that Susanna would enter into the marriage unsullied. The Count evades Figaro's plan by postponing the gesture. The Count says that he forgives Cherubino, but he dispatches him to his own regiment in Seville for army duty, effective immediately. Figaro gives Cherubino mocking advice about his new, harsh, military life from which all luxury, and especially women, will be totally excluded (aria: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_pi%C3%B9_andrai">Non più andrai</a>" – "No more <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gallivant">gallivanting</a>").<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p><i>A handsome room with an alcove, a dressing room on the left, a door in the background (leading to the servants' quarters) and a window at the side.</i>
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>The Countess laments her husband's infidelity (aria: "Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro" – "Grant, love, some comfort"). Susanna comes in to prepare the Countess for the day. She responds to the Countess's questions by telling her that the Count is not trying to seduce her; he is merely offering her a monetary contract in return for her affection. Figaro enters and explains his plan to distract the Count with anonymous letters warning him of adulterers. He has already sent one to the Count (via Basilio) indicating that the Countess has a rendezvous of her own that evening. They hope that the Count will be too busy looking for imaginary adulterers to interfere with Figaro and Susanna's wedding. Figaro additionally advises the Countess to keep Cherubino around. She should dress him up as a girl and lure the Count into an illicit rendezvous where he can be caught and embarrassed. Figaro leaves.
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Cherubino arrives, sent in by Figaro. Susanna urges him to sing the song he wrote for the Countess (aria: "Voi che sapete che cosa è amor" – "You ladies who know what love is, is it what I'm suffering from?"). After the song, the Countess, seeing Cherubino's military commission, notices that the Count was in such a hurry that he forgot to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(emblem)">seal</a> it with his signet ring (thus making it an official document).
</p><p>Susanna and the Countess then begin with their plan. Susanna takes off Cherubino's cloak, and she begins to comb his hair and teach him to behave and walk like a woman (aria of Susanna: "Venite, inginocchiatevi" – "Come, kneel down before me"). Then she leaves the room through a door at the back to get the dress for Cherubino, taking his cloak with her.
</p><p>While the Countess and Cherubino are waiting for Susanna to come back, they suddenly hear the Count arriving. Cherubino quickly hides in the closet and locks the door. The Countess reluctantly lets the Count into her room. The Count hears a noise from the closet. The Countess tells him that Susanna is in the closet and that she cannot come out because she is trying on her wedding dress. At this moment, Susanna re-enters from another room, quickly realizes what's going on, and hides before anyone can see her (Trio: "Susanna, or via, sortite" – "Susanna, come out!"). The Count shouts through the closet door for her to identify herself by her voice, but the Countess orders her to be silent. Furious and suspicious, the Count leaves with the Countess, in search of tools to force the closet door open. As they leave, he locks all the bedroom doors to prevent the intruder from escaping. Cherubino and Susanna emerge from their hiding places, and Cherubino escapes by jumping through the window into the garden. Susanna then takes Cherubino's place in the closet, vowing to make the Count look foolish (duet: "Aprite, presto, aprite" – "Open the door, quickly!").
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>The Count and Countess return. The Countess, thinking herself trapped, desperately admits that Cherubino is hidden in the closet. The enraged Count draws his sword, promising to kill Cherubino on the spot, but when the closet door is opened, to their astonishment, they only find Susanna (Finale: "Esci omai, garzon malnato" – "Come out of there, you ill-born boy!"). The Count demands an explanation; the Countess tells him it is a practical joke to test his trust in her. Shamed by his own jealousy, the Count pleads for forgiveness. When the Count presses about the anonymous letter, Susanna and the Countess reveal that the letter was written by Figaro, and then delivered by Basilio. Figaro then arrives and tries to start the wedding festivities, but the Count berates him with questions about the anonymous note. Just as the Count is starting to run out of questions, Antonio the gardener arrives, complaining that a man has jumped out of the window and damaged his carnations while running away. Antonio adds that he tentatively identified the running man as Cherubino, but Figaro claims it was he himself who jumped out of the window, and pretends to have injured his foot while landing. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess attempt to discredit Antonio as a chronic drunkard whose constant inebriation makes him unreliable and prone to fantasy, but Antonio brings forward a paper, which, he says, was dropped by the escaping man. The Count orders Figaro to prove he was the jumper by identifying the paper (which is, in fact, Cherubino's appointment to the army). Figaro is at a loss, but Susanna and the Countess manage to signal the correct answers, and Figaro triumphantly identifies the document. His victory is, however, short-lived: Marcellina, Bartolo, and Basilio enter, bringing charges against Figaro and demanding that he honor his contract to marry Marcellina, since he cannot repay her loan. The Count happily postpones the wedding in order to investigate the charge.
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p><i>A rich hall, with two thrones, prepared for the wedding ceremony.</i>
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>The Count mulls over the confusing situation. At the urging of the Countess, Susanna enters and gives a false promise to meet the Count later that night in the garden (duet: "Crudel! perchè finora" – "Cruel girl, why did you make me wait so long"). As Susanna leaves, the Count overhears her telling Figaro that he has already won the case. Realizing that he is being tricked (recitative and aria: "Hai già vinta la causa! ... Vedrò, mentr'io sospiro" – "You've already won the case!" ... "Shall I, while sighing, see"), he resolves to punish Figaro by forcing him to marry Marcellina.
</p>
<div>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<div>
<p>Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Fricsay 1960 (cast: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro_discography">discography</a>)</p></div></div>
<p>Figaro's hearing follows, and the Count's judgment is that Figaro must marry Marcellina. Figaro argues that he cannot get married without his parents' permission, and that he does not know who his parents are, because he was stolen from them when he was a baby. The ensuing discussion reveals that Figaro is Raffaello, the long-lost illegitimate son of Bartolo and Marcellina. A touching scene of reconciliation occurs. During the celebrations, Susanna enters with a payment to release Figaro from his debt to Marcellina. Seeing Figaro and Marcellina in celebration together, Susanna mistakenly believes that Figaro now prefers Marcellina to her. She has a tantrum and slaps Figaro's face. Marcellina explains, and Susanna, realizing her mistake, joins the celebration. Bartolo, overcome with emotion, agrees to marry Marcellina that evening in a double wedding (sextet: "Riconosci in questo amplesso" – "Recognize in this embrace").
</p>
<div>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<div>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Stader">Maria Stader</a>, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (1960)</p></div></div>
<p>All leave before Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, invites Cherubino back to her house so they can disguise him as a girl. The Countess, alone, ponders the loss of her happiness (aria: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_sono">Dove sono i bei momenti</a>" – "Where are they, the beautiful moments"). Meanwhile, Antonio informs the Count that Cherubino is not in Seville, but in fact at his house. Susanna enters and updates her mistress regarding the plan to trap the Count. The Countess dictates a love letter for Susanna to send to the Count, which suggests that he meet her (Susanna) that night, "under the pines". The letter instructs the Count to return the pin that fastens the letter (duet: "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sull%27aria_..._che_soave_zeffiretto">Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto</a>" – "On the breeze... What a gentle little <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zephyr">zephyr</a>").
</p><p>A chorus of young peasants, among them Cherubino disguised as a girl, arrives to serenade the Countess. The Count arrives with Antonio and discovering the page, is enraged. His anger is quickly dispelled by Barbarina, who publicly recalls that he had once offered to give her anything she wanted in exchange for certain favors, and asks for Cherubino's hand in marriage. Thoroughly embarrassed, the Count allows Cherubino to stay.
</p><p>The act closes with the double wedding, during the course of which Susanna delivers her letter to the Count (Finale: "Ecco la marcia" – "Here is the procession"). Figaro watches the Count prick his finger on the pin, and laughs, unaware that the love-note is an invitation for the Count to tryst with Figaro's own bride Susanna. As the curtain drops, the two newlywed couples rejoice.
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p><i>The garden, with two pavilions. Night.</i>
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>Following the directions in the letter, the Count has sent the pin back to Susanna, giving it to Barbarina. However, Barbarina has lost it (aria: "L'ho perduta, me meschina" – "I have lost it, poor me"). Figaro and Marcellina see Barbarina, and Figaro asks her what she is doing. When he hears the pin is Susanna's, he is overcome with jealousy, especially as he recognises the pin as the one that fastened the letter to the Count. Thinking that Susanna is meeting the Count behind his back, Figaro complains to his mother, and swears to be avenged on the Count and Susanna, and on all unfaithful wives. Marcellina urges caution, but Figaro will not listen. Figaro rushes off, and Marcellina resolves to inform Susanna of Figaro's intentions. Marcellina sings an aria lamenting that male and female wild beasts get along with each other, but rational humans can't (aria: "Il capro e la capretta" – "The billy-goat and the she-goat"). (This aria and the subsequent aria of Basilio are mostly not performed; however, some recordings include them.)
</p>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<p>Motivated by jealousy, Figaro tells Bartolo and Basilio to come to his aid when he gives the signal. Basilio comments on Figaro's foolishness and claims he was once as frivolous as Figaro was. He tells a tale of how he was given common sense by "Donna Flemma" ("Dame Prudence") and learned the importance of not crossing powerful people, (aria: "In quegli anni" – "In those years"). They exit, leaving Figaro alone. Figaro muses bitterly on the inconstancy of women (recitative and aria: "Tutto è disposto ... Aprite un po' quegli occhi" – "Everything is ready ... Open those eyes a little"). Susanna and the Countess arrive, each dressed in the other's clothes. Marcellina is with them, having informed Susanna of Figaro's suspicions and plans. After they discuss the plan, Marcellina and the Countess leave, and Susanna teases Figaro by singing a love song to her beloved within Figaro's hearing (aria: "Deh vieni non tardar" – "Oh come, don't delay"). Figaro is hiding behind a bush and, thinking the song is for the Count, becomes increasingly jealous.
</p><p>The Countess arrives in Susanna's dress. Cherubino shows up and starts teasing "Susanna" (really the Countess), endangering the plan. (Finale: "Pian pianin le andrò più presso" – "Softly, softly I'll approach her") The Count strikes out in the dark at Cherubino. but his punch hits Figaro, and Cherubino runs off.
</p><p>The Count now begins making earnest love to "Susanna" (really the Countess), and gives her a jeweled ring. They go offstage together, where the Countess dodges him, hiding in the dark. Onstage, meanwhile, the real Susanna enters, wearing the Countess' clothes. Figaro mistakes her for the real Countess, and starts to tell her of the Count's intentions, but he suddenly recognizes his bride in disguise. He plays along with the joke by pretending to be in love with "my lady", and inviting her to make love right then and there. Susanna, fooled, loses her temper and slaps him many times. Figaro finally lets on that he has recognized Susanna's voice, and they make peace, resolving to conclude the comedy together ("Pace, pace, mio dolce tesoro" – "Peace, peace, my sweet treasure").
</p><p>The Count, unable to find "Susanna", enters frustrated. Figaro gets his attention by loudly declaring his love for "the Countess" (really Susanna). The enraged Count calls for his people and for weapons: his servant is seducing his wife. (Ultima scena: "Gente, gente, all'armi, all'armi" – "Gentlemen, to arms!") Bartolo, Basilio and Antonio enter with torches as, one by one, the Count drags out Cherubino, Barbarina, Marcellina and the "Countess" from behind the pavilion.
</p><p>All beg him to forgive Figaro and the "Countess", but he loudly refuses, repeating "no" at the top of his voice, until finally the real Countess re-enters and reveals her true identity. The Count, seeing the ring he had given her, realizes that the supposed Susanna he was trying to seduce was actually his wife. He kneels and pleads for forgiveness, ("Contessa perdono!" – "Countess, forgive me!"). The Countess replies that she does forgive him ("Più docile io sono e dico di sì" – "I am kinder [than you], and I say yes"). Everyone declares that they will be happy with this ("A tutti contenti saremo cosi"), and set out to celebrate.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<ul><li>Overture – Orchestra</li></ul>
<div>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<p><b>Act 1</b>
</p>
<ul><li>1. <i>Cinque... dieci... venti...</i> – Susanna, Figaro</li>
<li>2. <i>Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama</i> – Susanna, Figaro</li>
<li>3. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se_vuol_ballare">Se vuol ballare, signor Contino</a></i> – Figaro</li>
<li>4. <i>La vendetta, oh la vendetta!</i> – Bartolo</li>
<li>5. <i>Via resti servita, madama brillante</i> – Susanna, Marcellina</li>
<li>6. <i>Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio</i> – Cherubino</li>
<li>7. <i>Cosa sento! tosto andate</i> – Susanna, Basilio, Count</li>
<li>8. <i>Giovani liete, fiori spargete</i> – Chorus</li>
<li>9. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_pi%C3%B9_andrai">Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso</a></i> – Figaro</li></ul>
<p><b>Act 2</b>
</p>
<ul><li>10. <i>Porgi amor qualche ristoro</i> – Countess</li>
<li>11. <i>Voi che sapete che cosa è amor</i> – Cherubino</li>
<li>12. <i>Venite inginocchiatevi</i> – Susanna</li>
<li>13. <i>Susanna or via sortite</i> – Countess, Susanna, Count</li>
<li>14. <i>Aprite presto aprite</i> – Susanna, Cherubino</li>
<li>15. <i>Esci omai, garzon malnato</i> – Susanna, Countess, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Bartolo, Figaro</li></ul>
</td>
<td>
<p><b>Act 3</b>
</p>
<ul><li>16. <i>Crudel! perché finora</i> – Susanna, Count</li>
<li>17. <i>Hai già vinta la causa – Vedrò mentr'io sospiro</i> – Count</li>
<li>18. <i>Riconosci in questo amplesso</i> – Susanna, Marcellina, Don Curzio, Count, Bartolo, Figaro</li>
<li>19. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_sono">E Susanna non vien – Dove sono i bei momenti</a></i> – Countess</li>
<li>20. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sull%27aria_..._che_soave_zeffiretto">Canzonetta sull'aria</a></i> – Susanna, Countess</li>
<li>21. <i>Ricevete, o padroncina</i> – Farm girls</li>
<li>22. <i>Ecco la marcia, andiamo</i> – Susanna, Countess, Count, Figaro; Chorus</li></ul>
<p><b>Act 4</b>
</p>
<ul><li>23. <i>L'ho perduta... me meschina</i> – Barbarina</li>
<li>24. <i>Il capro e la capretta</i> – Marcellina</li>
<li>25. <i>In quegl'anni in cui val poco</i> – Basilio</li>
<li>26. <i>Tutto è disposto – Aprite un po' quegl'occhi</i> – Figaro</li>
<li>27. <i>Giunse alfin il momento – Deh vieni non tardar</i> – Susanna</li>
<li>28. <i>Pian pianin le andrò più presso</i> – Susanna, Countess, Barbarina, Cherubino, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Figaro, Bartolo</li></ul>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h2></h2>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mozart_libretto_figaro_1786.jpg"></a><figcaption>Libretto 1786</figcaption></figure>
<p><i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> is scored for two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_concert_flute">flutes</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe">oboes</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinet">clarinets</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon">bassoons</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_horn">horns</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_trumpet">clarini</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timpani">timpani</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_section">strings</a>; the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secco_recitative">recitativi secchi</a></i> are accompanied by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_instrument">keyboard instrument</a>, usually a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortepiano">fortepiano</a> or a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord">harpsichord</a>, often joined by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello">cello</a>. The instrumentation of the <i>recitativi secchi</i> is not given in the score, so it is up to the conductor and the performers. A typical performance lasts around 3 hours.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>Two arias from act 4 are often omitted: one in which Marcellina regrets that people (unlike animals) abuse their mates (""), and one in which Don Basilio tells how he saved himself from several dangers in his youth by using the skin of a donkey for shelter and camouflage ("").<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup>
</p><p>Mozart wrote two replacement arias for Susanna when the role was taken over by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana_Ferrarese_del_Bene">Adriana Ferrarese</a> in the 1789 revival. The replacement arias, "Un moto di gioia" (replacing "Venite, inginocchiatevi" in act 2) and "Al desio di chi t'adora" (replacing "Deh vieni non tardar" in act 4), in which the two clarinets are replaced with basset horns, are normally not used in modern performances. A notable exception was a series of performances at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera">Metropolitan Opera</a> in 1998 with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Bartoli">Cecilia Bartoli</a> as Susanna.<sup><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote a preface to the first published version of the libretto, in which he boldly claimed that he and Mozart had created a new form of music drama:
</p>
<blockquote><p>In spite ... of every effort ... to be brief, the opera will not be one of the shortest to have appeared on our stage, for which we hope sufficient excuse will be found in the variety of threads from which the action of this play <i>[i.e. Beaumarchais's]</i> is woven, the vastness and grandeur of the same, the multiplicity of the musical numbers that had to be made in order not to leave the actors too long unemployed, to diminish the vexation and monotony of long <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitative">recitatives</a>, and to express with varied colours the various emotions that occur, but above all in our desire to offer as it were a new kind of spectacle to a public of so refined a taste and understanding.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rosen">Charles Rosen</a>, in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classical_Style">The Classical Style</a></i>, proposes to take Da Ponte's words quite seriously, noting the "richness of the ensemble writing",<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERosen1997182-35">[35]</a></sup> which carries forward the action in a far more dramatic way than recitatives would. Rosen also suggests that the musical language of the classical style was adapted by Mozart to convey the drama; many sections of the opera resemble <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form">sonata form</a>. By movement through a sequence of keys, they build up and resolve musical tension, providing a natural musical reflection of the drama. As Rosen writes:
</p>
<blockquote><p>
The synthesis of accelerating complexity and symmetrical resolution which was at the heart of Mozart's style enabled him to find a musical equivalent for the great stage works which were his dramatic models. <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> in Mozart's version is the dramatic equal, and in many respects the superior, of Beaumarchais's work.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERosen1997183-36">[36]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>This is demonstrated in the closing numbers of all four acts: as the drama escalates, Mozart eschews <i>recitativi</i> altogether and opts for increasingly sophisticated writing, bringing his characters on stage, revelling in a complex weave of solo and ensemble singing in multiple combinations, and climaxing in seven- and eight-voice <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutti">tutti</a> for acts 2 and 4. The finale of act 2, lasting 20 minutes, is one of the longest uninterrupted pieces of music Mozart ever wrote.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Service-37">[37]</a></sup> Eight of the opera's 11 characters appear on stage in its more than 900 bars of continuous music.
</p><p>Mozart cleverly uses the sound of two horns playing together to represent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckold">cuckoldry</a> in the act 4 aria "".<sup><a href="#cite_note-Service-37">[37]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi">Verdi</a> later used the same device in Ford's aria in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falstaff_(opera)">Falstaff</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms">Johannes Brahms</a> said "In my opinion, each number in <i>Figaro</i> is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Beethoven</a>."<sup><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>A musical phrase from the act 1 trio of <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> (where Basilio sings <i></i>) was later reused by Mozart in the overture to his opera <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos%C3%AC_fan_tutte">Così fan tutte</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-41">[41]</a></sup> Mozart also quotes Figaro's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aria">aria</a> "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_pi%C3%B9_andrai">Non più andrai</a>" in the second act of his opera <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni">Don Giovanni</a></i>. Further, Mozart used it in 1791 in his Five <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_dance">Contredanses</a>, K. 609, No. 1. Mozart reused the music of the "Agnus Dei" of his earlier (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_Mass_(Mozart)">Coronation Mass</a></i>) for the Countess's "", in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_major">C major</a> instead of the original <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_major">F major</a>. Mozart also reused the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(music)">motif</a> that begins his early <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon_Concerto_(Mozart)">bassoon concerto</a> in another aria sung by the Countess, "Porgi, amor".<sup><a href="#cite_note-42">[42]</a></sup> Beethoven wrote , WoO 40, for violin and piano on Figaro's cavatina. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Ries">Ferdinand Ries</a> used music from the opera in his , Op. 77. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Moscheles">Moscheles</a> used the duettino "Crudel! perchè finora" in his for piano, Op. 72/4. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Hummel">Johann Nepomuk Hummel</a> quoted it in his , Op. 124. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a> quoted the opera in his <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_on_Themes_from_Mozart%27s_Figaro_and_Don_Giovanni">Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni</a></i> S. 697.
</p><p>In 1819, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bishop_(composer)">Henry R. Bishop</a> wrote an adaptation of the opera in English, translating from Beaumarchais's play and re-using some of Mozart's music, while adding some of his own.<sup><a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup>
</p><p>In his 1991 opera, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghosts_of_Versailles">The Ghosts of Versailles</a></i>, which includes elements of Beaumarchais's third <i>Figaro</i> play (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guilty_Mother">La Mère coupable</a></i>) and in which the main characters of <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i> also appear, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Corigliano">John Corigliano</a> quotes Mozart's opera, especially the overture, several times.
</p>
<h2></h2>
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<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operas_by_Mozart">List of operas by Mozart</a></li></ul>
<h2></h2>
<p><b>Notes</b>
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<p><b>Sources</b>
</p>
<ul><li><cite>Chanan, Michael (1999). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0gYk1JdN3OYC&amp;pg=PA63"><i>From Handel to Hendrix: The Composer in the Public Sphere</i></a>. Verso. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85984-706-4"><bdi>1-85984-706-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Erich_Deutsch">Deutsch, Otto Erich</a> (1965). <i>Mozart: A Documentary Biography</i>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University">Stanford University</a> Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Geiringer">Geiringer, Karl</a>; Geiringer, Irene (1982). <a href="https://archive.org/details/haydncreativelif00geir_0"><i>Haydn: A Creative Life in Music</i></a> (3rd ed.). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California_Press">University of California Press</a>. pp. xii, 403. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-04316-2"><bdi>0-520-04316-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Jander, Owen; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Steane">Steane, J. B.</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Forbes_(musicologist)">Forbes, Elizabeth</a>; Harris, Ellen T.; Waldman, Gerald (2001). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Sadie">Stanley Sadie</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)">John Tyrrell</a> (eds.). <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians">The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians</a></i> (2nd ed.). Macmillan. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-333-60800-3"><bdi>0-333-60800-3</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._C._Robbins_Landon">Landon, H. C. Robbins</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wyn_Jones">Jones, David Wyn</a> (1988). <a href="https://archive.org/details/haydnhislifemusi00land"><i>Haydn: His Life and Music</i></a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_University_Press">Indiana University Press</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-253-37265-9"><bdi>978-0-253-37265-9</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leo_Melitz&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Melitz, Leo</a> (1921). <a href="https://archive.org/details/operagoerscomple0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up"><i>The Opera Goer's Complete Guide</i></a>. Translated by Richard Salinger. Garden City: Dodd, Mead and Co.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Rice_(musicologist)">Rice, John A.</a> (1999). <i>Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera</i>. University of Chicago Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Robinson, Paul A. (1986). . Cornell University Press. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/operaideasfrommo00robi/page/173">173</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8014-9428-1"><bdi>0-8014-9428-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rosen">Rosen, Charles</a> (1997). <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Classical_Style:_Haydn,_Mozart,_Beethoven">The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven</a></i> (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-393-31712-9"><bdi>0-393-31712-9</bdi></a>.</cite> (<a href="https://archive.org/details/classicalstyleha00rose">At archive.org</a>)</li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_Singher">Singher, Martial</a>; Singher, Eta (2003). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kq-wmbvlOvoC&amp;pg=PA150"><i>An Interpretive Guide to Operatic Arias: A Handbook for Singers, Coaches, Teachers, and Students</i></a>. Penn State University Press. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-271-02354-6"><bdi>0-271-02354-6</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_Solomon">Solomon, Maynard</a> (1995). <i>Mozart: A Life</i>. HarperCollins. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780060190460"><bdi>9780060190460</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2></h2>
<ul><li><cite>Gutman, Robert W. (2000). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wKm3sCZeyr8C&amp;pg=PA704"><i>Mozart: A Cultural Biography</i></a>. Harcourt Brace. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-15-601171-6"><bdi>978-0-15-601171-6</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2></h2>
<div>
<p></p>
<div><p>Italian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article:
</p></div></div>
<ul><li></li>
<li><i>Le nozze di Figaro</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=305&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=1">Score</a> and <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=67&amp;l=1&amp;p1=21">critical report</a> in the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/libredition/single.php?idwnma=5677">Libretto</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_edition">critical editions</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_edition">diplomatic editions</a>, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings, Digital Mozart Edition</li>
<li><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2010663594/">Libretto</a>, first edition, Presso Giuseppe Nob. de Kurzbek (Ritter Joseph Edler von Kurzböck), 1786 </li>
<li><a href="http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/figaro.htm">Complete libretto</a></li>
<li><a href="http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/variations/score/abw8806/">Full orchestral score (German/Italian)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.aria-database.com/translations/figaro.txt">Italian/English side by side translation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.murashev.com/opera/Le_nozze_di_Figaro_libretto_English_Italian">Italian/English side by side translation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2219"><i>Mozart's Opera Marriage of Figaro, containing the Italian text, with an English translation, and the Music of all of the Principal Airs</i></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ditson">Ditson</a> (1888)</li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Le_nozze_di_Figaro,_K.492_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)"><i>Le nozze di Figaro</i></a>: Scores at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mozart-turm2.de/mozart-turm/serie40.htm">Complete recording</a> at Mozart Archiv</li>
<li><a href="http://www.kultur-fibel.de/oper-die-hochzeit-des-figaro-mozart.htm">Photos of 21st century productions of <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i></a> in Germany and Switzerland </li></ul>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Composition history
 * 2 Performance history
 Toggle Performance history subsection
 + 2.1 Other early performances
 * 3 Roles
 * 4 Synopsis
 Toggle Synopsis subsection
 + 4.1 Overture
 + 4.2 Act 1
 + 4.3 Act 2
 + 4.4 Act 3
 + 4.5 Act 4
 * 5 Musical numbers
 * 6 Instrumentation
 * 7 Frequently omitted numbers
 * 8 Critical discussion
 * 9 Other uses of the melodies
 * 10 Recordings
 * 11 See also
 * 12 References
 * 13 Further reading
 * 14 External links
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 The Marriage of Figaro

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 For other uses, see The Marriage of Figaro (disambiguation).

 The Marriage of Figaro 
 Opera by W. A. Mozart 
 Early 19th-century engraving depicting Count Almaviva and Susanna in act 3
 Native title  Le nozze di Figaro 
 Librettist  Lorenzo Da Ponte 
 Language  Italian 
 Based on  La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro
  by Pierre Beaumarchais 
 Premiere  1 May 1786 
  Burgtheater, Vienna 
 

 The Marriage of Figaro (Italian: Le nozze di Figaro, pronounced [le ˈnɔttse di ˈfiːɡaro] ⓘ), K. 492, is a commedia per musica (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"). It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.

 Considered one of the greatest operas ever written,[1] it is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas.[2] In 2017, BBC News Magazine asked 172 opera singers to vote for the best operas ever written. The Marriage of Figaro came in first out of the 20 operas featured, with the magazine describing the work as being "one of the supreme masterpieces of operatic comedy, whose rich sense of humanity shines out of Mozart’s miraculous score".[3]

 Composition history [ edit ]

 Beaumarchais's earlier play The Barber of Seville had already made a successful transition to opera in a version by Paisiello. Beaumarchais's Mariage de Figaro, with its frank treatment of class conflict,[4] was at first banned in Vienna: Emperor Joseph II stated that "since the piece contains much that is objectionable, I therefore expect that the Censor shall either reject it altogether, or at any rate have such alterations made in it that he shall be responsible for the performance of this play and for the impression it may make", after which the Austrian Censor duly forbade performing the German version of the play.[5][6] Mozart's librettist managed to get official approval from the emperor for an operatic version, which eventually achieved great success.

 The opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte, followed by Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais's play and brought it to Da Ponte, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original's political references. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaro's climactic speech against inherited nobility with an equally angry aria against unfaithful wives.[7] The libretto was approved by the Emperor before any music was written by Mozart.[8]

 The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work;[9] this was three times his meagre yearly salary when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg.[10] Da Ponte was paid 200 florins.[9]

 Performance history [ edit ]

 Figaro premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, with a cast listed in the "Roles" section below. Mozart himself conducted the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Later performances were conducted by Joseph Weigl.[11] The first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786.[12]

 Although the total of nine performances was nothing like the frequency of performance of Mozart's later success, The Magic Flute, which for months was performed roughly every other day,[10] the premiere is generally judged to have been a success. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being encored, seven on 8 May.[13] Emperor Joseph, in charge of the Burgtheater,[14] was concerned by the length of the performance and directed his aide Count Orsini–Rosenberg [ de ] as follows:

 To prevent the excessive duration of operas, without however prejudicing the fame often sought by opera singers from the repetition of vocal pieces, I deem the enclosed notice to the public (that no piece for more than a single voice is to be repeated) to be the most reasonable expedient. You will therefore cause some posters to this effect to be printed.[15]

 The requested posters were printed up and posted in the Burgtheater in time for the third performance on 24 May.[16]

 The newspaper Wiener Realzeitung carried a review of the opera in its issue of 11 July 1786. It alludes to interference probably produced by paid hecklers, but praises the work warmly:

 Mozart's music was generally admired by connoisseurs already at the first performance, if I except only those whose self-love and conceit will not allow them to find merit in anything not written by themselves.

 The public, however ... did not really know on the first day where it stood. It heard many a bravo from unbiased connoisseurs, but obstreperous louts in the uppermost storey exerted their hired lungs with all their might to deafen singers and audience alike with their St! and Pst; and consequently opinions were divided at the end of the piece.

 Apart from that, it is true that the first performance was none of the best, owing to the difficulties of the composition.

 But now, after several performances, one would be subscribing either to the cabal or to tastelessness if one were to maintain that Herr Mozart's music is anything but a masterpiece of art.

 It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be drawn only from the source of innate genius.[17]

 The Hungarian poet Ferenc Kazinczy was in the audience for a May performance, and later remembered the powerful impression the work made on him:

 [Nancy] Storace [see below], the beautiful singer, enchanted eye, ear, and soul. – Mozart conducted the orchestra, playing his fortepiano; but the joy which this music causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy?[18]

 Joseph Haydn appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams.[19] In summer 1790 Haydn attempted to produce the work with his own company at Eszterháza, but was prevented from doing so by the death of his patron, Nikolaus Esterházy.[20]

 Other early performances [ edit ]

 The Emperor requested a special performance at his palace theatre in Laxenburg, which took place in June 1786.[21]

 The opera was produced in Prague starting in December 1786 by the Pasquale Bondini company. This production was a tremendous success; the newspaper Prager Oberpostamtszeitung called the work "a masterpiece",[22] and said "no piece (for everyone here asserts) has ever caused such a sensation."[23] Local music lovers paid for Mozart to visit Prague and hear the production; he listened on 17 January 1787, and conducted it himself on the 22nd.[24] The success of the Prague production led to the commissioning of the next Mozart/Da Ponte opera, Don Giovanni, premiered in Prague in 1787 (see Mozart and Prague).

 The work was not performed in Vienna during 1787 or 1788, but starting in 1789 there was a revival production.[25] For this occasion Mozart replaced both arias of Susanna with new compositions, better suited to the voice of Adriana Ferrarese del Bene who took the role. To replace " Deh vieni " he wrote " Al desio di chi t'adora " – "[come and fly] To the desire of [the one] who adores you" (K. 577) in July 1789, and to replace " Venite, inginocchiatevi " he wrote " Un moto di gioia " – "A joyous emotion", (K. 579), probably in mid-1790.[26]

 Roles [ edit ]

 The voice types that appear in this table are those listed in the critical edition published in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe.[27] In modern performance practice, Cherubino and Marcellina are usually assigned to mezzo-sopranos, and Figaro to a bass-baritone.[28]

 Roles, voice types, and premiere cast
 Role[27] Voice type Premiere cast, 1 May 1786 
  Conductor: W. A. Mozart[29]
 Count Almaviva baritone Stefano Mandini 
 Countess Rosina Almaviva soprano Luisa Laschi 
 Susanna, the countess's maid soprano Nancy Storace 
 Figaro, personal valet to the count bass Francesco Benucci 
 Cherubino, the Count's page soprano (breeches role) Dorotea Bussani [ it ] 
 Marcellina, Doctor Bartolo's housekeeper soprano Maria Mandini 
 Bartolo, doctor from Seville, also a practicing lawyer bass Francesco Bussani [ it ] 
 Basilio, music teacher tenor Michael Kelly 
 Don Curzio, judge tenor Michael Kelly 
 Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, Susanna's cousin soprano Anna Gottlieb 
 Antonio, the Count's gardener, Susanna's uncle bass Francesco Bussani [ it ] 
 Chorus of peasants, villagers, and servants 
 

 Synopsis [ edit ]

 The Marriage of Figaro continues the plot of The Barber of Seville several years later, and recounts a single "day of madness" (la folle journée) in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess. Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself, and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of Barber, (a tenor in Paisiello's 1782 opera), into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to exercise his droit du seigneur – his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – with Figaro's bride-to-be, Susanna, who is the Countess's maid. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through the clever manipulations of Susanna and the Countess, Figaro and Susanna are finally able to marry.

 Place: Count Almaviva's estate, Aguas-Frescas, three leagues outside Seville, Spain.[30]

 Overture [ edit ]

 Overture
 Performed by Musopen Symphony (4:00)
 "Cinque, dieci, venti"
 Renato Capecchi, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (1960)
 "Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama"
 Renato Capecchi, Irmgard Seefried
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 The overture is in the key of D major; the tempo marking is presto; i.e. quick. The work is well known and often played independently as a concert piece.

 Act 1 [ edit ]

 A partly furnished room, with a chair in the centre.

 Figaro happily measures the space where the bridal bed will fit while Susanna tries on her wedding bonnet (which she has sewn herself) in front of a mirror. (Duet: " Cinque, dieci, venti " – "Five, ten, twenty"). Figaro is quite pleased with their new room; Susanna far less so (Duettino: " Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama " – "If the Countess should call you during the night"). She is bothered by its proximity to the Count's chambers: it seems he has been making advances toward her and plans on exercising his droit du seigneur, the feudal right of a lord to bed a servant girl on her wedding night before her husband can sleep with her. The Count had the right abolished when he married Rosina, but he now wants to reinstate it. The Countess rings for Susanna and she rushes off to answer. Figaro, confident in his own resourcefulness, resolves to outwit the Count (Cavatina: "Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino" – "If you want to dance, Sir Count").

 Figaro departs, and Dr. Bartolo arrives with Marcellina, his old housekeeper. Figaro had previously borrowed a large sum of money from her, and in lieu of collateral, had promised to marry her if unable to repay at the appointed time; she now intends to enforce that promise by suing him. Bartolo, seeking revenge against Figaro for having facilitated the union of the Count and Rosina (in The Barber of Seville), agrees to represent Marcellina pro bono, and assures her, in comical lawyer-speak, that he can win the case for her (aria: " La vendetta " – "Vengeance").

 Bartolo departs, Susanna returns, and Marcellina and Susanna exchange very politely delivered sarcastic insults (duet: " Via resti servita, madama brillante " – "After you, brilliant madam"). Susanna triumphs in the exchange by congratulating her rival on her impressive age. The older woman departs in a fury.

 Act 1: Cherubino hides behind Susanna's chair as the Count arrives.

 Cherubino then arrives and after describing his emerging infatuation with all women, particularly with his "beautiful godmother" the Countess, (aria: " Non so più cosa son " – "I don't know anymore what I am") asks for Susanna's aid with the Count. It seems the Count is angry with Cherubino's amorous ways, having discovered him with the gardener's daughter, Barbarina, and plans to punish him. Cherubino wants Susanna to ask the Countess to intercede on his behalf. When the Count appears, Cherubino hides behind a chair, not wanting to be seen alone with Susanna. The Count uses the opportunity of finding Susanna alone to step up his demands for favours from her, and offers to pay money if she will submit to him. As Basilio, the music teacher, arrives, the Count, not wanting to be caught alone with Susanna, hides behind the chair. Cherubino leaves that hiding place just in time, and jumps onto the chair while Susanna scrambles to cover him with a dress.

 When Basilio starts to gossip about Cherubino's obvious attraction to the Countess, the Count angrily leaps from his hiding place (terzetto: " Cosa sento! " – "What do I hear!"). He disparages the "absent" page's incessant flirting and describes how he caught him with Barbarina under the kitchen table. As he lifts the dress from the chair to illustrate how he lifted the tablecloth to expose Cherubino, he finds ... the self same Cherubino! The count is furious, but is reminded that the page overheard the Count's advances on Susanna, information that the Count wants to keep from the Countess. The young man is ultimately saved from punishment by the entrance of the peasants of the Count's estate, a preemptive attempt by Figaro to make the Count commit to a formal gesture symbolizing his promise that Susanna would enter into the marriage unsullied. The Count evades Figaro's plan by postponing the gesture. The Count says that he forgives Cherubino, but he dispatches him to his own regiment in Seville for army duty, effective immediately. Figaro gives Cherubino mocking advice about his new, harsh, military life from which all luxury, and especially women, will be totally excluded (aria: "Non più andrai" – "No more gallivanting").[31]

 Act 2 [ edit ]

 A handsome room with an alcove, a dressing room on the left, a door in the background (leading to the servants' quarters) and a window at the side.

 "Porgi, amor"
 Provided by Musopen (3:36)

 The Countess laments her husband's infidelity (aria: "Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro" – "Grant, love, some comfort"). Susanna comes in to prepare the Countess for the day. She responds to the Countess's questions by telling her that the Count is not trying to seduce her; he is merely offering her a monetary contract in return for her affection. Figaro enters and explains his plan to distract the Count with anonymous letters warning him of adulterers. He has already sent one to the Count (via Basilio) indicating that the Countess has a rendezvous of her own that evening. They hope that the Count will be too busy looking for imaginary adulterers to interfere with Figaro and Susanna's wedding. Figaro additionally advises the Countess to keep Cherubino around. She should dress him up as a girl and lure the Count into an illicit rendezvous where he can be caught and embarrassed. Figaro leaves.

 "Voi che sapete cosa è amor"
 Performed in 1910 by Nellie Melba (3:24)

 Cherubino arrives, sent in by Figaro. Susanna urges him to sing the song he wrote for the Countess (aria: "Voi che sapete che cosa è amor" – "You ladies who know what love is, is it what I'm suffering from?"). After the song, the Countess, seeing Cherubino's military commission, notices that the Count was in such a hurry that he forgot to seal it with his signet ring (thus making it an official document).

 Susanna and the Countess then begin with their plan. Susanna takes off Cherubino's cloak, and she begins to comb his hair and teach him to behave and walk like a woman (aria of Susanna: "Venite, inginocchiatevi" – "Come, kneel down before me"). Then she leaves the room through a door at the back to get the dress for Cherubino, taking his cloak with her.

 While the Countess and Cherubino are waiting for Susanna to come back, they suddenly hear the Count arriving. Cherubino quickly hides in the closet and locks the door. The Countess reluctantly lets the Count into her room. The Count hears a noise from the closet. The Countess tells him that Susanna is in the closet and that she cannot come out because she is trying on her wedding dress. At this moment, Susanna re-enters from another room, quickly realizes what's going on, and hides before anyone can see her (Trio: "Susanna, or via, sortite" – "Susanna, come out!"). The Count shouts through the closet door for her to identify herself by her voice, but the Countess orders her to be silent. Furious and suspicious, the Count leaves with the Countess, in search of tools to force the closet door open. As they leave, he locks all the bedroom doors to prevent the intruder from escaping. Cherubino and Susanna emerge from their hiding places, and Cherubino escapes by jumping through the window into the garden. Susanna then takes Cherubino's place in the closet, vowing to make the Count look foolish (duet: "Aprite, presto, aprite" – "Open the door, quickly!").

 Act 2 finale
 "Esci omai, garzon malnato"
 "Signore, cos'è quel stupore"
 "Signore di fuori"
 "Ah! signore ... Cosa è stato"
 "Voi Signor, che giusto siete"
 Ferenc Fricsay, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, 1960 (cast: discography)

 The Count and Countess return. The Countess, thinking herself trapped, desperately admits that Cherubino is hidden in the closet. The enraged Count draws his sword, promising to kill Cherubino on the spot, but when the closet door is opened, to their astonishment, they only find Susanna (Finale: "Esci omai, garzon malnato" – "Come out of there, you ill-born boy!"). The Count demands an explanation; the Countess tells him it is a practical joke to test his trust in her. Shamed by his own jealousy, the Count pleads for forgiveness. When the Count presses about the anonymous letter, Susanna and the Countess reveal that the letter was written by Figaro, and then delivered by Basilio. Figaro then arrives and tries to start the wedding festivities, but the Count berates him with questions about the anonymous note. Just as the Count is starting to run out of questions, Antonio the gardener arrives, complaining that a man has jumped out of the window and damaged his carnations while running away. Antonio adds that he tentatively identified the running man as Cherubino, but Figaro claims it was he himself who jumped out of the window, and pretends to have injured his foot while landing. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess attempt to discredit Antonio as a chronic drunkard whose constant inebriation makes him unreliable and prone to fantasy, but Antonio brings forward a paper, which, he says, was dropped by the escaping man. The Count orders Figaro to prove he was the jumper by identifying the paper (which is, in fact, Cherubino's appointment to the army). Figaro is at a loss, but Susanna and the Countess manage to signal the correct answers, and Figaro triumphantly identifies the document. His victory is, however, short-lived: Marcellina, Bartolo, and Basilio enter, bringing charges against Figaro and demanding that he honor his contract to marry Marcellina, since he cannot repay her loan. The Count happily postpones the wedding in order to investigate the charge.

 Act 3 [ edit ]

 A rich hall, with two thrones, prepared for the wedding ceremony.

 "Crudel! perchè finora"
 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Irmgard Seefried, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (1960)

 The Count mulls over the confusing situation. At the urging of the Countess, Susanna enters and gives a false promise to meet the Count later that night in the garden (duet: "Crudel! perchè finora" – "Cruel girl, why did you make me wait so long"). As Susanna leaves, the Count overhears her telling Figaro that he has already won the case. Realizing that he is being tricked (recitative and aria: "Hai già vinta la causa! ... Vedrò, mentr'io sospiro" – "You've already won the case!" ... "Shall I, while sighing, see"), he resolves to punish Figaro by forcing him to marry Marcellina.

 "Riconosci in questo amplesso"
 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Fricsay 1960 (cast: discography)

 Figaro's hearing follows, and the Count's judgment is that Figaro must marry Marcellina. Figaro argues that he cannot get married without his parents' permission, and that he does not know who his parents are, because he was stolen from them when he was a baby. The ensuing discussion reveals that Figaro is Raffaello, the long-lost illegitimate son of Bartolo and Marcellina. A touching scene of reconciliation occurs. During the celebrations, Susanna enters with a payment to release Figaro from his debt to Marcellina. Seeing Figaro and Marcellina in celebration together, Susanna mistakenly believes that Figaro now prefers Marcellina to her. She has a tantrum and slaps Figaro's face. Marcellina explains, and Susanna, realizing her mistake, joins the celebration. Bartolo, overcome with emotion, agrees to marry Marcellina that evening in a double wedding (sextet: "Riconosci in questo amplesso" – "Recognize in this embrace").

 "Dove sono i bei momenti"
 Maria Stader, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (1960)

 All leave before Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, invites Cherubino back to her house so they can disguise him as a girl. The Countess, alone, ponders the loss of her happiness (aria: "Dove sono i bei momenti" – "Where are they, the beautiful moments"). Meanwhile, Antonio informs the Count that Cherubino is not in Seville, but in fact at his house. Susanna enters and updates her mistress regarding the plan to trap the Count. The Countess dictates a love letter for Susanna to send to the Count, which suggests that he meet her (Susanna) that night, "under the pines". The letter instructs the Count to return the pin that fastens the letter (duet: "Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto" – "On the breeze... What a gentle little zephyr").

 A chorus of young peasants, among them Cherubino disguised as a girl, arrives to serenade the Countess. The Count arrives with Antonio and discovering the page, is enraged. His anger is quickly dispelled by Barbarina, who publicly recalls that he had once offered to give her anything she wanted in exchange for certain favors, and asks for Cherubino's hand in marriage. Thoroughly embarrassed, the Count allows Cherubino to stay.

 The act closes with the double wedding, during the course of which Susanna delivers her letter to the Count (Finale: "Ecco la marcia" – "Here is the procession"). Figaro watches the Count prick his finger on the pin, and laughs, unaware that the love-note is an invitation for the Count to tryst with Figaro's own bride Susanna. As the curtain drops, the two newlywed couples rejoice.

 Act 4 [ edit ]

 The garden, with two pavilions. Night.

 "L'ho perduta"
 Rosl Schwaiger, Ferenc Fricsay, RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester, 1960

 Following the directions in the letter, the Count has sent the pin back to Susanna, giving it to Barbarina. However, Barbarina has lost it (aria: "L'ho perduta, me meschina" – "I have lost it, poor me"). Figaro and Marcellina see Barbarina, and Figaro asks her what she is doing. When he hears the pin is Susanna's, he is overcome with jealousy, especially as he recognises the pin as the one that fastened the letter to the Count. Thinking that Susanna is meeting the Count behind his back, Figaro complains to his mother, and swears to be avenged on the Count and Susanna, and on all unfaithful wives. Marcellina urges caution, but Figaro will not listen. Figaro rushes off, and Marcellina resolves to inform Susanna of Figaro's intentions. Marcellina sings an aria lamenting that male and female wild beasts get along with each other, but rational humans can't (aria: "Il capro e la capretta" – "The billy-goat and the she-goat"). (This aria and the subsequent aria of Basilio are mostly not performed; however, some recordings include them.)

 "Aprite un po' quegli occhi"
 Renato Capecchi
 "Deh vieni, non tardar"
 Irmgard Seefried

 Act 4 finale
 "Pian pianin le andrò più presso"
 "Tutto è tranquillo e placido"
 "Pace, pace, mio dolce tesoro"
 "Gente, gente, all'armi"

 Motivated by jealousy, Figaro tells Bartolo and Basilio to come to his aid when he gives the signal. Basilio comments on Figaro's foolishness and claims he was once as frivolous as Figaro was. He tells a tale of how he was given common sense by "Donna Flemma" ("Dame Prudence") and learned the importance of not crossing powerful people, (aria: "In quegli anni" – "In those years"). They exit, leaving Figaro alone. Figaro muses bitterly on the inconstancy of women (recitative and aria: "Tutto è disposto ... Aprite un po' quegli occhi" – "Everything is ready ... Open those eyes a little"). Susanna and the Countess arrive, each dressed in the other's clothes. Marcellina is with them, having informed Susanna of Figaro's suspicions and plans. After they discuss the plan, Marcellina and the Countess leave, and Susanna teases Figaro by singing a love song to her beloved within Figaro's hearing (aria: "Deh vieni non tardar" – "Oh come, don't delay"). Figaro is hiding behind a bush and, thinking the song is for the Count, becomes increasingly jealous.

 The Countess arrives in Susanna's dress. Cherubino shows up and starts teasing "Susanna" (really the Countess), endangering the plan. (Finale: "Pian pianin le andrò più presso" – "Softly, softly I'll approach her") The Count strikes out in the dark at Cherubino. but his punch hits Figaro, and Cherubino runs off.

 The Count now begins making earnest love to "Susanna" (really the Countess), and gives her a jeweled ring. They go offstage together, where the Countess dodges him, hiding in the dark. Onstage, meanwhile, the real Susanna enters, wearing the Countess' clothes. Figaro mistakes her for the real Countess, and starts to tell her of the Count's intentions, but he suddenly recognizes his bride in disguise. He plays along with the joke by pretending to be in love with "my lady", and inviting her to make love right then and there. Susanna, fooled, loses her temper and slaps him many times. Figaro finally lets on that he has recognized Susanna's voice, and they make peace, resolving to conclude the comedy together ("Pace, pace, mio dolce tesoro" – "Peace, peace, my sweet treasure").

 The Count, unable to find "Susanna", enters frustrated. Figaro gets his attention by loudly declaring his love for "the Countess" (really Susanna). The enraged Count calls for his people and for weapons: his servant is seducing his wife. (Ultima scena: "Gente, gente, all'armi, all'armi" – "Gentlemen, to arms!") Bartolo, Basilio and Antonio enter with torches as, one by one, the Count drags out Cherubino, Barbarina, Marcellina and the "Countess" from behind the pavilion.

 All beg him to forgive Figaro and the "Countess", but he loudly refuses, repeating "no" at the top of his voice, until finally the real Countess re-enters and reveals her true identity. The Count, seeing the ring he had given her, realizes that the supposed Susanna he was trying to seduce was actually his wife. He kneels and pleads for forgiveness, ("Contessa perdono!" – "Countess, forgive me!"). The Countess replies that she does forgive him ("Più docile io sono e dico di sì" – "I am kinder [than you], and I say yes"). Everyone declares that they will be happy with this ("A tutti contenti saremo cosi"), and set out to celebrate.

 Musical numbers [ edit ]

 * Overture – Orchestra
 Act 1  Act 3   
     
 * 1. Cinque... dieci... venti... – Susanna, Figaro * 16. Crudel! perché finora – Susanna, Count  
 * 2. Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama – Susanna, Figaro * 17. Hai già vinta la causa – Vedrò mentr'io sospiro – Count  
 * 3. Se vuol ballare, signor Contino – Figaro * 18. Riconosci in questo amplesso – Susanna, Marcellina, Don Curzio, Count, Bartolo, Figaro 
 * 4. La vendetta, oh la vendetta! – Bartolo  * 19. E Susanna non vien – Dove sono i bei momenti – Countess  
 * 5. Via resti servita, madama brillante – Susanna, Marcellina * 20. Canzonetta sull'aria – Susanna, Countess  
 * 6. Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio – Cherubino * 21. Ricevete, o padroncina – Farm girls  
 * 7. Cosa sento! tosto andate – Susanna, Basilio, Count * 22. Ecco la marcia, andiamo – Susanna, Countess, Count, Figaro; Chorus 
 * 8. Giovani liete, fiori spargete – Chorus    
 * 9. Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso – Figaro Act 4   
     
 Act 2  * 23. L'ho perduta... me meschina – Barbarina  
   * 24. Il capro e la capretta – Marcellina  
 * 10. Porgi amor qualche ristoro – Countess  * 25. In quegl'anni in cui val poco – Basilio  
 * 11. Voi che sapete che cosa è amor – Cherubino * 26. Tutto è disposto – Aprite un po' quegl'occhi – Figaro  
 * 12. Venite inginocchiatevi – Susanna  * 27. Giunse alfin il momento – Deh vieni non tardar – Susanna  
 * 13. Susanna or via sortite – Countess, Susanna, Count * 28. Pian pianin le andrò più presso – Susanna, Countess, Barbarina, Cherubino, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Figaro, Bartolo
 * 14. Aprite presto aprite – Susanna, Cherubino    
 * 15. Esci omai, garzon malnato – Susanna, Countess, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Bartolo, Figaro   
 

 Instrumentation [ edit ]

 Libretto 1786

 The Marriage of Figaro is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two clarini, timpani, and strings; the recitativi secchi are accompanied by a keyboard instrument, usually a fortepiano or a harpsichord, often joined by a cello. The instrumentation of the recitativi secchi is not given in the score, so it is up to the conductor and the performers. A typical performance lasts around 3 hours.

 Frequently omitted numbers [ edit ]

 Two arias from act 4 are often omitted: one in which Marcellina regrets that people (unlike animals) abuse their mates (" Il capro e la capretta "), and one in which Don Basilio tells how he saved himself from several dangers in his youth by using the skin of a donkey for shelter and camouflage (" In quegli anni ").[32]

 Mozart wrote two replacement arias for Susanna when the role was taken over by Adriana Ferrarese in the 1789 revival. The replacement arias, "Un moto di gioia" (replacing "Venite, inginocchiatevi" in act 2) and "Al desio di chi t'adora" (replacing "Deh vieni non tardar" in act 4), in which the two clarinets are replaced with basset horns, are normally not used in modern performances. A notable exception was a series of performances at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 with Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna.[33]

 Critical discussion [ edit ]

 Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote a preface to the first published version of the libretto, in which he boldly claimed that he and Mozart had created a new form of music drama:

 In spite ... of every effort ... to be brief, the opera will not be one of the shortest to have appeared on our stage, for which we hope sufficient excuse will be found in the variety of threads from which the action of this play [i.e. Beaumarchais's] is woven, the vastness and grandeur of the same, the multiplicity of the musical numbers that had to be made in order not to leave the actors too long unemployed, to diminish the vexation and monotony of long recitatives, and to express with varied colours the various emotions that occur, but above all in our desire to offer as it were a new kind of spectacle to a public of so refined a taste and understanding.[34]

 Charles Rosen, in The Classical Style, proposes to take Da Ponte's words quite seriously, noting the "richness of the ensemble writing",[35] which carries forward the action in a far more dramatic way than recitatives would. Rosen also suggests that the musical language of the classical style was adapted by Mozart to convey the drama; many sections of the opera resemble sonata form. By movement through a sequence of keys, they build up and resolve musical tension, providing a natural musical reflection of the drama. As Rosen writes:

 The synthesis of accelerating complexity and symmetrical resolution which was at the heart of Mozart's style enabled him to find a musical equivalent for the great stage works which were his dramatic models. The Marriage of Figaro in Mozart's version is the dramatic equal, and in many respects the superior, of Beaumarchais's work.[36]

 This is demonstrated in the closing numbers of all four acts: as the drama escalates, Mozart eschews recitativi altogether and opts for increasingly sophisticated writing, bringing his characters on stage, revelling in a complex weave of solo and ensemble singing in multiple combinations, and climaxing in seven- and eight-voice tutti for acts 2 and 4. The finale of act 2, lasting 20 minutes, is one of the longest uninterrupted pieces of music Mozart ever wrote.[37] Eight of the opera's 11 characters appear on stage in its more than 900 bars of continuous music.

 Mozart cleverly uses the sound of two horns playing together to represent cuckoldry in the act 4 aria " Aprite un po' quegli occhi ".[37] Verdi later used the same device in Ford's aria in Falstaff.[38][39]

 Johannes Brahms said "In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven."[40]

 Other uses of the melodies [ edit ]

 A musical phrase from the act 1 trio of The Marriage of Figaro (where Basilio sings Così fan tutte le belle) was later reused by Mozart in the overture to his opera Così fan tutte.[41] Mozart also quotes Figaro's aria "Non più andrai" in the second act of his opera Don Giovanni. Further, Mozart used it in 1791 in his Five Contredanses, K. 609, No. 1. Mozart reused the music of the "Agnus Dei" of his earlier Krönungsmesse (Coronation Mass) for the Countess's "Dove sono", in C major instead of the original F major. Mozart also reused the motif that begins his early bassoon concerto in another aria sung by the Countess, "Porgi, amor".[42] Beethoven wrote Variations on 'Se vuol ballare' , WoO 40, for violin and piano on Figaro's cavatina. Ferdinand Ries used music from the opera in his Fantasies on Themes from 'Le Nozze di Figaro' , Op. 77. Moscheles used the duettino "Crudel! perchè finora" in his Fantaisie dramatique sur des Airs favoris, Bijoux à la Malibran for piano, Op. 72/4. Johann Nepomuk Hummel quoted it in his Fantasia über 'Le nozze di Figaro', Op. 124. Franz Liszt quoted the opera in his Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni S. 697.

 In 1819, Henry R. Bishop wrote an adaptation of the opera in English, translating from Beaumarchais's play and re-using some of Mozart's music, while adding some of his own.[43]

 In his 1991 opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, which includes elements of Beaumarchais's third Figaro play (La Mère coupable) and in which the main characters of The Marriage of Figaro also appear, John Corigliano quotes Mozart's opera, especially the overture, several times.

 Recordings [ edit ]

 Main article: The Marriage of Figaro discography

 See also [ edit ]

 * Opera portal
 * List of operas by Mozart

 References [ edit ]

 Notes

 1. ^ "The 20 Greatest Operas of All Time". Classical Music.
 2. ^ "Statistics for the five seasons 2009/10 to 2013/14". Operabase. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 . Retrieved 11 January 2015 .
 3. ^ "The 20 Greatest Operas of All Time". Classical Music.
 4. ^ "Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro'". National Public Radio. 13 July 2007.
 5. ^ Mann, William . The Operas of Mozart . Cassell, London, 1977, p. 366 (in chapter on Le Nozze di Figaro ).
 6. ^ The librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte in his memoirs asserted that the play was banned only for its sexual references. See the Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte , translated by Elisabeth Abbott (New York: Da Capo Press, 1988), 150.
 7. ^ While the political content was suppressed, the opera enhanced the emotional content. According to Stendhal , Mozart "transformed into real passions the superficial attachments that amuse Beaumarchais's easy-going inhabitants of [Count Almaviva's castle] Aguas Frescas". Stendhal's French text is in: Dümchen, Sybil; Nerlich, Michael, eds. (1994). Stendhal – Text und Bild (in German). Tübingen: Gunter Narr. ISBN 978-3-8233-3990-8.
 8. ^ Broder, Nathan (1951). "Essay on the Story of the Opera". The Marriage of Figaro: Le Nozze di Figaro. By Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Da Ponte, Lorenzo (piano reduction vocal score). Translated by Martin, Ruth; Martin, Thomas. New York: Schirmer. pp. v–vi. (Quoting Memoirs of Lorenzo da Ponte , transl. and ed. by L. A. Sheppard, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1929, pp. 129ff
 9. ^ a b Deutsch 1965 , p. 274
 10. ^ a b Solomon 1995 , p. [ page needed ]
 11. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 272 Deutsch says Mozart played a harpsichord; for conflicting testimony, see below.
 12. ^ These were: 3, 8, 24 May; 4 July, 28 August, 22 (perhaps 23) of September, 15 November, 18 December Deutsch 1965 , p. 272
 13. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 272
 14. ^ Rice 1999 , p. 331.
 15. ^ 9 May 1786, quoted from Deutsch 1965 , p. 272
 16. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 275
 17. ^ Quoted in Deutsch 1965 , p. 278
 18. ^ From Kazinczy's 1828 autobiography; quoted in Deutsch 1965 , p. 276
 19. ^ The letter, to Marianne von Genzinger , is printed in Geiringer & Geiringer 1982 , pp. 90–92
 20. ^ Landon & Jones 1988 , p. 174
 21. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 276
 22. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 281
 23. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 280
 24. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 285
 25. ^ Performance dates: 29 and 31 August; 2, 11, 19 September; 3, 9, 24 October; 5, 13, 27 November; 8 January 1790; 1 February; 1, 7, 9, 19, 30 May; 22 June; 24, 26 July; 22 August; 3, 25 September; 11 October; 4, 20 January 1791; 9 February; from Deutsch 1965 , p. 272
 26. ^ Dexter Edge , "Mozart's Viennese Copyists" (PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2001), 1718–34.
 27. ^ a b Le nozze di Figaro, p. 2 , NMA II/5/16/1-2 (1973)
 28. ^ See Robinson 1986 , p. 173; Chanan 1999 , p. 63; and Singher & Singher 2003 , p. 150. Mozart (and his contemporaries) never used the terms "mezzo-soprano" or "baritone". Women's roles were listed as either " soprano " or " contralto ", while men's roles were listed as either " tenor " or " bass ". Many of Mozart's baritone and bass-baritone roles derive from the basso buffo tradition, where no clear distinction was drawn between bass and baritone, a practice that continued well into the 19th century. Similarly, mezzo-soprano as a distinct voice type was a 19th-century development ( Jander et al. 2001 , chapters "Baritone" and "Mezzo-soprano [mezzo]"). Modern re-classifications of the voice types for Mozartian roles have been based on analysis of contemporary descriptions of the singers who created those roles and their other repertoire, and on the role's tessitura in the score.
 29. ^ Angermüller, Rudolph (1 November 1988). Mozart's Operas. Rizzoli. p. 137. ISBN 9780847809936.
 30. ^ Thomas, Hugh (2006). "Ten – Leaving Madrid.". Beaumarchais in Seville: an intermezzo. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-300-12103-2 . Retrieved 27 August 2008 . Synopsis based on Melitz 1921 , pp. 251–254 .
 31. ^ This piece became so popular that Mozart himself, in the final act of his next opera Don Giovanni , transformed the aria into Tafelmusik played by a woodwind ensemble, and alluded to by Leporello as "rather well-known sounds".
 32. ^ Brown-Montesano, Kristi (2007). Understanding the Women of Mozart's Operas , p. 207. University of California Press. ISBN 052093296X
 33. ^ Gossett, Philip (2008). Divas and Scholars: Performing Italian Opera , pp. 239–240. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226304876
 34. ^ English translation taken from Deutsch 1965 , pp. 273–274
 35. ^ Rosen 1997 , p. 182.
 36. ^ Rosen 1997 , p. 183.
 37. ^ a b "The Marriage of Figaro – a musical guide" by Tom Service , The Guardian , 14 August 2012
 38. ^ "Verdi Falstaff (La Scala, 1932) – About this Recording" by Keith Anderson, Naxos Records
 39. ^ "Belly laugh: Verdi's Falstaff ends CBSO season in high spirits" by Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack , 14 July 2016
 40. ^ Harris, Robert, What to listen for in Mozart , 2002, ISBN 0743244044 , p. 141; in a different translation, Peter Gay, Mozart: A Life , Penguin, New York, 1999, p. 131.
 41. ^ Cairns, David (2007). Mozart and His Operas. Penguin. p. 256. ISBN 9780141904054 . Retrieved 19 August 2014 .
 42. ^ Phillip Huscher (5 June 2014). "Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, 'a little masterpiece'". Chicago Symphony Orchestra . Retrieved 8 June 2020 .
 43. ^ Bishop, Henry R. (1819). The Marriage of Figaro: A Comic Opera in Three Acts. Piccadilly: John Miller.

 Sources

 * Chanan, Michael (1999). From Handel to Hendrix: The Composer in the Public Sphere. Verso. ISBN 1-85984-706-4.
 * Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford University Press.
 * Geiringer, Karl; Geiringer, Irene (1982). Haydn: A Creative Life in Music (3rd ed.). University of California Press. pp. xii, 403. ISBN 0-520-04316-2.
 * Jander, Owen; Steane, J. B.; Forbes, Elizabeth; Harris, Ellen T.; Waldman, Gerald (2001). Stanley Sadie; John Tyrrell (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-60800-3.
 * Landon, H. C. Robbins; Jones, David Wyn (1988). Haydn: His Life and Music. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-37265-9.
 * Melitz, Leo [ de ] (1921). The Opera Goer's Complete Guide. Translated by Richard Salinger. Garden City: Dodd, Mead and Co.
 * Rice, John A. (1999). Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera. University of Chicago Press.
 * Robinson, Paul A. (1986). Opera & Ideas: From Mozart to Strauss. Cornell University Press. p. 173. ISBN 0-8014-9428-1.
 * Rosen, Charles (1997). The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-31712-9. (At archive.org)
 * Singher, Martial; Singher, Eta (2003). An Interpretive Guide to Operatic Arias: A Handbook for Singers, Coaches, Teachers, and Students. Penn State University Press. ISBN 0-271-02354-6.
 * Solomon, Maynard (1995). Mozart: A Life. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060190460.

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Gutman, Robert W. (2000). Mozart: A Cultural Biography. Harcourt Brace. ISBN 978-0-15-601171-6.

 External links [ edit ]

 Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article:
 Le nozze di Figaro
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 * Le nozze di Figaro: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
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The Marriage of Figaro    Opera by W. A. Mozart     Early 19th-century engraving depicting Count Almaviva and Susanna in act 3    Native title   Le nozze di Figaro     Librettist  Lorenzo Da Ponte    Language Italian   Based on  by Pierre Beaumarchais    Premiere   1 May 1786   Burgtheater, Vienna      
  The Marriage of Figaro  (Italian:  Le nozze di Figaro , ), K. 492, is a commedia per musica (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais,  La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro  ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"). It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.
 Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, [1]  it is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. [2]  In 2017, BBC News Magazine asked 172 opera singers to vote for the best operas ever written. The Marriage of Figaro came in first out of the 20 operas featured, with the magazine describing the work as being "one of the supreme masterpieces of operatic comedy, whose rich sense of humanity shines out of Mozart’s miraculous score". [3] 
 
Beaumarchais's earlier play  The Barber of Seville  had already made a successful transition to opera in a version by Paisiello. Beaumarchais's Mariage de Figaro, with its frank treatment of class conflict, [4]  was at first banned in Vienna: Emperor Joseph II stated that "since the piece contains much that is objectionable, I therefore expect that the Censor shall either reject it altogether, or at any rate have such alterations made in it that he shall be responsible for the performance of this play and for the impression it may make", after which the Austrian Censor duly forbade performing the German version of the play. [5]   [6]  Mozart's librettist managed to get official approval from the emperor for an operatic version, which eventually achieved great success.
 The opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte, followed by  Don Giovanni  and  Così fan tutte . It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais's play and brought it to Da Ponte, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original's political references. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaro's climactic speech against inherited nobility with an equally angry aria against unfaithful wives. [7]  The libretto was approved by the Emperor before any music was written by Mozart. [8] 
 The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work; [9]  this was three times his meagre yearly salary when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg. [10]  Da Ponte was paid 200 florins. [9] 
 
 Figaro premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786, with a cast listed in the "Roles" section below. Mozart himself conducted the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Later performances were conducted by Joseph Weigl. [11]  The first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786. [12] 
 Although the total of nine performances was nothing like the frequency of performance of Mozart's later success,  The Magic Flute , which for months was performed roughly every other day, [10]  the premiere is generally judged to have been a success. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being encored, seven on 8 May. [13]  Emperor Joseph, in charge of the Burgtheater, [14]  was concerned by the length of the performance and directed his aide Count Orsini–Rosenberg as follows:
 
To prevent the excessive duration of operas, without however prejudicing the fame often sought by opera singers from the repetition of vocal pieces, I deem the enclosed notice to the public (that no piece for more than a single voice is to be repeated) to be the most reasonable expedient. You will therefore cause some posters to this effect to be printed. [15]   
The requested posters were printed up and posted in the Burgtheater in time for the third performance on 24 May. [16] 
 The newspaper Wiener Realzeitung carried a review of the opera in its issue of 11 July 1786. It alludes to interference probably produced by paid hecklers, but praises the work warmly:
 Mozart's music was generally admired by connoisseurs already at the first performance, if I except only those whose self-love and conceit will not allow them to find merit in anything not written by themselves.
 The public, however ... did not really know on the first day where it stood. It heard many a bravo from unbiased connoisseurs, but obstreperous louts in the uppermost storey exerted their hired lungs with all their might to deafen singers and audience alike with their St! and Pst; and consequently opinions were divided at the end of the piece.
 Apart from that, it is true that the first performance was none of the best, owing to the difficulties of the composition.
 But now, after several performances, one would be subscribing either to the cabal or to tastelessness if one were to maintain that Herr Mozart's music is anything but a masterpiece of art.
 
It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be drawn only from the source of innate genius. [17]   
The Hungarian poet Ferenc Kazinczy was in the audience for a May performance, and later remembered the powerful impression the work made on him:
 [Nancy] Storace [see below], the beautiful singer, enchanted eye, ear, and soul. – Mozart conducted the orchestra, playing his fortepiano; but the joy which this music causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy? [18]   
 Joseph Haydn appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams. [19]  In summer 1790 Haydn attempted to produce the work with his own company at Eszterháza, but was prevented from doing so by the death of his patron, Nikolaus Esterházy. [20] 
 
The Emperor requested a special performance at his palace theatre in Laxenburg, which took place in June 1786. [21] 
 The opera was produced in Prague starting in December 1786 by the Pasquale Bondini company. This production was a tremendous success; the newspaper Prager Oberpostamtszeitung called the work "a masterpiece", [22]  and said "no piece (for everyone here asserts) has ever caused such a sensation." [23]  Local music lovers paid for Mozart to visit Prague and hear the production; he listened on 17 January 1787, and conducted it himself on the 22nd. [24]  The success of the Prague production led to the commissioning of the next Mozart/Da Ponte opera,  Don Giovanni , premiered in Prague in 1787 (see Mozart and Prague).
 The work was not performed in Vienna during 1787 or 1788, but starting in 1789 there was a revival production. [25]  For this occasion Mozart replaced both arias of Susanna with new compositions, better suited to the voice of Adriana Ferrarese del Bene who took the role. To replace "" he wrote "" – "[come and fly] To the desire of [the one] who adores you" (K. 577) in July 1789, and to replace "" he wrote "" – "A joyous emotion", (K. 579), probably in mid-1790. [26] 
 
The voice types that appear in this table are those listed in the critical edition published in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe . [27]  In modern performance practice, Cherubino and Marcellina are usually assigned to mezzo-sopranos, and Figaro to a bass-baritone. [28] 
 
Role [27] 
 Voice type
Premiere cast, 1 May 1786 Conductor: W. A. Mozart [29] 
 
Count Almaviva
 baritone 
 Stefano Mandini
 
Countess Rosina Almaviva
 soprano 
 Luisa Laschi
 
Susanna, the countess's maid 
soprano
 Nancy Storace
 
Figaro, personal valet to the count 
 bass 
 Francesco Benucci
 
Cherubino, the Count's page  
soprano (breeches role)
 Dorotea Bussani
 
Marcellina, Doctor Bartolo's housekeeper 
soprano
 Maria Mandini
 
Bartolo, doctor from Seville, also a practicing lawyer 
bass
 Francesco Bussani
 
Basilio, music teacher 
 tenor 
 Michael Kelly
 
Don Curzio, judge 
tenor
 Michael Kelly
 
Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, Susanna's cousin 
soprano
 Anna Gottlieb
 
Antonio, the Count's gardener, Susanna's uncle 
bass
 Francesco Bussani
 
 Chorus of peasants, villagers, and servants
   
 
 The Marriage of Figaro continues the plot of  The Barber of Seville  several years later, and recounts a single "day of madness" () in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess. Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself, and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of Barber, (a tenor in Paisiello's 1782 opera), into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to exercise his  droit du seigneur  – his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – with Figaro's bride-to-be, Susanna, who is the Countess's maid. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through the clever manipulations of Susanna and the Countess, Figaro and Susanna are finally able to marry.
 Place: Count Almaviva's estate, Aguas-Frescas, three leagues outside Seville, Spain. [30]   
 
     
The overture is in the key of D major; the tempo marking is presto; i.e. quick. The work is well known and often played independently as a concert piece.
 
 A partly furnished room, with a chair in the centre.
 Figaro happily measures the space where the bridal bed will fit while Susanna tries on her wedding bonnet (which she has sewn herself) in front of a mirror. (Duet: "" – "Five, ten, twenty"). Figaro is quite pleased with their new room; Susanna far less so (Duettino: "" – "If the Countess should call you during the night"). She is bothered by its proximity to the Count's chambers: it seems he has been making advances toward her and plans on exercising his  droit du seigneur , the feudal right of a lord to bed a servant girl on her wedding night before her husband can sleep with her. The Count had the right abolished when he married Rosina, but he now wants to reinstate it. The Countess rings for Susanna and she rushes off to answer. Figaro, confident in his own resourcefulness, resolves to outwit the Count (Cavatina: "Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino" – "If you want to dance, Sir Count").
 Figaro departs, and Dr. Bartolo arrives with Marcellina, his old housekeeper. Figaro had previously borrowed a large sum of money from her, and in lieu of collateral, had promised to marry her if unable to repay at the appointed time; she now intends to enforce that promise by suing him. Bartolo, seeking revenge against Figaro for having facilitated the union of the Count and Rosina (in  The Barber of Seville ), agrees to represent Marcellina pro bono, and assures her, in comical lawyer-speak, that he can win the case for her (aria: "" – "Vengeance").
 Bartolo departs, Susanna returns, and Marcellina and Susanna exchange very politely delivered sarcastic insults (duet: "" – "After you, brilliant madam"). Susanna triumphs in the exchange by congratulating her rival on her impressive age. The older woman departs in a fury.
   Act 1: Cherubino hides behind Susanna's chair as the Count arrives. 
Cherubino then arrives and after describing his emerging infatuation with all women, particularly with his "beautiful godmother" the Countess, (aria: "" – "I don't know anymore what I am") asks for Susanna's aid with the Count. It seems the Count is angry with Cherubino's amorous ways, having discovered him with the gardener's daughter, Barbarina, and plans to punish him. Cherubino wants Susanna to ask the Countess to intercede on his behalf. When the Count appears, Cherubino hides behind a chair, not wanting to be seen alone with Susanna. The Count uses the opportunity of finding Susanna alone to step up his demands for favours from her, and offers to pay money if she will submit to him. As Basilio, the music teacher, arrives, the Count, not wanting to be caught alone with Susanna, hides behind the chair. Cherubino leaves that hiding place just in time, and jumps onto the chair while Susanna scrambles to cover him with a dress.
 When Basilio starts to gossip about Cherubino's obvious attraction to the Countess, the Count angrily leaps from his hiding place (terzetto: "" – "What do I hear!"). He disparages the "absent" page's incessant flirting and describes how he caught him with Barbarina under the kitchen table. As he lifts the dress from the chair to illustrate how he lifted the tablecloth to expose Cherubino, he finds ... the self same Cherubino! The count is furious, but is reminded that the page overheard the Count's advances on Susanna, information that the Count wants to keep from the Countess. The young man is ultimately saved from punishment by the entrance of the peasants of the Count's estate, a preemptive attempt by Figaro to make the Count commit to a formal gesture symbolizing his promise that Susanna would enter into the marriage unsullied. The Count evades Figaro's plan by postponing the gesture. The Count says that he forgives Cherubino, but he dispatches him to his own regiment in Seville for army duty, effective immediately. Figaro gives Cherubino mocking advice about his new, harsh, military life from which all luxury, and especially women, will be totally excluded (aria: "Non più andrai" – "No more gallivanting"). [31] 
 
 A handsome room with an alcove, a dressing room on the left, a door in the background (leading to the servants' quarters) and a window at the side.
     
The Countess laments her husband's infidelity (aria: "Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro" – "Grant, love, some comfort"). Susanna comes in to prepare the Countess for the day. She responds to the Countess's questions by telling her that the Count is not trying to seduce her; he is merely offering her a monetary contract in return for her affection. Figaro enters and explains his plan to distract the Count with anonymous letters warning him of adulterers. He has already sent one to the Count (via Basilio) indicating that the Countess has a rendezvous of her own that evening. They hope that the Count will be too busy looking for imaginary adulterers to interfere with Figaro and Susanna's wedding. Figaro additionally advises the Countess to keep Cherubino around. She should dress him up as a girl and lure the Count into an illicit rendezvous where he can be caught and embarrassed. Figaro leaves.
      Cherubino arrives, sent in by Figaro. Susanna urges him to sing the song he wrote for the Countess (aria: "Voi che sapete che cosa è amor" – "You ladies who know what love is, is it what I'm suffering from?"). After the song, the Countess, seeing Cherubino's military commission, notices that the Count was in such a hurry that he forgot to seal it with his signet ring (thus making it an official document).
 Susanna and the Countess then begin with their plan. Susanna takes off Cherubino's cloak, and she begins to comb his hair and teach him to behave and walk like a woman (aria of Susanna: "Venite, inginocchiatevi" – "Come, kneel down before me"). Then she leaves the room through a door at the back to get the dress for Cherubino, taking his cloak with her.
 While the Countess and Cherubino are waiting for Susanna to come back, they suddenly hear the Count arriving. Cherubino quickly hides in the closet and locks the door. The Countess reluctantly lets the Count into her room. The Count hears a noise from the closet. The Countess tells him that Susanna is in the closet and that she cannot come out because she is trying on her wedding dress. At this moment, Susanna re-enters from another room, quickly realizes what's going on, and hides before anyone can see her (Trio: "Susanna, or via, sortite" – "Susanna, come out!"). The Count shouts through the closet door for her to identify herself by her voice, but the Countess orders her to be silent. Furious and suspicious, the Count leaves with the Countess, in search of tools to force the closet door open. As they leave, he locks all the bedroom doors to prevent the intruder from escaping. Cherubino and Susanna emerge from their hiding places, and Cherubino escapes by jumping through the window into the garden. Susanna then takes Cherubino's place in the closet, vowing to make the Count look foolish (duet: "Aprite, presto, aprite" – "Open the door, quickly!").
     
The Count and Countess return. The Countess, thinking herself trapped, desperately admits that Cherubino is hidden in the closet. The enraged Count draws his sword, promising to kill Cherubino on the spot, but when the closet door is opened, to their astonishment, they only find Susanna (Finale: "Esci omai, garzon malnato" – "Come out of there, you ill-born boy!"). The Count demands an explanation; the Countess tells him it is a practical joke to test his trust in her. Shamed by his own jealousy, the Count pleads for forgiveness. When the Count presses about the anonymous letter, Susanna and the Countess reveal that the letter was written by Figaro, and then delivered by Basilio. Figaro then arrives and tries to start the wedding festivities, but the Count berates him with questions about the anonymous note. Just as the Count is starting to run out of questions, Antonio the gardener arrives, complaining that a man has jumped out of the window and damaged his carnations while running away. Antonio adds that he tentatively identified the running man as Cherubino, but Figaro claims it was he himself who jumped out of the window, and pretends to have injured his foot while landing. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess attempt to discredit Antonio as a chronic drunkard whose constant inebriation makes him unreliable and prone to fantasy, but Antonio brings forward a paper, which, he says, was dropped by the escaping man. The Count orders Figaro to prove he was the jumper by identifying the paper (which is, in fact, Cherubino's appointment to the army). Figaro is at a loss, but Susanna and the Countess manage to signal the correct answers, and Figaro triumphantly identifies the document. His victory is, however, short-lived: Marcellina, Bartolo, and Basilio enter, bringing charges against Figaro and demanding that he honor his contract to marry Marcellina, since he cannot repay her loan. The Count happily postpones the wedding in order to investigate the charge.
 
 A rich hall, with two thrones, prepared for the wedding ceremony.
     
The Count mulls over the confusing situation. At the urging of the Countess, Susanna enters and gives a false promise to meet the Count later that night in the garden (duet: "Crudel! perchè finora" – "Cruel girl, why did you make me wait so long"). As Susanna leaves, the Count overhears her telling Figaro that he has already won the case. Realizing that he is being tricked (recitative and aria: "Hai già vinta la causa! ... Vedrò, mentr'io sospiro" – "You've already won the case!" ... "Shall I, while sighing, see"), he resolves to punish Figaro by forcing him to marry Marcellina.
     
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Fricsay 1960 (cast: discography)  
Figaro's hearing follows, and the Count's judgment is that Figaro must marry Marcellina. Figaro argues that he cannot get married without his parents' permission, and that he does not know who his parents are, because he was stolen from them when he was a baby. The ensuing discussion reveals that Figaro is Raffaello, the long-lost illegitimate son of Bartolo and Marcellina. A touching scene of reconciliation occurs. During the celebrations, Susanna enters with a payment to release Figaro from his debt to Marcellina. Seeing Figaro and Marcellina in celebration together, Susanna mistakenly believes that Figaro now prefers Marcellina to her. She has a tantrum and slaps Figaro's face. Marcellina explains, and Susanna, realizing her mistake, joins the celebration. Bartolo, overcome with emotion, agrees to marry Marcellina that evening in a double wedding (sextet: "Riconosci in questo amplesso" – "Recognize in this embrace").
     
 Maria Stader, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay (1960)  
All leave before Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, invites Cherubino back to her house so they can disguise him as a girl. The Countess, alone, ponders the loss of her happiness (aria: "Dove sono i bei momenti" – "Where are they, the beautiful moments"). Meanwhile, Antonio informs the Count that Cherubino is not in Seville, but in fact at his house. Susanna enters and updates her mistress regarding the plan to trap the Count. The Countess dictates a love letter for Susanna to send to the Count, which suggests that he meet her (Susanna) that night, "under the pines". The letter instructs the Count to return the pin that fastens the letter (duet: "Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto" – "On the breeze... What a gentle little zephyr").
 A chorus of young peasants, among them Cherubino disguised as a girl, arrives to serenade the Countess. The Count arrives with Antonio and discovering the page, is enraged. His anger is quickly dispelled by Barbarina, who publicly recalls that he had once offered to give her anything she wanted in exchange for certain favors, and asks for Cherubino's hand in marriage. Thoroughly embarrassed, the Count allows Cherubino to stay.
 The act closes with the double wedding, during the course of which Susanna delivers her letter to the Count (Finale: "Ecco la marcia" – "Here is the procession"). Figaro watches the Count prick his finger on the pin, and laughs, unaware that the love-note is an invitation for the Count to tryst with Figaro's own bride Susanna. As the curtain drops, the two newlywed couples rejoice.
 
 The garden, with two pavilions. Night.
     
Following the directions in the letter, the Count has sent the pin back to Susanna, giving it to Barbarina. However, Barbarina has lost it (aria: "L'ho perduta, me meschina" – "I have lost it, poor me"). Figaro and Marcellina see Barbarina, and Figaro asks her what she is doing. When he hears the pin is Susanna's, he is overcome with jealousy, especially as he recognises the pin as the one that fastened the letter to the Count. Thinking that Susanna is meeting the Count behind his back, Figaro complains to his mother, and swears to be avenged on the Count and Susanna, and on all unfaithful wives. Marcellina urges caution, but Figaro will not listen. Figaro rushes off, and Marcellina resolves to inform Susanna of Figaro's intentions. Marcellina sings an aria lamenting that male and female wild beasts get along with each other, but rational humans can't (aria: "Il capro e la capretta" – "The billy-goat and the she-goat"). (This aria and the subsequent aria of Basilio are mostly not performed; however, some recordings include them.)
     
     
Motivated by jealousy, Figaro tells Bartolo and Basilio to come to his aid when he gives the signal. Basilio comments on Figaro's foolishness and claims he was once as frivolous as Figaro was. He tells a tale of how he was given common sense by "Donna Flemma" ("Dame Prudence") and learned the importance of not crossing powerful people, (aria: "In quegli anni" – "In those years"). They exit, leaving Figaro alone. Figaro muses bitterly on the inconstancy of women (recitative and aria: "Tutto è disposto ... Aprite un po' quegli occhi" – "Everything is ready ... Open those eyes a little"). Susanna and the Countess arrive, each dressed in the other's clothes. Marcellina is with them, having informed Susanna of Figaro's suspicions and plans. After they discuss the plan, Marcellina and the Countess leave, and Susanna teases Figaro by singing a love song to her beloved within Figaro's hearing (aria: "Deh vieni non tardar" – "Oh come, don't delay"). Figaro is hiding behind a bush and, thinking the song is for the Count, becomes increasingly jealous.
 The Countess arrives in Susanna's dress. Cherubino shows up and starts teasing "Susanna" (really the Countess), endangering the plan. (Finale: "Pian pianin le andrò più presso" – "Softly, softly I'll approach her") The Count strikes out in the dark at Cherubino. but his punch hits Figaro, and Cherubino runs off.
 The Count now begins making earnest love to "Susanna" (really the Countess), and gives her a jeweled ring. They go offstage together, where the Countess dodges him, hiding in the dark. Onstage, meanwhile, the real Susanna enters, wearing the Countess' clothes. Figaro mistakes her for the real Countess, and starts to tell her of the Count's intentions, but he suddenly recognizes his bride in disguise. He plays along with the joke by pretending to be in love with "my lady", and inviting her to make love right then and there. Susanna, fooled, loses her temper and slaps him many times. Figaro finally lets on that he has recognized Susanna's voice, and they make peace, resolving to conclude the comedy together ("Pace, pace, mio dolce tesoro" – "Peace, peace, my sweet treasure").
 The Count, unable to find "Susanna", enters frustrated. Figaro gets his attention by loudly declaring his love for "the Countess" (really Susanna). The enraged Count calls for his people and for weapons: his servant is seducing his wife. (Ultima scena: "Gente, gente, all'armi, all'armi" – "Gentlemen, to arms!") Bartolo, Basilio and Antonio enter with torches as, one by one, the Count drags out Cherubino, Barbarina, Marcellina and the "Countess" from behind the pavilion.
 All beg him to forgive Figaro and the "Countess", but he loudly refuses, repeating "no" at the top of his voice, until finally the real Countess re-enters and reveals her true identity. The Count, seeing the ring he had given her, realizes that the supposed Susanna he was trying to seduce was actually his wife. He kneels and pleads for forgiveness, ("Contessa perdono!" – "Countess, forgive me!"). The Countess replies that she does forgive him ("Più docile io sono e dico di sì" – "I am kinder [than you], and I say yes"). Everyone declares that they will be happy with this ("A tutti contenti saremo cosi"), and set out to celebrate.
 
 Overture – Orchestra 
 
 Act 1
 1. Cinque... dieci... venti... – Susanna, Figaro
2. Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama – Susanna, Figaro
3.  Se vuol ballare, signor Contino  – Figaro
4. La vendetta, oh la vendetta! – Bartolo
5. Via resti servita, madama brillante – Susanna, Marcellina
6. Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio – Cherubino
7. Cosa sento! tosto andate – Susanna, Basilio, Count
8. Giovani liete, fiori spargete – Chorus
9.  Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso  – Figaro 
 Act 2
 10. Porgi amor qualche ristoro – Countess
11. Voi che sapete che cosa è amor – Cherubino
12. Venite inginocchiatevi – Susanna
13. Susanna or via sortite – Countess, Susanna, Count
14. Aprite presto aprite – Susanna, Cherubino
15. Esci omai, garzon malnato – Susanna, Countess, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Bartolo, Figaro 
 Act 3
 16. Crudel! perché finora – Susanna, Count
17. Hai già vinta la causa – Vedrò mentr'io sospiro – Count
18. Riconosci in questo amplesso – Susanna, Marcellina, Don Curzio, Count, Bartolo, Figaro
19.  E Susanna non vien – Dove sono i bei momenti  – Countess
20.  Canzonetta sull'aria  – Susanna, Countess
21. Ricevete, o padroncina – Farm girls
22. Ecco la marcia, andiamo – Susanna, Countess, Count, Figaro; Chorus 
 Act 4
 23. L'ho perduta... me meschina – Barbarina
24. Il capro e la capretta – Marcellina
25. In quegl'anni in cui val poco – Basilio
26. Tutto è disposto – Aprite un po' quegl'occhi – Figaro
27. Giunse alfin il momento – Deh vieni non tardar – Susanna
28. Pian pianin le andrò più presso – Susanna, Countess, Barbarina, Cherubino, Marcellina, Basilio, Count, Antonio, Figaro, Bartolo 
    
 
   Libretto 1786 
 The Marriage of Figaro is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two clarini, timpani, and strings; the  recitativi secchi  are accompanied by a keyboard instrument, usually a fortepiano or a harpsichord, often joined by a cello. The instrumentation of the recitativi secchi is not given in the score, so it is up to the conductor and the performers. A typical performance lasts around 3 hours.
 
Two arias from act 4 are often omitted: one in which Marcellina regrets that people (unlike animals) abuse their mates (""), and one in which Don Basilio tells how he saved himself from several dangers in his youth by using the skin of a donkey for shelter and camouflage (""). [32] 
 Mozart wrote two replacement arias for Susanna when the role was taken over by Adriana Ferrarese in the 1789 revival. The replacement arias, "Un moto di gioia" (replacing "Venite, inginocchiatevi" in act 2) and "Al desio di chi t'adora" (replacing "Deh vieni non tardar" in act 4), in which the two clarinets are replaced with basset horns, are normally not used in modern performances. A notable exception was a series of performances at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 with Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna. [33] 
 
Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote a preface to the first published version of the libretto, in which he boldly claimed that he and Mozart had created a new form of music drama:
 In spite ... of every effort ... to be brief, the opera will not be one of the shortest to have appeared on our stage, for which we hope sufficient excuse will be found in the variety of threads from which the action of this play [i.e. Beaumarchais's] is woven, the vastness and grandeur of the same, the multiplicity of the musical numbers that had to be made in order not to leave the actors too long unemployed, to diminish the vexation and monotony of long recitatives, and to express with varied colours the various emotions that occur, but above all in our desire to offer as it were a new kind of spectacle to a public of so refined a taste and understanding. [34]   
 Charles Rosen, in  The Classical Style , proposes to take Da Ponte's words quite seriously, noting the "richness of the ensemble writing", [35]  which carries forward the action in a far more dramatic way than recitatives would. Rosen also suggests that the musical language of the classical style was adapted by Mozart to convey the drama; many sections of the opera resemble sonata form. By movement through a sequence of keys, they build up and resolve musical tension, providing a natural musical reflection of the drama. As Rosen writes:
 
The synthesis of accelerating complexity and symmetrical resolution which was at the heart of Mozart's style enabled him to find a musical equivalent for the great stage works which were his dramatic models. The Marriage of Figaro in Mozart's version is the dramatic equal, and in many respects the superior, of Beaumarchais's work. [36]   
This is demonstrated in the closing numbers of all four acts: as the drama escalates, Mozart eschews recitativi altogether and opts for increasingly sophisticated writing, bringing his characters on stage, revelling in a complex weave of solo and ensemble singing in multiple combinations, and climaxing in seven- and eight-voice tutti for acts 2 and 4. The finale of act 2, lasting 20 minutes, is one of the longest uninterrupted pieces of music Mozart ever wrote. [37]  Eight of the opera's 11 characters appear on stage in its more than 900 bars of continuous music.
 Mozart cleverly uses the sound of two horns playing together to represent cuckoldry in the act 4 aria "". [37]  Verdi later used the same device in Ford's aria in  Falstaff . [38]   [39] 
  Johannes Brahms said "In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven." [40] 
 
A musical phrase from the act 1 trio of The Marriage of Figaro (where Basilio sings  ) was later reused by Mozart in the overture to his opera  Così fan tutte . [41]  Mozart also quotes Figaro's aria "Non più andrai" in the second act of his opera  Don Giovanni . Further, Mozart used it in 1791 in his Five Contredanses, K. 609, No. 1. Mozart reused the music of the "Agnus Dei" of his earlier ( Coronation Mass ) for the Countess's "", in C major instead of the original F major. Mozart also reused the motif that begins his early bassoon concerto in another aria sung by the Countess, "Porgi, amor". [42]  Beethoven wrote , WoO 40, for violin and piano on Figaro's cavatina. Ferdinand Ries used music from the opera in his , Op. 77. Moscheles used the duettino "Crudel! perchè finora" in his for piano, Op. 72/4. Johann Nepomuk Hummel quoted it in his , Op. 124. Franz Liszt quoted the opera in his  Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni  S. 697.
 In 1819, Henry R. Bishop wrote an adaptation of the opera in English, translating from Beaumarchais's play and re-using some of Mozart's music, while adding some of his own. [43] 
 In his 1991 opera,  The Ghosts of Versailles , which includes elements of Beaumarchais's third Figaro play ( La Mère coupable ) and in which the main characters of The Marriage of Figaro also appear, John Corigliano quotes Mozart's opera, especially the overture, several times.
 
 
  List of operas by Mozart  
 
 Notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sources
  Chanan, Michael (1999).  From Handel to Hendrix: The Composer in the Public Sphere . Verso. ISBN  1-85984-706-4 . 
  Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford University Press. 
  Geiringer, Karl; Geiringer, Irene (1982).  Haydn: A Creative Life in Music  (3rd ed.). University of California Press. pp. xii, 403. ISBN  0-520-04316-2 . 
 Jander, Owen; Steane, J. B.; Forbes, Elizabeth; Harris, Ellen T.; Waldman, Gerald (2001). Stanley Sadie; John Tyrrell (eds.).  The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians  (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN  0-333-60800-3 . 
  Landon, H. C. Robbins; Jones, David Wyn (1988).  Haydn: His Life and Music . Indiana University Press. ISBN  978-0-253-37265-9 . 
  Melitz, Leo (1921).  The Opera Goer's Complete Guide . Translated by Richard Salinger. Garden City: Dodd, Mead and Co. 
  Rice, John A. (1999). Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera. University of Chicago Press. 
 Robinson, Paul A. (1986). . Cornell University Press. p. 173. ISBN  0-8014-9428-1 . 
  Rosen, Charles (1997).  The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven  (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN  0-393-31712-9 . (At archive.org)
  Singher, Martial; Singher, Eta (2003).  An Interpretive Guide to Operatic Arias: A Handbook for Singers, Coaches, Teachers, and Students . Penn State University Press. ISBN  0-271-02354-6 . 
  Solomon, Maynard (1995). Mozart: A Life. HarperCollins. ISBN  9780060190460 .  
 
  Gutman, Robert W. (2000).  Mozart: A Cultural Biography . Harcourt Brace. ISBN  978-0-15-601171-6 .  
 
 
 Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  
  
 Le nozze di Figaro: Score and critical report in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
 Libretto, critical editions, diplomatic editions, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings, Digital Mozart Edition
 Libretto, first edition, Presso Giuseppe Nob. de Kurzbek (Ritter Joseph Edler von Kurzböck), 1786 
 Complete libretto 
 Full orchestral score (German/Italian) 
 Italian/English side by side translation 
 Italian/English side by side translation 
  Mozart's Opera Marriage of Figaro, containing the Italian text, with an English translation, and the Music of all of the Principal Airs , Ditson (1888)
  Le nozze di Figaro : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Complete recording at Mozart Archiv
 Photos of 21st century productions of The Marriage of Figaro  in Germany and Switzerland
The Marriage of Figaro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni
Don Giovanni - Wikipedia
2002-02-07
Authority control
<div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Don Giovanni</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/Opera">Opera</a> by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">W. A. Mozart</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Max_Slevogt_-_Der_S%C3%A4nger_Francisco_d%27Andrade_als_Don_Giovanni_in_Mozarts_Oper_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg"></a><div><p>Portrait of <a href="/wiki/Francisco_D%27Andrade">Francisco D'Andrade</a> in the title role by <a href="/wiki/Max_Slevogt">Max Slevogt</a>, 1912</p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Other title</th><td><i>Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni</i></td></tr><tr><th>Librettist</th><td><a href="/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Lorenzo Da Ponte</a></td></tr><tr><th>Language</th><td>Italian</td></tr><tr><th>Based on</th><td>The legend of <a href="/wiki/Don_Juan">Don Juan</a></td></tr><tr><th>Premiere</th><td><div><p>29 October 1787</p><div><p><a href="/wiki/Estates_Theatre">Estates Theatre</a>, Prague</p></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><i><b>Don Giovanni</b></i> (<small>Italian pronunciation: </small><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Italian">[dɔn dʒoˈvanni]</a>; <a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K. 527</a>; Vienna (1788) title: <i>Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni</i>, literally <i>The <a href="/wiki/Rake_(stock_character)">Rake</a> Punished, or Don Giovanni</i>) is an <a href="/wiki/Opera">opera</a> in two acts with music by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a> to an Italian <a href="/wiki/Libretto">libretto</a> by <a href="/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Lorenzo Da Ponte</a>. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a <a href="/wiki/Libertine">libertine</a> as told by playwright <a href="/wiki/Tirso_de_Molina">Tirso de Molina</a> in his 1630 play <i><a href="/wiki/The_Trickster_of_Seville_and_the_Stone_Guest">El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra</a></i>. It is a <i><a href="/wiki/Dramma_giocoso">dramma giocoso</a></i> blending comedy, melodrama and <a href="/wiki/Supernatural">supernatural</a> elements (although the composer entered it into his catalogue simply as <i><a href="/wiki/Opera_buffa">opera buffa</a></i>). It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater (of Bohemia), now called the <a href="/wiki/Estates_Theatre">Estates Theatre</a>, on 29 October 1787.<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> <i>Don Giovanni</i> is regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> and has proved a fruitful subject for commentary in its own right; critic <a href="/wiki/Fiona_Maddocks">Fiona Maddocks</a> has described it as one of Mozart's "trio of masterpieces with librettos by Da Ponte".<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Composition and premiere[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Stavovsk%C3%A9_divadlo_vstup_3.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The <a href="/wiki/Estates_Theatre">Estates Theatre</a> in Prague, venue of the world premiere of <i>Don Giovanni</i> in 1787. The theatre had opened four years earlier as the Comital Nostitz National Theatre (Gräflich Nostitzsches Nationaltheater).</p></div></div>
<p>The opera was commissioned after the success of Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787.<sup><a href="#cite_note-DF104-4">[4]</a></sup> The subject may have been chosen because the sub-genre of Don Juan opera had originated in that city.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Lorenzo Da Ponte</a>'s libretto is based on <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Bertati">Giovanni Bertati</a>'s for the opera <i><a href="/wiki/Don_Giovanni_Tenorio">Don Giovanni Tenorio</a></i>, which premiered in Venice early in 1787. In two aspects he copied Bertati: by opening with the Commendatore's murder and by avoiding mention of <a href="/wiki/Seville">Seville</a> (for Bertati the setting was <a href="/wiki/Villena">Villena</a>, Spain; Da Ponte simply writes "city in Spain").<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p><p>The opera was supposed to premiere on 14 October 1787 for Archduchess <a href="/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria_(1767%E2%80%931827)">Maria Theresa of Austria</a>’s visit, but it was not ready in time and <i><a href="/wiki/Le_nozze_di_Figaro">Le nozze di Figaro</a></i> was substituted.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> Mozart recorded its completion, finally, on 28 October, the night before the premiere (29 October).<sup><a href="#cite_note-DF104-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>The opera was rapturously received, as was often true of <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart_and_Prague">Mozart's work in Prague</a>. The <i>Prager Oberpostamtzeitung</i> reported, "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like", and "the opera ... is extremely difficult to perform."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965303-8">[8]</a></sup> The <i>Provincialnachrichten</i> of Vienna reported, "Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965304-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Scoring[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The score calls for double <a href="/wiki/Woodwinds">woodwinds</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Natural_horn">horns</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Trumpet">trumpets</a>, three <a href="/wiki/Trombone">trombones</a> (alto, tenor, bass), <a href="/wiki/Timpani">timpani</a>, <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">basso continuo</a> for the <a href="/wiki/Recitative">recitatives</a>, and the usual <a href="/wiki/String_section">string section</a>. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, Mozart calls for two onstage ensembles to play separate dance music in synchronization with the pit orchestra, each of the three groups playing in its own <a href="/wiki/Metre_(music)">metre</a> (a 3/4 <a href="/wiki/Minuet">minuet</a>, a 2/4 contradanse and a fast 3/8 peasant dance), accompanying the dancing of the principal characters. In act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the <a href="/wiki/Mandolin">mandolin</a>, accompanied by <a href="/wiki/Pizzicato">pizzicato</a> strings. In the same act, two of the <a href="/wiki/Commander_(order)">Commendatore</a>'s interventions ("Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora" and "Ribaldo, audace, lascia a' morti la pace") are accompanied by a wind chorale of oboes, clarinets, <a href="/wiki/Bassoon">bassoons</a>, and trombones (with cellos and basses playing from the string section).
</p>
<h3>Revision for Vienna[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Don_Giovanni_Playbill_Vienna_Premiere_1788.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Playbill for the 1788 Vienna premiere of <i>Don Giovanni</i></p></div></div>
<p>Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which took place on 7 May <a href="/wiki/1788_in_music">1788</a>. For this production, he wrote two new arias with corresponding recitatives – Don Ottavio's aria "Dalla sua pace" (K. 540a, composed on 24 April for the tenor Francesco Morella), Elvira's aria "In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" (K. 540c, composed on 30 April for the soprano <a href="/wiki/Caterina_Cavalieri">Caterina Cavalieri</a>)<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> – and the duet between Leporello and Zerlina "Per queste tue manine" (K. 540b, composed on 28 April). He also made some cuts in the Finale in order to make it shorter and more incisive, the most important of which is the section where Anna and Ottavio, Elvira, Zerlina and Masetto, Leporello reveal their plans for the future ("Or che tutti, o mio tesoro"). In order to connect "Ah, certo è l'ombra che l'incontrò" ("It must have been the ghost she met") directly to the moral of the story "Questo è il fin di chi fa mal" ("This is the end which befalls to evildoers"), Mozart composed a different version of "Resti dunque quel birbon fra Proserpina e Pluton!" ("So the wretch can stay down there with <a href="/wiki/Proserpina">Proserpina</a> and <a href="/wiki/Pluto_(mythology)">Pluto!</a>"). These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify">clarification needed</a></i>]</sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Later performance traditions[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The opera's final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on. According to the 19th-century Bohemian memoirist <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Kuhe">Wilhelm Kuhe</a>, the final ensemble was only presented at the very first performance in Prague, then never heard again during the original run.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFreeman2021286-287-12">[12]</a></sup> It does not appear in the Viennese libretto of 1788; thus the ending of the first performance in Vienna without the ensemble as depicted in the film <i><a href="/wiki/Amadeus_(film)">Amadeus</a></i> may be an accurate portrayal. Nonetheless, the final ensemble is almost invariably performed in full today.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>Modern productions sometimes include both the original aria for Don Ottavio, "<a href="/wiki/Il_mio_tesoro">Il mio tesoro</a>", and its replacement from the first production in Vienna that was crafted to suit the capabilities of the tenor Francesco Morella, "Dalla sua pace". Elvira's "In quali eccessi, o Numi ... Mi tradi per l'alma ingrata" is usually retained as well. The duet "Per queste tue manine" and the whole accompanying scene involving Zerlina and Leporello from the Viennese version is almost never included.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>Although the same singer played both Masetto and the Commendatore roles in both the Prague and Vienna premieres, in modern-day productions, the roles are typically taken by different singers (unless limited by such things as finance or rehearsal time and space). The final scene's chorus of demons after the Commendatore's exit gives the singer time for a costume change before entering as Masetto for the sextet, though not much time.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Roles[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<table>
<caption>Roles, voice types, premiere casts
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Role
</th>
<th><a href="/wiki/Voice_type">Voice type</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup>
</th>
<th>Prague premiere cast,<br />29 October <a href="/wiki/1787_in_music">1787</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECasaglia2005-15">[15]</a></sup><br />Conductor: W. A. Mozart
</th>
<th>Vienna premiere cast,<br />7 May <a href="/wiki/1788_in_music">1788</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965313-16">[16]</a></sup><br />Conductor: W. A. Mozart
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Don_Juan">Don Giovanni</a>, <i>a young, extremely licentious nobleman</i>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Baritone">baritone</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Luigi_Bassi">Luigi Bassi</a>
</td>
<td>Francesco Albertarelli
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Il Commendatore
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Bass_(voice_type)">bass</a>
</td>
<td>Giuseppe Lolli
</td>
<td>Francesco Bussani
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Donna Anna, <i>his daughter, promised in marriage to Don Ottavio</i>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Soprano">soprano</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Teresa_Saporiti">Teresa Saporiti</a>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Aloysia_Weber">Aloysia Weber</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[a]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Don Ottavio
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Tenor">tenor</a>
</td>
<td>Antonio Baglioni
</td>
<td>Francesco Morella
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Donna Elvira, <i>a lady of <a href="/wiki/Burgos">Burgos</a> abandoned by Don Giovanni</i>
</td>
<td>soprano
</td>
<td>Katherina Micelli
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Caterina_Cavalieri">Caterina Cavalieri</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[b]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Leporello, <i>Don Giovanni's servant</i>
</td>
<td>bass
</td>
<td>Felice Ponziani
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Francesco_Benucci">Francesco Benucci</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[c]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Masetto, <i>a peasant, in love with Zerlina</i>
</td>
<td>bass
</td>
<td>Giuseppe Lolli
</td>
<td>Francesco Bussani
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Zerlina, <i>a peasant</i>
</td>
<td>soprano
</td>
<td>Caterina Bondini<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAbert2007[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidl6I6BwTMJ3sCpgRA1-PA1021lpgRA1-PA1021_1021]-20">[17]</a></sup>
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Luisa_Laschi">Luisa Mombelli</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><i>Chorus: peasants, servants, young ladies, musicians, demons</i>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2>Instrumentation[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The instrumentation is:
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Woodwind_instrument">Woodwinds</a>: two <a href="/wiki/Flute">flutes</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Oboe">oboes</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Clarinet">clarinets</a> and two <a href="/wiki/Bassoon">bassoons</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Brass_instrument">Brass</a>: two <a href="/wiki/Natural_horn">horns</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Trumpet">trumpets</a>, three <a href="/wiki/Trombone">trombones</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Percussion_instrument">Percussion</a>: <a href="/wiki/Timpani">timpani</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/String_section">Strings</a>: first <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a>, second violins, <a href="/wiki/Viola">violas</a>, <a href="/wiki/Cello">cellos</a> and <a href="/wiki/Double_bass">double basses</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">Basso continuo</a> in <a href="/wiki/Secco_recitative">secco recitatives</a> of <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord">harpsichord</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cello">violoncello</a> (period performance practice often uses a <a href="/wiki/Fortepiano">fortepiano</a> only)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Mandolin">Mandolin</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[18]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2>Synopsis[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Don Giovanni, a young,<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[19]</a></sup> arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.
</p>
<h3>Act 1[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div><div>
<p>Fulda Symphonic Orchestra</p></div><hr /></div></div>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Overture">overture</a> begins with a thundering <a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a> cadence, followed by a short <i>misterioso</i> sequence which leads into a light-hearted <a href="/wiki/D_major">D major</a> allegro.
</p>
<dl><dd><i>The garden of the Commendatore</i></dd></dl>
<p>Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, grumbles about his demanding master and daydreams about being free of him ("Notte e giorno faticar" – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni is in the Commendatore's house attempting to seduce or rape the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[d]</a></sup> Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Don Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna tries to hold him and to unmask him, shouting for help. (Trio: "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"). He breaks free and she runs off as the Commendatore enters the garden. The Commendatore blocks Don Giovanni's path and forces him to fight a duel. Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Donna Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Don Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!" – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!")
</p>
<dl><dd><i>A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace</i></dd></dl>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Fernando Corena, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)</p></div></div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Don_Giovanni_0202_Michelides.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Leporello tells Don Giovanni that he (Giovanni) is leading a rotten life; Don Giovanni reacts angrily. They hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge ("Ah, chi mi dice mai" – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Don Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Donna Elvira the truth about him, and then hurries away.
</p><p>Leporello tells Donna Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("<a href="/wiki/Madamina,_il_catalogo_%C3%A8_questo">Madamina, il catalogo è questo</a>" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Donna Elvira vows vengeance.
</p>
<dl><dd><i>The open country</i></dd></dl>
<p>A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Don Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Don Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry ("Ho capito! Signor, sì" – "I understand! Yes, my lord!") but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "<a href="/wiki/L%C3%A0_ci_darem_la_mano">Là ci darem la mano</a>" – "There we will entwine our hands").
</p>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div><hr /><div>
<p>Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)</p></div></div></div>
<p>Donna Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction ("Ah, fuggi il traditor" – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Donna Anna's father. Donna Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Don Giovanni's help. Don Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Donna Elvira returns and tells Donna Anna and Don Ottavio that Don Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Don Giovanni tries to convince Don Ottavio and Donna Anna that Donna Elvira is insane (Quartet: "Non ti fidar, o misera" – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Don Giovanni leaves, Donna Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer and tells Don Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Don Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Don Giovanni off after discovering the impostor (long recitative exchange between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio). She repeats her demand that he avenge her and points out that he will be avenging himself as well (aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). In the Vienna version, Don Ottavio, not yet convinced (Donna Anna having only recognised Don Giovanni's voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend ("Dalla sua pace la mia dipende" – "On her peace my peace depends").
</p><p>Leporello informs Don Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Don Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Donna Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Don Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": "Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa" – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.
</p>
<dl><dd><i>A garden outside Don Giovanni's palace</i></dd></dl>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him ("Batti, batti o bel Masetto" – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Don Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Don Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Don Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, and Donna Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master's party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna pray for protection, Donna Elvira for vengeance (Trio: "Protegga il giusto cielo" – "May the just heavens protect us").
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Luigi_Bassi480.jpg"></a></p><div><p><a href="/wiki/Luigi_Bassi">Luigi Bassi</a> in the title role of <i>Don Giovanni</i> in 1787. The mandolin music for the premiere performance was played by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Baptist_Kucharz">J. B. Kucharz</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mednotes-24">[20]</a></sup></p></div></div>
<dl><dd><i>Don Giovanni's ballroom</i></dd></dl>
<p>As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room and tries to assault her. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni drags Leporello onstage from the room, accuses Leporello of assaulting Zerlina himself, and threatens to kill him. The others are not fooled. Don Ottavio produces a pistol and points it at Don Giovanni, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced and menaced from all sides, Don Giovanni remains calm and escapes – for the moment.
</p>
<h3>Act 2[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h3>
<dl><dd><i>Outside Donna Elvira's house</i></dd></dl>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)</p></div></div>
<p>Leporello threatens to leave Don Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Donna Elvira's maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Donna Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quiet unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Don Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Don Giovanni's cloak and hat. From his hiding place Don Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Don Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Donna Elvira, convinced, descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Don Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Don Giovanni <a href="/wiki/Serenade">serenades</a> her maid with his <a href="/wiki/Mandolin">mandolin</a>. ("Deh, vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").
</p><p>Before Don Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, looking for Don Giovanni in order to kill him. Don Giovanni poses as Leporello (whose clothes he is still wearing) and joins the posse, pretending that he also hates Don Giovanni. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Don Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way. the others, go that way"), Don Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").
</p>
<dl><dd><i>A dark courtyard</i></dd></dl>
<p>Leporello abandons Donna Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, he bumps into Don Ottavio and Donna Anna. Zerlina and Masetto also enter the scene. Everyone mistakes Leporello for Don Giovanni, whose clothes he is still wearing. They surround Leporello and threaten to kill him. Donna Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Don Giovanni, claiming him as her husband and begging the others to spare him. Leporello takes off Don Giovanni's cloak and reveals his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Don Ottavio is now convinced that Don Giovanni murdered Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore). He swears vengeance ("<a href="/wiki/Il_mio_tesoro">Il mio tesoro</a>" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>In the Vienna production of the opera, Zerlina follows Leporello and recaptures him. Threatening him with a razor, she ties him to a stool. He attempts to sweet-talk her out of hurting him. (Duet: "Per queste tue manine" – "For these hands of yours"). Zerlina goes to find Masetto and the others; Leporello escapes again before she returns. This scene, marked by low comedy, is rarely performed today. Also in the Vienna production, Donna Elvira is still furious at Don Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me").<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[e]</a></sup>
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Don_Giovanni_Act2_set_design_Prague_1790s_-_NGO_1p1205.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set-design for the opera</p></div></div>
<dl><dd><i>A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore</i></dd></dl>
<p>Don Giovanni wanders into a graveyard. Leporello happens along and the two reunite. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Don Giovanni laughingly taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. The voice of the statue interrupts and warns Don Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me" ("Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta"). The servant trembles, but Don Giovanni scornfully orders him to invite the statue to dinner, and threatens to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner, but is too frightened to complete the invitation (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most noble statue"). Don Giovanni invites the statue to dinner himself. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.
</p>
<dl><dd><i>Donna Anna's room</i></dd></dl>
<p>Don Ottavio pressures Donna Anna to marry him, but she thinks it is inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Don_Juan_y_el_Comendador_por_Francisco_Goya.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Don Juan and the Commander or The Stone Guest</p></div></div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Don_Juan_and_the_statue_of_the_Commander_mg_0119.jpg"></a></p></div>
<dl><dd><i>Don Giovanni's chambers</i></dd></dl>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Don Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays music from popular (at the time) late-18th-century operas: "O quanto un sì bel giubilo" from <a href="/wiki/Vicente_Mart%C3%ADn_y_Soler">Vicente Martín y Soler</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Una_cosa_rara">Una cosa rara</a></i> (1786), "Come un agnello" from <a href="/wiki/Giuseppe_Sarti">Giuseppe Sarti</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Fra_i_due_litiganti_il_terzo_gode">Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode</a></i> (1782), and finally "<a href="/wiki/Non_pi%C3%B9_andrai">Non più andrai</a>" from Mozart's own <i><a href="/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro">The Marriage of Figaro</a></i> (1786). Leporello comments that he is all too familiar with the final tune – likely a joke understandable for the original audience, as Felice Ponziani, who sang Leporello's part at the premiere, also sang Figaro's part (including "Non più andrai") earlier in Prague.<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[21]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[f]</a></sup> (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Donna Elvira enters, saying that she no longer feels resentment against Don Giovanni, only pity for him. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Don Giovanni, surprised, asks what she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Don Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (<i>sostegno e gloria d'umanità</i>). Hurt and angry, Donna Elvira gives up and leaves. Offstage, she screams in sudden terror. Don Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; when he does, he also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Don Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the rhythmic chords of the overture, now reharmonized with diabolic diminished sevenths accompanying the Commendatore ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the statue asks if Don Giovanni will now accept <i>his</i> invitation to dinner. Don Giovanni brazenly accepts, and shakes the statue's proffered hand, only to collapse as he is overcome by sudden chills. The statue offers him a final chance to repent as death draws near, but Don Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.
</p><p>Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. He assures them that no one will ever see Don Giovanni again. The remaining characters announce their plans for the future: Donna Anna and Don Ottavio will marry when Donna Anna's year of mourning is over; Donna Elvira will withdraw from society for the rest of her life;<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[g]</a></sup> Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.
</p><p>The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" (<i>Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual</i>). As mentioned above, productions for over a century – beginning with the original run in Prague – customarily omitted the final ensemble, but it frequently reappeared in the 20th century and productions of the opera now usually include it. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.
</p>
<h2>Recordings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><a href="/wiki/Paul_Czinner">Paul Czinner</a> directed a filming of the <a href="/wiki/Salzburg_Festival">Salzburg Festival</a> presentation in 1954.<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[22]</a></sup> A <a href="/wiki/Don_Giovanni_(1979_film)">screen adaptation</a> was directed by <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Losey">Joseph Losey</a> in 1979.<sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[23]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Cultural influence[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Disegno_per_copertina_di_libretto,_disegno_di_Peter_Hoffer_per_Don_Giovanni_(s.d.)_-_Archivio_Storico_Ricordi_ICON012442.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Drawing for the coverpage of a libretto (19th century)</p></div></div>
<p>The Danish philosopher <a href="/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard">Søren Kierkegaard</a> wrote a long essay in his book <i><a href="/wiki/Either/Or">Enten – Eller</a></i> in which he argues, writing under the pseudonym of his character "A", that "among all classic works <i>Don Giovanni</i> stands highest."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKierkegaard1992135-31">[24]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Charles_Gounod">Charles Gounod</a> wrote that Mozart's <i>Don Giovanni</i> is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGounod1970v–vi-32">[25]</a></sup> The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to <a href="/wiki/Repentance">repent</a>, has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including <a href="/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw">George Bernard Shaw</a>, who in <i><a href="/wiki/Man_and_Superman">Man and Superman</a></i> parodied the opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni). <a href="/wiki/Gustave_Flaubert">Gustave Flaubert</a> called <i>Don Giovanni</i>, along with <i><a href="/wiki/Hamlet">Hamlet</a></i> and the sea, "the three finest things God ever made."<sup><a href="#cite_note-33">[26]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/E._T._A._Hoffmann">E. T. A. Hoffmann</a> also wrote a short story derived from the opera, <a href="/wiki/Don_Juan_(Hoffmann)">"Don Juan"</a>, in which the narrator meets Donna Anna and describes Don Juan as an aesthetic hero rebelling against God and society.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[27]</a></sup>
</p><p>In some Germanic and other languages, Leporello's "<a href="/wiki/Madamina,_il_catalogo_%C3%A8_questo">Catalogue Aria</a>" provided the name "<a href="/w/index.php?title=Leporello_(leaflet)&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Leporello</a><sup> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leporello_(Heft)">de</a>]</sup> list" for <a href="/wiki/Folded_leaflet">concertina-folded</a> printed matter, as used for brochures, photo albums, computer printouts and other <a href="/wiki/Continuous_stationery">continuous stationery</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[28]</a></sup>
</p><p>Playwright <a href="/wiki/Peter_Shaffer">Peter Shaffer</a> used <i>Don Giovanni</i> for a pivotal plot point in his play <i><a href="/wiki/Amadeus_(play)">Amadeus</a></i>, a fictional biography of its composer. In it, <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Salieri">Antonio Salieri</a> notices how Mozart composed the opera while tortured after the death of his imposing father <a href="/wiki/Leopold_Mozart">Leopold</a>, and uses the information to psychologically torture Mozart even further.
</p>
<h3><i>Don Giovanni</i> and other composers[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The sustained popularity of <i>Don Giovanni</i> has resulted in extensive borrowings and arrangements of the original. The most famous and probably the most musically substantial is the operatic fantasy, <i><a href="/wiki/R%C3%A9miniscences_de_Don_Juan">Réminiscences de Don Juan</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Minuet">minuet</a> from the finale of act 1, transcribed by <a href="/wiki/Moritz_Moszkowski">Moritz Moszkowski</a>, also makes an incongruous appearance in the manuscript of Liszt's <a href="/wiki/Fantasy_on_Themes_from_Mozart%27s_Figaro_and_Don_Giovanni">Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Don Giovanni</i></a>, and <a href="/wiki/Sigismond_Thalberg">Sigismond Thalberg</a> uses the same minuet, along with "Deh, vieni alla finestra", in his <i>Grand Fantaisie sur la serenade et le Minuet de Don Juan</i>, Op. 42. Thalberg also included a piano arrangement of "Il mio tesoro" in his <i>L'art du chant appliqué au piano</i>, Op. 70. "Deh, vieni alla finestra" also makes an appearance in the <a href="/wiki/Klavier%C3%BCbung_(Busoni)">Klavierübung</a> of <a href="/wiki/Ferruccio_Busoni">Ferruccio Busoni</a>, under the title <i>Variations-Studie nach Mozart</i> (<a href="/wiki/Variation_(music)">Variation</a> study after Mozart). <a href="/wiki/Robert_Schumann">Schumann</a> included a piano arrangement of "Vedrai carino" in his <i>Kleiner Lehrgang durch die Musikgeschichte</i>, which was originally intended for his <a href="/wiki/Album_for_the_Young">Album for the Young</a>. <a href="/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin">Chopin</a> wrote <a href="/wiki/Variations_on_%22L%C3%A0_ci_darem_la_mano%22_(Chopin)">Variations on "Là ci darem la mano"</a> (the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina) for piano and orchestra. <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Beethoven</a> and <a href="/wiki/Franz_Danzi">Danzi</a> also wrote variations on the same theme. And Beethoven, in his <i><a href="/wiki/Diabelli_Variations">Diabelli Variations</a></i>, cites Leporello's aria "Notte e giorno faticar" in variation 22. <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_Wolfgang_Mozart">Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart</a> used minuet from the finale to act 1 ("Signor, guardate un poco") for his "<i>Variationen über das Menuett des 1. Finale aus 'Don Giovanni'</i>" for piano Op. 2, and <a href="/wiki/J%C3%A1nos_Fusz">János Fusz</a> used the same theme for a set of variations for four hands (Op. 10). The turkeys in <a href="/wiki/Emmanuel_Chabrier">Chabrier</a>'s "Ballade des gros dindons" (1889) finish each verse imitating the mandolin accompaniment of the Serenade.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[29]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky">Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky</a> always regarded <i>Don Giovanni</i> – and its composer – with awe. In 1855, Mozart's original manuscript had been purchased in London by the <a href="/wiki/Mezzo-soprano">mezzo-soprano</a> <a href="/wiki/Pauline_Viardot">Pauline Viardot</a>, who was the teacher of Tchaikovsky's one-time unofficial fiancée <a href="/wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e_Art%C3%B4t">Désirée Artôt</a> (whom Viardot may have persuaded not to go through with her plan to marry the composer). Viardot kept the manuscript in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many people. Tchaikovsky visited her when he was in Paris in June 1886,<sup><a href="#cite_note-37">[30]</a></sup> and said that when looking at the manuscript, he was "in the presence of divinity".<sup><a href="#cite_note-everist-38">[31]</a></sup> So it is not surprising that the centenary of the opera in 1887 would inspire him to write something honouring Mozart. Instead of taking any themes from <i>Don Giovanni</i>, however, he took four lesser known works by Mozart and arranged them into his <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_Suite_No._4_(Tchaikovsky)">fourth orchestral suite</a>, which he called <i>Mozarti<a href="/wiki/-ana">ana</a></i>. The baritone who sang the title role in the centenary performance of <i>Don Giovanni</i> in Prague that year was <a href="/wiki/Mariano_Padilla_y_Ramos">Mariano Padilla y Ramos</a>, the man Désirée Artôt married instead of Tchaikovsky.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Elson1912-39">[32]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Michael_Nyman">Michael Nyman</a>'s popular, short band piece <i>In Re Don Giovanni</i> (1981, with later adaptations and revisions) is constructed on a prominent 15-bar phrase in the accompaniment to Leporello's catalogue aria.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>In addition to instrumental works, allusions to <i>Don Giovanni</i> also appear in a number of operas: Nicklausse of <a href="/wiki/Jacques_Offenbach">Offenbach</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Tales_of_Hoffmann">The Tales of Hoffmann</a></i> sings a snatch of Leporello's "Notte e giorno", and <a href="/wiki/Gioachino_Rossini">Rossini</a> quotes from the same aria in the duettino between Selim and Fiorilla following the former's <i>cavatina</i> in act 1 of <i><a href="/wiki/Il_turco_in_Italia">Il turco in Italia</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-40">[h]</a></sup><sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Carnicer">Ramón Carnicer</a>'s opera <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni_Tenorio_(Carnicer)&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Don Giovanni Tenorio</a> [<a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni_Tenorio_(Carnicer)">es</a>]</i> (1822) is a peculiar reworking of Mozart's opera to adapt it to Rossinian fashion. It comprises new music by Carnicer on a new text (e.g. the first half of act 1), new music on Da Ponte's text (e.g. Leporello's aria) or on a mixture of both (e.g. the new trio for the scene in the cemetery); the whole collated with extensive quotations or entire sections borrowed directly from Mozart (e.g. Finale 1 and Finale 2, and even some music from <i>Le nozze di Figaro</i><sup><a href="#cite_note-41">[i]</a></sup>), though usually slightly reworked and re-orchestrated.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_operas_by_Mozart">List of operas by Mozart</a></li></ul>
<h2>Notes and references[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><b>Notes</b>
</p>
<div>
<ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Aloysia_Weber">Aloysia Weber</a>, Mozart's sister-in-law, frequently sang in his works.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Caterina_Cavalieri">Caterina Cavalieri</a> was the first Konstanze in <i><a href="/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail">Die Entführung aus dem Serail</a></i>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Francesco_Benucci">Francesco Benucci</a> was the first Figaro in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro">Le nozze di Figaro</a></i>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> In the absence of an unambiguous indication in Da Ponte's libretto, it is reasonable to interpret this incident variously. However, in a discussion of the literary tradition available to Da Ponte as detailed in <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, pp. 254–262, it is clear that there was no precedent for the portrayal of Don Juan as a rapist in the literary tradition that extended from Da Ponte's time back to the prototype Don Juan drama, <a href="/wiki/Tirso_de_Molina">Tirso de Molina</a>'s early seventeenth-century play <i><a href="/wiki/El_burlador_de_Sevilla">El burlador de Sevilla</a></i>. Da Ponte's scene at the beginning of the opera is based on a standard scenario of earlier dramas in which Don Juan attempts to seduce a noblewoman in disguise as her lover, one of his standard <i>burlas</i> (or "tricks" of seduction). Besides no precedent for rape, there is also no portrayal in the Don Juan literature before Da Ponte of impregnation or the contraction of venereal disease in spite of Don Juan's numberless sexual encounters.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> This scene was added at the same time as the preceding Zerlina / Leporello duet, but is generally retained and sung directly after "Il mio tesoro".
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, pp. 284–286, points out that the purpose of excerpting music from other composer's operas is an assertion of superiority – and a highly effective one. The impact of Mozart's music after hearing insipid examples by other composers' work is striking indeed. The dialogue that accompanies this vignette does not appear in the libretto published for the first performance, thus the idea was almost certainly Mozart's, and he must have written the lines of text himself.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, p. 287, points out that the correct translation of Donna Elvira's line <i>Io men vado in un ritiro a finir la vita mia!</i> indicates that she intends to remove herself to a "retreat" instead of entering a convent (as the line is frequently mistranslated into English). Neither in eighteenth-century Italian nor modern Italian could <i>ritiro</i> be construed as a synonym for <i>convento</i> (convent) or <i>monastero</i> (monastery). Rather, it has the connotation of a comfortable, secluded private dwelling in the countryside.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b> Leporello's F major <i>e non voglio più servir</i> becomes Fiorilla's A major <i>così pien di civiltà</i>, the music being quoted verbatim.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b> But not in the dinner scene; here Carnicer borrows some different tunes from <i>Una cosa rara</i> and <i>Litiganti</i> and presumably some music of his own as third quotation
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>References</b>
</p>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> The theatre is referred to as the Teatro di Praga in the libretto for the 1787 premiere (<a href="#CITEREFDeutsch1965">Deutsch 1965</a>, pp. 302–303); for the current name of the theatre see <a href="http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=en&amp;dk=text.aspx&amp;it=40&amp;sb=0">"The Estates Theatre"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110927155704/http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=en&amp;dk=text.aspx&amp;it=40&amp;sb=0">Archived</a> 27 September 2011 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at the Prague National Theatre website.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/20-greatest-operas-all-time/">"The 20 Greatest Operas of All Time"</a>. <i>Classical Music</i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Fiona_Maddocks">Maddocks, Fiona</a> (19 August 2011). <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/20/top-50-operas">"Top 50 Operas"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian">The Guardian</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-DF104_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-DF104_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> The background of the production is summarized in <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, pp. 131–168.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> The first eighteenth-century Don Juan opera produced in Europe was <i><a href="/wiki/La_pravit%C3%A0_castigata">La pravità castigata</a></i> (Prague, 1730), and the second one was <i>Il convitato di pietra</i> (Prague, 1776).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> See <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, p. 263, for a discussion of Da Ponte's vague specification, including a theory about why it is so vague that is based on suspiciously archaic cultural references incompatible with the modern city of Seville as it existed in Da Ponte's day.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> Mozart's letter sent to <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_von_Jacquin">Gottfried von Jacquin</a>, dated 15 October
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965303_8-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDeutsch1965">Deutsch 1965</a>, p. 303.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965304_9-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDeutsch1965">Deutsch 1965</a>, p. 304.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/shortlib/mozaria1.html">"OperaGlass at Opera.Stanford.Edu"</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Plath">Wolfgang Plath</a> and <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Rehm">Wolfgang Rehm</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i>, Serie II, Werkgruppe 5, Band 17, <i>Don Giovanni</i> (Kassel, 1968)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFreeman2021286-287_12-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFFreeman2021">Freeman 2021</a>, p. 286-287.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/David_J._Buch">Buch, David Joseph</a> (2008). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=djnqB_MUJ6kC&amp;pg=PA332"><i>Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater</i></a>. University of Chicago Press. p. 332. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-226-07811-3"><bdi>978-0-226-07811-3</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <a href="http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/objs/ed/ucb08_68_2.jpg">Page 2</a> of the score at NMA
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECasaglia2005_15-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFCasaglia2005">Casaglia 2005</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeutsch1965313_16-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDeutsch1965">Deutsch 1965</a>, p. 313.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAbert2007[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidl6I6BwTMJ3sCpgRA1-PA1021lpgRA1-PA1021_1021]_20-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFAbert2007">Abert 2007</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=l6I6BwTMJ3sC&amp;pg=RA1-PA1021&amp;lpg=RA1-PA1021">1021</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite>Sparks, Paul (1995). <i>The Classical Mandolin</i>. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 3–4. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-517337-6"><bdi>978-0-19-517337-6</bdi></a>. <q>The mandoline is today (1843) so neglected that, in the theatres where <i>Don Giovanni</i> is staged, it is always a problem to execute the serenade...it has become allowed almost everywhere...to play the mandoline part in <i>Don Giovanni</i> on pizzicato violins or on guitars.</q></cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <i>Don Giovanni</i> Schirmer piano-vocal score <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/079351231X">079351231X</a>, page iv
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-mednotes_24-0">^</a></b> <cite>Braunstein, Joseph (1969). <a href="https://archive.org/stream/mandolinmusicsou00sciv/mandolinmusicsou00sciv_djvu.txt"><i>Mandolin Music, Beethoven, Hummel</i></a> (Media notes). New York: <a href="/wiki/Nonesuch_Records">Nonesuch Records</a>. Retrieved 24 May 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite>Chong, Nicholas Junkai (2011). "Music for the Last Supper: The Dramatic Significance of Mozart's Musical Quotations in the Tafelmusik of Don Giovanni". <i>Current Musicology</i> (92): 7–52. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.7916%2Fcm.v0i92.5208">10.7916/cm.v0i92.5208</a>.</cite> Also <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.7916%2FD8VD6WJ4">10.7916/D8VD6WJ4</a> at Columbia Academic Commons, <a href="/wiki/Columbia_University_Libraries">Columbia University Libraries</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b> <cite><i>Mozart's Don Giovanni</i> (DVD). Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. 2001. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/1051553568">1051553568</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Marcia_Citron">Citron, Marcia J.</a> (2000). <a href="https://archive.org/details/operaonscreen00citr"><i>Opera on Screen</i></a>. Yale University Press. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/operaonscreen00citr/page/203">203</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-08158-8"><bdi>0-300-08158-8</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKierkegaard1992135_31-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKierkegaard1992">Kierkegaard 1992</a>, p. 135.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGounod1970v–vi_32-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGounod1970">Gounod 1970</a>, pp. v–vi.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b> <cite>Flaubert, Gustave. <i><a href="/wiki/Flaubert%27s_letters">The Letters of Gustave Flaubert</a></i>.</cite><sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources">page needed</a></i>]</sup>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/File:Wikisource-logo.svg"></a> German <a href="/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article: <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/de:Don_Juan">"Don Juan" (E. T. A. Hoffmann, in German)</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=leporelloliste">"leporelloliste"</a>. <i>Den Danske Ordbog</i> (in Danish). Retrieved 29 June 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b> Pierre Bernac. <i>The Interpretation of French Song.</i> Praeger Publishers, New York, Washington, 1970. Chapter 7, p. 86.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b> Alexander Poznansky, <i>Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man</i>, p. 460
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-everist_38-0">^</a></b> <a href="http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.165">Abstract: 19th Century Music, Mark Everist</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110724114728/http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.165">Archived</a> 24 July 2011 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Elson1912_39-0">^</a></b> <cite>Louis Charles Elson (1912). <a href="https://archive.org/details/universitymusic14elsogoog"><i>University Musical Encyclopedia</i></a>. The University Society. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/universitymusic14elsogoog/page/n105">467</a>. Retrieved 5 April 2011.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>Sources</b>
</p>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Hermann_Abert">Abert, Hermann</a> (2007). <a href="/wiki/Cliff_Eisen">Cliff Eisen</a> (ed.). <i>W. A. Mozart</i>. Translated by Stewart Spencer. Yale University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0300072235"><bdi>978-0300072235</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Casaglia, Gherardo (2005).<a href="https://almanac-gherardo-casaglia.com/index.php?Giorno=29&amp;Mese=10&amp;Anno=1787&amp;Testo=Don_Giovanni&amp;Parola=Stringa"> "<i>Don Giovanni</i>, 29 October 1787"</a>. L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Otto_Erich_Deutsch">Deutsch, Otto Erich</a> (1965). <a href="https://archive.org/details/mozartdocumentar0000deut"><i>Mozart: A Documentary Biography</i></a>. Stanford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8047-0233-1"><bdi>978-0-8047-0233-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Daniel_E._Freeman">Freeman, Daniel E.</a> (2021). <i>Mozart in Prague</i>. Edina, Minnesota: Calumet Editions. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781950743506"><bdi>9781950743506</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Gounod">Gounod, Charles</a> (1970). <i>Mozart's Don Giovanni: A Commentary</i> (from the third French edition of <i>Le Don Juan de Mozart</i>, London, R. Cocks, 1895). Translated by Windeyer Clark; J. P. Hutchinson. New York: Da Capo Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard">Kierkegaard, Søren</a> (1992). Victor Eremita (ed.). <i><a href="/wiki/Either/Or">Either/Or</a></i> (abridged, translated, and with an introduction and notes, by <a href="/wiki/Alastair_Hannay">Alastair Hannay</a>). London: Penguin.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>Further reading[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=15">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>Allanbrook, W. J. (1983). <i>Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni</i> Chicago. (reviewed in Platoff, John. "Untitled." <i><a href="/wiki/The_Journal_of_Musicology">The Journal of Musicology</a></i>, vol. 4, no. 4 (1986). pp. 535–538).</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Evan_A._Baker">Baker, Even A.</a> (1993): <i>Alfred Roller's Production Of Mozart's Don Giovanni – A Break in the Scenic Traditions of the Vienna Court Opera</i>. <a href="/wiki/New_York_University">New York University</a>.</li>
<li>Baker, Felicity (2021) (edited by Magnus Tessing Schneider). <i>Don Giovanni's Reasons: Thoughts on a masterpiece</i>. Bern: Peter Lang.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte">Da Ponte, Lorenzo</a>. <i>Mozart's Don Giovanni</i>. Dover Publications, New York, 1985. (reviewed in G. S. "Untitled." <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Letters">Music &amp; Letters</a></i>, vol 19, no. 2 (April 1938). pp. 216–218)</li>
<li>Goehr, Lydia; Herwitz, Daniel A. (2006). <i>The Don Giovanni Moment: Essays on the Legacy of an Opera</i>. Columbia Press University, New York.</li>
<li>Kaminsky, Peter (1996). "How to Do things with Words and Music: Towards an Analysis of Selected ensembles in Mozart's Don Giovanni." <i>Theory and Practice</i></li>
<li>Melitz, Leo (1921): <i>The Opera Goer's Complete Guide</i></li>
<li><cite>McClatchy, J. D. (2010). <i>Seven Mozart Librettos</i>. New York: W. W. Norton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-06609-8"><bdi>978-0-393-06609-8</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frits_Noske">Noske, F[rits] R[udolf]</a> [in Dutch] (1970). "<i>Don Giovanni</i>: Musical Affinities and Dramatic Structure". <i>Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae</i>. <a href="/wiki/Akad%C3%A9miai_Kiad%C3%B3">Akadémiai Kiadó</a>. <b>12</b> (1/4): 167–203. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F901357">10.2307/901357</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/901357">901357</a>.</cite>; reprinted in <i>Theatre Research</i> viii (1973), 60–74 and in <cite>Noske, Frits (1977). <i>The Signifier and the Signified: Studies in the Operas of Mozart and Verdi</i>. pp. 39–75. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9024719952"><bdi>978-9024719952</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Julian_Rushton">Rushton, Julian G.</a> (1981). <i>W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni</i>" Cambridge. (reviewed in Sternfeld, F. W. "Untitled." <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Letters">Music &amp; Letters</a></i>, vol. 65, no. 4 (October 1984) pp. 377–378)</li>
<li>Schneider, Magnus Tessing (2021). <i>The Original Portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni</i>. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9780429281709/original-portrayal-mozart-giovanni-magnus-tessing-schneider?context=ubx&amp;refId=2266214f-c312-442b-9556-cc5e02b2e1c4">OPEN ACCESS</a></li>
<li>Schünemann, Georg and Soldan, Kurt (translated by Stanley Appelbaum) <i>Don Giovanni: Complete orchestral and vocal score</i> Dover 1974</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Alan_Tyson">Tyson, Alan</a>. "Some Features of the Autograph Score of <i>Don Giovanni</i>", <i>Israel Studies in Musicology</i> (1990), 7–26</li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Don_Giovanni&amp;action=edit&amp;section=16">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
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<ul><li></li>
<li><i>Don Giovanni</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=68&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=1">Score</a> and <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=69&amp;l=1&amp;p1=15">critical report</a> (in German) in the <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/dmedata/libredition/single.php?idwnma=6065">Libretto</a>, <a href="/wiki/Critical_edition">critical edition</a>, <a href="/wiki/Diplomatic_edition">diplomatic edition</a>, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings; Digital Mozart Edition</li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni,_K.527_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)"><i>Don Giovanni</i></a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.opera-guide.ch/opera.php?id=251&amp;uilang=en">Opera Guide</a> Synopsis (4 languages), libretto (German, English, Italian), highlights</li>
<li><a href="http://www.kernkonzepte.ch/nutmoz.htm">Opera in a nutshell</a> Soundfiles (MIDI)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhq9391/index.html">Piano/vocal score of <i>Don Giovanni</i></a> from <a href="/wiki/Indiana_University_Bloomington">Indiana University Bloomington</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.naxos.com/education/opera_libretti.asp?pn=&amp;char=all&amp;composer=Mozart&amp;opera=Don_Giovanni&amp;libretto_file=00_Synopsis.htm">Synopsis and libretto</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121013193945/http://www.naxos.com/education/opera_libretti.asp?pn=&amp;char=all&amp;composer=Mozart&amp;opera=Don_Giovanni&amp;libretto_file=00_Synopsis.htm">Archived</a> 13 October 2012 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> from <a href="/wiki/Naxos_Records">Naxos Records</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.murashev.com/opera/Don_Giovanni_libretto_Italian_English">Libretto</a>, Italian, English</li>
<li><a href="http://www.opera-arias.com/mozart/don-giovanni/">Roles, arias, libretto (Italian, English)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/San-Diego-OperaTalk-with-Nick-Reveles-Don-Giovanni-4313">San Diego OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles: <i>Don Giovanni</i></a></li>
<li>(in German) <a href="http://www.kultur-fibel.de/oper,don_giovanni,musik,mozart.htm"><i>Don Giovanni</i></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180225035216/http://www.kultur-fibel.de/oper,don_giovanni,musik,mozart.htm">Archived</a> 25 February 2018 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, production photos, synopsis (in German)</li>
<li><a href="https://opera-inside.com/don-giovanni-by-mozart-the-opera-guide/">Portrait of the opera in the online opera guide www.opera-inside.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/donjuanoperaenqu00moza">Don juan: opera en quatre actes</a>, French, digitized on archive.org</li></ul>
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 * (Top)
 * 1 Composition and premiere
 + 1.1 Scoring
 + 1.2 Revision for Vienna
 + 1.3 Later performance traditions
 * 2 Roles
 * 3 Instrumentation
 * 4 Synopsis
 + 4.1 Act 1
 + 4.2 Act 2
 * 5 Recordings
 * 6 Cultural influence
 + 6.1 Don Giovanni and other composers
 * 7 See also
 * 8 Notes and references
 * 9 Further reading
 * 10 External links
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 Don Giovanni

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 For the legendary fictional character, see Don Juan. For other uses, see Don Giovanni (disambiguation).
 Don Giovanni 
 Opera by W. A. Mozart 
 Portrait of Francisco D'Andrade in the title role by Max Slevogt, 1912
 Other title Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni
 Librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte 
 Language  Italian 
 Based on  The legend of Don Juan 
 Premiere  29 October 1787 
  Estates Theatre, Prague 
 

 Don Giovanni (Italian pronunciation: [dɔn dʒoˈvanni]; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra. It is a dramma giocoso blending comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements (although the composer entered it into his catalogue simply as opera buffa). It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater (of Bohemia), now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787.[1] Don Giovanni is regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time[2] and has proved a fruitful subject for commentary in its own right; critic Fiona Maddocks has described it as one of Mozart's "trio of masterpieces with librettos by Da Ponte".[3]

 Composition and premiere [ edit ]

 The Estates Theatre in Prague, venue of the world premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787. The theatre had opened four years earlier as the Comital Nostitz National Theatre (Gräflich Nostitzsches Nationaltheater).

 The opera was commissioned after the success of Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787.[4] The subject may have been chosen because the sub-genre of Don Juan opera had originated in that city.[5] Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto is based on Giovanni Bertati's for the opera Don Giovanni Tenorio, which premiered in Venice early in 1787. In two aspects he copied Bertati: by opening with the Commendatore's murder and by avoiding mention of Seville (for Bertati the setting was Villena, Spain; Da Ponte simply writes "city in Spain").[6]

 The opera was supposed to premiere on 14 October 1787 for Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria’s visit, but it was not ready in time and Le nozze di Figaro was substituted.[7] Mozart recorded its completion, finally, on 28 October, the night before the premiere (29 October).[4]

 The opera was rapturously received, as was often true of Mozart's work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like", and "the opera ... is extremely difficult to perform."[8] The Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, "Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering."[9]

 Scoring [ edit ]

 The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones (alto, tenor, bass), timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the usual string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, Mozart calls for two onstage ensembles to play separate dance music in synchronization with the pit orchestra, each of the three groups playing in its own metre (a 3/4 minuet, a 2/4 contradanse and a fast 3/8 peasant dance), accompanying the dancing of the principal characters. In act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatore's interventions (" Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora " and " Ribaldo, audace, lascia a' morti la pace ") are accompanied by a wind chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and trombones (with cellos and basses playing from the string section).

 Revision for Vienna [ edit ]

 Playbill for the 1788 Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni

 Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which took place on 7 May 1788. For this production, he wrote two new arias with corresponding recitatives – Don Ottavio's aria " Dalla sua pace " (K. 540a, composed on 24 April for the tenor Francesco Morella), Elvira's aria " In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata " (K. 540c, composed on 30 April for the soprano Caterina Cavalieri)[10] – and the duet between Leporello and Zerlina " Per queste tue manine " (K. 540b, composed on 28 April). He also made some cuts in the Finale in order to make it shorter and more incisive, the most important of which is the section where Anna and Ottavio, Elvira, Zerlina and Masetto, Leporello reveal their plans for the future (" Or che tutti, o mio tesoro "). In order to connect " Ah, certo è l'ombra che l'incontrò " ("It must have been the ghost she met") directly to the moral of the story " Questo è il fin di chi fa mal " ("This is the end which befalls to evildoers"), Mozart composed a different version of " Resti dunque quel birbon fra Proserpina e Pluton! " ("So the wretch can stay down there with Proserpina and Pluto!"). These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings.[ clarification needed ][11]

 Later performance traditions [ edit ]

 The opera's final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on. According to the 19th-century Bohemian memoirist Wilhelm Kuhe, the final ensemble was only presented at the very first performance in Prague, then never heard again during the original run.[12] It does not appear in the Viennese libretto of 1788; thus the ending of the first performance in Vienna without the ensemble as depicted in the film Amadeus may be an accurate portrayal. Nonetheless, the final ensemble is almost invariably performed in full today.[ citation needed ]

 Modern productions sometimes include both the original aria for Don Ottavio, "Il mio tesoro", and its replacement from the first production in Vienna that was crafted to suit the capabilities of the tenor Francesco Morella, " Dalla sua pace ". Elvira's " In quali eccessi, o Numi ... Mi tradi per l'alma ingrata " is usually retained as well. The duet " Per queste tue manine " and the whole accompanying scene involving Zerlina and Leporello from the Viennese version is almost never included.[ citation needed ]

 Although the same singer played both Masetto and the Commendatore roles in both the Prague and Vienna premieres, in modern-day productions, the roles are typically taken by different singers (unless limited by such things as finance or rehearsal time and space). The final scene's chorus of demons after the Commendatore's exit gives the singer time for a costume change before entering as Masetto for the sextet, though not much time.[13]

 Roles [ edit ]

 Roles, voice types, premiere casts
  Prague premiere cast, Vienna premiere cast, 
 Role Voice type[14] 29 October 1787[15] 7 May 1788[16] 
  Conductor: W. A. Mozart Conductor: W. A. Mozart
 Don Giovanni, a young, extremely licentious nobleman baritone Luigi Bassi Francesco Albertarelli 
 Il Commendatore bass Giuseppe Lolli Francesco Bussani 
 Donna Anna, his daughter, promised in marriage to Don Ottavio soprano Teresa Saporiti Aloysia Weber[a] 
 Don Ottavio tenor Antonio Baglioni Francesco Morella 
 Donna Elvira, a lady of Burgos abandoned by Don Giovanni soprano Katherina Micelli Caterina Cavalieri[b] 
 Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant bass Felice Ponziani Francesco Benucci[c] 
 Masetto, a peasant, in love with Zerlina bass Giuseppe Lolli Francesco Bussani 
 Zerlina, a peasant soprano Caterina Bondini[17] Luisa Mombelli 
 Chorus: peasants, servants, young ladies, musicians, demons 
 

 Instrumentation [ edit ]

 The instrumentation is:

 * Woodwinds: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets and two bassoons
 * Brass: two horns, two trumpets, three trombones
 * Percussion: timpani
 * Strings: first violins, second violins, violas, cellos and double basses
 * Basso continuo in secco recitatives of harpsichord and violoncello (period performance practice often uses a fortepiano only)
 * Mandolin[18]

 Synopsis [ edit ]

 Don Giovanni, a young,[19] arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.

 Act 1 [ edit ]

 Overture
 Fulda Symphonic Orchestra
 "Notte e giorno faticar", "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi"
 Fernando Corena (Leporello), Suzanne Danco (Donna Anna), Cesare Siepi (Don Giovanni); Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by a short misterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro.

 The garden of the Commendatore

 Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, grumbles about his demanding master and daydreams about being free of him (" Notte e giorno faticar " – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni is in the Commendatore's house attempting to seduce or rape the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna.[d] Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Don Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna tries to hold him and to unmask him, shouting for help. (Trio: " Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai! " – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"). He breaks free and she runs off as the Commendatore enters the garden. The Commendatore blocks Don Giovanni's path and forces him to fight a duel. Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Donna Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Don Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: " Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor! " – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!")

 A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace
 "Madamina, il catalogo è questo"
 Fernando Corena, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)
 Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival 2014

 Leporello tells Don Giovanni that he (Giovanni) is leading a rotten life; Don Giovanni reacts angrily. They hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge (" Ah, chi mi dice mai " – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Don Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Donna Elvira the truth about him, and then hurries away.

 Leporello tells Donna Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("Madamina, il catalogo è questo" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Donna Elvira vows vengeance.

 The open country

 A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Don Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Don Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry (" Ho capito! Signor, sì " – "I understand! Yes, my lord!") but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "Là ci darem la mano" – "There we will entwine our hands").

 "Dalla sua pace"
 Anton Dermota, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)
 ""Champagne Aria"
 Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)

 Donna Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction (" Ah, fuggi il traditor " – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Donna Anna's father. Donna Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Don Giovanni's help. Don Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Donna Elvira returns and tells Donna Anna and Don Ottavio that Don Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Don Giovanni tries to convince Don Ottavio and Donna Anna that Donna Elvira is insane (Quartet: " Non ti fidar, o misera " – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Don Giovanni leaves, Donna Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer and tells Don Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Don Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Don Giovanni off after discovering the impostor (long recitative exchange between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio). She repeats her demand that he avenge her and points out that he will be avenging himself as well (aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). In the Vienna version, Don Ottavio, not yet convinced (Donna Anna having only recognised Don Giovanni's voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend (" Dalla sua pace la mia dipende " – "On her peace my peace depends").

 Leporello informs Don Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Don Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Donna Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Don Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": " Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa " – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.

 A garden outside Don Giovanni's palace
 "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto"
 Hilde Güden, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)

 Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him (" Batti, batti o bel Masetto " – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Don Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Don Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Don Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, and Donna Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master's party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna pray for protection, Donna Elvira for vengeance (Trio: " Protegga il giusto cielo " – "May the just heavens protect us").

 Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787. The mandolin music for the premiere performance was played by J. B. Kucharz.[20]
 Don Giovanni's ballroom

 As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room and tries to assault her. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni drags Leporello onstage from the room, accuses Leporello of assaulting Zerlina himself, and threatens to kill him. The others are not fooled. Don Ottavio produces a pistol and points it at Don Giovanni, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced and menaced from all sides, Don Giovanni remains calm and escapes – for the moment.

 Act 2 [ edit ]

 Outside Donna Elvira's house
 "Deh, vieni alla finestra"
 Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)

 Leporello threatens to leave Don Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Donna Elvira's maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Donna Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quiet unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Don Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Don Giovanni's cloak and hat. From his hiding place Don Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Don Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Donna Elvira, convinced, descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Don Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Don Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. ("Deh, vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").

 Before Don Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, looking for Don Giovanni in order to kill him. Don Giovanni poses as Leporello (whose clothes he is still wearing) and joins the posse, pretending that he also hates Don Giovanni. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Don Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way. the others, go that way"), Don Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").

 A dark courtyard

 Leporello abandons Donna Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, he bumps into Don Ottavio and Donna Anna. Zerlina and Masetto also enter the scene. Everyone mistakes Leporello for Don Giovanni, whose clothes he is still wearing. They surround Leporello and threaten to kill him. Donna Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Don Giovanni, claiming him as her husband and begging the others to spare him. Leporello takes off Don Giovanni's cloak and reveals his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Don Ottavio is now convinced that Don Giovanni murdered Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore). He swears vengeance ("Il mio tesoro" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).

 "In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata"
 Lisa Della Casa, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 In the Vienna production of the opera, Zerlina follows Leporello and recaptures him. Threatening him with a razor, she ties him to a stool. He attempts to sweet-talk her out of hurting him. (Duet: "Per queste tue manine" – "For these hands of yours"). Zerlina goes to find Masetto and the others; Leporello escapes again before she returns. This scene, marked by low comedy, is rarely performed today. Also in the Vienna production, Donna Elvira is still furious at Don Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me").[e]

 Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set-design for the opera
 A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore

 Don Giovanni wanders into a graveyard. Leporello happens along and the two reunite. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Don Giovanni laughingly taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. The voice of the statue interrupts and warns Don Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me" ("Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta"). The servant trembles, but Don Giovanni scornfully orders him to invite the statue to dinner, and threatens to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner, but is too frightened to complete the invitation (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most noble statue"). Don Giovanni invites the statue to dinner himself. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.

 Donna Anna's room

 Don Ottavio pressures Donna Anna to marry him, but she thinks it is inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").

 Don Juan and the Commander or The Stone Guest
 Don Giovanni confronting the stone guest; painting by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, c. 1830–35
 Don Giovanni's chambers
 "Don Giovanni, a cenar teco"
 Kurt Böhme (Commendatore), Cesare Siepi (Don Giovanni), Fernando Corena (Leporello); Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)

 Don Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays music from popular (at the time) late-18th-century operas: "O quanto un sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti's Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782), and finally "Non più andrai" from Mozart's own The Marriage of Figaro (1786). Leporello comments that he is all too familiar with the final tune – likely a joke understandable for the original audience, as Felice Ponziani, who sang Leporello's part at the premiere, also sang Figaro's part (including "Non più andrai") earlier in Prague.[21][f] (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Donna Elvira enters, saying that she no longer feels resentment against Don Giovanni, only pity for him. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Don Giovanni, surprised, asks what she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Don Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (sostegno e gloria d'umanità). Hurt and angry, Donna Elvira gives up and leaves. Offstage, she screams in sudden terror. Don Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; when he does, he also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Don Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the rhythmic chords of the overture, now reharmonized with diabolic diminished sevenths accompanying the Commendatore ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the statue asks if Don Giovanni will now accept his invitation to dinner. Don Giovanni brazenly accepts, and shakes the statue's proffered hand, only to collapse as he is overcome by sudden chills. The statue offers him a final chance to repent as death draws near, but Don Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.

 Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. He assures them that no one will ever see Don Giovanni again. The remaining characters announce their plans for the future: Donna Anna and Don Ottavio will marry when Donna Anna's year of mourning is over; Donna Elvira will withdraw from society for the rest of her life;[g] Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.

 The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" (Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual). As mentioned above, productions for over a century – beginning with the original run in Prague – customarily omitted the final ensemble, but it frequently reappeared in the 20th century and productions of the opera now usually include it. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.

 Recordings [ edit ]

 Main article: Don Giovanni discography

 Paul Czinner directed a filming of the Salzburg Festival presentation in 1954.[22] A screen adaptation was directed by Joseph Losey in 1979.[23]

 Cultural influence [ edit ]

 Drawing for the coverpage of a libretto (19th century)

 The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a long essay in his book Enten – Eller in which he argues, writing under the pseudonym of his character "A", that "among all classic works Don Giovanni stands highest."[24] Charles Gounod wrote that Mozart's Don Giovanni is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection."[25] The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent, has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including George Bernard Shaw, who in Man and Superman parodied the opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni). Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni, along with Hamlet and the sea, "the three finest things God ever made."[26] E. T. A. Hoffmann also wrote a short story derived from the opera, "Don Juan", in which the narrator meets Donna Anna and describes Don Juan as an aesthetic hero rebelling against God and society.[27]

 In some Germanic and other languages, Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" provided the name "Leporello [de] list" for concertina-folded printed matter, as used for brochures, photo albums, computer printouts and other continuous stationery.[28]

 Playwright Peter Shaffer used Don Giovanni for a pivotal plot point in his play Amadeus, a fictional biography of its composer. In it, Antonio Salieri notices how Mozart composed the opera while tortured after the death of his imposing father Leopold, and uses the information to psychologically torture Mozart even further.

 Don Giovanni and other composers [ edit ]

 The sustained popularity of Don Giovanni has resulted in extensive borrowings and arrangements of the original. The most famous and probably the most musically substantial is the operatic fantasy, Réminiscences de Don Juan by Franz Liszt. The minuet from the finale of act 1, transcribed by Moritz Moszkowski, also makes an incongruous appearance in the manuscript of Liszt's Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni, and Sigismond Thalberg uses the same minuet, along with " Deh, vieni alla finestra ", in his Grand Fantaisie sur la serenade et le Minuet de Don Juan, Op. 42. Thalberg also included a piano arrangement of "Il mio tesoro" in his L'art du chant appliqué au piano, Op. 70. " Deh, vieni alla finestra " also makes an appearance in the Klavierübung of Ferruccio Busoni, under the title Variations-Studie nach Mozart (Variation study after Mozart). Schumann included a piano arrangement of "Vedrai carino" in his Kleiner Lehrgang durch die Musikgeschichte, which was originally intended for his Album for the Young. Chopin wrote Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" (the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina) for piano and orchestra. Beethoven and Danzi also wrote variations on the same theme. And Beethoven, in his Diabelli Variations, cites Leporello's aria " Notte e giorno faticar " in variation 22. Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart used minuet from the finale to act 1 ("Signor, guardate un poco") for his "Variationen über das Menuett des 1. Finale aus 'Don Giovanni'" for piano Op. 2, and János Fusz used the same theme for a set of variations for four hands (Op. 10). The turkeys in Chabrier's "Ballade des gros dindons" (1889) finish each verse imitating the mandolin accompaniment of the Serenade.[29]

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky always regarded Don Giovanni – and its composer – with awe. In 1855, Mozart's original manuscript had been purchased in London by the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, who was the teacher of Tchaikovsky's one-time unofficial fiancée Désirée Artôt (whom Viardot may have persuaded not to go through with her plan to marry the composer). Viardot kept the manuscript in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many people. Tchaikovsky visited her when he was in Paris in June 1886,[30] and said that when looking at the manuscript, he was "in the presence of divinity".[31] So it is not surprising that the centenary of the opera in 1887 would inspire him to write something honouring Mozart. Instead of taking any themes from Don Giovanni, however, he took four lesser known works by Mozart and arranged them into his fourth orchestral suite, which he called Mozartiana. The baritone who sang the title role in the centenary performance of Don Giovanni in Prague that year was Mariano Padilla y Ramos, the man Désirée Artôt married instead of Tchaikovsky.[32]

 Michael Nyman's popular, short band piece In Re Don Giovanni (1981, with later adaptations and revisions) is constructed on a prominent 15-bar phrase in the accompaniment to Leporello's catalogue aria.[ citation needed ]

 In addition to instrumental works, allusions to Don Giovanni also appear in a number of operas: Nicklausse of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann sings a snatch of Leporello's " Notte e giorno ", and Rossini quotes from the same aria in the duettino between Selim and Fiorilla following the former's cavatina in act 1 of Il turco in Italia.[h][ citation needed ]

 Ramón Carnicer's opera Don Giovanni Tenorio [ es ] (1822) is a peculiar reworking of Mozart's opera to adapt it to Rossinian fashion. It comprises new music by Carnicer on a new text (e.g. the first half of act 1), new music on Da Ponte's text (e.g. Leporello's aria) or on a mixture of both (e.g. the new trio for the scene in the cemetery); the whole collated with extensive quotations or entire sections borrowed directly from Mozart (e.g. Finale 1 and Finale 2, and even some music from Le nozze di Figaro[i]), though usually slightly reworked and re-orchestrated.[ citation needed ]

 See also [ edit ]

 * Opera portal
 * List of operas by Mozart

 Notes and references [ edit ]

 Notes

 1. ^ Aloysia Weber , Mozart's sister-in-law, frequently sang in his works.
 2. ^ Caterina Cavalieri was the first Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail .
 3. ^ Francesco Benucci was the first Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro .
 4. ^ In the absence of an unambiguous indication in Da Ponte's libretto, it is reasonable to interpret this incident variously. However, in a discussion of the literary tradition available to Da Ponte as detailed in Freeman 2021 , pp. 254–262, it is clear that there was no precedent for the portrayal of Don Juan as a rapist in the literary tradition that extended from Da Ponte's time back to the prototype Don Juan drama, Tirso de Molina 's early seventeenth-century play El burlador de Sevilla . Da Ponte's scene at the beginning of the opera is based on a standard scenario of earlier dramas in which Don Juan attempts to seduce a noblewoman in disguise as her lover, one of his standard burlas (or "tricks" of seduction). Besides no precedent for rape, there is also no portrayal in the Don Juan literature before Da Ponte of impregnation or the contraction of venereal disease in spite of Don Juan's numberless sexual encounters.
 5. ^ This scene was added at the same time as the preceding Zerlina / Leporello duet, but is generally retained and sung directly after "Il mio tesoro".
 6. ^ Freeman 2021 , pp. 284–286, points out that the purpose of excerpting music from other composer's operas is an assertion of superiority – and a highly effective one. The impact of Mozart's music after hearing insipid examples by other composers' work is striking indeed. The dialogue that accompanies this vignette does not appear in the libretto published for the first performance, thus the idea was almost certainly Mozart's, and he must have written the lines of text himself.
 7. ^ Freeman 2021 , p. 287, points out that the correct translation of Donna Elvira's line Io men vado in un ritiro a finir la vita mia! indicates that she intends to remove herself to a "retreat" instead of entering a convent (as the line is frequently mistranslated into English). Neither in eighteenth-century Italian nor modern Italian could ritiro be construed as a synonym for convento (convent) or monastero (monastery). Rather, it has the connotation of a comfortable, secluded private dwelling in the countryside.
 8. ^ Leporello's F major e non voglio più servir becomes Fiorilla's A major così pien di civiltà , the music being quoted verbatim.
 9. ^ But not in the dinner scene; here Carnicer borrows some different tunes from Una cosa rara and Litiganti and presumably some music of his own as third quotation

 References

 1. ^ The theatre is referred to as the Teatro di Praga in the libretto for the 1787 premiere ( Deutsch 1965 , pp. 302–303); for the current name of the theatre see "The Estates Theatre" Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the Prague National Theatre website.
 2. ^ "The 20 Greatest Operas of All Time". Classical Music.
 3. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (19 August 2011). "Top 50 Operas". The Guardian.
 4. ^ a b The background of the production is summarized in Freeman 2021 , pp. 131–168.
 5. ^ The first eighteenth-century Don Juan opera produced in Europe was La pravità castigata (Prague, 1730), and the second one was Il convitato di pietra (Prague, 1776).
 6. ^ See Freeman 2021 , p. 263, for a discussion of Da Ponte's vague specification, including a theory about why it is so vague that is based on suspiciously archaic cultural references incompatible with the modern city of Seville as it existed in Da Ponte's day.
 7. ^ Mozart's letter sent to Gottfried von Jacquin , dated 15 October
 8. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 303.
 9. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 304.
 10. ^ "OperaGlass at Opera.Stanford.Edu".
 11. ^ Wolfgang Plath and Wolfgang Rehm , Neue Mozart-Ausgabe , Serie II, Werkgruppe 5, Band 17, Don Giovanni (Kassel, 1968)
 12. ^ Freeman 2021 , p. 286-287.
 13. ^ Buch, David Joseph (2008). Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater. University of Chicago Press. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-226-07811-3.
 14. ^ Page 2 of the score at NMA
 15. ^ Casaglia 2005 .
 16. ^ Deutsch 1965 , p. 313.
 17. ^ Abert 2007 , p. 1021 .
 18. ^ Sparks, Paul (1995). The Classical Mandolin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-0-19-517337-6. "The mandoline is today (1843) so neglected that, in the theatres where "Don Giovanni" is staged, it is always a problem to execute the serenade...it has become allowed almost everywhere...to play the mandoline part in "Don Giovanni" on pizzicato violins or on guitars."
 19. ^ Don Giovanni Schirmer piano-vocal score ISBN 079351231X , page iv
 20. ^ Braunstein, Joseph (1969). Mandolin Music, Beethoven, Hummel (Media notes). New York: Nonesuch Records . Retrieved 24 May 2019 .
 21. ^ Chong, Nicholas Junkai (2011). "Music for the Last Supper: The Dramatic Significance of Mozart's Musical Quotations in the Tafelmusik of Don Giovanni". Current Musicology (92): 7–52. doi:10.7916/cm.v0i92.5208. Also doi : 10.7916/D8VD6WJ4 at Columbia Academic Commons, Columbia University Libraries .
 22. ^ Mozart's Don Giovanni (DVD). Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. 2001. OCLC 1051553568.
 23. ^ Citron, Marcia J. (2000). Opera on Screen. Yale University Press. p. 203. ISBN 0-300-08158-8.
 24. ^ Kierkegaard 1992 , p. 135.
 25. ^ Gounod 1970 , pp. v–vi.
 26. ^ Flaubert, Gustave. The Letters of Gustave Flaubert.[ page needed ]
 27. ^ German Wikisource has original text related to this article: "Don Juan" (E. T. A. Hoffmann, in German)
 28. ^ "leporelloliste". Den Danske Ordbog (in Danish) . Retrieved 29 June 2014 .
 29. ^ Pierre Bernac. The Interpretation of French Song. Praeger Publishers, New York, Washington, 1970. Chapter 7, p. 86.
 30. ^ Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man , p. 460
 31. ^ Abstract: 19th Century Music, Mark Everist Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
 32. ^ Louis Charles Elson (1912). University Musical Encyclopedia. The University Society. p. 467 . Retrieved 5 April 2011 .

 Sources

 * Abert, Hermann (2007). Cliff Eisen (ed.). W. A. Mozart. Translated by Stewart Spencer. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300072235.
 * Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Don Giovanni, 29 October 1787". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian) .
 * Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0233-1.
 * Freeman, Daniel E. (2021). Mozart in Prague. Edina, Minnesota: Calumet Editions. ISBN 9781950743506.
 * Gounod, Charles (1970). Mozart's Don Giovanni: A Commentary (from the third French edition of Le Don Juan de Mozart, London, R. Cocks, 1895). Translated by Windeyer Clark; J. P. Hutchinson. New York: Da Capo Press.
 * Kierkegaard, Søren (1992). Victor Eremita (ed.). Either/Or (abridged, translated, and with an introduction and notes, by Alastair Hannay). London: Penguin.

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Allanbrook, W. J. (1983). Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni Chicago. (reviewed in Platoff, John. "Untitled." The Journal of Musicology, vol. 4, no. 4 (1986). pp. 535–538).
 * Baker, Even A. (1993): Alfred Roller's Production Of Mozart's Don Giovanni – A Break in the Scenic Traditions of the Vienna Court Opera. New York University.
 * Baker, Felicity (2021) (edited by Magnus Tessing Schneider). Don Giovanni's Reasons: Thoughts on a masterpiece. Bern: Peter Lang.
 * Da Ponte, Lorenzo. Mozart's Don Giovanni. Dover Publications, New York, 1985. (reviewed in G. S. "Untitled." Music & Letters, vol 19, no. 2 (April 1938). pp. 216–218)
 * Goehr, Lydia; Herwitz, Daniel A. (2006). The Don Giovanni Moment: Essays on the Legacy of an Opera. Columbia Press University, New York.
 * Kaminsky, Peter (1996). "How to Do things with Words and Music: Towards an Analysis of Selected ensembles in Mozart's Don Giovanni." Theory and Practice
 * Melitz, Leo (1921): The Opera Goer's Complete Guide
 * McClatchy, J. D. (2010). Seven Mozart Librettos. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06609-8.
 * Noske, F[rits] R[udolf] [in Dutch] (1970). "Don Giovanni: Musical Affinities and Dramatic Structure". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Akadémiai Kiadó. 12 (1/4): 167–203. doi:10.2307/901357. JSTOR 901357.; reprinted in Theatre Research viii (1973), 60–74 and in Noske, Frits (1977). The Signifier and the Signified: Studies in the Operas of Mozart and Verdi. pp. 39–75. ISBN 978-9024719952.
 * Rushton, Julian G. (1981). W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni" Cambridge. (reviewed in Sternfeld, F. W. "Untitled." Music & Letters, vol. 65, no. 4 (October 1984) pp. 377–378)
 * Schneider, Magnus Tessing (2021). The Original Portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. OPEN ACCESS
 * Schünemann, Georg and Soldan, Kurt (translated by Stanley Appelbaum) Don Giovanni: Complete orchestral and vocal score Dover 1974
 * Tyson, Alan. "Some Features of the Autograph Score of Don Giovanni", Israel Studies in Musicology (1990), 7–26

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Don Giovanni.
 Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article:
 Don Giovanni
 Wikiquote has quotations related to Don Giovanni.
 * 
 * Don Giovanni: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 * Libretto, critical edition, diplomatic edition, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings; Digital Mozart Edition
 * Don Giovanni: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Opera Guide Synopsis (4 languages), libretto (German, English, Italian), highlights
 * Opera in a nutshell Soundfiles (MIDI)
 * Piano/vocal score of Don Giovanni from Indiana University Bloomington
 * Synopsis and libretto Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine from Naxos Records
 * Libretto, Italian, English
 * Roles, arias, libretto (Italian, English)
 * San Diego OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles: Don Giovanni
 * (in German) Don Giovanni Archived 25 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine, production photos, synopsis (in German)
 * Portrait of the opera in the online opera guide www.opera-inside.com
 * Don juan: opera en quatre actes, French, digitized on archive.org
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 * Don Juan Tenorio (1898) 
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 * Don Juan (1969) 
 * Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973) 
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 + " El Toro Relajo " 
 + " Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? " 
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 * Don Giovanni (1787) 
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 + " Madamina, il catalogo è questo " 
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Don Giovanni    Opera by W. A. Mozart        Portrait of Francisco D'Andrade in the title role by Max Slevogt, 1912     Other title  Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni    Librettist  Lorenzo Da Ponte    Language Italian   Based on The legend of Don Juan    Premiere   29 October 1787   Estates Theatre, Prague      
  Don Giovanni  (Italian pronunciation:  [dɔn dʒoˈvanni]; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play  El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra . It is a  dramma giocoso  blending comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements (although the composer entered it into his catalogue simply as  opera buffa ). It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater (of Bohemia), now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. [1]  Don Giovanni is regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time [2]  and has proved a fruitful subject for commentary in its own right; critic Fiona Maddocks has described it as one of Mozart's "trio of masterpieces with librettos by Da Ponte". [3] 
Composition and premiere[edit]
      The Estates Theatre in Prague, venue of the world premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787. The theatre had opened four years earlier as the Comital Nostitz National Theatre (Gräflich Nostitzsches Nationaltheater).  
The opera was commissioned after the success of Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787. [4]  The subject may have been chosen because the sub-genre of Don Juan opera had originated in that city. [5]  Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto is based on Giovanni Bertati's for the opera  Don Giovanni Tenorio , which premiered in Venice early in 1787. In two aspects he copied Bertati: by opening with the Commendatore's murder and by avoiding mention of Seville (for Bertati the setting was Villena, Spain; Da Ponte simply writes "city in Spain"). [6] 
 The opera was supposed to premiere on 14 October 1787 for Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria’s visit, but it was not ready in time and  Le nozze di Figaro  was substituted. [7]  Mozart recorded its completion, finally, on 28 October, the night before the premiere (29 October). [4] 
 The opera was rapturously received, as was often true of Mozart's work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like", and "the opera ... is extremely difficult to perform." [8]  The Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, "Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering." [9] 
Scoring[edit]
The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones (alto, tenor, bass), timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the usual string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, Mozart calls for two onstage ensembles to play separate dance music in synchronization with the pit orchestra, each of the three groups playing in its own metre (a 3/4 minuet, a 2/4 contradanse and a fast 3/8 peasant dance), accompanying the dancing of the principal characters. In act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatore's interventions ("Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora" and "Ribaldo, audace, lascia a' morti la pace") are accompanied by a wind chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and trombones (with cellos and basses playing from the string section).
Revision for Vienna[edit]
      Playbill for the 1788 Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni   
Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which took place on 7 May 1788. For this production, he wrote two new arias with corresponding recitatives – Don Ottavio's aria "Dalla sua pace" (K. 540a, composed on 24 April for the tenor Francesco Morella), Elvira's aria "In quali eccessi ... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" (K. 540c, composed on 30 April for the soprano Caterina Cavalieri) [10]  – and the duet between Leporello and Zerlina "Per queste tue manine" (K. 540b, composed on 28 April). He also made some cuts in the Finale in order to make it shorter and more incisive, the most important of which is the section where Anna and Ottavio, Elvira, Zerlina and Masetto, Leporello reveal their plans for the future ("Or che tutti, o mio tesoro"). In order to connect "Ah, certo è l'ombra che l'incontrò" ("It must have been the ghost she met") directly to the moral of the story "Questo è il fin di chi fa mal" ("This is the end which befalls to evildoers"), Mozart composed a different version of "Resti dunque quel birbon fra Proserpina e Pluton!" ("So the wretch can stay down there with Proserpina and Pluto!"). These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings.[ clarification needed ]  [11] 
Later performance traditions[edit]
The opera's final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on. According to the 19th-century Bohemian memoirist Wilhelm Kuhe, the final ensemble was only presented at the very first performance in Prague, then never heard again during the original run. [12]  It does not appear in the Viennese libretto of 1788; thus the ending of the first performance in Vienna without the ensemble as depicted in the film  Amadeus  may be an accurate portrayal. Nonetheless, the final ensemble is almost invariably performed in full today.[ citation needed ]
 Modern productions sometimes include both the original aria for Don Ottavio, "Il mio tesoro", and its replacement from the first production in Vienna that was crafted to suit the capabilities of the tenor Francesco Morella, "Dalla sua pace". Elvira's "In quali eccessi, o Numi ... Mi tradi per l'alma ingrata" is usually retained as well. The duet "Per queste tue manine" and the whole accompanying scene involving Zerlina and Leporello from the Viennese version is almost never included.[ citation needed ]
 Although the same singer played both Masetto and the Commendatore roles in both the Prague and Vienna premieres, in modern-day productions, the roles are typically taken by different singers (unless limited by such things as finance or rehearsal time and space). The final scene's chorus of demons after the Commendatore's exit gives the singer time for a costume change before entering as Masetto for the sextet, though not much time. [13] 
Roles[edit]
Roles, voice types, premiere casts
 
Role
 Voice type  [14] 
Prague premiere cast,29 October 1787  [15]  Conductor: W. A. Mozart
Vienna premiere cast,7 May 1788  [16]  Conductor: W. A. Mozart
 
 Don Giovanni, a young, extremely licentious nobleman
 baritone
 Luigi Bassi
Francesco Albertarelli
 
Il Commendatore
 bass
Giuseppe Lolli
Francesco Bussani
 
Donna Anna, his daughter, promised in marriage to Don Ottavio
 soprano
 Teresa Saporiti
 Aloysia Weber  [a] 
 
Don Ottavio
 tenor
Antonio Baglioni
Francesco Morella
 
Donna Elvira, a lady of Burgos abandoned by Don Giovanni
soprano
Katherina Micelli
 Caterina Cavalieri  [b] 
 
Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant
bass
Felice Ponziani
 Francesco Benucci  [c] 
 
Masetto, a peasant, in love with Zerlina
bass
Giuseppe Lolli
Francesco Bussani
 
Zerlina, a peasant
soprano
Caterina Bondini [17] 
 Luisa Mombelli
 
 Chorus: peasants, servants, young ladies, musicians, demons
   
Instrumentation[edit]
The instrumentation is:
  Woodwinds: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets and two bassoons 
 Brass: two horns, two trumpets, three trombones 
 Percussion: timpani 
 Strings: first violins, second violins, violas, cellos and double basses 
 Basso continuo in secco recitatives of harpsichord and violoncello (period performance practice often uses a fortepiano only)
 Mandolin  [18]   
Synopsis[edit]
Don Giovanni, a young, [19]  arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.
Act 1[edit]
   
 
Fulda Symphonic Orchestra    
The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by a short misterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro.
  The garden of the Commendatore  
Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, grumbles about his demanding master and daydreams about being free of him ("Notte e giorno faticar" – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni is in the Commendatore's house attempting to seduce or rape the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. [d]  Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Don Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna tries to hold him and to unmask him, shouting for help. (Trio: "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"). He breaks free and she runs off as the Commendatore enters the garden. The Commendatore blocks Don Giovanni's path and forces him to fight a duel. Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Donna Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Don Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!" – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!")
  A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace  
   
Fernando Corena, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)  
     
Leporello tells Don Giovanni that he (Giovanni) is leading a rotten life; Don Giovanni reacts angrily. They hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge ("Ah, chi mi dice mai" – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Don Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Donna Elvira the truth about him, and then hurries away.
 Leporello tells Donna Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("Madamina, il catalogo è questo" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Donna Elvira vows vengeance.
  The open country  
A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Don Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Don Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry ("Ho capito! Signor, sì" – "I understand! Yes, my lord!") but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "Là ci darem la mano" – "There we will entwine our hands").
   
  
Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)   
Donna Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction ("Ah, fuggi il traditor" – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Donna Anna's father. Donna Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Don Giovanni's help. Don Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Donna Elvira returns and tells Donna Anna and Don Ottavio that Don Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Don Giovanni tries to convince Don Ottavio and Donna Anna that Donna Elvira is insane (Quartet: "Non ti fidar, o misera" – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Don Giovanni leaves, Donna Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer and tells Don Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Don Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Don Giovanni off after discovering the impostor (long recitative exchange between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio). She repeats her demand that he avenge her and points out that he will be avenging himself as well (aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). In the Vienna version, Don Ottavio, not yet convinced (Donna Anna having only recognised Don Giovanni's voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend ("Dalla sua pace la mia dipende" – "On her peace my peace depends").
 Leporello informs Don Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Don Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Donna Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Don Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": "Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa" – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.
  A garden outside Don Giovanni's palace  
   
Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him ("Batti, batti o bel Masetto" – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Don Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Don Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Don Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, and Donna Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master's party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna pray for protection, Donna Elvira for vengeance (Trio: "Protegga il giusto cielo" – "May the just heavens protect us").
       Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787. The mandolin music for the premiere performance was played by J. B. Kucharz. [20]    
  Don Giovanni's ballroom  
As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room and tries to assault her. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni drags Leporello onstage from the room, accuses Leporello of assaulting Zerlina himself, and threatens to kill him. The others are not fooled. Don Ottavio produces a pistol and points it at Don Giovanni, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced and menaced from all sides, Don Giovanni remains calm and escapes – for the moment.
Act 2[edit]
  Outside Donna Elvira's house  
   
Cesare Siepi, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips (1955)  
Leporello threatens to leave Don Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Donna Elvira's maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Don Giovanni orders Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Donna Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quiet unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Don Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Don Giovanni's cloak and hat. From his hiding place Don Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Don Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Donna Elvira, convinced, descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Don Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Don Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. ("Deh, vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").
 Before Don Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, looking for Don Giovanni in order to kill him. Don Giovanni poses as Leporello (whose clothes he is still wearing) and joins the posse, pretending that he also hates Don Giovanni. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Don Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way. the others, go that way"), Don Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").
  A dark courtyard  
Leporello abandons Donna Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, he bumps into Don Ottavio and Donna Anna. Zerlina and Masetto also enter the scene. Everyone mistakes Leporello for Don Giovanni, whose clothes he is still wearing. They surround Leporello and threaten to kill him. Donna Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Don Giovanni, claiming him as her husband and begging the others to spare him. Leporello takes off Don Giovanni's cloak and reveals his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Don Ottavio is now convinced that Don Giovanni murdered Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore). He swears vengeance ("Il mio tesoro" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).
   
In the Vienna production of the opera, Zerlina follows Leporello and recaptures him. Threatening him with a razor, she ties him to a stool. He attempts to sweet-talk her out of hurting him. (Duet: "Per queste tue manine" – "For these hands of yours"). Zerlina goes to find Masetto and the others; Leporello escapes again before she returns. This scene, marked by low comedy, is rarely performed today. Also in the Vienna production, Donna Elvira is still furious at Don Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me"). [e] 
      Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set-design for the opera  
  A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore  
Don Giovanni wanders into a graveyard. Leporello happens along and the two reunite. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Don Giovanni laughingly taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. The voice of the statue interrupts and warns Don Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me" ("Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta"). The servant trembles, but Don Giovanni scornfully orders him to invite the statue to dinner, and threatens to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner, but is too frightened to complete the invitation (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most noble statue"). Don Giovanni invites the statue to dinner himself. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.
  Donna Anna's room  
Don Ottavio pressures Donna Anna to marry him, but she thinks it is inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").
      Don Juan and the Commander or The Stone Guest  
     
  Don Giovanni's chambers  
   
Don Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays music from popular (at the time) late-18th-century operas: "O quanto un sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler's  Una cosa rara  (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti's  Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode  (1782), and finally "Non più andrai" from Mozart's own  The Marriage of Figaro  (1786). Leporello comments that he is all too familiar with the final tune – likely a joke understandable for the original audience, as Felice Ponziani, who sang Leporello's part at the premiere, also sang Figaro's part (including "Non più andrai") earlier in Prague. [21]   [f]  (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Donna Elvira enters, saying that she no longer feels resentment against Don Giovanni, only pity for him. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Don Giovanni, surprised, asks what she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Don Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (sostegno e gloria d'umanità). Hurt and angry, Donna Elvira gives up and leaves. Offstage, she screams in sudden terror. Don Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; when he does, he also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Don Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the rhythmic chords of the overture, now reharmonized with diabolic diminished sevenths accompanying the Commendatore ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the statue asks if Don Giovanni will now accept his invitation to dinner. Don Giovanni brazenly accepts, and shakes the statue's proffered hand, only to collapse as he is overcome by sudden chills. The statue offers him a final chance to repent as death draws near, but Don Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.
 Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. He assures them that no one will ever see Don Giovanni again. The remaining characters announce their plans for the future: Donna Anna and Don Ottavio will marry when Donna Anna's year of mourning is over; Donna Elvira will withdraw from society for the rest of her life; [g]  Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.
 The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" (Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual). As mentioned above, productions for over a century – beginning with the original run in Prague – customarily omitted the final ensemble, but it frequently reappeared in the 20th century and productions of the opera now usually include it. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.
Recordings[edit]
 Paul Czinner directed a filming of the Salzburg Festival presentation in 1954. [22]  A screen adaptation was directed by Joseph Losey in 1979. [23] 
Cultural influence[edit]
      Drawing for the coverpage of a libretto (19th century)  
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a long essay in his book  Enten – Eller  in which he argues, writing under the pseudonym of his character "A", that "among all classic works Don Giovanni stands highest." [24]  Charles Gounod wrote that Mozart's Don Giovanni is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection." [25]  The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent, has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including George Bernard Shaw, who in  Man and Superman  parodied the opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni). Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni, along with  Hamlet  and the sea, "the three finest things God ever made." [26]  E. T. A. Hoffmann also wrote a short story derived from the opera, "Don Juan", in which the narrator meets Donna Anna and describes Don Juan as an aesthetic hero rebelling against God and society. [27] 
 In some Germanic and other languages, Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" provided the name "Leporello  [de] list" for concertina-folded printed matter, as used for brochures, photo albums, computer printouts and other continuous stationery. [28] 
 Playwright Peter Shaffer used Don Giovanni for a pivotal plot point in his play  Amadeus , a fictional biography of its composer. In it, Antonio Salieri notices how Mozart composed the opera while tortured after the death of his imposing father Leopold, and uses the information to psychologically torture Mozart even further.
 Don Giovanni and other composers[edit]
The sustained popularity of Don Giovanni has resulted in extensive borrowings and arrangements of the original. The most famous and probably the most musically substantial is the operatic fantasy,  Réminiscences de Don Juan  by Franz Liszt. The minuet from the finale of act 1, transcribed by Moritz Moszkowski, also makes an incongruous appearance in the manuscript of Liszt's Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni , and Sigismond Thalberg uses the same minuet, along with "Deh, vieni alla finestra", in his Grand Fantaisie sur la serenade et le Minuet de Don Juan, Op. 42. Thalberg also included a piano arrangement of "Il mio tesoro" in his L'art du chant appliqué au piano, Op. 70. "Deh, vieni alla finestra" also makes an appearance in the Klavierübung of Ferruccio Busoni, under the title Variations-Studie nach Mozart (Variation study after Mozart). Schumann included a piano arrangement of "Vedrai carino" in his Kleiner Lehrgang durch die Musikgeschichte, which was originally intended for his Album for the Young. Chopin wrote Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" (the duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina) for piano and orchestra. Beethoven and Danzi also wrote variations on the same theme. And Beethoven, in his  Diabelli Variations , cites Leporello's aria "Notte e giorno faticar" in variation 22. Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart used minuet from the finale to act 1 ("Signor, guardate un poco") for his "Variationen über das Menuett des 1. Finale aus 'Don Giovanni'" for piano Op. 2, and János Fusz used the same theme for a set of variations for four hands (Op. 10). The turkeys in Chabrier's "Ballade des gros dindons" (1889) finish each verse imitating the mandolin accompaniment of the Serenade. [29] 
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky always regarded Don Giovanni – and its composer – with awe. In 1855, Mozart's original manuscript had been purchased in London by the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, who was the teacher of Tchaikovsky's one-time unofficial fiancée Désirée Artôt (whom Viardot may have persuaded not to go through with her plan to marry the composer). Viardot kept the manuscript in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many people. Tchaikovsky visited her when he was in Paris in June 1886, [30]  and said that when looking at the manuscript, he was "in the presence of divinity". [31]  So it is not surprising that the centenary of the opera in 1887 would inspire him to write something honouring Mozart. Instead of taking any themes from Don Giovanni, however, he took four lesser known works by Mozart and arranged them into his fourth orchestral suite, which he called Mozartiana . The baritone who sang the title role in the centenary performance of Don Giovanni in Prague that year was Mariano Padilla y Ramos, the man Désirée Artôt married instead of Tchaikovsky. [32] 
  Michael Nyman's popular, short band piece In Re Don Giovanni (1981, with later adaptations and revisions) is constructed on a prominent 15-bar phrase in the accompaniment to Leporello's catalogue aria.[ citation needed ]
 In addition to instrumental works, allusions to Don Giovanni also appear in a number of operas: Nicklausse of Offenbach's  The Tales of Hoffmann  sings a snatch of Leporello's "Notte e giorno", and Rossini quotes from the same aria in the duettino between Selim and Fiorilla following the former's cavatina in act 1 of  Il turco in Italia . [h]  [ citation needed ]
  Ramón Carnicer's opera  Don Giovanni Tenorio [es] (1822) is a peculiar reworking of Mozart's opera to adapt it to Rossinian fashion. It comprises new music by Carnicer on a new text (e.g. the first half of act 1), new music on Da Ponte's text (e.g. Leporello's aria) or on a mixture of both (e.g. the new trio for the scene in the cemetery); the whole collated with extensive quotations or entire sections borrowed directly from Mozart (e.g. Finale 1 and Finale 2, and even some music from Le nozze di Figaro  [i] ), though usually slightly reworked and re-orchestrated.[ citation needed ]
See also[edit]
  List of operas by Mozart  
Notes and references[edit]
 Notes
  ^  Aloysia Weber, Mozart's sister-in-law, frequently sang in his works.
  ^  Caterina Cavalieri was the first Konstanze in  Die Entführung aus dem Serail .
  ^  Francesco Benucci was the first Figaro in  Le nozze di Figaro .
  ^  In the absence of an unambiguous indication in Da Ponte's libretto, it is reasonable to interpret this incident variously. However, in a discussion of the literary tradition available to Da Ponte as detailed in Freeman 2021, pp. 254–262, it is clear that there was no precedent for the portrayal of Don Juan as a rapist in the literary tradition that extended from Da Ponte's time back to the prototype Don Juan drama, Tirso de Molina's early seventeenth-century play  El burlador de Sevilla . Da Ponte's scene at the beginning of the opera is based on a standard scenario of earlier dramas in which Don Juan attempts to seduce a noblewoman in disguise as her lover, one of his standard burlas (or "tricks" of seduction). Besides no precedent for rape, there is also no portrayal in the Don Juan literature before Da Ponte of impregnation or the contraction of venereal disease in spite of Don Juan's numberless sexual encounters.
  ^  This scene was added at the same time as the preceding Zerlina / Leporello duet, but is generally retained and sung directly after "Il mio tesoro".
  ^  Freeman 2021, pp. 284–286, points out that the purpose of excerpting music from other composer's operas is an assertion of superiority – and a highly effective one. The impact of Mozart's music after hearing insipid examples by other composers' work is striking indeed. The dialogue that accompanies this vignette does not appear in the libretto published for the first performance, thus the idea was almost certainly Mozart's, and he must have written the lines of text himself.
  ^  Freeman 2021, p. 287, points out that the correct translation of Donna Elvira's line Io men vado in un ritiro a finir la vita mia! indicates that she intends to remove herself to a "retreat" instead of entering a convent (as the line is frequently mistranslated into English). Neither in eighteenth-century Italian nor modern Italian could ritiro be construed as a synonym for convento (convent) or monastero (monastery). Rather, it has the connotation of a comfortable, secluded private dwelling in the countryside.
  ^  Leporello's F major e non voglio più servir becomes Fiorilla's A major così pien di civiltà, the music being quoted verbatim.
  ^  But not in the dinner scene; here Carnicer borrows some different tunes from Una cosa rara and Litiganti and presumably some music of his own as third quotation
 
 References
 
  ^  The theatre is referred to as the Teatro di Praga in the libretto for the 1787 premiere (Deutsch 1965, pp. 302–303); for the current name of the theatre see "The Estates Theatre" Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the Prague National Theatre website.
  ^   "The 20 Greatest Operas of All Time". Classical Music.
  ^   Maddocks, Fiona (19 August 2011). "Top 50 Operas".  The Guardian .
^    a       b    The background of the production is summarized in Freeman 2021, pp. 131–168.
  ^  The first eighteenth-century Don Juan opera produced in Europe was  La pravità castigata  (Prague, 1730), and the second one was Il convitato di pietra (Prague, 1776).
  ^  See Freeman 2021, p. 263, for a discussion of Da Ponte's vague specification, including a theory about why it is so vague that is based on suspiciously archaic cultural references incompatible with the modern city of Seville as it existed in Da Ponte's day.
  ^  Mozart's letter sent to Gottfried von Jacquin, dated 15 October
  ^  Deutsch 1965, p. 303.
  ^  Deutsch 1965, p. 304.
  ^   "OperaGlass at Opera.Stanford.Edu".
  ^  Wolfgang Plath and Wolfgang Rehm,  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe , Serie II, Werkgruppe 5, Band 17, Don Giovanni (Kassel, 1968)
  ^  Freeman 2021, p. 286-287.
  ^   Buch, David Joseph (2008).  Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater . University of Chicago Press. p. 332. ISBN  978-0-226-07811-3 .
  ^  Page 2 of the score at NMA
  ^  Casaglia 2005.
  ^  Deutsch 1965, p. 313.
  ^  Abert 2007, p. 1021.
  ^  Sparks, Paul (1995). The Classical Mandolin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN  978-0-19-517337-6 . The mandoline is today (1843) so neglected that, in the theatres where Don Giovanni is staged, it is always a problem to execute the serenade...it has become allowed almost everywhere...to play the mandoline part in Don Giovanni on pizzicato violins or on guitars. 
  ^  Don Giovanni Schirmer piano-vocal score ISBN 079351231X, page iv
  ^  Braunstein, Joseph (1969).  Mandolin Music, Beethoven, Hummel  (Media notes). New York: Nonesuch Records. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  ^  Chong, Nicholas Junkai (2011). "Music for the Last Supper: The Dramatic Significance of Mozart's Musical Quotations in the Tafelmusik of Don Giovanni". Current Musicology (92): 7–52. doi:10.7916/cm.v0i92.5208. Also doi:10.7916/D8VD6WJ4 at Columbia Academic Commons, Columbia University Libraries.
  ^   Mozart's Don Giovanni (DVD). Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. 2001. OCLC 1051553568.
  ^   Citron, Marcia J. (2000).  Opera on Screen . Yale University Press. p. 203. ISBN  0-300-08158-8 .
  ^  Kierkegaard 1992, p. 135.
  ^  Gounod 1970, pp. v–vi.
  ^  Flaubert, Gustave.  The Letters of Gustave Flaubert . [ page needed ]
  ^    German Wikisource has original text related to this article: "Don Juan" (E. T. A. Hoffmann, in German)
  ^   "leporelloliste". Den Danske Ordbog (in Danish). Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  ^  Pierre Bernac. The Interpretation of French Song. Praeger Publishers, New York, Washington, 1970. Chapter 7, p. 86.
  ^  Alexander Poznansky, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man, p. 460
  ^  Abstract: 19th Century Music, Mark Everist Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  ^  Louis Charles Elson (1912).  University Musical Encyclopedia . The University Society. p. 467. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
 
 Sources
   Abert, Hermann (2007). Cliff Eisen (ed.). W. A. Mozart. Translated by Stewart Spencer. Yale University Press. ISBN  978-0300072235 . 
 Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Don Giovanni, 29 October 1787". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian). 
  Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965).  Mozart: A Documentary Biography . Stanford University Press. ISBN  978-0-8047-0233-1 . 
  Freeman, Daniel E. (2021). Mozart in Prague. Edina, Minnesota: Calumet Editions. ISBN  9781950743506 . 
  Gounod, Charles (1970). Mozart's Don Giovanni: A Commentary (from the third French edition of Le Don Juan de Mozart, London, R. Cocks, 1895). Translated by Windeyer Clark; J. P. Hutchinson. New York: Da Capo Press. 
  Kierkegaard, Søren (1992). Victor Eremita (ed.).  Either/Or  (abridged, translated, and with an introduction and notes, by Alastair Hannay). London: Penguin.  
Further reading[edit]
 Allanbrook, W. J. (1983). Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni Chicago. (reviewed in Platoff, John. "Untitled."  The Journal of Musicology , vol. 4, no. 4 (1986). pp. 535–538).
 Baker, Even A. (1993): Alfred Roller's Production Of Mozart's Don Giovanni – A Break in the Scenic Traditions of the Vienna Court Opera. New York University.
Baker, Felicity (2021) (edited by Magnus Tessing Schneider). Don Giovanni's Reasons: Thoughts on a masterpiece. Bern: Peter Lang.
 Da Ponte, Lorenzo. Mozart's Don Giovanni. Dover Publications, New York, 1985. (reviewed in G. S. "Untitled."  Music &amp; Letters , vol 19, no. 2 (April 1938). pp. 216–218)
Goehr, Lydia; Herwitz, Daniel A. (2006). The Don Giovanni Moment: Essays on the Legacy of an Opera. Columbia Press University, New York.
Kaminsky, Peter (1996). "How to Do things with Words and Music: Towards an Analysis of Selected ensembles in Mozart's Don Giovanni." Theory and Practice 
Melitz, Leo (1921): The Opera Goer's Complete Guide 
 McClatchy, J. D. (2010). Seven Mozart Librettos. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN  978-0-393-06609-8 . 
  Noske, F[rits] R[udolf] [in Dutch] (1970). "Don Giovanni: Musical Affinities and Dramatic Structure". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Akadémiai Kiadó. 12 (1/4): 167–203. doi:10.2307/901357. JSTOR 901357.; reprinted in Theatre Research viii (1973), 60–74 and in Noske, Frits (1977). The Signifier and the Signified: Studies in the Operas of Mozart and Verdi. pp. 39–75. ISBN  978-9024719952 . 
 Rushton, Julian G. (1981). W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni" Cambridge. (reviewed in Sternfeld, F. W. "Untitled."  Music &amp; Letters , vol. 65, no. 4 (October 1984) pp. 377–378)
Schneider, Magnus Tessing (2021). The Original Portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. OPEN ACCESS 
Schünemann, Georg and Soldan, Kurt (translated by Stanley Appelbaum) Don Giovanni: Complete orchestral and vocal score Dover 1974
 Tyson, Alan. "Some Features of the Autograph Score of Don Giovanni", Israel Studies in Musicology (1990), 7–26 
External links[edit]
 
 Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  
  
 Don Giovanni: Score and critical report (in German) in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
 Libretto, critical edition, diplomatic edition, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings; Digital Mozart Edition
  Don Giovanni : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Opera Guide Synopsis (4 languages), libretto (German, English, Italian), highlights
 Opera in a nutshell Soundfiles (MIDI)
 Piano/vocal score of Don Giovanni  from Indiana University Bloomington 
 Synopsis and libretto Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine from Naxos Records 
 Libretto, Italian, English
 Roles, arias, libretto (Italian, English) 
 San Diego OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles: Don Giovanni  
(in German)  Don Giovanni  Archived 25 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine, production photos, synopsis (in German)
 Portrait of the opera in the online opera guide www.opera-inside.com 
 Don juan: opera en quatre actes, French, digitized on archive.org
Don Giovanni - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Giovanni
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_verum_corpus
Ave verum corpus - Wikipedia
2004-05-16
Authority control National libraries Czech Republic
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<p>"<b>Ave verum corpus</b>" is a short <a href="/wiki/Eucharist">Eucharistic</a> <a href="/wiki/Gregorian_chant">chant</a> that has been set to music by many composers. It dates to the 13th century, first recorded in a central Italian Franciscan manuscript (Chicago, Newberry Library, 24). A <a href="/wiki/Reichenau_Abbey">Reichenau</a> manuscript of the 14th century attributes it to Pope Innocent (variously identified as <a href="/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III">Innocent III</a>, <a href="/wiki/Pope_Innocent_IV">Innocent IV</a>, <a href="/wiki/Pope_Innocent_V">Innocent V</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Pope_Innocent_VI">Innocent VI</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>)
</p><p>During the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Ages">Middle Ages</a> it was sung at the <a href="/wiki/Elevation_(liturgy)">elevation</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Eucharist">Eucharist</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Consecration">consecration</a> at <a href="/wiki/Mass_(liturgy)">Mass</a>. It was also used frequently during <a href="/wiki/Benediction_of_the_Blessed_Sacrament">Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament</a>.
</p><p>The prayer is a meditation on <a href="/wiki/Jesus">Jesus</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Real_Presence">Real Presence</a> in the Blessed Sacrament, and ties it to the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.
</p>
<h2>Text[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Ave_verum_corpus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p>———<b>Latin</b><br />
Ave verum corpus, natum<br />
de Maria Virgine,<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[a]</a></sup><br />
vere passum, immolatum<br />
in cruce pro homine<br />
cuius latus perforatum<br />
fluxit aqua et sanguine:<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[b]</a></sup><br />
esto nobis prægustatum<br />
in mortis examine.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[c]</a></sup></p><p>
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pius">pie</a>,<br />
O Iesu, fili Mariae.<br />
Miserere mei. Amen.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[d]</a></sup></p></div>
<div> <p>
Hail, true Body, born<br />
of the Virgin Mary,<br />
having truly suffered, sacrificed<br />
on the cross for mankind,<br />
from whose pierced side<br />
water and blood flowed:<br />
Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]<br />
in the trial of death!</p><p>
O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,<br />
O Jesus, son of Mary,<br />
have mercy on me. Amen.
</p></div>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> Other versions have <i>ex Maria Virgine</i>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> Other versions have <i>unda fluxit et sanguine</i> or <i>unda fluxit sanguine</i> or <i>vero fluxit sanguine</i>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> Other versions have <i>mortis in examine</i>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> Other versions have <i>Miserere nobis</i>.
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>Musical settings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Ave_verum_corpus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Musical settings include <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Mozart</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Motet">motet</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Ave_verum_corpus_(Mozart)">Ave verum corpus</a></i> (<a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 618),<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[2]</a></sup> as well as settings by <a href="/wiki/William_Byrd">William Byrd</a> and <a href="/wiki/Edward_Elgar">Sir Edward Elgar</a>. Not all composers set the whole text. For example, Mozart's setting finishes with "in mortis examine", Elgar's with "fili Mariae". <a href="/wiki/Marc-Antoine_Charpentier">Marc-Antoine Charpentier</a> composed three versions: H.233, H.266, H.329. 
</p><p>There is a version by <a href="/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a> [Searle 44], and also ones by <a href="/wiki/Camille_Saint-Sa%C3%ABns">Camille Saint-Saëns</a>, <a href="/wiki/Orlande_de_Lassus">Orlande de Lassus</a>, <a href="/wiki/Imant_Raminsh">Imant Raminsh</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[3]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Alexandre_Guilmant">Alexandre Guilmant</a>, <a href="/wiki/William_Mathias">William Mathias</a>, <a href="/wiki/Colin_Mawby">Colin Mawby</a>, <a href="/wiki/Malcolm_Archer">Malcolm Archer</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[4]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Jack_Gibbons">Jack Gibbons</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[5]</a></sup> Liszt also composed a fantasy on Mozart's work, preceded by a version of <a href="/wiki/Gregorio_Allegri">Allegri</a>'s celebrated <i><a href="/wiki/Miserere_(Allegri)">Miserere</a></i>, under the title <i><i>À la Chapelle Sixtine</i></i> [Searle 461 – two versions]. Versions of this fantasy for orchestra [Searle 360] and <a href="/wiki/Piano_four-hands">piano four-hands</a> [Searle 633] follow closely the second version for piano. 
</p><p>There is also a version for organ [Searle 658] with the title <i><i>Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine</i></i>. The chant is included Poulenc's opera <i><a href="/wiki/Dialogues_of_the_Carmelites">Dialogues of the Carmelites</a></i>. The composer wrote a different "Ave verum corpus" in 1952. 
</p><p>Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by <a href="/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky">Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky</a> as one of the sections of his <i>Mozartiana</i>, a tribute to Mozart. A 20th century version is that by <a href="/wiki/Colin_Mawby">Colin Mawby</a> and from the 21st century there are settings by the Swedish composer <a href="/wiki/Fredrik_Sixten">Fredrik Sixten</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[6]</a></sup> and the English composer <a href="/wiki/Philip_Stopford">Philip Stopford</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[7]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Ave_verum_corpus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Miri_Rubin">Rubin, Miri</a> (1992). <i>Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture</i>. Cambridge University Press. p. 56.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Heartz">Heartz, Daniel</a> (2009). <i>Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781–1802</i>. New York: W. W. Norton &amp; Co. p. 351.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ofm2nmFjYM">Imant Raminsh: "Ave Verum Corpus"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOPjc2NA8Xs">Malcolm Archer: "Ave Verum"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwncMTKg50g">Jack Gibbons" "Ave Verum Corpus", Op. 90</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ9VWblbHwU">Fredrik Sixten: "Ave Verum Corpus"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4lQpjZD8o">Philip Stopford: "Ave Verum"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>
</li>
</ol></div>
<ul><li><i>Ave verum corpus natum.</i> The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press (2013).</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Guido_Maria_Dreves">Guido Maria Dreves</a>: <i>Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi</i> (1886), 54.257.</li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Ave_verum_corpus&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<p></p>
<div><p>Latin <a href="/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article:
</p></div></div>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Ave_verum_corpus,_K.618_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)">Mozart's "Ave verum corpus"</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li>Mozart's <a href="http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Ave_verum_corpus%2C_KV_618_%28Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart%29">"Ave verum corpus"</a> at <a href="/wiki/ChoralWiki">ChoralWiki</a></li>
<li>Elgar's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060407080503/http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Ave_Verum,_Op._1,_No._2_(Edward_Elgar)">"Ave verum"</a> at ChoralWiki</li>
<li>William Byrd's <a href="http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Ave_verum_corpus_%28William_Byrd%29">"Ave verum corpus"</a> at ChoralWiki</li>
<li>William Byrd's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070520191224/http://bach.nau.edu/Byrd/AveVerum.html">"Ave verum corpus"</a> as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext site</li>
<li><a href="http://romaaeterna.jp/liber1/lu1856a.html">Version</a> in <a href="/wiki/Gregorian_chant">Gregorian chant</a></li></ul>
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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 For the setting by Mozart, see Ave verum corpus (Mozart).

 " Ave verum corpus " is a short Eucharistic chant that has been set to music by many composers. It dates to the 13th century, first recorded in a central Italian Franciscan manuscript (Chicago, Newberry Library, 24). A Reichenau manuscript of the 14th century attributes it to Pope Innocent (variously identified as Innocent III, Innocent IV, Innocent V, or Innocent VI[1])

 During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the Eucharist during the consecration at Mass. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

 The prayer is a meditation on Jesus's Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and ties it to the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.

 Text [ edit ]

 ——— Latin
 Ave verum corpus, natum
 de Maria Virgine,[a]
 vere passum, immolatum
 in cruce pro homine
 cuius latus perforatum
 fluxit aqua et sanguine:[b]
 esto nobis prægustatum
 in mortis examine.[c]

 O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie,
 O Iesu, fili Mariae.
 Miserere mei. Amen.[d]


 Hail, true Body, born
 of the Virgin Mary,
 having truly suffered, sacrificed
 on the cross for mankind,
 from whose pierced side
 water and blood flowed:
 Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
 in the trial of death!

 O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,
 O Jesus, son of Mary,
 have mercy on me. Amen.

 1. ^ Other versions have ex Maria Virgine .
 2. ^ Other versions have unda fluxit et sanguine or unda fluxit sanguine or vero fluxit sanguine .
 3. ^ Other versions have mortis in examine .
 4. ^ Other versions have Miserere nobis .

 Musical settings [ edit ]

 Musical settings include Mozart's motet Ave verum corpus (K. 618),[2] as well as settings by William Byrd and Sir Edward Elgar. Not all composers set the whole text. For example, Mozart's setting finishes with "in mortis examine", Elgar's with "fili Mariae". Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed three versions: H.233, H.266, H.329.

 There is a version by Franz Liszt [Searle 44], and also ones by Camille Saint-Saëns, Orlande de Lassus, Imant Raminsh,[3] Alexandre Guilmant, William Mathias, Colin Mawby, Malcolm Archer[4] and Jack Gibbons.[5] Liszt also composed a fantasy on Mozart's work, preceded by a version of Allegri's celebrated Miserere, under the title À la Chapelle Sixtine [Searle 461 – two versions]. Versions of this fantasy for orchestra [Searle 360] and piano four-hands [Searle 633] follow closely the second version for piano.

 There is also a version for organ [Searle 658] with the title Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine. The chant is included Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. The composer wrote a different "Ave verum corpus" in 1952.

 Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as one of the sections of his Mozartiana, a tribute to Mozart. A 20th century version is that by Colin Mawby and from the 21st century there are settings by the Swedish composer Fredrik Sixten[6] and the English composer Philip Stopford.[7]

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Rubin, Miri (1992). Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 56.
 2. ^ Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781–1802. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. p. 351.
 3. ^ Imant Raminsh: "Ave Verum Corpus" on YouTube
 4. ^ Malcolm Archer: "Ave Verum" on YouTube
 5. ^ Jack Gibbons" "Ave Verum Corpus", Op. 90 on YouTube
 6. ^ Fredrik Sixten: "Ave Verum Corpus" on YouTube
 7. ^ Philip Stopford: "Ave Verum" on YouTube
 * Ave verum corpus natum. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press (2013).
 * Guido Maria Dreves: Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi (1886), 54.257.

 External links [ edit ]

 Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
 Ave Verum Corpus
 * Mozart's "Ave verum corpus": Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Mozart's "Ave verum corpus" at ChoralWiki
 * Elgar's "Ave verum" at ChoralWiki
 * William Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" at ChoralWiki
 * William Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext site
 * Version in Gregorian chant
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
"Ave verum corpus" is a short Eucharistic chant that has been set to music by many composers. It dates to the 13th century, first recorded in a central Italian Franciscan manuscript (Chicago, Newberry Library, 24). A Reichenau manuscript of the 14th century attributes it to Pope Innocent (variously identified as Innocent III, Innocent IV, Innocent V, or Innocent VI  [1] )
 During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the Eucharist during the consecration at Mass. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
 The prayer is a meditation on Jesus's Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and ties it to the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.
Text[edit]
 ———Latin 
Ave verum corpus, natum
de Maria Virgine, [a]  
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine: [b]  
esto nobis prægustatum
in mortis examine. [c]   
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie,
O Iesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen. [d]   
 
Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
having truly suffered, sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
from whose pierced side
water and blood flowed:
Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death! 
O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,
O Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.
 
 
  ^  Other versions have ex Maria Virgine.
  ^  Other versions have unda fluxit et sanguine or unda fluxit sanguine or vero fluxit sanguine.
  ^  Other versions have mortis in examine.
  ^  Other versions have Miserere nobis.
 
Musical settings[edit]
Musical settings include Mozart's motet  Ave verum corpus  (K. 618), [2]  as well as settings by William Byrd and Sir Edward Elgar. Not all composers set the whole text. For example, Mozart's setting finishes with "in mortis examine", Elgar's with "fili Mariae". Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed three versions: H.233, H.266, H.329. 
 There is a version by Franz Liszt [Searle 44], and also ones by Camille Saint-Saëns, Orlande de Lassus, Imant Raminsh, [3]  Alexandre Guilmant, William Mathias, Colin Mawby, Malcolm Archer  [4]  and Jack Gibbons. [5]  Liszt also composed a fantasy on Mozart's work, preceded by a version of Allegri's celebrated  Miserere , under the title  À la Chapelle Sixtine  [Searle 461 – two versions]. Versions of this fantasy for orchestra [Searle 360] and piano four-hands [Searle 633] follow closely the second version for piano. 
 There is also a version for organ [Searle 658] with the title  Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine . The chant is included Poulenc's opera  Dialogues of the Carmelites . The composer wrote a different "Ave verum corpus" in 1952. 
 Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as one of the sections of his Mozartiana, a tribute to Mozart. A 20th century version is that by Colin Mawby and from the 21st century there are settings by the Swedish composer Fredrik Sixten  [6]  and the English composer Philip Stopford. [7] 
References[edit]
 
  ^   Rubin, Miri (1992). Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 56.
  ^   Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781–1802. New York: W. W. Norton &amp; Co. p. 351.
  ^  Imant Raminsh: "Ave Verum Corpus" on YouTube
  ^  Malcolm Archer: "Ave Verum" on YouTube
  ^  Jack Gibbons" "Ave Verum Corpus", Op. 90 on YouTube
  ^  Fredrik Sixten: "Ave Verum Corpus" on YouTube
  ^  Philip Stopford: "Ave Verum" on YouTube
 
  Ave verum corpus natum. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press (2013).
 Guido Maria Dreves: Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi (1886), 54.257. 
External links[edit]
 
 Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  
  Mozart's "Ave verum corpus": Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
Mozart's "Ave verum corpus" at ChoralWiki 
Elgar's "Ave verum" at ChoralWiki
William Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" at ChoralWiki
William Byrd's "Ave verum corpus" as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext site
 Version in Gregorian chant
Ave verum corpus - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_verum_corpus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinfonia_Concertante_for_Violin,_Viola_and_Orchestra_(Mozart)
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart)
2004-09-28
Authority control databases National France BnF data Other MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra</th></tr><tr><td>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">W. A. Mozart</a></td></tr><tr><th>Key</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-flat_major">E major</a></td></tr><tr><th>Catalogue</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 364 (320d)</td></tr><tr><th>Genre</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinfonia_concertante">Sinfonia concertante</a></td></tr><tr><th>Style</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_period_(music)">Classical period</a></td></tr><tr><th>Composed</th><td>1779</td></tr><tr><th>Movements</th><td>Three (<i>Allegro maestoso</i>, <i>Andante</i>, <i>Presto</i>)</td></tr><tr><th>Scoring</th><td><div><ul><li>Violin</li><li>Viola</li><li>orchestra</li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The <b>Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra</b> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-flat_major">E major</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6chel-Verzeichnis">K.</a> 364 (320d), was written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a>.
</p><p>At the time of its composition in 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannheim">Mannheim</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris">Paris</a>. He had been experimenting with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinfonia_concertante">sinfonia concertante</a> genre<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> and this work can be considered his most successful realization in this cross-over genre between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony">symphony</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerto">concerto</a>.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>The piece is scored in three <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)">movements</a> for solo <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin">violin</a>, solo <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola">viola</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe">oboes</a>, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_horn">horns</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_instrument">strings</a>, the last including a divided viola section, which accounts for the work's rich harmony.
</p><p>The solo viola part is written in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_major">D major</a> instead of E major,<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[a]</a></sup> and the instrument tuned a semitone sharper (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scordatura">scordatura</a> technique), to give a more brilliant tone. This technique is less common when performed on the modern viola and is used mostly in performance on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_instruments">original instruments</a>. However, modern violists that choose to play scordatura, the way Mozart originally composed it, will more easily project over the orchestra.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<div><figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<div><ol><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markings">Allegro</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestoso">maestoso</a>, </li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markings">Andante</a>, , in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_minor">C minor</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markings">Presto</a>, </li></ol></div>
<h2></h2>
<p>Richard Wigmore in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_(magazine)">Gramophone</a></i> (October 2015) writes that there are over 40 CD recordings in all. He rates as best to date one by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Brown">Iona Brown</a>, violinist and conductor, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Anders_Tomter">Lars Anders Tomter</a>, viola, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Chamber_Orchestra">Norwegian Chamber Orchestra</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandos_Records">Chandos</a> CHAN9695. Also on his short list is a 1989 recording, with Iona Brown, and with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuko_Imai">Nobuko Imai</a>, viola.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[2]</a></sup> Mention should also be made of the 1951 Casals Perpignan Festival recording with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Stern">Isaac Stern</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Primrose">William Primrose</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casals">Casals</a> conducting.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<p>This Sinfonia Concertante has influenced many arrangers to use its themes. In 1808 an uncredited arrangement of the piece for a string sextet was published by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sigmund_Anton_Steiner&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Sigmund Anton Steiner</a> under the title <i>Grande Sestetto Concertante</i>. All six parts are divided equally among the six players; it is not presented as soloists with accompaniment. It has also been arranged for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello">cello</a> in place of the viola part.
</p><p>The <i>Sinfonia Concertante</i> was mentioned in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Styron">William Styron</a>'s 1979 novel <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie%27s_Choice_(novel)">Sophie's Choice</a>;</i> after a stranger molests Sophie on the subway, she hears the <i>Sinfonia Concertante</i> on the radio, which brings back memories of her childhood in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w">Kraków</a> and snaps her out of her depression.<sup><a href="#cite_note-The_Modern_Novel_p012-4">[3]</a></sup> Variations on the slow second movement were used for the soundtrack to the 1988 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Greenaway">Peter Greenaway</a> film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning_by_Numbers">Drowning by Numbers</a></i> by composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Nyman">Michael Nyman</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-andantemoderato.com_2015_s860-5">[4]</a></sup> The original piece is also heard after each of the drownings in the screenplay.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cook_1969_o637-6">[5]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<div><ol>
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</li>
</ol></div>
<h2></h2>
<div><ol>
<li> 
</li>
<li> 
</li>
<li> 
</li>
<li> 
</li>
<li> 
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2></h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Mordden">Mordden, Ethan</a>. <i>A Guide to Orchestral Music: A Handbook for Non-Musicians</i> (Oxford, 1980).</li>
<li>Smith, Erik. Notes to Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K364 (L.P. DECCA 1964)</li></ul>
<h2></h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Sinfonia_concertante_in_E-flat_major,_K.364/320d_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)">Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart)</a>: Scores at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li></li>
<li><i>Sinfonia Concertante in Es für Violin, Viola und Orchester</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=135&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=57">Score</a> and <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=136&amp;l=1&amp;p1=16">critical report</a> in the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li><cite><a href="http://www.viola-in-music.com/Mozart_Sinfonia_Concertante.html">"Mozart:Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra"</a>. Viola in Music. 2012.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Anderson, Keith (1990). <a href="http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.550332&amp;catNum=550332&amp;filetype=About%20this%20Recording&amp;language=English">"Liner notes – Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 / Sinfonia Concertante, Naxos 8.550332"</a>. Naxos.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Filmer, Andrew. <a href="http://andrewfilmer.wordpress.com/publications-and-recordings/mozart-sinfonia-concertante-in-e-flat-major-for-violin-viola-and-orchestra/">"Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra"</a>. Andrew Filmers Blog.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Freed">Freed, Richard</a> (2005). <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/2852">"Program Notes – Sinfonia concertante K. 364"</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kennedy_Center">The Kennedy Center</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Freiberg, Sarah (2007). <a href="http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Reviews/Editions/Mozart-Grande-Sestetto-Concertante-for-String-Sextet-after-the-Sinfonia-Concertante-K.364-Edited-by-Christopher-Hogwood">"'Mozart: Grande Sestetto Concertante for String Sextet after the Sinfonia Concertante, K.364', edited by Christopher Hogwood"</a>. StringsMagazine.com.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Heninger, Barbara; Kujawsky, Eric (2004). <a href="http://www.barbwired.com/barbweb/programs/mozart_sinfonia.html">"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante"</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood_Symphony">Redwood Symphony</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Nemet, Mary (2009). <a href="http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Reviews/Editions/Grande-Sestetto-Concertante-1808-After-the-Sinfonia-Concertante">"'Grande Sestetto Concertante (1808) After the Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364', by W.A. Mozart"</a>. StringsMagazine.com.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Pajot, Dennis. <a href="https://archive.today/20130713054656/http://www.mozartforum.com/Lore/article.php?id=480">"K364 Sinfonia Concertante in E♭ for Violin and Viola"</a>. MozartForum.com. Archived from <a href="http://www.mozartforum.com/Lore/article.php?id=480">the original</a> on 13 July 2013.</cite></li></ul>
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 * 1 Instrumentation
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 * 3 Recordings
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 Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart)

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
 by W. A. Mozart 
 Key E ♭ major 
 Catalogue K. 364 (320d) 
 Genre Sinfonia concertante 
 Style Classical period 
 Composed 1779 
 Movements Three (Allegro maestoso, Andante, Presto)
  * Violin 
 Scoring * Viola 
  * orchestra 
 

 The Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E ♭ major, K. 364 (320d), was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

 At the time of its composition in 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included Mannheim and Paris. He had been experimenting with the sinfonia concertante genre[1] and this work can be considered his most successful realization in this cross-over genre between symphony and concerto.

 Instrumentation [ edit ]

 The piece is scored in three movements for solo violin, solo viola, two oboes, two horns, and strings, the last including a divided viola section, which accounts for the work's rich harmony.

 The solo viola part is written in D major instead of E ♭ major,[a] and the instrument tuned a semitone sharper (scordatura technique), to give a more brilliant tone. This technique is less common when performed on the modern viola and is used mostly in performance on original instruments. However, modern violists that choose to play scordatura, the way Mozart originally composed it, will more easily project over the orchestra.

 Movements [ edit ]

 I. Allegro maestoso
 II. Andante
 III. Presto
 Problems playing these files? See media help.
 1. Allegro maestoso,
 2. Andante, 3
 4, in C minor
 3. Presto, 2
 4

 Recordings [ edit ]

 Richard Wigmore in Gramophone (October 2015) writes that there are over 40 CD recordings in all. He rates as best to date one by Iona Brown, violinist and conductor, and Lars Anders Tomter, viola, with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Chandos CHAN9695. Also on his short list is a 1989 recording, with Iona Brown, and with Nobuko Imai, viola.[2] Mention should also be made of the 1951 Casals Perpignan Festival recording with Isaac Stern and William Primrose, Casals conducting.

 Legacy [ edit ]

 This Sinfonia Concertante has influenced many arrangers to use its themes. In 1808 an uncredited arrangement of the piece for a string sextet was published by Sigmund Anton Steiner [ de ] under the title Grande Sestetto Concertante. All six parts are divided equally among the six players; it is not presented as soloists with accompaniment. It has also been arranged for cello in place of the viola part.

 The Sinfonia Concertante was mentioned in William Styron's 1979 novel Sophie's Choice; after a stranger molests Sophie on the subway, she hears the Sinfonia Concertante on the radio, which brings back memories of her childhood in Kraków and snaps her out of her depression.[3] Variations on the slow second movement were used for the soundtrack to the 1988 Peter Greenaway film Drowning by Numbers by composer Michael Nyman.[4] The original piece is also heard after each of the drownings in the screenplay.[5]

 Notes [ edit ]

 1. ^ That is, with the scordatura the solo viola is treated as a transposing instrument (in D major); in real notes ( concert pitch ) the part is in E ♭ , which is the key of the work of course; writing it in D major allows the solo violist to use the fingerings he or she is used to without being confused by the instrument being tuned a half-step up.

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ "Symphonie concertante". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 2017-06-23 .
 2. ^ "The best recording of Mozart's Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola". Gramophone . Retrieved 2021-09-13 .
 3. ^ "Styron: Sophie's Choice". The Modern Novel . Retrieved 2023-10-02 .
 4. ^ "Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante [Brandl, Deyneka, Barenboim]". andantemoderato.com. 2015-03-13 . Retrieved 2023-10-02 .
 5. ^ Cook, Stephen (1969-12-31). "Michael Nyman — Drowning by Numbers Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic . Retrieved 2023-10-02 .

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Mordden, Ethan. A Guide to Orchestral Music: A Handbook for Non-Musicians (Oxford, 1980).
 * Smith, Erik. Notes to Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K364 (L.P. DECCA 1964)

 External links [ edit ]

 * Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * 
 * Sinfonia Concertante in Es für Violin, Viola und Orchester: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 * "Mozart:Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra". Viola in Music. 2012 . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Anderson, Keith (1990). "Liner notes – Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 / Sinfonia Concertante, Naxos 8.550332". Naxos . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Filmer, Andrew. "Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra". Andrew Filmers Blog . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Freed, Richard (2005). "Program Notes – Sinfonia concertante K. 364". The Kennedy Center . Retrieved 11 December 2019 .
 * Freiberg, Sarah (2007). "'Mozart: Grande Sestetto Concertante for String Sextet after the Sinfonia Concertante, K.364', edited by Christopher Hogwood". StringsMagazine.com . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Heninger, Barbara; Kujawsky, Eric (2004). "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante". Redwood Symphony . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Nemet, Mary (2009). "'Grande Sestetto Concertante (1808) After the Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364', by W.A. Mozart". StringsMagazine.com . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * Pajot, Dennis. "K364 Sinfonia Concertante in E♭ for Violin and Viola". MozartForum.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013 . Retrieved 1 July 2013 .
 * v  
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 Concertos and other concertante works for violin by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  * No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207  
  * No. 2 in D major, K. 211  
 Violin Concertos  * No. 3 in G major, K. 216 (Straßburg) 
  * No. 4 in D major, K. 218  
  * No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (Turkish)  
  * Adagio in E major, K. 261  
 Individual movements * Rondo in B-flat major, K. 269/261a  
  * Rondo in C major, K. 373  
  * Concertone for Two Violins and Orchestra in C major, K. 190/186E 
 Multiple instruments * Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra in D major, K. Anh. 56/315f (fragment) 
  * Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 364/320d 
  * Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, Cello and Orchestra in A major, K. Anh 104/320e (fragment) 
 Doubtful  * Violin Concerto (No. 7) in D major, K. 271a/271i (Kolb) 
 Spurious  * Violin Concerto (No. 6) in E-flat major, K. 268/365b/Anh.C 14.04, attributed to Johann Friedrich Eck
  * Violin Concerto in D major, K. Anh. 294a/Anh.C 14.05 (Adélaïde), by Marius Casadesus 
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
   Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra   by W. A. Mozart    Key  E major    Catalogue  K. 364 (320d)   Genre  Sinfonia concertante    Style  Classical period    Composed 1779   Movements Three (Allegro maestoso, Andante, Presto)   Scoring    Violin Viola orchestra      
The Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E major, K. 364 (320d), was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
 At the time of its composition in 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included Mannheim and Paris. He had been experimenting with the sinfonia concertante genre [1]  and this work can be considered his most successful realization in this cross-over genre between symphony and concerto.
 
The piece is scored in three movements for solo violin, solo viola, two oboes, two horns, and strings, the last including a divided viola section, which accounts for the work's rich harmony.
 The solo viola part is written in D major instead of E major, [a]  and the instrument tuned a semitone sharper (scordatura technique), to give a more brilliant tone. This technique is less common when performed on the modern viola and is used mostly in performance on original instruments. However, modern violists that choose to play scordatura, the way Mozart originally composed it, will more easily project over the orchestra.
 
     
   Allegro maestoso,   Andante, , in C minor   Presto,   
 
Richard Wigmore in  Gramophone  (October 2015) writes that there are over 40 CD recordings in all. He rates as best to date one by Iona Brown, violinist and conductor, and Lars Anders Tomter, viola, with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Chandos CHAN9695. Also on his short list is a 1989 recording, with Iona Brown, and with Nobuko Imai, viola. [2]  Mention should also be made of the 1951 Casals Perpignan Festival recording with Isaac Stern and William Primrose, Casals conducting.
 
This Sinfonia Concertante has influenced many arrangers to use its themes. In 1808 an uncredited arrangement of the piece for a string sextet was published by Sigmund Anton Steiner under the title Grande Sestetto Concertante. All six parts are divided equally among the six players; it is not presented as soloists with accompaniment. It has also been arranged for cello in place of the viola part.
 The Sinfonia Concertante was mentioned in William Styron's 1979 novel  Sophie's Choice; after a stranger molests Sophie on the subway, she hears the Sinfonia Concertante on the radio, which brings back memories of her childhood in Kraków and snaps her out of her depression. [3]  Variations on the slow second movement were used for the soundtrack to the 1988 Peter Greenaway film  Drowning by Numbers  by composer Michael Nyman. [4]  The original piece is also heard after each of the drownings in the screenplay. [5] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Mordden, Ethan. A Guide to Orchestral Music: A Handbook for Non-Musicians (Oxford, 1980).
Smith, Erik. Notes to Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K364 (L.P. DECCA 1964) 
 
  Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 
 Sinfonia Concertante in Es für Violin, Viola und Orchester: Score and critical report in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
  "Mozart:Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra". Viola in Music. 2012. 
 Anderson, Keith (1990). "Liner notes – Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 / Sinfonia Concertante, Naxos 8.550332". Naxos. 
 Filmer, Andrew. "Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra". Andrew Filmers Blog. 
  Freed, Richard (2005). "Program Notes – Sinfonia concertante K. 364". The Kennedy Center. 
 Freiberg, Sarah (2007). "'Mozart: Grande Sestetto Concertante for String Sextet after the Sinfonia Concertante, K.364', edited by Christopher Hogwood". StringsMagazine.com. 
 Heninger, Barbara; Kujawsky, Eric (2004). "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante". Redwood Symphony. 
 Nemet, Mary (2009). "'Grande Sestetto Concertante (1808) After the Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364', by W.A. Mozart". StringsMagazine.com. 
 Pajot, Dennis. "K364 Sinfonia Concertante in E♭ for Violin and Viola". MozartForum.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013.
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Mozart)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinfonia_Concertante_for_Violin,_Viola_and_Orchestra_(Mozart)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach - Wikipedia
2001-10-29
Authority control
<div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th><p>Johann Sebastian Bach</p></th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg"></a><div><p>Portrait of Bach by <a href="/wiki/Elias_Gottlob_Haussmann">E. G. Haussmann</a>, 1748<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[n 1]</a></sup></p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Born</th><td>21 March 1685 <a href="/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">(O.S.)</a><br />31 March 1685 <a href="/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">(N.S.)</a><br /><div><p><a href="/wiki/Eisenach">Eisenach</a></p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Died</th><td>28 July 1750 (aged 65)<br /><div><p><a href="/wiki/Leipzig">Leipzig</a></p></div></td></tr><tr><th>Works</th><td><a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">List of compositions</a></td></tr><tr><th>Signature</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach_signature.svg"></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><b>Johann Sebastian Bach</b><sup><a href="#cite_note-IPA-3">[n 2]</a></sup> (31 March [<a href="/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S.</a> 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music">Baroque period</a>. He is known for his orchestral music such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Brandenburg_Concertos">Brandenburg Concertos</a></i>; instrumental compositions such as the <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)">Cello Suites</a>; keyboard works such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Goldberg_Variations">Goldberg Variations</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i>; organ works such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Schubler_Chorales">Schubler Chorales</a></i> and the <a href="/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_minor,_BWV_565">Toccata and Fugue in D minor</a>; and vocal music such as the <i><a href="/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion">St Matthew Passion</a></i> and the <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor">Mass in B minor</a>. Since the 19th-century <a href="/wiki/Bach_revival">Bach revival</a> he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECristStauff2011-4">[2]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[3]</a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Bach_family">Bach family</a> already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in <a href="/wiki/Eisenach">Eisenach</a>. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(organist_at_Ohrdruf)">Johann Christoph</a>, after which he continued his musical education in <a href="/wiki/L%C3%BCneburg">Lüneburg</a>. From 1703 he was back in <a href="/wiki/Thuringia">Thuringia</a>, working as a musician for <a href="/wiki/Protestant">Protestant</a> churches in <a href="/wiki/Arnstadt">Arnstadt</a> and <a href="/wiki/M%C3%BChlhausen">Mühlhausen</a> and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in <a href="/wiki/Saxe-Weimar">Weimar</a>, where he expanded his <a href="/wiki/Pipe_organ">organ</a> repertory, and <a href="/wiki/Anhalt-K%C3%B6then">Köthen</a>, where he was mostly engaged with <a href="/wiki/Chamber_music">chamber music</a>. From 1723 he was employed as <a href="/wiki/Thomaskantor">Thomaskantor</a> (<a href="/wiki/Cantor_(Christianity)">cantor</a> at <a href="/wiki/St._Thomas_School,_Leipzig">St Thomas's</a>) in <a href="/wiki/Leipzig">Leipzig</a>. There he composed music for the principal <a href="/wiki/Lutheran">Lutheran</a> churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble <a href="/wiki/Collegium_Musicum">Collegium Musicum</a>. From 1726 <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach_printed_during_his_lifetime">he published</a> some of his <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_instrument">keyboard</a> and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, <a href="/wiki/Augustus_III_of_Poland">Augustus III of Poland</a>, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.
</p><p>Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of <a href="/wiki/Counterpoint">counterpoint</a>, <a href="/wiki/Harmony">harmonic</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Motif_(music)">motivic</a> organisation,<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[4]</a></sup> and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Bach's compositions</a> include <a href="/wiki/Bach_cantata">hundreds of cantatas</a>, both <a href="/wiki/Church_cantata_(Bach)">sacred</a> and <a href="/wiki/List_of_secular_cantatas_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">secular</a>. He <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_church_music_in_Latin">composed Latin church music</a>, <a href="/wiki/Passions_(Bach)">Passions</a>, <a href="/wiki/List_of_masses,_passions_and_oratorios_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Oratorios_and_associated_cantatas">oratorios</a>, and <a href="/wiki/List_of_motets_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">motets</a>. He often adopted <a href="/wiki/Lutheran_hymn">Lutheran hymns</a>, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in <a href="/wiki/List_of_chorale_harmonisations_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">his four-part chorales</a> and <a href="/wiki/List_of_songs_and_arias_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">his sacred songs</a>. He wrote extensively <a href="/wiki/List_of_organ_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">for organ</a> and <a href="/wiki/List_of_keyboard_and_lute_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">for other keyboard instruments</a>. He <a href="/wiki/List_of_concertos_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">composed concertos</a>, for instance <a href="/wiki/List_of_orchestral_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Violin_concertos_(BWV_1041–1043)">for violin</a> and <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_concertos_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">for harpsichord</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Suite_(Bach)">suites</a>, <a href="/wiki/List_of_chamber_music_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">as chamber music</a> as well as <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_suites_(Bach)">for orchestra</a>. <a href="/wiki/List_of_fugal_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Many of his works employ</a> the genres of <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">canon</a> and <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugue</a>.
</p><p>Throughout the 18th century, Bach was primarily valued as an <a href="/wiki/Organist">organist</a>, while his keyboard music, such as <i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major <a href="/wiki/Biographies_of_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Bach biographies</a>, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis</a></i> (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude <a href="/wiki/List_of_transcriptions_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">of arrangements</a>, including the <i><a href="/wiki/Air_on_the_G_String">Air on the G String</a></i> and "<a href="/wiki/Jesu,_Joy_of_Man%27s_Desiring">Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring</a>", and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
</p>
<h2>Life</h2>
<h3>Childhood (1685–1703)</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Johann_Ambrosius_Bach.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Johann Sebastian Bach<sup><a href="#cite_note-IPA-3">[n 2]</a></sup> was born in <a href="/wiki/Eisenach">Eisenach</a>, the capital of the <a href="/wiki/Saxe-Eisenach">duchy of Saxe-Eisenach</a>, in present-day Germany, on 21 March 1685 <a href="/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S.</a> (31 March 1685 <a href="/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S.</a>). He was the eighth and youngest child of <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ambrosius_Bach">Johann Ambrosius Bach</a>, the director of the town musicians, and <a href="/wiki/Maria_Elisabeth_L%C3%A4mmerhirt">Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJones20073-9">[7]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeck2003[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA2_2],_[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA156_156]-10">[8]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoyd20006-11">[9]</a></sup> His father likely taught him violin and basic music theory. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts included church organists, court chamber musicians, and composers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmeryWollnyLeisinger2018II._List_of_all_family_members_alphabetically_by_first_name-12">[10]</a></sup> One uncle, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(musician_at_Arnstadt)">Johann Christoph Bach</a>, introduced him to the organ,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001-13">[11]</a></sup> and an older second cousin, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach">Johann Ludwig Bach</a>, was a well-known composer and violinist.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmeryWollnyLeisinger2018II._List_of_all_family_members_alphabetically_by_first_name-12">[10]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[n 3]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMiles196286–87-15">[12]</a></sup> The 10-year-old Bach moved in with his eldest brother, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(organist_at_Ohrdruf)">Johann Christoph Bach</a>, the organist at <a href="/wiki/Michaeliskirche_(Ohrdruf)">St. Michael's Church</a> in <a href="/wiki/Ohrdruf">Ohrdruf</a>, <a href="/wiki/Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg">Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoyd20007–8-16">[13]</a></sup> There he studied, performed, and copied music, including his own brother's, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private, and blank ledger paper of that type was costly.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998299-17">[14]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff200045-18">[15]</a></sup> He received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the <a href="/wiki/Clavichord">clavichord</a>. Johann Christoph exposed him to the works of great composers of the day, including South Germans such as <a href="/wiki/Johann_Caspar_Kerll">Johann Caspar Kerll</a>, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Froberger">Johann Jakob Froberger</a> and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Pachelbel">Johann Pachelbel</a> (under whom Johann Christoph had studied); North Germans;<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff200019,_46-19">[16]</a></sup> Frenchmen such as <a href="/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lully">Jean-Baptiste Lully</a>, <a href="/wiki/Louis_Marchand">Louis Marchand</a> and <a href="/wiki/Marin_Marais">Marin Marais</a>;<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff200073-20">[17]</a></sup> and even the Italian <a href="/wiki/Girolamo_Frescobaldi">Girolamo Frescobaldi</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000170-21">[18]</a></sup> During this time, he was also taught theology, Latin and Greek at the local <a href="/wiki/Gymnasium_(school)">gymnasium</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899a186–187-22">[19]</a></sup>
</p><p>By 3 April 1700, Bach and his schoolfriend Georg Erdmann – who was two years Bach's elder – were enrolled in the prestigious St. Michael's School in <a href="/wiki/L%C3%BCneburg">Lüneburg</a>, some two weeks' travel north of Ohrdruf.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff200041–43-23">[20]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-EidamChI-24">[21]</a></sup> Their journey was probably undertaken mostly on foot.<sup><a href="#cite_note-EidamChI-24">[21]</a></sup> His two years there were critical in exposing Bach to a wider range of European culture. In addition to singing in the choir, he played the school's three-manual organ and harpsichords.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> He also came into contact with sons of aristocrats from northern Germany who had been sent to the nearby <i>Ritter-Academie</i> to prepare for careers in other disciplines.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff200055–56-26">[23]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen (1703–1708)</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Arnstadt_Bachkirche_Wender-Orgel.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Wender">Wender</a> organ Bach played in Arnstadt</p></div></div>
<p>In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post of organist at <a href="/wiki/Sangerhausen">Sangerhausen</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERich199527-27">[24]</a></sup> Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ernst_III,_Duke_of_Saxe-Weimar">Johann Ernst III</a> in <a href="/wiki/Weimar">Weimar</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoyd200015–16-28">[25]</a></sup> His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboardist spread so much that he was invited to inspect the new organ and give the inaugural recital at the New Church (now <a href="/wiki/Bach_Church,_Arnstadt">Bach Church</a>) in <a href="/wiki/Arnstadt">Arnstadt</a>, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Weimar.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEChiapusso196862-29">[26]</a></sup> On 14 August 1703, he became the organist at the New Church,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001-13">[11]</a></sup> with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a new organ tuned in a temperament that allowed music written in a wider range of keys to be played.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a40-30">[27]</a></sup>
</p><p>Despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir. He called one of them a "Zippel Fagottist" (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weenie">weenie</a> bassoon player). Late one evening this student, named Geyersbach, went after Bach with a stick. Bach filed a complaint against Geyersbach with the authorities. They acquitted Geyersbach with a minor reprimand and ordered Bach to be more moderate regarding the musical qualities he expected from his students. Some months later Bach upset his employer by a prolonged absence from Arnstadt: after obtaining leave for four weeks, he was absent for around four months in 1705–1706 to visit the organist and composer <a href="/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude">Dieterich Buxtehude</a> in the northern city of <a href="/wiki/L%C3%BCbeck">Lübeck</a>. The visit to Buxtehude involved a 450-kilometre (280 mi) journey each way, reportedly on foot.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff2000pp83ff-31">[28]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[29]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1706, Bach applied for a post as organist at the <a href="/wiki/Divi_Blasii">Blasius Church</a> in <a href="/wiki/M%C3%BChlhausen">Mühlhausen</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-WolffP102-33">[30]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidwX-rF2_k_S8CpgPA38_38–39]-34">[31]</a></sup> As part of his application, he had a <a href="/wiki/Cantata">cantata</a> performed on Easter, 24 April 1707, likely an early version of his <i><a href="/wiki/Christ_lag_in_Todes_Banden,_BWV_4">Christ lag in Todes Banden</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[32]</a></sup> A month later Bach's application was accepted and he took up the post in July.<sup><a href="#cite_note-WolffP102-33">[30]</a></sup> The position included significantly higher remuneration, improved conditions, and a better choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, Bach married <a href="/wiki/Maria_Barbara_Bach">Maria Barbara Bach</a>, his second cousin. Bach was able to convince the church and town government at Mühlhausen to fund an expensive renovation of the organ at the Blasius Church. In 1708 Bach wrote <i><a href="/wiki/Gott_ist_mein_K%C3%B6nig,_BWV_71">Gott ist mein König</a></i>, a festive <a href="/wiki/Church_cantata_(Bach)#New_council">cantata for the inauguration of the new council</a>, which was published at the council's expense.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Return to Weimar (1708–1717)</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Leipzig_Paulinerkirche_Scheibe-Orgel_um_1720.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Bach left Mühlhausen in 1708, returning to Weimar this time as organist and from 1714 <i>Konzertmeister</i> (director of music) at the ducal court, where he had an opportunity to work with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> Bach and his wife moved into a house close to the ducal palace.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[33]</a></sup> Later the same year, their first child, Catharina Dorothea, was born, and Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister joined them. She remained to help run the household until her death in 1729. Three sons were also born in Weimar: <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann</a>, <a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Bernhard_Bach">Johann Gottfried Bernhard</a>. Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara had three more children, who however did not live to their first birthday, including twins born in 1713.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen358mode1up_Table_VII,_p._309]-37">[34]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach's time in Weimar was the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works. He attained the proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing structures and include influences from abroad. He learned to write dramatic openings and employ the dynamic rhythms and harmonic schemes found in the music of Italians such as <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi">Vivaldi</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arcangelo_Corelli">Corelli</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Giuseppe_Torelli">Torelli</a>. Bach absorbed these stylistic aspects in part by transcribing Vivaldi's string and wind <a href="/wiki/Concerto">concertos</a> for harpsichord and organ; many of these transcribed works are still regularly performed. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian style, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movement</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-38">[35]</a></sup>
</p><p>In Weimar, Bach continued to play and compose for the organ and perform concert music with the duke's ensemble.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> He also began to write the <a href="/wiki/Prelude_(music)">preludes</a> and <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugues</a> which were later assembled into his monumental work <i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i> ("clavier" meaning clavichord or harpsichord),<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEChiapusso1968168-39">[36]</a></sup> consisting of two books,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchweitzer1923331-40">[37]</a></sup> each containing 24 preludes and fugues in every <a href="/wiki/Major_scale">major</a> and <a href="/wiki/Minor_scale">minor</a> key. Bach also started work on the <i><a href="/wiki/Orgelb%C3%BCchlein">Little Organ Book</a></i> in Weimar, containing traditional <a href="/wiki/Lutheran_chorale">Lutheran chorale</a> tunes set in complex textures. In 1713, Bach was offered a post in <a href="/wiki/Halle_(Saale)">Halle</a> when he advised the authorities during a renovation by Christoph Cuntzius of the main organ in the west gallery of the <a href="/wiki/Marktkirche_Unser_Lieben_Frauen">Market Church of Our Dear Lady</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-41">[38]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Sadie1998p205-42">[39]</a></sup>
</p><p>In the spring of 1714, Bach was promoted to <i>Konzertmeister</i>, an honour that entailed performing a church cantata monthly in the castle church.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000147,_156-43">[40]</a></sup> The first three cantatas in the new series Bach composed in Weimar were <a href="/wiki/Himmelsk%C3%B6nig,_sei_willkommen,_BWV_182"><i>Himmelskönig, sei willkommen</i>, BWV 182</a>, for <a href="/wiki/Palm_Sunday">Palm Sunday</a>, which coincided with the <a href="/wiki/Annunciation">Annunciation</a> that year; <a href="/wiki/Weinen,_Klagen,_Sorgen,_Zagen,_BWV_12"><i>Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen</i>, BWV 12</a>, for <a href="/wiki/Jubilate_Sunday">Jubilate Sunday</a>; and <a href="/wiki/Erschallet,_ihr_Lieder,_erklinget,_ihr_Saiten!_BWV_172"><i>Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!</i>  BWV 172</a> for <a href="/wiki/Pentecost">Pentecost</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff30-44">[41]</a></sup> Bach's first Christmas cantata, <a href="/wiki/Christen,_%C3%A4tzet_diesen_Tag,_BWV_63"><i>Christen, ätzet diesen Tag</i>, BWV 63</a>, was premiered in 1714 or 1715.<sup><a href="#cite_note-45">[42]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-46">[43]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1717, Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and, according to a translation of the court secretary's report, was jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed: "On November 6, [1717], the quondam [former] concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff199880-47">[44]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Köthen (1717–1723)</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:BWV1001-cropped.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p><a href="/wiki/Leopold,_Prince_of_Anhalt-K%C3%B6then">Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen</a>, hired Bach to serve as his <i><a href="/wiki/Kapellmeister">Kapellmeister</a></i> (director of music) in 1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was a <a href="/wiki/Calvinism">Calvinist</a> and did not use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach's work from this period was secular,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMiles196257-48">[45]</a></sup> including the <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_suites_(Bach)">orchestral suites</a>, <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)">cello suites</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sonatas_and_Partitas_for_Solo_Violin_(Bach)">sonatas and partitas for solo violin</a>, and <i>Brandenburg Concertos</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoyd200074-49">[46]</a></sup> Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as <a href="/wiki/Die_Zeit,_die_Tag_und_Jahre_macht,_BWV_134a"><i>Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht</i>, BWV 134a</a>.
</p><p>Despite being born in the same year and only about 130 kilometres (80 mi) apart, Bach and <a href="/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">Handel</a> never met. In 1719, Bach made the 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey from <a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)">Köthen</a> to <a href="/wiki/Halle_(Saale)">Halle</a> with the intention of meeting Handel; however, Handel had left the town.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEVan_Til200769,_372-50">[47]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDent200423-51">[48]</a></sup> In 1730, Bach's oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, travelled to Halle to invite Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig, but the visit did not take place.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpaeth193737-52">[49]</a></sup>
</p><p>On 7 July 1720, while Bach was away in <a href="/wiki/Karlovy_Vary">Carlsbad</a> with Prince Leopold, Bach's wife suddenly died.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b11-53">[50]</a></sup> The following year, he met <a href="/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Bach">Anna Magdalena Wilcke</a>, a young, highly gifted soprano 16 years his junior, who performed at the court in Köthen; they married on 3 December 1721.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeiringer196650-54">[51]</a></sup> Together they had 13 children, six of whom survived into adulthood: <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Heinrich_Bach">Gottfried Heinrich</a>; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781); <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_Bach">Johann Christoph Friedrich</a> and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christian_Bach">Johann Christian</a>, who both, especially Johann Christian, became significant musicians; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff198398,_111-55">[52]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Leipzig (1723–1750)</h3>
<p>In 1723, Bach was appointed <i><a href="/wiki/Thomaskantor">Thomaskantor</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Cantor_(Christianity)">Cantor</a> of the <a href="/wiki/St._Thomas_School,_Leipzig">St. Thomas School</a> at the <a href="/wiki/St._Thomas_Church,_Leipzig">St. Thomas Church</a> in Leipzig, which provided music for four churches in the city: the St. Thomas Church and <a href="/wiki/St._Nicholas_Church,_Leipzig">St. Nicholas Church</a> and to a lesser extent the <a href="/wiki/St._Matthew,_Leipzig">New Church</a> and <a href="/wiki/St._Peter,_Leipzig">St. Peter's Church</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage192mode2up_192–193]-56">[53]</a></sup> This was "the leading cantorate in Protestant Germany",<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff253-57">[54]</a></sup> located in the mercantile city in the <a href="/wiki/Electorate_of_Saxony">Electorate of Saxony</a>, which he held for 27 years until his death. During that time he gained further prestige through honorary appointments at the courts of Köthen and Weissenfels, as well as that of the Elector <a href="/wiki/Augustus_II_the_Strong">Frederick Augustus</a> (who was also <a href="/wiki/King_of_Poland">King of Poland</a>) in <a href="/wiki/Dresden">Dresden</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff253-57">[54]</a></sup> Bach frequently disagreed with his employer, Leipzig's city council, which he regarded as "penny-pinching".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2013345-58">[55]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Appointment in Leipzig</h4>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Thomaskirche_und_-schule_1723.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p><a href="/wiki/Johann_Kuhnau">Johann Kuhnau</a> had been Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1701 until his death on 5 June 1722. Bach had visited Leipzig during Kuhnau's tenure: in 1714 he attended the service at the St. Thomas Church on the first Sunday of Advent,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage265mode1up_265]-59">[56]</a></sup> and in 1717 he had tested the organ of the <a href="/wiki/Paulinerkirche,_Leipzig">St. Paul's Church</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage184mode1up_184]-60">[57]</a></sup> In 1716 Bach and Kuhnau had met on the occasion of the testing and inauguration of an organ in Halle.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Sadie1998p205-42">[39]</a></sup>
</p><p>After being offered the position, Bach was invited to Leipzig only after <a href="/wiki/Georg_Philipp_Telemann">Georg Philipp Telemann</a> indicated that he would not be interested in relocating to Leipzig.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BL-61">[58]</a></sup> Telemann went to Hamburg, where he "had his own struggles with the city's senate".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2013348-62">[59]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach was required to instruct the students of the <i>Thomasschule</i> in singing and provide church music for the main churches in Leipzig. He was also assigned to teach Latin but was allowed to employ four "prefects" (deputies) to do this instead. The prefects also aided with musical instruction.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2013349-63">[60]</a></sup> A cantata was required for the church services on Sundays and additional church holidays during the <a href="/wiki/Church_cantata_(Bach)">liturgical year</a>.
</p>
<h4>Cantata cycle years (1723–1729)</h4>
<p>Bach usually led performances of his <a href="/wiki/Bach_cantata">cantatas</a>, most of which were composed within three years of his relocation to Leipzig. The first was <a href="/wiki/Die_Elenden_sollen_essen,_BWV_75"><i>Die Elenden sollen essen</i>, BWV 75</a>, performed in the St. Nicholas Church on 30 May 1723, the first Sunday after <a href="/wiki/Trinity_Sunday">Trinity</a>. Bach collected his cantatas in annual cycles. Five are mentioned in obituaries, three are extant.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff30-44">[41]</a></sup> Of the more than 300 cantatas which Bach composed in Leipzig, over 100 have been lost to posterity.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff5-64">[61]</a></sup> Most of these works expound on the Gospel readings prescribed for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year. Bach started a second annual cycle the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724 and composed only <a href="/wiki/Chorale_cantata_(Bach)">chorale cantatas</a>, each based on a single church hymn. These include <a href="/wiki/O_Ewigkeit,_du_Donnerwort,_BWV_20"><i>O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort</i>, BWV 20</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme,_BWV_140"><i>Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme</i>, BWV 140</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nun_komm,_der_Heiden_Heiland,_BWV_62"><i>Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland</i>, BWV 62</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Wie_sch%C3%B6n_leuchtet_der_Morgenstern,_BWV_1"><i>Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern</i>, BWV 1</a>.
</p><p>Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the school and the tenors and basses from the school and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six <a href="/wiki/Motet">motets</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-65">[62]</a></sup> As part of his regular church work, he performed other composers' motets, which served as formal models for his own.<sup><a href="#cite_note-66">[63]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach's predecessor as cantor, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Kuhnau">Johann Kuhnau</a>, had also been music director for the St. Paul's Church, the church of <a href="/wiki/Leipzig_University">Leipzig University</a>. But when Bach was installed as cantor in 1723, he was put in charge only of music for festal (church holiday) services at the St. Paul's Church; his petition to also provide music for regular Sunday services there (for a corresponding salary increase) went all the way to the Elector but was denied. After this, in 1725, Bach "lost interest" in working even for festal services at the St. Paul's Church and appeared there only on "special occasions".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoyd2000112–113-67">[64]</a></sup> The St. Paul's Church had a much better and newer (1716) organ than did the St. Thomas Church or the St. Nicholas Church.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b288–290-68">[65]</a></sup> Bach was not required to play any organ in his official duties, but it is believed he liked to play on the St. Paul's Church organ "for his own pleasure".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b281,_287-69">[66]</a></sup>
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Zimmermannsches_Caffeehaus.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Bach broadened his composing and performing beyond the liturgy by taking over, in March 1729, the directorship of the <a href="/wiki/Collegium_Musicum">Collegium Musicum</a>, a secular performance ensemble started by Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that were established by musically active university students; these societies had become increasingly important in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that "consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal musical institutions".<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000341-70">[67]</a></sup> Every week the <i>Collegium Musicum</i> would give two-hour performances in winter at the <a href="/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Zimmermann">Café Zimmermann</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Coffeehouse">coffeehouse</a> on Catherine Street off the main market square; and during the summer months in the proprietor's outdoor coffee garden just outside the town walls, near the East Gate. The concerts, all free of charge, ended with Gottfried Zimmermann's death in 1741. Apart from showcasing his earlier orchestral repertoire such as the <a href="/wiki/Brandenburg_Concertos">Brandenburg Concertos</a> and <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_Suites_(Bach)">Orchestral Suites</a>, many of Bach's newly composed or reworked pieces were performed for these venues, including parts of his <i><a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung">Clavier-Übung</a></i> (<i>Keyboard Practice</i>), his violin and <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_concertos_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">keyboard concertos</a> and of course the eponymous <a href="/wiki/Coffee_Cantata">Coffee Cantata</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Stauffer-71">[68]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Middle years of the Leipzig period (1730–1739)</h4>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach_Seal.svg"></a></p><div><p>Bach's seal (centre), used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the superimposed letters <i>J S B</i> in mirror image topped with a crown. The flanking letters illustrate the arrangement on the seal.</p></div></div>
<p>In 1733, Bach composed a <a href="/wiki/Mass_for_the_Dresden_court_(Bach)">Kyrie–Gloria Mass in B minor</a> which he later incorporated in his Mass in B minor. He presented the manuscript to the Elector in an eventually successful bid to persuade the prince to give him the title of Court Composer.<sup><a href="#cite_note-baroquemusic-72">[69]</a></sup> He later extended this work into a full mass by adding a Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, the music for which was partly based on his own cantatas and partly original. Bach's appointment as Court Composer was an element of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig council. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil <a href="/wiki/Carl_Gotthelf_Gerlach">Carl Gotthelf Gerlach</a> held the directorship of the <i>Collegium Musicum</i>.
</p><p>In 1735 Bach started to prepare his first publication of organ music, which was printed as the <a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_III">third <i>Clavier-Übung</i></a> in 1739.<sup><a href="#cite_note-73">[70]</a></sup> From around that year he started to compile and compose the set of preludes and fugues for harpsichord that would become his second book of <i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-74">[71]</a></sup> He received the title of "Royal Court Composer" from <a href="/wiki/Augustus_III_of_Poland">Augustus III</a> in 1736.<sup><a href="#cite_note-baroquemusic-72">[69]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMiles196286–87-15">[12]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Final years and death (1740–1750)</h4>
<p>From 1740 to 1748 Bach copied, transcribed, expanded or programmed music in an older <a href="/wiki/Polyphony">polyphonic</a> style (<i><a href="/wiki/Stile_antico">stile antico</a></i>) by, among others, <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Pierluigi_da_Palestrina">Palestrina</a> (<a href="/wiki/BNB_I/P/2">BNB I/P/2</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-75">[72]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Johann_Caspar_Kerll">Kerll</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_241">BWV 241</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-76">[73]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Pietro_Torri">Torri</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._30">BWV Anh. 30</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-77">[74]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Bassani">Bassani</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_1081">BWV 1081</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-78">[75]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Francesco_Gasparini">Gasparini</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/Missa_Canonica_(Gasparini)">Missa Canonica</a></i>)<sup><a href="#cite_note-79">[76]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Caldara">Caldara</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_1082">BWV 1082</a>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-80">[77]</a></sup> Bach's own style shifted in the last decade of his life, showing an increased integration of polyphonic structures and canons and other elements of the <i>stile antico</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-LISA-81">[78]</a></sup> His fourth and last <i>Clavier-Übung</i> volume, the <i><a href="/wiki/Goldberg_Variations">Goldberg Variations</a></i>, for two-manual harpsichord, contained nine canons and was published in 1741.<sup><a href="#cite_note-82">[79]</a></sup> Throughout this period, Bach also continued to adopt music of contemporaries such as <a href="/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">Handel</a> (<a href="/wiki/BNB_I/K/2">BNB I/K/2</a>)<sup><a href="#cite_note-83">[80]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Heinrich_St%C3%B6lzel">Stölzel</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_200">BWV 200</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-84">[81]</a></sup> and gave many of his own earlier compositions, such as the <i>St Matthew</i> and <i>St John</i> Passions and the <i><a href="/wiki/Great_Eighteen_Chorale_Preludes">Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes</a></i>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-85">[82]</a></sup> their final revisions. He also programmed and adapted music by composers of a younger generation, including <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Pergolesi">Pergolesi</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_1083">BWV 1083</a>)<sup><a href="#cite_note-86">[83]</a></sup> and his own students such as <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Goldberg">Goldberg</a> (<a href="/wiki/BNB_I/G/2">BNB I/G/2</a>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-87">[84]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1746 Bach was preparing to enter <a href="/wiki/Lorenz_Christoph_Mizler">Lorenz Christoph Mizler</a>'s <a href="/w/index.php?title=Correspondierende_Societ%C3%A4t_der_musicalischen_Wissenschaften&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Society of Musical Sciences</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondierende_Societ%C3%A4t_der_musicalischen_Wissenschaften">de</a>].<sup><a href="#cite_note-88">[85]</a></sup> In order to be admitted Bach had to submit a composition, for which he chose his <a href="/wiki/Canonic_Variations_on_%22Vom_Himmel_hoch_da_komm%27_ich_her%22">Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"</a>, and a portrait, which was painted by <a href="/wiki/Elias_Gottlob_Haussmann">Elias Gottlob Haussmann</a> and featured Bach's <i><a href="/wiki/BWV_1076">Canon triplex á 6 Voc</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-89">[86]</a></sup> In May 1747, Bach visited the court of King <a href="/wiki/Frederick_the_Great">Frederick II of Prussia</a> in <a href="/wiki/Potsdam">Potsdam</a>. The king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach obliged, playing a three-part fugue on one of Frederick's <a href="/wiki/Fortepiano">fortepianos</a> by <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Silbermann">Gottfried Silbermann</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998224-90">[87]</a></sup> which was a new type of instrument at the time. Upon his return to Leipzig he composed a set of fugues and canons, and a trio sonata, based on the <i>Thema Regium</i> (theme of the king). Within a few weeks this music was published as <i><a href="/wiki/The_Musical_Offering">The Musical Offering</a></i> and dedicated to Frederick. The <i><a href="/wiki/Sch%C3%BCbler_Chorales">Schübler Chorales</a></i>, a set of six chorale preludes transcribed from cantata movements Bach had composed some two decades earlier, were published within a year.<sup><a href="#cite_note-91">[88]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-92">[89]</a></sup> Around the same time, the set of five canonic variations which Bach had submitted when entering Mizler's society in 1747 were also printed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Nekrolog-93">[90]</a></sup>
</p><p>Two large-scale compositions occupied a central place in Bach's last years. From around 1742 he wrote and revised the various canons and fugues of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Art_of_Fugue">The Art of Fugue</a></i>, which he continued to prepare for publication until shortly before his death.<sup><a href="#cite_note-94">[91]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEChiapusso1968277-95">[92]</a></sup> After extracting a cantata, <a href="/wiki/BWV_191">BWV 191</a> from his <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_Missa_of_1733">1733 Kyrie-Gloria Mass for the Dresden court</a> in the mid-1740s, Bach expanded that <a href="/wiki/Mass_(music)">setting</a> into his <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor">Mass in B minor</a> in the last years of his life. Although the complete mass was never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works in history.<sup><a href="#cite_note-96">[93]</a></sup>
</p><p>In January 1749, Bach's daughter Elisabeth Juliane Friederica married his pupil <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Altnickol">Johann Christoph Altnickol</a>. Bach's health was, however, declining. On 2 June, <a href="/wiki/Heinrich_von_Br%C3%BChl">Heinrich von Brühl</a> wrote to one of the Leipzig <a href="/wiki/Burgomaster">burgomasters</a> to request that his music director, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlob_Harrer">Johann Gottlob Harrer</a>, fill the <i>Thomaskantor</i> and <i>Director musices</i> posts "upon the eventual ... decease of Mr. Bach".<sup><a href="#cite_note-97">[94]</a></sup> Becoming blind, Bach underwent eye surgery, in March 1750 and again in April, by the British eye surgeon <a href="/wiki/John_Taylor_(oculist)">John Taylor</a>, a man widely understood today as a charlatan and believed to have blinded hundreds of people.<sup><a href="#cite_note-98">[95]</a></sup> Bach died on 28 July 1750 from complications due to the unsuccessful treatment.<sup><a href="#cite_note-99">[96]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998188-100">[97]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899c[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb03spituoftpage274mode1up_274]-101">[98]</a></sup>
</p><p>An inventory drawn up a few months after Bach's death shows that his estate included five <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord">harpsichords</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Lautenwerck">lute-harpsichords</a>, three <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a>, three <a href="/wiki/Viola">violas</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Cello">cellos</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Viol">viola da gamba</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Lute">lute</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Spinet">spinet</a>, along with 52 "sacred books", including works by <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther">Martin Luther</a> and <a href="/wiki/Josephus">Josephus</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998191–197-102">[99]</a></sup> The composer's son Carl Philipp Emanuel saw to it that <i>The Art of Fugue</i>, although still unfinished, was published in 1751.<sup><a href="#cite_note-103">[100]</a></sup> Together with one of the composer's former students, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Agricola">Johann Friedrich Agricola</a>, the son also wrote the obituary ("<a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_Nekrolog">Nekrolog</a>"), which was published in Mizler's <a href="/w/index.php?title=Musikalische_Bibliothek&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1"><i>Musikalische Bibliothek</i></a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musikalische_Bibliothek">de</a>], a periodical journal produced by the Society of Musical Sciences, in 1754.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Nekrolog-93">[90]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Musical style</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach_Calov-Bibel_2_Chr_5,13.jpg"></a></p><div><p>A handwritten note by Bach in his copy of the <a href="/wiki/Calov_Bible">Calov Bible</a>. The note next to <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(King_James)/2_Chronicles#5:13">2 Chronicles 5:13</a> reads: "NB Bey einer andächtigen Musiq ist allezeit Gott mit seiner Gnaden Gegenwart" (<a href="/wiki/Nota_bene">N(ota) B(ene)</a> In a music of worship God is always present with his grace).</p></div></div>
<p>From an early age, Bach studied the works of his musical contemporaries of the Baroque period and those of prior generations, and those influences were reflected in his music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000166-104">[101]</a></sup> Like his contemporaries Handel, Telemann and Vivaldi, Bach composed concertos, suites, recitatives, <a href="/wiki/Da_capo_aria">da capo arias</a>, and four-part choral music and employed <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">basso continuo</a>. Bach's music was harmonically more innovative than his peer composers, employing surprisingly <a href="/wiki/Consonance_and_dissonance">dissonant</a> chords and progressions, often with extensive exploration of harmonic possibilities within one piece.<sup><a href="#cite_note-105">[102]</a></sup>
</p><p>The hundreds of sacred works Bach created are usually seen as manifesting not just his craft but also a truly devout relationship with God.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHerl2004123-106">[103]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-107">[104]</a></sup> He had taught <a href="/wiki/Luther%27s_Small_Catechism">Luther's Small Catechism</a> as the <i>Thomaskantor</i> in Leipzig, and some of his pieces represent it.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTELeaver2007280,_289–291-108">[105]</a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Lutheran_chorale">Lutheran chorale</a> was the basis of much of his work. In elaborating these hymns into his chorale preludes, he wrote more cogent and tightly integrated works than most, even when they were massive and lengthy.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup> The large-scale structure of every major Bach sacred vocal work is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning to create a religiously and musically powerful expression. For example, the <i>St Matthew Passion</i>, like other works of its kind, illustrated the <a href="/wiki/Passion_of_Jesus">Passion</a> with Bible text reflected in recitatives, arias, choruses, and chorales, but in crafting this work, Bach created an overall experience that has been found over the intervening centuries to be both musically thrilling and spiritually profound.<sup><a href="#cite_note-109">[106]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach published or carefully compiled in manuscript many collections of pieces that explored the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in almost every genre of his time except <a href="/wiki/Opera">opera</a>. For example, <i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i> comprises two books, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, displaying a dizzying variety of structural, contrapuntal and fugal techniques.<sup><a href="#cite_note-110">[107]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Four-part harmony</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach_Matth%C3%A4uspassion_O_Haupt_voll_Blut_und_Wunden.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p><a href="/wiki/Four-part_harmony">Four-part harmonies</a> predate Bach, but he lived during a time when <a href="/wiki/Modal_music">modal music</a> in Western tradition was largely supplanted in favour of the <a href="/wiki/Tonality">tonal system</a>. In this system a piece of music progresses from one <a href="/wiki/Chord_(music)">chord</a> to the next according to certain rules, each chord being characterised by four notes. The principles of four-part harmony are found not only in Bach's four-part choral music: he also prescribes it for instance for the <a href="/wiki/Figured_bass">figured bass</a> accompaniment.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899c[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb03spituoftpage315mode1up_vol._3,_appendix_XII,_p._315]-111">[108]</a></sup> The new system was at the core of Bach's style, and his compositions are to a large extent considered as laying down the rules for the evolving scheme that would dominate musical expression in the next centuries. Some examples of this characteristic of Bach's style and its influence:
</p>
<ul><li>When in the 1740s Bach staged <a href="/wiki/BWV_1083">his arrangement</a> of <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Pergolesi">Pergolesi</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Stabat_Mater_(Pergolesi)">Stabat Mater</a></i>, he upgraded the viola part (which in the original composition plays in unison with the bass part) to fill out the harmony, thus adapting the composition to his four-part harmony style.<sup><a href="#cite_note-112">[109]</a></sup></li>
<li>When, starting in the 19th century in Russia, there was a discussion about the authenticity of four-part court chant settings compared to earlier Russian traditions, <a href="/wiki/List_of_chorale_harmonisations_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Bach's four-part chorale settings</a>, such as those ending his <a href="/wiki/Chorale_cantata_(Bach)">Chorale cantatas</a>, were considered as foreign-influenced models. Such influence was deemed unavoidable, however.<sup><a href="#cite_note-113">[110]</a></sup></li></ul>
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<p>Bach re-interpreting older genres tied to the modal system</p></div></div></div>
<p>Bach's insistence on the tonal system and contribution to shaping it did not imply he was less at ease with the older modal system and the genres associated with it: more than his contemporaries (who had "moved on" to the tonal system without much exception), Bach often returned to the then-antiquated modi and genres. His <i><a href="/wiki/Chromatic_Fantasia_and_Fugue">Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue</a></i>, emulating the <a href="/wiki/Chromatic_fantasia">chromatic fantasia</a> genre as used by earlier composers such as <a href="/wiki/John_Dowland">Dowland</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Sweelinck">Sweelinck</a> in D <a href="/wiki/Dorian_mode">dorian mode</a> (comparable to <a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a> in the tonal system), is an example of this.
</p>
<h3>Modulation</h3>
<p><a href="/wiki/Modulation_(music)">Modulation</a>, or changing <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a> in the course of a piece, is another style characteristic where Bach goes beyond what was usual in his time. Baroque instruments vastly limited modulation possibilities: keyboard instruments, prior to a workable system of <a href="/wiki/Musical_temperament">temperament</a>, limited the keys that could be modulated to, and wind instruments, especially brass instruments such as <a href="/wiki/Natural_trumpet">trumpets</a> and <a href="/wiki/Natural_horn">horns</a>, about a century before they were fitted with valves, were tied to the key of their tuning. Bach pushed the limits: he added "strange tones" in his organ playing, confusing the singing, according to an indictment he had to face in Arnstadt,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._IV-114">[111]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Louis_Marchand">Louis Marchand</a>, another early experimenter with modulation, seems to have avoided confrontation with Bach because the latter went further than anyone had done before.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._IX-115">[112]</a></sup> In the "Suscepit Israel" of his 1723 Magnificat, he had the trumpets in E-flat play a melody in the <a href="/wiki/Enharmonic">enharmonic</a> scale of C minor.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Marshall_1989_3–17-116">[113]</a></sup>
</p><p>The major development taking place in Bach's time, and to which he contributed in no small way, was a temperament for keyboard instruments that allowed their use in all available keys (12 major and 12 minor) and also modulation without retuning. His <i><a href="/wiki/Capriccio_on_the_departure_of_a_beloved_brother">Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother</a></i>, a very early work, showed a gusto for modulation unlike any contemporary work this composition has been compared to,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._III-117">[114]</a></sup> but the full expansion came with the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, using all keys, which Bach apparently had been developing since around 1720, the <i><a href="/wiki/Klavierb%C3%BCchlein_f%C3%BCr_Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a></i> being one of its earliest examples.<sup><a href="#cite_note-118">[115]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Ornamentation</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Bach-ornamentguide.jpg"></a></p></div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Goldberg_Variations_-_Aria_-_1st_edition_(BnF).png"></a></p><div><p>"Aria" of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i>, showing Bach's use of ornaments</p></div></div>
<p>The second page of the <i>Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</i> is an <a href="/wiki/Ornament_(music)">ornament</a> notation and performance guide that Bach wrote for his eldest son, who was nine years old at the time. Bach was generally quite specific on ornamentation in his compositions (where in his time much of the ornamentation was not written out by composers but rather considered a liberty of the performer),<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDonington198291-119">[116]</a></sup> and his ornamentation was often quite elaborate. For instance, the "Aria" of the <i>Goldberg Variations</i> has rich ornamentation in nearly every measure. Bach's dealing with ornamentation can also be seen in a keyboard arrangement he made of <a href="/wiki/Alessandro_Marcello">Marcello</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Oboe_Concerto_(Marcello)">Oboe Concerto</a>: he added explicit ornamentation, which some centuries later is played by oboists when performing the concerto.
</p><p>Although Bach did not write any operas, he was not averse to the genre or its ornamented vocal style. In church music, Italian composers had imitated the operatic vocal style in genres such as the <a href="/wiki/Neapolitan_mass">Neapolitan mass</a>. In Protestant surroundings, there was more reluctance to adopt such a style for liturgical music. For instance, Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor in Leipzig, had notoriously shunned opera and Italian virtuoso vocal music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-120">[117]</a></sup> Bach was less moved. One of the comments after a performance of his <i>St Matthew Passion</i> was that it all sounded much like opera.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._XVIII-121">[118]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Continuo instruments solos</h3>
<p>In concerted playing in Bach's time the basso continuo, consisting of instruments such as organ, <a href="/wiki/Viola_da_gamba">viola da gamba</a> or harpsichord, usually had the role of accompaniment, providing the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of a piece. From the late 1720s, Bach had the organ play <a href="/wiki/Concertante">concertante</a> (i.e. as a soloist) with the orchestra in instrumental cantata movements,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Isoir1993-122">[119]</a></sup> a decade before Handel published his first organ concertos.<sup><a href="#cite_note-123">[120]</a></sup> Apart from the <a href="/wiki/Brandenburg_Concerto_No._5">5th <i>Brandenburg Concerto</i></a> and the <i><a href="/wiki/BWV_1044">Triple Concerto</a></i>, which already had harpsichord soloists in the 1720s, Bach wrote and arranged his harpsichord concertos in the 1730s,<sup><a href="#cite_note-124">[121]</a></sup> and in his sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord neither instrument plays a continuo part: they are treated as equal soloists, far beyond the figured bass. In this sense, Bach played a key role in the development of genres such as the keyboard concerto.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchulenberg20061–2-125">[122]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Instrumentation</h3>
<p>Bach wrote virtuoso music for specific instruments as well as music independent of instrumentation. For instance, the <a href="/wiki/Sonatas_and_Partitas_for_Solo_Violin_(Bach)">sonatas and partitas for solo violin</a> are considered the pinnacle of what has been written for this instrument, only within reach of accomplished players. The music fits the instrument, pushing it to the full scale of its possibilities and requiring virtuosity of the player but without <a href="/wiki/Bravura">bravura</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Lester-126">[123]</a></sup> Notwithstanding that the music and the instrument seem inseparable, Bach made transcriptions for other instruments of some pieces of this collection. Similarly, for the <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)">cello suites</a>, the virtuoso music seems tailored for the instrument, the best of what is offered for it, yet Bach made an arrangement for lute of one of these suites. The same applies to much of his most virtuoso keyboard music. Bach exploited the capabilities of an instrument to the fullest while keeping the core of such music independent of the instrument on which it is performed.
</p><p>In this sense, it is no surprise that Bach's music is easily and often performed on instruments it was not necessarily written for, that it is <a href="/wiki/List_of_transcriptions_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">transcribed</a> so often, and that his melodies turn up in unexpected places such as jazz music. Apart from this, Bach left a number of compositions without specified instrumentation: the canons <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#BWV_Chapter_12">BWV 1072–1078</a> fall in that category, as well as the bulk of the <i>Musical Offering</i> and the <i>Art of Fugue</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-127">[124]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Counterpoint</h3>
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<p><a href="/wiki/File:Crystal_Project_video_camera.png"></a></p>
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<p>Continuo instruments moving to the front (here performed on cello and piano)</p></div></div></div>
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<p>A strictly contrapuntal composition (the two violins playing in canon throughout) in the guise of an Italian type of concerto</p></div></div></div>
<p>Another characteristic of Bach's style is his extensive use of <a href="/wiki/Counterpoint">counterpoint</a>, as opposed to the <a href="/wiki/Homophony">homophony</a> used in his four-part Chorale settings, for example. Bach's canons, and especially his fugues, are most characteristic of this style, which Bach did not invent but contributed to so fundamentally that he defined it to a large extent. Fugues are as characteristic to Bach's style as, for instance, the <a href="/wiki/Sonata_form">Sonata form</a> is characteristic to the composers of the <a href="/wiki/Classical_period_(music)">Classical period</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._XXX-128">[125]</a></sup>
</p><p>These strictly contrapuntal compositions, and most of Bach's music in general, are characterised by distinct melodic lines for each of the voices, where the chords formed by the notes sounding at a given point follow the rules of four-part harmony. <a href="/wiki/Johann_Nikolaus_Forkel">Johann Nikolaus Forkel</a>, Bach's first biographer, gives this description of this feature of Bach's music, which sets it apart from most other music:
</p>
<blockquote><p>If the language of music is merely the utterance of a melodic line, a simple sequence of musical notes, it can justly be accused of poverty. The addition of a Bass puts it upon a harmonic foundation and clarifies it, but defines rather than gives it added richness. A melody so accompanied—even though all the notes are not those of the true Bass—or treated with simple embellishments in the upper parts, or with simple chords, used to be called "homophony". But it is a very different thing when two melodies are so interwoven that they converse together like two persons upon a footing of pleasant equality. In the first case the accompaniment is subordinate, and serves merely to support the first or principal part. In the second case the two parts are not similarly related. New melodic combinations spring from their interweaving, out of which new forms of musical expression emerge. If more parts are interwoven in the same free and independent manner, the apparatus of language is correspondingly enlarged, and becomes practically inexhaustible if, in addition, varieties of form and rhythm are introduced. Hence harmony becomes no longer a mere accompaniment of melody, but rather a potent agency for augmenting the richness and expressiveness of musical conversation. To serve that end a simple accompaniment will not suffice. True harmony is the interweaving of several melodies, which emerge now in the upper, now in the middle, and now in the lower parts.</p><p>
From about the year 1720, when he was thirty-five, until his death in 1750, Bach's harmony consists in this melodic interweaving of independent melodies, so perfect in their union that each part seems to constitute the true melody. Herein Bach excels all the composers in the world. At least, I have found no one to equal him in music known to me. Even in his four-part writing we can, not infrequently, leave out the upper and lower parts and still find the middle parts melodious and agreeable.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb00forkuoftpage73mode1up_73–74]-129">[126]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<h3>Structure and lyrics</h3>
<p>Bach devoted more attention than his contemporaries to the structure of compositions. This can be seen in minor adjustments he made when adapting someone else's composition, such as his earliest version of the <a href="/wiki/St_Mark_Passion_(attributed_to_Keiser)">"Keiser" <i>St Mark Passion</i></a>, where he enhances scene transitions,<sup><a href="#cite_note-130">[127]</a></sup> and in the architecture of his own compositions such as <a href="/wiki/Magnificat_in_E-flat_major,_BWV_243a#Scoring_and_structure">his Magnificat</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-Marshall_1989_3–17-116">[113]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Passions_(Bach)#Structure">Leipzig <i>Passions</i></a>. In the last years of his life, Bach revised several of his prior compositions. Often the recasting of such previously composed music in an enhanced structure was the most visible change, as in the <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor_structure">Mass in B minor</a>. Bach's known preoccupation with structure led (peaking around the 1970s) to various numerological analyses of his compositions, although many such over-interpretations were later rejected, especially when wandering off into symbolism-ridden hermeneutics.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Williams1980p217-131">[128]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-132">[129]</a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Libretto">librettos</a>, or lyrics, of his vocal compositions played an important role for Bach. He sought collaboration with various text authors for his cantatas and major vocal compositions, possibly writing or adapting such texts himself to make them fit the structure of the composition he was designing when he could not rely on the talents of other text authors. His collaboration with <a href="/wiki/Picander">Picander</a> for the <i>St Matthew Passion</i> libretto is best known, but there was a similar process in achieving a multi-layered structure for his <i>St John Passion</i> libretto a few years earlier.<sup><a href="#cite_note-133">[130]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Compositions</h2>
<p>In 1950, <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Schmieder">Wolfgang Schmieder</a> published a <a href="/wiki/Thematic_catalogue">thematic catalogue</a> of Bach's compositions called the <i><a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis</a></i> (Bach Works Catalogue).<sup><a href="#cite_note-134">[131]</a></sup> Schmieder largely followed the <i><i>Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe</i></i>, a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1900. The first edition of the catalogue listed 1,080 surviving compositions indisputably composed by Bach.<sup><a href="#cite_note-135">[132]</a></sup>
</p>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>BWV Range</th>
<th>Compositions
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 1–224</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_Bach_cantatas">Cantatas</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 225–231</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_motets_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Motets</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 232–243</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_Masses,_Mass_movements_and_Magnificats_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Liturgical compositions in Latin</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 244–249</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_Passions_and_Oratorios_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Passions and oratorios</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 250–438</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_chorale_harmonisations_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Four-part chorales</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 439–524</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_songs_and_arias_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Small vocal works</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 525–771</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_organ_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Organ compositions</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 772–994</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_solo_keyboard_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Other keyboard works</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 995–1000</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_solo_lute_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Lute compositions</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 1001–1040</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_chamber_music_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Other chamber music</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 1041–1071</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_orchestral_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Orchestral music</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 1072–1078</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_canons_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Canons</a>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>BWV 1079–1080</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/List_of_late_contrapuntal_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Late contrapuntal works</a>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#20th-century_additions_to_the_BWV_catalogue_and_Anhang">BWV 1081–1126</a> were added to the catalogue in the second half of the 20th century, and <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#BWV_Later">BWV 1127 and higher</a> are 21st-century additions.<sup><a href="#cite_note-136">[133]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-BDW1307-137">[134]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Kuznik2008-138">[135]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Passions and oratorios</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Lama_asabthani.tif"></a></p><div><p>Bach's autograph of the recitative with the gospel text of Christ's death from <i>St Matthew Passion</i> (<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(Wikisource)/Matthew#27:45">Matthew 27:45–47a</a>)</p></div></div>
<p>Bach composed <a href="/wiki/Passions_(Bach)">Passions</a> for Good Friday services and oratorios such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Christmas_Oratorio">Christmas Oratorio</a></i>, which is a set of six cantatas for use in the <a href="/wiki/Liturgical_year">liturgical season</a> of Christmas.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTELeaver2007430-139">[136]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a114-140">[137]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-141">[138]</a></sup> Shorter oratorios include the <i><a href="/wiki/Easter_Oratorio">Easter Oratorio</a></i> and the <i><a href="/wiki/Lobet_Gott_in_seinen_Reichen,_BWV_11">Ascension Oratorio</a></i>. With its double choir and orchestra, the <i><a href="/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion">St Matthew Passion</a></i> is one of Bach's most extended works. The <i><a href="/wiki/St_John_Passion">St John Passion</a></i> was the first passion Bach composed during his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig.
</p>
<h3>Cantatas</h3>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>According to his obituary, Bach would have composed <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_cantata_cycles">five year-cycles of sacred cantatas</a>, and additional church cantatas for weddings and funerals, for example.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Nekrolog-93">[90]</a></sup> Approximately 200 of these sacred works are extant, an estimated two thirds of the total number of church cantatas he composed.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff5-64">[61]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-142">[139]</a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website lists 50 known secular cantatas by the composer,<sup><a href="#cite_note-BDWlist-143">[140]</a></sup> about half of which are extant or largely reconstructable.<sup><a href="#cite_note-144">[141]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Church cantatas</h4>
<p>Bach's cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Many consist of a large opening chorus followed by one or more recitative-aria pairs for soloists (or duets) and a concluding chorale. The melody of the concluding chorale often appears as a <a href="/wiki/Cantus_firmus">cantus firmus</a> in the opening movement.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_early_cantatas">Bach's earliest cantatas</a> date from his years in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. The earliest surviving work in the genre is <a href="/wiki/Nach_dir,_Herr,_verlanget_mich,_BWV_150"><i>Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich</i>, BWV 150</a>. As a whole, the extant early works all show remarkable mastery and skill. Many feature an instrumental opening which display effective use of the limited instrumental forces available to Bach, whether it be in the subdued combination of two recorders and two viola de gamba for <a href="/wiki/Gottes_Zeit_ist_die_allerbeste_Zeit,_BWV_106">BWV 106</a>, or the independent bassoon in <a href="/wiki/Der_Herr_denket_an_uns,_BWV_196">BWV 196</a>. Bach's compositional skills are also manifested through his daring harmonies and advanced, unprecedented chord progressions. According to <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>, Bach's early cantatas are impressive evidence of how the modest means at his disposal did not restrain the composer in the slightest, and they compare favourably with compositions by the most talented composers from the beginning of the 18th century, such as <a href="/wiki/Johann_Philipp_Krieger">Krieger</a>, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Kuhnau">Kuhnau</a> or <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Zachow">Zachow</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000100–101-145">[142]</a></sup>
</p><p>After taking up his office as <i><a href="/wiki/Thomaskantor">Thomaskantor</a></i> in late May 1723, Bach performed a cantata each Sunday and feast day, corresponding to the <a href="/wiki/Lectionary">lectionary</a> readings of the week.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_first_cantata_cycle">His first cantata cycle</a> ran from the first Sunday after <a href="/wiki/Trinity_Sunday">Trinity</a> of 1723 to Trinity Sunday the next year. For instance, the Visitation cantata <a href="/wiki/Herz_und_Mund_und_Tat_und_Leben,_BWV_147"><i>Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben</i>, BWV 147</a>, containing the chorale that is known in English as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", belongs to this first cycle. The cantata cycle of his second year in Leipzig is called the <a href="/wiki/Chorale_cantata_cycle">chorale cantata cycle</a> as it consists mainly of works in the <a href="/wiki/Chorale_cantata">chorale cantata</a> format. <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_third_cantata_cycle">His third cantata cycle</a> was developed over a period of several years, followed by the <a href="/wiki/Picander_cycle_of_1728%E2%80%9329">Picander cycle of 1728–29</a>.
</p><p>Later church cantatas include the chorale cantatas <a href="/wiki/Ein_feste_Burg_ist_unser_Gott,_BWV_80"><i>Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott</i>, BWV 80</a> (final version)<sup><a href="#cite_note-146">[143]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme,_BWV_140"><i>Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme</i>, BWV 140</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-147">[144]</a></sup> Only the first three Leipzig cycles are more or less completely extant. Apart from his own work, Bach also performed cantatas by Telemann and by his distant relative <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach">Johann Ludwig Bach</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Secular cantatas</h4>
<p>Bach also wrote secular cantatas, for instance for members of the royal Polish and prince-electoral Saxonian families (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Trauer-Ode">Trauer-Ode</a></i>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-148">[145]</a></sup> or other public or private occasions (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Hunting_Cantata">Hunting Cantata</a></i>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-149">[146]</a></sup> The text of these cantatas was occasionally in dialect (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Peasant_Cantata">Peasant Cantata</a></i>)<sup><a href="#cite_note-150">[147]</a></sup> or Italian (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Amore_traditore">Amore traditore</a></i>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-151">[148]</a></sup> Many of the secular cantatas were lost, but for some of them the text and occasion are known, for instance when Picander later published their librettos (e.g. <a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._11">BWV Anh. 11</a>–<a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._12">12</a>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-152">[149]</a></sup>
</p><p>Some of the surviving secular cantatas have a plot involving mythological figures of Greek antiquity (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Der_Streit_zwischen_Phoebus_und_Pan">Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan</a></i>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-153">[150]</a></sup> and others were almost miniature <a href="/wiki/Opera_buffa"><i>buffo</i></a> operas (e.g. <i><a href="/wiki/Coffee_Cantata">Coffee Cantata</a></i>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-154">[151]</a></sup> Although Bach never expressed any interest in opera,<sup><a href="#cite_note-155">[152]</a></sup> his secular cantatas, or <i><a href="/wiki/Dramma_per_musica">drammi per musica</a></i>, would have allowed Leipzig audiences, deprived of opera since 1720, to experience musical performances comparable to the royal opera in Dresden. These were not at all "poor or makeshift substitutes for real opera" but spectacles displaying "full mastery of the dramatic genre and the proper pacing of the dialogues."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000363-156">[153]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>A cappella music</h3>
<p>Bach's a cappella music includes motets and chorale harmonisations.
</p>
<h4>Motets</h4>
<p>Bach's <a href="/wiki/List_of_motets_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">motets</a> (BWV 225–231) are pieces on sacred themes for choir and continuo, with instruments playing <a href="/wiki/Colla_parte">colla parte</a>. Several of them were composed for funerals.<sup><a href="#cite_note-157">[154]</a></sup> The six motets definitely composed by Bach are <i><a href="/wiki/Singet_dem_Herrn_ein_neues_Lied,_BWV_225">Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/Der_Geist_hilft_unser_Schwachheit_auf,_BWV_226">Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/Jesu,_meine_Freude,_BWV_227">Jesu, meine Freude</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/F%C3%BCrchte_dich_nicht,_BWV_228">Fürchte dich nicht</a></i>, <i><a href="/wiki/Komm,_Jesu,_komm,_BWV_229">Komm, Jesu, komm</a></i>, and <i><a href="/wiki/Lobet_den_Herrn,_alle_Heiden,_BWV_230">Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden</a></i>. The motet <i>Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren</i> (BWV 231) is part of the composite motet <i><a href="/wiki/Jauchzet_dem_Herrn,_alle_Welt,_BWV_Anh_160">Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt</a></i> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh.">BWV Anh.</a> 160), other parts of which may be based on work by Telemann.<sup><a href="#cite_note-158">[155]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Chorale harmonisations</h4>
<p>Bach wrote hundreds of four-part harmonisations of Lutheran chorales.
</p>
<h3>Church music in Latin</h3>
<p>Bach's church music in Latin includes the <a href="/wiki/Magnificat_(Bach)">Magnificat</a>, four <a href="/wiki/Missa_(Bach)">Kyrie–Gloria Masses</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor">Mass in B minor</a>.
</p>
<h4>Magnificat</h4>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Magnificat_in_E-flat_major,_BWV_243a">first version of Bach's Magnificat</a> dates from 1723, but the work is best known in its <a href="/wiki/Magnificat_in_D_major,_BWV_243">D major version</a> of 1733.
</p>
<h4>Mass in B minor</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>performed by Solomija Drozd (voice), Petro Titiajev (violin) and Ivan Ostapovych (organ)</p></div></div>
<p>In 1733 Bach composed a <a href="/wiki/Mass_for_the_Dresden_court_(Bach)">Kyrie–Gloria Mass for the Dresden court</a>. Near the end of his life, around 1748–1749, he expanded this composition into the large-scale <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor">Mass in B minor</a>. The work was never performed in full during Bach's lifetime.<sup><a href="#cite_note-159">[156]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHerz1985187-160">[157]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Keyboard music</h3>
<p>Bach wrote for organ and for <a href="/wiki/Stringed_keyboard_instrument">stringed keyboard instruments</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord">harpsichord</a>, <a href="/wiki/Clavichord">clavichord</a> and <a href="/wiki/Lute-harpsichord">lute-harpsichord</a>.
</p>
<h4>Organ works</h4>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres (such as <a href="/wiki/Prelude_(music)">preludes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Fantasia_(music)">fantasias</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Toccata">toccatas</a>) and stricter forms (such as <a href="/wiki/Chorale_prelude">chorale preludes</a> and fugues).<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> At a young age, he established a reputation for creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by <a href="/wiki/Georg_B%C3%B6hm">Georg Böhm</a>, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and <a href="/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude">Dieterich Buxtehude</a>, whom the young organist visited in Lübeck in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. During his most productive period (1708–1714) he composed about a dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, five toccatas and fugues, and the <i><a href="/wiki/Orgelb%C3%BCchlein">Orgelbüchlein</a></i> or "Little Organ Book", an unfinished collection of 46 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After leaving Weimar, Bach wrote less for organ, although some of his best-known works (the six <a href="/wiki/Organ_Sonatas_(Bach)">Organ Sonatas</a>, the German Organ Mass in <a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_III"><i>Clavier-Übung</i> III</a> from 1739, and the <a href="/wiki/Great_Eighteen_Chorale_Preludes">Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes</a>, revised late in his life) were composed after leaving Weimar. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing new organs and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals.<sup><a href="#cite_note-161">[158]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-162">[159]</a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Canonic_Variations_on_%22Vom_Himmel_hoch_da_komm%27_ich_her%22">Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"</a> and the <i><a href="/wiki/Sch%C3%BCbler_Chorales">Schübler Chorales</a></i> are organ works Bach published in the last years of his life.
</p>
<h4>Harpsichord and other stringed keyboard instruments</h4>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Title_page_of_The_Art_of_Fugue.jpg"></a></p><div><p><i>The Art of Fugue</i> (title page) – Performed by Mehmet Okonsar on organ and harpsichord </p> </div></div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Bach wrote many works for harpsichord, some of which may also have been played on the clavichord or lute-harpsichord. Some of his larger works, such as <a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_II"><i>Clavier-Übung</i> II</a> and <a href="/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_IV">IV</a>, are intended for a harpsichord with two manuals: performing them on a keyboard instrument with a single manual (like a piano) may present technical difficulties for the crossing of hands.
</p>
<ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">The Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i>, Books 1 and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book consists of a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">keys</a>, in chromatic order from C major to B minor (thus, the whole collection is often referred to as "the 48"). "Well-tempered" in the title refers to the <a href="/wiki/Musical_temperament">temperament</a> (system of tuning); many temperaments before Bach's time were not flexible enough to allow compositions to utilise more than just a few keys.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchweitzer1923333-163">[160]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-164">[161]</a></sup></li>
<li>The <i><a href="/wiki/Inventions_and_Sinfonias_(Bach)">Inventions and Sinfonias</a></i> (BWV 772–801). These short two- and three-part contrapuntal works are arranged in the same chromatic order as <i>The Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, omitting some of the rarer keys. These pieces were intended by Bach for instructional purposes.<sup><a href="#cite_note-165">[162]</a></sup></li>
<li>Three collections of <a href="/wiki/Suite_(music)">dance suites</a>: the <a href="/wiki/English_Suites_(Bach)">English Suites</a> (BWV 806–811), <a href="/wiki/French_Suites_(Bach)">French Suites</a> (BWV 812–817), and <a href="/wiki/Partitas_for_keyboard_(Bach)">Partitas for keyboard</a> (<i>Clavier-Übung I</i>, BWV 825–830). Each collection contains six suites built on the standard model (<i><a href="/wiki/Allemande">allemande</a></i>–<i><a href="/wiki/Courante">courante</a></i>–<i><a href="/wiki/Sarabande">sarabande</a></i>–(optional movement)–<i><a href="/wiki/Gigue">gigue</a></i>). The English Suites closely follow the traditional model, adding a prelude before the <i>allemande</i> and including a single movement between the <i>sarabande</i> and <i>gigue</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-166">[163]</a></sup> The French Suites omit preludes but have multiple movements between the <i>sarabande</i> and <i>gigue</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-167">[164]</a></sup> The partitas expand the model further with elaborate introductory movements and miscellaneous movements between the basic elements of the model.<sup><a href="#cite_note-168">[165]</a></sup></li>
<li>The <i>Goldberg Variations</i> (BWV 988), an aria with 30 <a href="/wiki/Variation_(music)">variations</a>. The collection has a complex and unconventional structure: the variations build on the <a href="/wiki/Bassline">bass line</a> of the aria rather than its melody, and musical <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">canons</a> are interpolated according to a grand plan. There are 9 canons within the 30 variations; every third variation is a canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-169">[166]</a></sup> These variations move in order from canon at unison to canon at the ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison and octave, second and seventh, third and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth canon stands on its own due to compositional dissimilarities. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon at the tenth, is a <a href="/wiki/Quodlibet">quodlibet</a>.</li>
<li>Miscellaneous pieces such as the <i><a href="/wiki/Overture_in_the_French_style,_BWV_831">Overture in the French Style</a></i> (<i>French Overture</i>, BWV 831) and the <i><a href="/wiki/Italian_Concerto_(Bach)">Italian Concerto</a></i> (BWV 971) (published together as <i>Clavier-Übung II</i>), and the <i><a href="/wiki/Chromatic_Fantasia_and_Fugue">Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue</a></i> (BWV 903).</li></ul>
<p>Among Bach's lesser known keyboard works are seven <a href="/wiki/Toccata">toccatas</a> <a href="/wiki/Toccatas_for_Keyboard_(Bach)">(BWV 910–916)</a>, <a href="/wiki/Duets_(Bach)">four duets</a> (BWV 802–805), <a href="/wiki/Sonata">sonatas</a> for keyboard (BWV 963–967), the <a href="/wiki/Six_Little_Preludes_(Bach)">Six Little Preludes</a> (BWV 933–938), and the <i><a href="/wiki/Aria_variata_alla_maniera_italiana">Aria variata alla maniera italiana</a></i> (BWV 989).
</p>
<h3>Orchestral and chamber music</h3>
<p>Bach wrote for single instruments, duets, and small ensembles. Many of his solo works, such as the six <a href="/wiki/Sonatas_and_Partitas_for_Solo_Violin_(Bach)">sonatas and partitas for violin</a> (BWV 1001–1006) and the six <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)">cello suites</a> (BWV 1007–1012), are widely considered to be among the most profound in the repertoire.<sup><a href="#cite_note-170">[167]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Lester-126">[123]</a></sup> He wrote sonatas for a solo instrument such as the viola de gamba accompanied by harpsichord or continuo, as well as trio sonatas (two instruments and continuo).
</p><p><i>The Musical Offering</i> and <i>The Art of Fugue</i> are late contrapuntal works containing pieces for unspecified instruments or combinations of instruments.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff1991111-171">[168]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-172">[169]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>Violin concertos</h4>
<p>Surviving works in the concerto form include two violin concertos (<a href="/wiki/Violin_Concerto_in_A_minor_(Bach)">BWV 1041</a> in A minor and <a href="/wiki/Violin_Concerto_in_E_major_(Bach)">BWV 1042</a> in E major) and a concerto for two violins in D minor, <a href="/wiki/Concerto_for_Two_Violins_(Bach)">BWV 1043</a>, often referred to as Bach's "double concerto".
</p>
<h4><i>Brandenburg Concertos</i></h4>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Bach's best-known orchestral works are the <i>Brandenburg Concertos</i>, so named because he submitted them in the hope of gaining employment from <a href="/wiki/Margrave_Christian_Ludwig_of_Brandenburg-Schwedt">Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt</a> in 1721; his application was unsuccessful.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> These works are examples of the <a href="/wiki/Concerto_grosso">concerto grosso</a> genre.
</p>
<h4>Keyboard concertos</h4>
<p>Bach composed and transcribed concertos for one to four harpsichords. Many of the harpsichord concertos were not original works but arrangements of his concertos for other instruments, now lost.<sup><a href="#cite_note-173">[170]</a></sup> A number of violin, oboe, and flute concertos have been reconstructed from these.
</p>
<h4>Orchestral suites</h4>
<p>In addition to concertos, Bach wrote four <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_suites_(Bach)">orchestral suites</a>, each suite being a series of stylised dances for orchestra, preceded by a <a href="/wiki/French_overture">French overture</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-174">[171]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Copies, arrangements and uncertain attributions</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<hr /><div>
<p>The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" (Sheep May Safely Graze), No. 9 from the <i><a href="/wiki/Hunting_Cantata">Hunting Cantata</a></i>, BWV 208: composed for soprano, recorders, and continuo, the music of this movement exists in a variety of instrumental arrangements.</p></div></div></div>
<p>In his early youth, Bach copied pieces by other composers to learn from them.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen49mode2up_10–11]-175">[172]</a></sup> Later, he copied and arranged music for performance or as study material for his pupils. Some of these pieces, like "<a href="/wiki/Bist_du_bei_mir">Bist du bei mir</a>" (copied not by Bach but by Anna Magdalena), became famous before being dissociated with Bach. Bach copied and arranged Italian masters such as Vivaldi (e.g. <a href="/wiki/BWV_1065">BWV 1065</a>), <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Pergolesi">Pergolesi</a> (<a href="/wiki/BWV_1083">BWV 1083</a>) and <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Pierluigi_da_Palestrina">Palestrina</a> (<a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Missa_Sine_nomine_(Palestrina,_Giovanni_Pierluigi_da)#Arrangements_and_Transcriptions">Missa Sine nomine</a>), French masters such as <a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Couperin">François Couperin</a> (<a href="/wiki/Notebook_for_Anna_Magdalena_Bach#The_1725_notebook">BWV Anh. 183</a>), and, closer to home, various German masters including Telemann (e.g. <a href="/wiki/List_of_solo_keyboard_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Miscellaneous_suites_(818–824)">BWV 824</a>=<a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Suite_in_A_major,_TWV_32:14_(Telemann,_Georg_Philipp)">TWV 32:14</a>) and Handel (<a href="/wiki/St_Mark_Passion_pastiche#Leipzig_1747–1748_(BC_D_5)">arias from <i>Brockes Passion</i></a>), and music from members of his own family. He also often copied and arranged his own music (e.g. movements from cantatas for his short masses <a href="/wiki/Kyrie%E2%80%93Gloria_masses,_BWV_233%E2%80%93236">BWV 233–236</a>), as his music was likewise copied and arranged by others. Some of these arrangements, like the late 19th-century "<a href="/wiki/Air_on_the_G_String">Air on the G String</a>", helped to popularise Bach's music.
</p><p>Sometimes "who copied whom" is not clear. For instance, Forkel mentions a Mass for double chorus among the works composed by Bach. The work was published and performed in the early 19th century, and although a score partially in Bach's handwriting exists, the work was later considered spurious.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen187mode2up_140–141]-176">[173]</a></sup> In 1950, the design of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis was to keep such works out of the main catalogue: if there was a strong association with Bach they could be listed in its appendix (German: <i>Anhang</i>, abbreviated as Anh.). Thus, for instance, the aforementioned Mass for double chorus became <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_church_music_in_Latin#Copies">BWV Anh. 167</a>. But this was far from the end of the attribution issues. For instance, <a href="/wiki/Schlage_doch,_gew%C3%BCnschte_Stunde,_BWV_53"><i>Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde</i>, BWV 53</a>, was later attributed to <a href="/wiki/Melchior_Hoffmann_(composer)">Melchior Hoffmann</a>. For other works, Bach's authorship was put in doubt without a generally accepted answer to the question of whether or not he composed it: the best known organ composition in the BWV catalogue, the <a href="/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_minor,_BWV_565">Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565</a>, was indicated as one of these uncertain works in the late 20th century.<sup><a href="#cite_note-177">[174]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Reception</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Arnstadt_Bachkirche_au%C3%9Fen_Chor_03.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The church in Arnstadt where Bach had been the organist from 1703 to 1707. In 1935 the church was renamed "Bachkirche".</p></div></div>
<p>Throughout the 18th century, the appreciation of Bach's music was mostly limited to distinguished connoisseurs. The 19th century started with publication of the first biography of the composer and ended with the completion of the publication of all of Bach's known works by the <a href="/wiki/Bach_Gesellschaft">Bach Gesellschaft</a>. A <a href="/wiki/Bach_Revival">Bach Revival</a> had started from <a href="/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn">Mendelssohn</a>'s performance of the <i><a href="/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion">St Matthew Passion</a></i> in 1829. Soon after that performance, Bach started to become regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, if not the greatest, a reputation he has retained ever since. A new extensive Bach biography was published in the second half of the 19th century.
</p><p>In the 20th century Bach's music was widely performed and recorded, while the <a href="/wiki/Neue_Bachgesellschaft">Neue Bachgesellschaft</a>, among others, published research on the composer. Modern adaptations of Bach's music contributed greatly to his popularisation in the second half of the 20th century. Among these were the <a href="/wiki/The_Swingle_Singers">Swingle Singers</a>' versions of Bach pieces (for instance, the <i>Air</i> from <a href="/wiki/Orchestral_suites_(Bach)#Suite_No._3_in_D_major,_BWV_1068">Orchestral Suite No. 3</a>, and the <i>Wachet auf...</i> chorale prelude) and <a href="/wiki/Wendy_Carlos">Wendy Carlos</a>' 1968 <i><a href="/wiki/Switched-On_Bach">Switched-On Bach</a></i>, which used the <a href="/wiki/Moog_synthesizer">Moog electronic synthesiser</a>.
</p><p>By the end of the 20th century, more classical performers were gradually moving away from the performance style and instrumentation that were established in the romantic era: they started to perform Bach's music on <a href="/wiki/List_of_period_instruments#Baroque_(1600–1750)">period instruments of the baroque era</a>, studied and practised playing techniques and tempi as established in his time, and reduced the size of instrumental ensembles and choirs to what he would have employed. The <a href="/wiki/BACH_motif">BACH motif</a>, used by the composer in his own compositions, was used in dozens of tributes to the composer from the 19th century to the 21st. In the 21st century the complete extant output of the composer became available online, with several websites exclusively dedicated to him.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Calendar_of_saints_(Episcopal_Church)">liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church</a> remembers Bach annually with a <a href="/wiki/Feast_day">feast day</a> on 28 July<sup><a href="#cite_note-178">[175]</a></sup> on the same day, the <a href="/wiki/Calendar_of_saints_(Lutheran)">Calendar of Saints</a> of some <a href="/wiki/Lutheran_church">Lutheran churches</a>, such as the <a href="/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_in_America">ELCA</a>, remembers Bach and Handel with <a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Sch%C3%BCtz">Heinrich Schütz</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-179">[176]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>18th century</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:17b_Bach-Bild_von_%27Gebel%27,_vor_1798.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Painting of Johann Sebastian Bach by 'Gebel', before 1798.</p></div></div>
<p>In his own time, Bach was highly regarded amongst his colleagues,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeck2003[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA141_141]-180">[177]</a></sup> although his reputation outside of this small circle of connoisseurs was due not to his compositions (which had an extremely narrow circulation),<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001-13">[11]</a></sup> but due to his virtuosic abilities. Nevertheless, during his life, Bach received public recognition, such as the title of court composer by <a href="/wiki/Augustus_III_of_Poland">Augustus III of Poland</a> and the appreciation he was shown by <a href="/wiki/Frederick_the_Great">Frederick the Great</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hermann_Karl_von_Keyserling">Hermann Karl von Keyserling</a>. Such highly placed appreciation contrasted with the humiliations he had to cope with, for instance in Leipzig.<sup><a href="#cite_note-181">[178]</a></sup> Also in the contemporary press, Bach had his detractors, such as <a href="/wiki/Johann_Adolf_Scheibe">Johann Adolf Scheibe</a>, suggesting he write less complex music, and his supporters, such as <a href="/wiki/Johann_Mattheson">Johann Mattheson</a> and <a href="/wiki/Lorenz_Christoph_Mizler">Lorenz Christoph Mizler</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-182">[179]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-183">[180]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-184">[181]</a></sup>
</p><p>After his death, Bach's reputation as a composer at first declined: his work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging <a href="/wiki/Galant_music">galant</a> style.<sup><a href="#cite_note-185">[182]</a></sup> Initially, he was remembered more as a virtuoso player of the organ and as a teacher. The bulk of the music that had been <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach_printed_during_his_lifetime">printed during the composer's lifetime</a>, at least the part that was remembered, was for the organ and the harpsichord. Thus, his reputation as a composer was initially mostly limited to his keyboard music, and that even fairly limited to its value in music education.
</p><p>Bach's surviving family members, who inherited a large part of his manuscripts, were not all equally concerned with preserving them, leading to considerable losses.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2000456–461-186">[183]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel</a>, his second eldest son, was most active in safeguarding his father's legacy: he co-authored his father's obituary, contributed to the publication of his four-part chorales,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen130mode1up_85–86]-187">[184]</a></sup> staged some of his works, and the bulk of previously unpublished works of his father were preserved with his help.<sup><a href="#cite_note-188">[185]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann</a>, the eldest son, performed several of his father's cantatas in <a href="/wiki/Halle_(Saale)">Halle</a> but after becoming unemployed sold part of the large collection of his father's works he owned.<sup><a href="#cite_note-189">[186]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen186mode1up_139]-190">[187]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2013459-191">[188]</a></sup> Several <a href="/wiki/List_of_students_of_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">students of the old master</a>, such as his son-in-law <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Altnickol">Johann Christoph Altnickol</a>, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Agricola">Johann Friedrich Agricola</a>, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Kirnberger">Johann Kirnberger</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Krebs">Johann Ludwig Krebs</a>, contributed to the dissemination of his legacy. The early devotees were not all musicians; for example, in Berlin, <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Itzig">Daniel Itzig</a>, a high official of Frederick the Great's court, venerated Bach.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff2005-192">[189]</a></sup> His eldest daughters took lessons from Kirnberger and their sister Sara from <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a>, who was in Berlin from 1774 to 1784.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff2005-192">[189]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Apple14-193">[190]</a></sup> Sara Itzig Levy became an avid collector of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons and was a "patron" of CPE Bach.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Apple14-193">[190]</a></sup>
</p><p>While in Leipzig, performances of Bach's church music were limited to some of his motets, and under <a href="/wiki/Thomaskantor">cantor</a> <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Doles">Doles</a> some of his <a href="/wiki/Passions_(Bach)">Passions</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage518mode2up_518–519],_[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage611mode1up_611]-194">[191]</a></sup> A new generation of Bach aficionados emerged: they studiously collected and copied his music, including some of his large-scale works such as the <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor">Mass in B minor</a> and performed it privately. One such connoisseur was <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_van_Swieten">Gottfried van Swieten</a>, a high-ranking Austrian official who was instrumental in passing Bach's legacy on to the composers of the <a href="/wiki/First_Viennese_School">Viennese school</a>. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Haydn">Haydn</a> owned manuscript copies of the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i> and the Mass in B minor and was influenced by Bach's music. <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Mozart</a> owned a copy of one of Bach's motets,<sup><a href="#cite_note-195">[192]</a></sup> transcribed some of his instrumental works (<a href="/w/index.php?title=K._404a&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">K. 404a</a>, <a href="/w/index.php?title=K._405&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">405</a>),<sup><a href="#cite_note-196">[193]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-197">[194]</a></sup> and wrote contrapuntal music influenced by his style.<sup><a href="#cite_note-198">[195]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-apbrown-199">[196]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Beethoven</a> played the entire <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i> by the time he was 11 and described Bach as <i>Urvater der Harmonie</i> (progenitor of harmony).<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Schenk1959p101-201">[198]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-202">[199]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKerst1904101-203">[200]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-204">[201]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>19th century</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Altes_Bachdenkmal_(Leipzig)_-_Holzstich.jpg"></a></p><div><p>Image of the <a href="/w/index.php?title=19th_century_Bach_memorial_(Leipzig)&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Bach memorial</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Bach-Denkmal_in_Leipzig">de</a>] erected by Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig in 1843</p></div></div>
<p>In 1802, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Nikolaus_Forkel">Johann Nikolaus Forkel</a> published <i><a href="/wiki/Ueber_Johann_Sebastian_Bachs_Leben,_Kunst_und_Kunstwerke">Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke</a></i>, the first biography of the composer, which contributed to his becoming known to a wider public.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeck20069–10-205">[202]</a></sup> In 1805, <a href="/wiki/Abraham_Mendelssohn">Abraham Mendelssohn</a>, who had married one of Itzig's granddaughters, bought a substantial collection of Bach manuscripts that had come down from C. P. E. Bach, and donated it to the <a href="/wiki/Sing-Akademie_zu_Berlin">Berlin Sing-Akademie</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff2005-192">[189]</a></sup> The Sing-Akademie occasionally performed Bach's works in public concerts, for instance his <a href="/wiki/BWV_1052">first keyboard concerto</a>, with Sara Itzig Levy at the piano.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Wolff2005-192">[189]</a></sup>
</p><p>The first decades of the 19th century saw an increasing number of first publications of Bach's music: Breitkopf started publishing chorale preludes,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen99mode1up_94]-206">[203]</a></sup> Hoffmeister harpsichord music,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen101mode1up_96–97]-207">[204]</a></sup> and the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i> was printed concurrently by Simrock (Germany), Nägeli (Switzerland) and Hoffmeister (Germany and Austria) in 1801.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen105mode1up_100]-208">[205]</a></sup> Vocal music was also published: motets in 1802 and 1803, followed by the E♭ major version of the <i><a href="/wiki/Magnificat_(Bach)">Magnificat</a></i>, the <a href="/wiki/BWV_234">Kyrie-Gloria Mass in A major</a>, and the cantata <a href="/wiki/Ein_feste_Burg_ist_unser_Gott,_BWV_80"><i>Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott</i> (BWV 80)</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen22mode1up_xvii]-209">[206]</a></sup> In 1818, <a href="/wiki/Hans_Georg_N%C3%A4geli">Hans Georg Nägeli</a> called the <i>Mass in B minor</i> the greatest composition ever.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup> Bach's influence was felt in the next generation of early Romantic composers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Schenk1959p101-201">[198]</a></sup> When Felix Mendelssohn, Abraham's son, aged 13, produced his first <i>Magnificat</i> setting in 1822, it is clear that he had been inspired by the then unpublished D major version of Bach's <i>Magnificat</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-210">[207]</a></sup>
</p><p>Felix Mendelssohn significantly contributed to the renewed interest in Bach's work with his 1829 Berlin performance of the <i><a href="/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion">St Matthew Passion</a></i>, which was instrumental in setting off what has been called the Bach Revival. The <i><a href="/wiki/St_John_Passion">St John Passion</a></i> saw its 19th-century premiere in 1833, and the first performance of the <i>Mass in B minor</i> followed in 1844. Besides these and other public performances and an increased coverage on the composer and his compositions in printed media, the 1830s and 1840s also saw the first publication of more vocal works by Bach: six cantatas, the <i>St Matthew Passion</i>, and the <i>Mass in B minor</i>. A series of organ compositions saw their first publication in 1833.<sup><a href="#cite_note-211">[208]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin">Chopin</a> started composing his <a href="/wiki/24_Preludes,_Op._28_(Chopin)">24 Preludes, Op. 28</a>, inspired by the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i>, in 1835, and <a href="/wiki/Robert_Schumann">Schumann</a> published his <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sechs_Fugen_%C3%BCber_den_Namen_B-A-C-H&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Sechs Fugen über den Namen B-A-C-H</a></i> in 1845. Bach's music was transcribed and arranged to suit contemporary tastes and performance practice by composers such as <a href="/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Zelter">Carl Friedrich Zelter</a>, <a href="/wiki/Robert_Franz">Robert Franz</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a>, or combined with new music such as the melody line of <a href="/wiki/Charles_Gounod">Charles Gounod</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Ave_Maria_(Bach/Gounod)">Ave Maria</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKupferberg1985126-212">[209]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Johannes_Brahms">Brahms</a>, <a href="/wiki/Anton_Bruckner">Bruckner</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Richard_Wagner">Wagner</a> were among the composers who promoted Bach's music or wrote glowingly about it.
</p><p>In 1850, the <i><a href="/wiki/Bach_Gesellschaft">Bach-Gesellschaft</a></i> (Bach Society) was founded to promote Bach's music. In the second half of the 19th century, the Society published a comprehensive edition of the composer's works. Also in the second half of the 19th century, <a href="/wiki/Philipp_Spitta">Philipp Spitta</a> published <i><a href="/wiki/Spitta%27s_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a></i>, the standard work on Bach's life and music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-213">[210]</a></sup> By that time, Bach was known as the first of the <a href="/wiki/Three_Bs">three Bs</a> in music. Throughout the 19th century, 200 books were published on Bach. By the end of the century, local Bach societies were established in several cities, and his music had been performed in all major musical centres.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup>
</p><p>In Germany all throughout the century, Bach was coupled to nationalist feelings, and the composer was inscribed in a religious revival. In England, Bach was coupled to an existing revival of religious and baroque music. By the end of the century, Bach was firmly established as one of the greatest composers, recognised for both his instrumental and his vocal music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>20th century</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Statue_of_J.S._Bach_in_Leipzig.jpg"></a></p><div><p>1908 Statue of Bach in front of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig</p></div></div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Fotothek_df_roe-neg_0002806_004_Besucher_der_Messe_in_der_Thomaskirche_zu_Ehren_Bachs.jpg"></a></p><div><p>28 July 1950: memorial service for Bach in Leipzig's Thomaskirche, on the 200th anniversary of the composer's death</p></div></div>
<p>During the 20th century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the <a href="/wiki/Pedagogy">pedagogic</a> value of some of the works continued, as in the promotion of the <a href="/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)">cello suites</a> by <a href="/wiki/Pablo_Casals">Pablo Casals</a>, the first major performer to record these suites.<sup><a href="#cite_note-214">[211]</a></sup> Leading performers of classical music such as <a href="/wiki/Willem_Mengelberg">Willem Mengelberg</a>, <a href="/wiki/Edwin_Fischer">Edwin Fischer</a>, <a href="/wiki/Georges_Enescu">Georges Enescu</a>, <a href="/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski">Leopold Stokowski</a>, <a href="/wiki/Herbert_von_Karajan">Herbert von Karajan</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Grumiaux">Arthur Grumiaux</a>, <a href="/wiki/Helmut_Walcha">Helmut Walcha</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wanda_Landowska">Wanda Landowska</a>, <a href="/wiki/Karl_Richter_(conductor)">Karl Richter</a>, <a href="/wiki/I_Musici">I Musici</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dietrich_Fischer-Dieskau">Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Glenn_Gould">Glenn Gould</a> recorded his music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-215">[n 4]</a></sup>
</p><p>A significant development in the later part of the 20th century was the momentum gained by the <a href="/wiki/Historically_informed_performance">historically informed performance</a> practice, with forerunners such as <a href="/wiki/Nikolaus_Harnoncourt">Nikolaus Harnoncourt</a> acquiring prominence by their performances of Bach's music. His keyboard music was again performed more on the instruments Bach was familiar with, rather than on modern pianos and 19th-century romantic organs. Ensembles playing and singing Bach's music not only kept to the instruments and the performance style of his day but were also reduced to the size of the groups Bach used for his performances.<sup><a href="#cite_note-216">[212]</a></sup> But that was far from the only way Bach's music came to the forefront in the 20th century: his music was heard in versions ranging from <a href="/wiki/Ferruccio_Busoni">Ferruccio Busoni</a>'s late romantic <a href="/wiki/Bach-Busoni_Editions">piano transcriptions</a> to jazzy interpretations such as those by <a href="/wiki/The_Swingle_Singers">The Swingle Singers</a>, orchestrations like the one opening <a href="/wiki/Walt_Disney">Walt Disney</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Fantasia_(1940_film)">Fantasia</a></i> movie, and synthesiser performances such as <a href="/wiki/Wendy_Carlos">Wendy Carlos</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/Switched-On_Bach">Switched-On Bach</a></i> recordings.
</p><p>Bach's music has influenced other genres. For instance, jazz musicians have adopted Bach's music, with <a href="/wiki/Jacques_Loussier">Jacques Loussier</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ian_Anderson">Ian Anderson</a>, <a href="/wiki/Uri_Caine">Uri Caine</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Modern_Jazz_Quartet">Modern Jazz Quartet</a> among those creating jazz versions of his works.<sup><a href="#cite_note-217">[213]</a></sup> Several 20th-century composers referred to Bach or his music, for example <a href="/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ysa%C3%BFe">Eugène Ysaÿe</a> in <a href="/wiki/Six_Sonatas_for_solo_violin_(Ysa%C3%BFe)">Six Sonatas for solo violin</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dmitri_Shostakovich">Dmitri Shostakovich</a> in <a href="/wiki/24_Preludes_and_Fugues_(Shostakovich)">24 Preludes and Fugues</a> and <a href="/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Lobos">Heitor Villa-Lobos</a> in <i><a href="/wiki/Bachianas_Brasileiras">Bachianas Brasileiras</a></i>. All kinds of publications involved Bach: not only were there the <i>Bach Jahrbuch</i> publications of the Neue Bachgesellschaft, various other biographies and studies by among others <a href="/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer">Albert Schweitzer</a>, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Charles Sanford Terry</a>, <a href="/wiki/Alfred_D%C3%BCrr">Alfred Dürr</a>, <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>. <a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Peter Williams</a>, <a href="/wiki/John_Butt_(musician)">John Butt</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-218">[n 5]</a></sup> and the 1950 first edition of the <a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis</a>; but also books such as <i><a href="/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach">Gödel, Escher, Bach</a></i> put the composer's art in a wider perspective. Bach's music was extensively listened to, performed, broadcast, arranged, adapted, and commented upon in the 1990s.<sup><a href="#cite_note-KVNM2000-219">[214]</a></sup> Around 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, three record companies issued box sets with complete recordings of Bach's music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-220">[215]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-221">[216]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-222">[217]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach's music features three times—more than that of any other composer—on the <a href="/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record">Voyager Golden Record</a>, a gramophone record containing a broad sample of the images, common sounds, languages, and music of Earth, sent into outer space with the two <a href="/wiki/Voyager_program">Voyager</a> probes.<sup><a href="#cite_note-223">[218]</a></sup> Tributes to Bach in the 20th century include statues erected in his honour and a variety of things such as streets and space objects being named after him.<sup><a href="#cite_note-224">[219]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-225">[220]</a></sup> Also, a multitude of musical ensembles such as the <a href="/wiki/Bach_Aria_Group">Bach Aria Group</a>, <a href="/wiki/Deutsche_Bachsolisten">Deutsche Bachsolisten</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bachchor_Stuttgart">Bachchor Stuttgart</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Bach_Collegium_Japan">Bach Collegium Japan</a> adopted the composer's name. <a href="/wiki/Bach_festival">Bach festivals</a> were held on several continents, and competitions and prizes such as the <a href="/wiki/International_Johann_Sebastian_Bach_Competition">International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Academy_of_Music_Bach_Prize">Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize</a> were named after the composer. While by the end of the 19th century Bach had been inscribed in nationalism and religious revival, the late 20th century saw Bach as the subject of a secularised art-as-religion (<i><a href="/wiki/Kunstreligion">Kunstreligion</a></i>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-McKay-200">[197]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-KVNM2000-219">[214]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>21st century</h3>
<p>In the 21st century, Bach's compositions have become available online, for instance at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-226">[221]</a></sup> High-resolution facsimiles of Bach's autographs became available at the <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website.<sup><a href="#cite_note-227">[222]</a></sup> 21st-century biographers include <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>, <a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Peter Williams</a> and <a href="/wiki/John_Eliot_Gardiner">John Eliot Gardiner</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-228">[n 6]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2015, Bach's handwritten personal copy of his Mass in B minor, held by the <a href="/wiki/Berlin_State_Library">Berlin State Library</a>, was added to <a href="/wiki/UNESCO">UNESCO</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Memory_of_the_World_Programme#Memory_of_the_World_Register">Memory of the World Register</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-unesco-229">[223]</a></sup> a program intended to protect culturally significant manuscripts.
</p><p>In 2019, Bach was named the greatest composer of all time in a poll conducted among 174 living composers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-230">[224]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Burial site</h3>
<p>Bach was originally buried at Old St. John's Cemetery in Leipzig. His grave went unmarked for nearly 150 years, but in 1894 his remains were located and moved to a vault in St. John's Church. This building was destroyed by <a href="/wiki/Bombing_of_Leipzig_in_World_War_II">Allied bombing during World War II</a>, so in 1950 Bach's remains were taken to their present grave in St. Thomas Church.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Baroquenet-25">[22]</a></sup> Later research has called into question whether the remains in the grave are actually those of Bach.<sup><a href="#cite_note-231">[225]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<h3>Notes</h3>
<div>
<ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> In the portrait, Bach holds a copy of the six-part <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">canon</a> <a href="/wiki/BWV_1076">BWV 1076</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001&quot;10._Iconography&quot;-1">[1]</a></sup>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-IPA_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-IPA_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> German: <small></small><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German">[ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈbax]</a> (<a href="/wiki/File:De-Johann_Sebastian_Bach.ogg"></a><a href="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/De-Johann_Sebastian_Bach.ogg">listen</a>). The last name appears in English as on <a href="/wiki/Lexico">Lexico</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[5]</a></sup> and in <i><a href="/wiki/Dictionary.com">Dictionary.com</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[6]</a></sup>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> Johann Sebastian Bach drafted a genealogy around 1735, titled "Origin of the musical Bach family", printed in translation in <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 283
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-215">^</a></b> For more information, please click the articles on performers; see also reviews and listings in <a href="/wiki/Gramophone_(magazine)">Gramophone</a>, <a href="/wiki/Diapason_(magazine)">Diapason</a>, <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>, <a href="/wiki/Discogs">Discogs</a> and <a href="/wiki/Muziekweb">Muziekweb</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-218">^</a></b> See
<ul><li><a href="#CITEREFSchweitzer1911">Schweitzer 1911</a> (1905 and 1908 editions)</li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFTerry1928">Terry 1928</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFDürr1981">Dürr 1981</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFDürrJones2006">Dürr &amp; Jones 2006</a> (English translation)</li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWolff1991">Wolff 1991</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWilliams1980">Williams 1980</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFButt1997">Butt 1997</a></li></ul>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-228">^</a></b> See 
<ul><li><a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWilliams2003a">Williams 2003a</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWilliams2007">Williams 2007</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFWilliams2016">Williams 2016</a></li>
<li><a href="#CITEREFGardiner2013">Gardiner 2013</a></li></ul>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h3>Citations</h3>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001&quot;10._Iconography&quot;_1-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolffEmery2001">Wolff &amp; Emery 2001</a>, "10. Iconography".
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECristStauff2011_4-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFCristStauff2011">Crist &amp; Stauff 2011</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite>Marshall, Robert L.; Emery, Walter (18 May 2020). <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach">"Johann Sebastian Bach | Biography, Music, Death &amp; Facts"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Chicago. Retrieved 16 June 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/T._C._W._Blanning">Blanning, T. C. W.</a> (2008). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6RptffQRvEEC"><i>The Triumph of Music: The Rise of Composers, Musicians and Their Art</i></a>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6RptffQRvEEC&amp;pg=PA272">272</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-674-03104-3"><bdi>978-0-674-03104-3</bdi></a>. <q>And of course the greatest master of harmony and counterpoint of all time was Johann Sebastian Bach, 'the <a href="/wiki/Homer">Homer</a> of music'.</q></cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160511060103/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bach-johann-sebastian">"Bach, Johann Sebastian"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Lexico">Lexico</a>. Archived from <a href="https://www.lexico.com/definition/bach_johann_sebastian">the original</a> on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/johann-sebastian-bach">"Bach"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Dictionary.com">Dictionary.com</a>. Retrieved 3 May 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJones20073_9-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFJones2007">Jones 2007</a>, p. 3.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeck2003[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA2_2],_[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA156_156]_10-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeck2003">Geck 2003</a>, pp. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=N1zSVDYTCXgC&amp;pg=PA2">2</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=N1zSVDYTCXgC&amp;pg=PA156">156</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBoyd20006_11-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFBoyd2000">Boyd 2000</a>, p. 6.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmeryWollnyLeisinger2018II._List_of_all_family_members_alphabetically_by_first_name_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmeryWollnyLeisinger2018II._List_of_all_family_members_alphabetically_by_first_name_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolffEmeryWollnyLeisinger2018">Wolff et al. 2018</a>, II. List of all family members alphabetically by first name.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolffEmery2001_13-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolffEmery2001">Wolff &amp; Emery 2001</a>.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles196286–87_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles196286–87_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFMiles1962">Miles 1962</a>, pp. 86–87.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBoyd20007–8_16-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFBoyd2000">Boyd 2000</a>, pp. 7–8.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998299_17-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 299.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff200045_18-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 45.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff200019,_46_19-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 19, 46.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff200073_20-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 73.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000170_21-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 170.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899a186–187_22-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899a">Spitta 1899a</a>, pp. 186–187.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff200041–43_23-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 41–43.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-EidamChI_24-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EidamChI_24-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. I
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-8"><sup><i><b>i</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baroquenet_25-9"><sup><i><b>j</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html">"Johann Sebastian Bach: a detailed informative biography"</a>. <i>The Baroque Music Site</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120220080633/http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html">Archived</a> from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff200055–56_26-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 55–56.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERich199527_27-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFRich1995">Rich 1995</a>, p. 27.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBoyd200015–16_28-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFBoyd2000">Boyd 2000</a>, pp. 15–16.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChiapusso196862_29-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFChiapusso1968">Chiapusso 1968</a>, p. 62.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a40_30-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2003a">Williams 2003a</a>, p. 40.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Wolff2000pp83ff_31-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YtJVFiHnepcC&amp;pg=PA83">83ff</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b> <cite>Snyder, Kerala J. (2007). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qSXGOoambNcC&amp;pg=PA104"><i>Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck</i></a> (2nd ed.). pp. 104–106. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-58046-253-2"><bdi>978-1-58046-253-2</bdi></a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150928212929/https://books.google.com/books?id=qSXGOoambNcC&amp;pg=PA104">Archived</a> from the original on 28 September 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-WolffP102_33-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-WolffP102_33-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YtJVFiHnepcC&amp;pg=PA102">102–104</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidwX-rF2_k_S8CpgPA38_38–39]_34-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2003a">Williams 2003a</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wX-rF2_k_S8C&amp;pg=PA38">38–39</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000005?lang=en">00005</a> at <a href="http://www.bach-digital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bach-digital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bachhausweimar.de/en/arguments/history-of-the-bach-house/then-and-now.html">"History of the Bach House"</a>. <i>Bach House Weimar</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151126011612/http://www.bachhausweimar.de/en/arguments/history-of-the-bach-house/then-and-now.html">Archived</a> from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen358mode1up_Table_VII,_p._309]_37-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n358/mode/1up">Table VII, p. 309</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Elaine_Thornburgh">Thornburgh, Elaine</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150905175129/http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M345/Baroque_Music1.html">"Baroque Music – Part One"</a>. <i>Music in Our World</i>. San Diego State University. Archived from <a href="http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/M345/Baroque_Music1.html">the original</a> on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChiapusso1968168_39-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFChiapusso1968">Chiapusso 1968</a>, p. 168.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchweitzer1923331_40-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchweitzer1923">Schweitzer 1923</a>, p. 331.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b> <cite>Koster, Jan. <a href="http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html">"Weimar (II) 1708–1717"</a>. <i>J. S. Bach Archive and Bibliography</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328175204/http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html">Archived</a> from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Sadie1998p205_42-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Sadie1998p205_42-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/Julie_Anne_Sadie">Sadie, Julie Anne</a>, ed. (1998). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip6voIceW0AC&amp;pg=PA205"><i>Companion to Baroque Music</i></a>. p. 205. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-21414-9"><bdi>978-0-520-21414-9</bdi></a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150514185450/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip6voIceW0AC&amp;pg=PA205">Archived</a> from the original on 14 May 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000147,_156_43-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 147, 156.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff30_44-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff30_44-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1991">Wolff 1991</a>, p. 30
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/John_Eliot_Gardiner">Gardiner, John Eliot</a> (2010). <a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P18c%5Bsdg174_gb%5D.pdf">"Cantatas for Christmas Day: Herderkirche, Weimar"</a> (PDF). pp. 1–2. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043302/http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P18c%5Bsdg174_gb%5D.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1996). <a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Koopman-C03-1c%5BErato-3CD%5D.pdf">"From konzertmeister to thomaskantor: Bach's cantata production 1713–1723"</a> (PDF). pp. 15–16. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043330/http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Koopman-C03-1c%5BErato-3CD%5D.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff199880_47-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 80.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles196257_48-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFMiles1962">Miles 1962</a>, p. 57.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBoyd200074_49-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFBoyd2000">Boyd 2000</a>, p. 74.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEVan_Til200769,_372_50-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFVan_Til2007">Van Til 2007</a>, pp. 69, 372.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDent200423_51-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDent2004">Dent 2004</a>, p. 23.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpaeth193737_52-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpaeth1937">Spaeth 1937</a>, p. 37.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b11_53-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, p. 11.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeiringer196650_54-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeiringer1966">Geiringer 1966</a>, p. 50.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff198398,_111_55-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1983">Wolff 1983</a>, pp. 98, 111.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage192mode2up_192–193]_56-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb02spituoft#page/192/mode/2up">192–193</a>.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff253_57-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff253_57-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2013">Wolff 2013</a>, p. 253
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2013345_58-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2013">Wolff 2013</a>, p. 345.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage265mode1up_265]_59-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb02spituoft#page/265/mode/1up">265</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage184mode1up_184]_60-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb02spituoft#page/184/mode/1up">184</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-BL_61-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/musicmanu/bach/">"Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/British_Library">British Library</a>: Online Gallery. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160129085658/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/musicmanu/bach/">Archived</a> from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2013348_62-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2013">Wolff 2013</a>, p. 348.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2013349_63-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2013">Wolff 2013</a>, p. 349.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff5_64-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff5_64-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1997">Wolff 1997</a>, p. 5
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-65">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV225-231.htm">"Motets BWV 225–231"</a>. <i>Bach Cantatas Website</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150224194441/http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV225-231.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-66">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Work-Perform.htm">"Works of Other Composers performed by J.S. Bach"</a>. <i>Bach Cantatas Website</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140717213208/http://bach-cantatas.com/Other/Work-Perform.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBoyd2000112–113_67-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFBoyd2000">Boyd 2000</a>, pp. 112–113.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b288–290_68-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, pp. 288–290.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b281,_287_69-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, pp. 281, 287.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000341_70-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 341.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Stauffer_71-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFStauffer2008">Stauffer 2008</a>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-baroquemusic_72-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-baroquemusic_72-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://www.baroquemusic.org/bminormass.html">"Bach Mass in B Minor BWV 232"</a>. <i>The Baroque Music Site</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120307222443/http://www.baroquemusic.org/bminormass.html">Archived</a> from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-73">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00024100">US-PRu M 3.1. B2 C5. 1739q</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162156/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00024100">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-74">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00003694">GB-Lbl Add. MS. 35021</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204325/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00003694">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-75">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000660">D-B Mus. ms. 16714</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911161956/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000660">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-76">^</a></b> D-Cv A.V,1109,(1), <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002705">1a</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161118074821/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002705">Archived</a> 18 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> and <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002706">1b</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161118074830/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002706">Archived</a> 18 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-77">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001067">D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 195</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161118074815/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001067">Archived</a> 18 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-78">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018332">D-B Mus. ms. 1160</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072916/http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018332">Archived</a> 4 March 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-79">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00022815">D-WFe 191</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204322/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00022815">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website (<a href="/wiki/RISM_(identifier)">RISM</a> <a href="https://opac.rism.info/search?id=250000899&amp;Language=en">250000899</a>)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-80">^</a></b> D-Bsa SA 301, <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002281">Fascicle 1</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161118074832/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002281">Archived</a> 18 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> and <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018891">Fascicle 2</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161118074828/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018891">Archived</a> 18 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-LISA_81-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/neuaufgefundenes_bach_autograph_in_weissenfels?nav_id=4421">Neuaufgefundenes Bach-Autograph in Weißenfels</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911161832/https://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/neuaufgefundenes_bach_autograph_in_weissenfels?nav_id=4421">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="http://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/">lisa<wbr></wbr>.gerda-henkel-stiftung<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-82">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00003647">F-Pn Ms. 17669</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162246/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00003647">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-83">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000763">D-B N. Mus. ms. 468</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162223/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000763">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> and <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004039">Privatbesitz C. Thiele, BWV deest (NBA Serie II:5)</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204514/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004039">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-84">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000756">D-B N. Mus. ms. 307</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151208134212/http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000756">Archived</a> 8 December 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-85">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001203">D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 271, Fascicle 2</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162108/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001203">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-86">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000690">D-B Mus. ms. 30199, Fascicle 14</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162140/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000690">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> and <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000661">D-B Mus. ms. 17155/16</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162134/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000661">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-87">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00019289">D-B Mus. ms. 7918</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204444/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00019289">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-88">^</a></b> <i>Musikalische Bibliothek</i>, <a href="https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10599088?page=411">III.2 [1746], 353</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130116112815/http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10599088_00411.html">Archived</a> 16 January 2013 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, Felbick 2012, 284. In 1746, Mizler announced the membership of three famous members, <i>Musikalische Bibliothek</i>, <a href="https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10599088?page=415">III.2 [1746], 357</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130116112902/http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10599088_00415.html">Archived</a> 16 January 2013 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-89">^</a></b> <i>Musikalische Bibliothek</i>, IV.1 [1754], 108 and Tab. IV, fig. 16 <a href="https://archive.org/stream/MusikalischeBibliothek4.band1754/MizlerMusikalischeBibliothekBd41754#page/n109/mode/2up">(<i>Source online</i>)</a>; letter of Mizler to Spieß, 29 June 1748, in: Hans Rudolf Jung and Hans-Eberhard Dentler: <i>Briefe von Lorenz Mizler und Zeitgenossen an Meinrad Spieß</i>, in: <i>Studi musicali</i> 2003, Nr. 32, 115.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998224_90-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 224.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-91">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004346">US-PRscheide BWV 645–650</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204617/https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004346">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (original print of the <i>Schübler Chorales</i> with Bach's handwritten corrections and additions from before August 1748 – description at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-92">^</a></b> Breig, Werner (2010). "<a href="https://www.breitkopf.com/assets/pdf/15009_EB8806_PDF_EB8806_Einl.pdf">Introduction</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180222093423/https://www.breitkopf.com/assets/pdf/15009_EB8806_PDF_EB8806_Einl.pdf">Archived</a> 22 February 2018 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>" (pp. 14, 17–18) in <a href="https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795/15009">Vol. 6: <i>Clavierübung III, Schübler-Chorales, Canonische Veränderungen</i></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162246/https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795/15009">Archived</a> 11 September 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> of <a href="https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795">Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Organ Works.</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150905110155/https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795">Archived</a> 5 September 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf</a>.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Nekrolog_93-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Nekrolog_93-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Nekrolog_93-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel</a>; <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Agricola">Agricola, Johann Friedrich</a> (1754). <a href="/wiki/Bach%27s_Nekrolog">"Nekrolog"</a>. <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Musikalische_Bibliothek&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Musikalische Bibliothek</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musikalische_Bibliothek">de</a>]</i> (in German). Leipzig: Mizlerischer Bücherverlag. <b>IV.1</b>: 158–173.</cite> Printed in translation in <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 299.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-94">^</a></b> Hans Gunter Hoke: "Neue Studien zur <i>Kunst der Fuge</i> BWV 1080", in: <i>Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft</i> 17 (1975), 95–115; Hans-Eberhard Dentler: "Johann Sebastian Bachs <i>Kunst der Fuge</i> – Ein pythagoreisches Werk und seine Verwirklichung", Mainz 2004; Hans-Eberhard Dentler: "Johann Sebastian Bachs <i>Musicalisches Opfer</i> – Musik als Abbild der Sphärenharmonie", Mainz 2008.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChiapusso1968277_95-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFChiapusso1968">Chiapusso 1968</a>, p. 277.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-96">^</a></b> <cite>Rathey, Markus (18 April 2003). <a href="http://ism.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach.pdf"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor: The Greatest Artwork of All Times and All People</i></a> (PDF). The Tangeman Lecture. New Haven. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140715154931/http://ism.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-97">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 442, from <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-98">^</a></b> <cite>Zegers, Richard H.C. (2005). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001%2Farchopht.123.10.1427">"The Eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach"</a>. <i>Archives of Ophthalmology</i>. <b>123</b> (10): 1427–1430. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1001%2Farchopht.123.10.1427">10.1001/archopht.123.10.1427</a>. <a href="/wiki/PMID_(identifier)">PMID</a> <a href="//pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16219736">16219736</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-99">^</a></b> <cite>Hanford, Jan. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120226083800/http://www.jsbach.org/timeline.html">"J.S. Bach: Timeline of His Life"</a>. <i>J.S. Bach Home Page</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.jsbach.org/timeline.html">the original</a> on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998188_100-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 188.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899c[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb03spituoftpage274mode1up_274]_101-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899c">Spitta 1899c</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb03spituoft#page/274/mode/1up">274</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDavidMendelWolff1998191–197_102-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, pp. 191–197.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-103">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/artoffugue/unfinished.shtml">"Did Bach really leave <i>Art of Fugue</i> unfinished?"</a>. <i>The Art of Fugue</i>. American Public Media. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131208064050/http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/artoffugue/unfinished.shtml">Archived</a> from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000166_104-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 166.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-105">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/musicmanu/bach/">"Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/British_Library">British Library</a>. Retrieved 23 June 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHerl2004123_106-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFHerl2004">Herl 2004</a>, p. 123.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-107">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/John_Alexander_Fuller_Maitland">Fuller Maitland, J. A.</a>, ed. (1911). <a href="https://archive.org/details/grovesdictionar02boydgoog">"Johann Sebastian Bach"</a>. <i>Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians</i>. Vol. 1. New York: <a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers">Macmillan Publishers</a>. p. 154.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELeaver2007280,_289–291_108-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFLeaver2007">Leaver 2007</a>, pp. 280, 289–291.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-109">^</a></b> <cite>Huizenga, Tom. <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88203558">"A Visitor's Guide to the St. Matthew Passion"</a>. <i>NPR Music</i>. National Public Radio. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120227102340/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88203558">Archived</a> from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-110">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130702125746/http://bach.org/bach101/instrumental/clavier.html">"The Well Tempered Clavier BWV 846–869"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from <a href="http://bach.org/bach101/instrumental/clavier.html">the original</a> on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899c[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb03spituoftpage315mode1up_vol._3,_appendix_XII,_p._315]_111-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899c">Spitta 1899c</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb03spituoft#page/315/mode/1up">vol. 3, appendix XII, p. 315</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-112">^</a></b> Clemens Romijn. Liner notes for <i><a href="/wiki/Tilge,_H%C3%B6chster,_meine_S%C3%BCnden,_BWV_1083">Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083</a> (after Pergolesi's Stabat Mater)</i>. <a href="/wiki/Brilliant_Classics">Brilliant Classics</a>, 2000. (2014 reissue: <i>J.S. Bach Complete Edition</i>. <a href="http://www.brilliantclassics.com/media/1119359/94940-JS-Bach-Complete-Edition-Liner-Notes-Sung-Text-download.pdf">"Liner notes"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151122020149/http://www.brilliantclassics.com/media/1119359/94940-JS-Bach-Complete-Edition-Liner-Notes-Sung-Text-download.pdf">Archived</a> 22 November 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> p. 54)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-113">^</a></b> Jopi Harri. <a href="http://ecmr.fi/Scanned_Books_etc/AnnalesB340Harri.pdf"><i>St. Petersburg Court Chant and the Tradition of Eastern Slavic Church Singing</i>.</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160220202804/http://ecmr.fi/Scanned_Books_etc/AnnalesB340Harri.pdf">Archived</a> 20 February 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> Finland: University of Turku (2011), p. 24
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._IV_114-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. IV.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._IX_115-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. IX.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Marshall_1989_3–17_116-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Marshall_1989_3–17_116-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Marshall, Robert L. (1989). Franklin, Don O. (ed.). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lT09AAAAIAAJ&amp;pg=PA3"><i>On the Origin of Bach's </i>Magnificat<i>: a Lutheran composer's challenge</i></a>. Vol. Bach Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–17. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-34105-9"><bdi>978-0-521-34105-9</bdi></a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160429141836/https://books.google.com/books?id=lT09AAAAIAAJ&amp;pg=PA3">Archived</a> from the original on 29 April 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._III_117-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. III.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-118">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004312">Klavierbüchlein für W. F. Bach</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151118093144/http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004312">Archived</a> 18 November 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDonington198291_119-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFDonington1982">Donington 1982</a>, p. 91.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-120">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Johann_Kuhnau">Kuhnau, Johann</a> (1700), <i>Der musicalische Quack-Salber</i>, Dresden</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._XVIII_121-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. XVIII.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Isoir1993_122-0">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Isoir">André Isoir</a> (organ) and Le Parlement de Musique conducted by Martin Gester. <i>Johann Sebastian Bach: L'oeuvre pour orgue et orchestre</i>. <a href="/wiki/Calliope_(record_label)">Calliope</a> 1993. Liner notes by <a href="/wiki/Gilles_Cantagrel">Gilles Cantagrel</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-123">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">George Frideric Handel</a>. <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/6_Organ_Concertos,_Op.4_(Handel,_George_Frideric)">6 Organ Concertos, Op. 4</a> at <a href="/wiki/IMSLP">IMSLP</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-124">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Peter_Wollny">Peter Wollny</a>, <a href="http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115/art33/4951433-c30ca2-3149020218129_01.pdf">"Harpsichord Concertos,"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150922030721/http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115/art33/4951433-c30ca2-3149020218129_01.pdf">Archived</a> 22 September 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> booklet notes for <a href="/wiki/Andreas_Staier">Andreas Staier</a>'s 2015 recording of the concertos, Harmonia mundi HMC 902181.82
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchulenberg20061–2_125-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchulenberg2006">Schulenberg 2006</a>, pp. 1–2.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Lester_126-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Lester_126-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFLester1999">Lester 1999</a>, pp. 3–24
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-127">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/artoffugue/performed.shtml">"Did Bach intend <i>Art of Fugue</i> to be performed?"</a>. <i>The Art of Fugue</i>. American Public Media. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131203045552/http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/artoffugue/performed.shtml">Archived</a> from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEidam2001Ch._XXX_128-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. XXX.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb00forkuoftpage73mode1up_73–74]_129-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb00forkuoft#page/73/mode/1up">73–74</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-130">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001677?lang=en">01677</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Williams1980p217_131-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams1980">Williams 1980</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JfE6AAAAIAAJ&amp;pg=PA217">217</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-132">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Alberto_Basso">Basso, Alberto</a> (1979). <i>Frau Musika: La vita e le opere di J. S. Bach</i> (in Italian). Vol. 1. Turin: EDT. p. 493. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-7063-011-4"><bdi>978-88-7063-011-4</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-133">^</a></b> Don O. Franklin. <a href="http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00010567.pdf">"The Libretto of Bach's John Passion and the Doctrine of Reconciliation: An Historical Perspective", pp. 179–203</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160131040840/http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00010567.pdf">Archived</a> 31 January 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> in <i>Proceedings of the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Netherlands_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences">Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences</a></i> Vol. 143 edited by A. A. Clement, 1995.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-134">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bach-digital.de/content/help.xml?lang=en#works">"Bach Works Catalogue"</a>. <i>Bach Digital</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150930081612/http://www.bach-digital.de/content/help.xml?lang=en#works">Archived</a> from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-135">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Schmieder">Wolfgang Schmieder</a> (editor). <i>Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach</i>. Leipzig: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel, 1950. Unaltered through its eighth printing in 1986.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-136">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Schmieder">Schmieder, Wolfgang</a>; <a href="/wiki/Alfred_D%C3%BCrr">Alfred, Dürr</a>; Kobayashi, Yoshitake, eds. (1998). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161031211814/https://www.breitkopf.com/work/78/636"><i>Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe (BWV<sup>2a</sup>)</i></a> (in German). Wiesbaden: <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-7651-0249-3"><bdi>978-3-7651-0249-3</bdi></a>. Archived from <a href="https://www.breitkopf.com/work/78/636">the original</a> on 31 October 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-BDW1307_137-0">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001307?lang=en">01307</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Kuznik2008_138-0">^</a></b> Joel H. Kuznik. <a href="http://www.thediapason.com/sites/default/files/webDiapDec08p23-231.pdf">"BWV 1128: A recently discovered Bach organ work" pp. 22–23</a><sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot">permanent dead link</a></i>]</sup> in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Diapason_(magazine)">The Diapason</a></i>, Vol. 99 No. 22. December 2008. (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110721145157/http://thediapason.com/BWV-1128-A-recently-discovered-Bach-organ-work--article9863">archived 21 July 2011</a>)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELeaver2007430_139-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFLeaver2007">Leaver 2007</a>, p. 430.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliams2003a114_140-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWilliams2003a">Williams 2003a</a>, p. 114.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-141">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="http://www.bach.org/bwv248.php">"The Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140407074223/http://www.bach.org/bwv248.php">Archived</a> from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-142">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130702091306/http://www.bach.org/bach101/about_bach/master_cantata.html">"Bach, Master of the Cantata"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from <a href="http://www.bach.org/bach101/about_bach/master_cantata.html">the original</a> on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-BDWlist_143-0">^</a></b> Bach's secular cantatas in BWV order, each followed by a link to the <a href="/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach#BD">Bach Digital Work</a> (BDW) page of the cantata at the Bach-Digital website: <div>
<ol><li><a href="/wiki/BWV_30a">BWV 30a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000039?lang=en">00039</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_36a">BWV 36a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000049?lang=en">00049</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_36b">BWV 36b</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000050?lang=en">00050</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_36c">BWV 36c</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000051?lang=en">00051</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_66a">BWV 66a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000083?lang=en">00083</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_134a">BWV 134a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000166?lang=en">00166</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_173a">BWV 173a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000211?lang=en">00211</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_184a">BWV 184a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000223?lang=en">00223</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_193a">BWV 193a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000235?lang=en">00235</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=BWV_194a&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">BWV 194a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000239?lang=en">00239</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_198">BWV 198</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000246?lang=en">00246</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_201">BWV 201</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000251?lang=en">00251</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_202">BWV 202</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000252?lang=en">00252</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_203">BWV 203</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000253?lang=en">00253</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_204">BWV 204</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000254?lang=en">00254</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_205">BWV 205</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000255?lang=en">00255</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_205a">BWV 205a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000256?lang=en">00256</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_206">BWV 206</a>, first version (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000257?lang=en">00257</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_206">BWV 206</a>, second version (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000258?lang=en">00258</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_207">BWV 207</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000259?lang=en">00259</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_207a">BWV 207a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000260?lang=en">00260</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_208">BWV 208</a>, first version (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000261?lang=en">00261</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_208">BWV 208</a>, second version (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000262?lang=en">00262</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_208a">BWV 208a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000263?lang=en">00263</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_209">BWV 209</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000264?lang=en">00264</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_210">BWV 210</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000265?lang=en">00265</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_210a">BWV 210a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000266?lang=en">00266</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_211">BWV 211</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000267?lang=en">00267</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_212">BWV 212</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000268?lang=en">00268</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_213">BWV 213</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000269?lang=en">00269</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_214">BWV 214</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000270?lang=en">00270</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_215">BWV 215</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000271?lang=en">00271</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_216">BWV 216</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000272?lang=en">00272</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_216a">BWV 216a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000273?lang=en">00273</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_249a">BWV 249a</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000318?lang=en">00318</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_249b">BWV 249b</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000319?lang=en">00319</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._6">BWV Anh. 6</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001314?lang=en">01314</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._7">BWV Anh. 7</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001315?lang=en">01315</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._8">BWV Anh. 8</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001316?lang=en">01316</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._9">BWV Anh. 9</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001317?lang=en">01317</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._10">BWV Anh. 10</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001318?lang=en">01318</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._11">BWV Anh. 11</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001319?lang=en">01319</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._12">BWV Anh. 12</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001320?lang=en">01320</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._13">BWV Anh. 13</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001321?lang=en">01321</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._18">BWV Anh. 18</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001326?lang=en">01326</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._19">BWV Anh. 19</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001327?lang=en">01327</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._20">BWV Anh. 20</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001328?lang=en">01328</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._195">BWV Anh. 195</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001506?lang=en">01506</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/BWV_Anh._196">BWV Anh. 196</a> (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001507?lang=en">01507</a>)</li>
<li>BWV deest (BDW <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001536?lang=en">01536</a>)</li></ol>
</div>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-144">^</a></b> For instance, <a href="http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=109332&amp;album_group=14">Helmut Rilling's box set of the complete secular cantatas</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160819222030/http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=109332&amp;album_group=14">Archived</a> 19 August 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> contains 22 works
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000100–101_145-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 100–101.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-146">^</a></b> "Especially in its opening chorus, it is one of Bach's contrapuntal masterpieces": Robin A. Leaver in <a href="#CITEREFBoyd1999">Boyd 1999</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-147">^</a></b> "one of Bach's best-known church works" wrote David Schulenberg in <a href="#CITEREFBoyd1999">Boyd 1999</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-148">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000246?lang=en">00246</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-149">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000261?lang=en">00261</a>, <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000262?lang=en">00262</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-150">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000268?lang=en">00268</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-151">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000253?lang=en">00253</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-152">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001319?lang=en">01319</a>, <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001320?lang=en">01320</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-153">^</a></b> Bach Digital Work <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000251?lang=en">00251</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-154">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="http://www.bach.org/bwv211.php">"Cantata BWV 211, Coffee Cantata"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150427095632/http://www.bach.org/bwv211.php">Archived</a> from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-155">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 65
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000363_156-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, p. 363.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-157">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="http://www.bach.org/choral.php">"Choral Works"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140330021530/http://www.bach.org/choral.php">Archived</a> from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-158">^</a></b> <cite>Melamed, Daniel R. (1995). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JDlBMqI628UC&amp;pg=PA90"><i>J. S. Bach and the German Motet</i></a>. pp. 90–94. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-41864-5"><bdi>978-0-521-41864-5</bdi></a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150515122654/https://books.google.com/books?id=JDlBMqI628UC&amp;pg=PA90">Archived</a> from the original on 15 May 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-159">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bach.org/mass.php">"The Mass in B Minor, BWV 232"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140330161348/http://www.bach.org/mass.php">Archived</a> from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHerz1985187_160-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFHerz1985">Herz 1985</a>, p. 187.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-161">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080619044736/http://classicalplus.gmn.com/composers/composer.asp?id=2">"Bach, Johann Sebastian"</a>. <i>GMN ClassicalPlus</i>. Archived from <a href="http://classicalplus.gmn.com/composers/composer.asp?id=2">the original</a> on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-162">^</a></b> <cite>Smith, Timothy A. <a href="http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/arnstadt.html">"Arnstadt (1703–1707)"</a>. <i>The Canons and Fugues of J. S. Bach</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140205032125/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/arnstadt.html">Archived</a> from the original on 5 February 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchweitzer1923333_163-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchweitzer1923">Schweitzer 1923</a>, p. 333.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-164">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Willem_Kroesbergen">Kroesbergen, Willem</a>; Cruickshank, Andrew (October 2015) [November 2013]. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5210832">"18th Century Quotations Relating to J. S. Bach's Temperament"</a> (2nd ed.). <a href="/wiki/Academia.edu">Academia.edu</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-165">^</a></b> <cite>Tomita, Yo. <a href="http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/essay/inventions.html">"J. S. Bach: Inventions and Sinfonias"</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120120123509/http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/essay/inventions.html">Archived</a> from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-166">^</a></b> <cite>McComb, Todd M. <a href="http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/maa777.htm">"Bach: English Suites"</a>. <i>Early Music FAQ</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104315/http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/maa777.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-167">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130702114830/http://www.bach.org/bach101/instrumental/frenchsuites_intro.html">"French Suites 1–6"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from <a href="http://www.bach.org/bach101/instrumental/frenchsuites_intro.html">the original</a> on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-168">^</a></b> <cite>McComb, Todd M. <a href="http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/lol40217.htm">"Bach: Partitas, BWV 825–30"</a>. <i>Early Music FAQ</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140222223615/http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/lol40217.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-169">^</a></b> <cite>Libbey, Ted. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/111427254/gold-standard-for-bachs-goldberg-variations">"Gold Standard for Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'"</a>. <i>NPR Music</i>. National Public Radio. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120219175113/http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/111427254/gold-standard-for-bachs-goldberg-variations">Archived</a> from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-170">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/David_Bratman">Bratman, David</a>. <a href="https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/stanford-lively-arts/shaham-bold-brilliant-all-bach">"Shaham: Bold, Brilliant, All-Bach"</a>. <i>San Francisco Classical Voice</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120211090632/http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/stanford-lively-arts/shaham-bold-brilliant-all-bach">Archived</a> from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff1991111_171-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1991">Wolff 1991</a>, p. 111.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-172">^</a></b> <cite>Schwarm, Betsy (19 April 2019). <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Art-of-Fugue">"The Art of Fugue | History, Description &amp; Facts | Britannica"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Chicago: <a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Inc.">Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</a> Retrieved 22 August 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-173">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141227172446/http://www.baroque.org/baroque/whatis.shtml">"Baroque Music"</a>. <i>Music of the Baroque</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.baroque.org/baroque/whatis.shtml">the original</a> on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-174">^</a></b> <cite>Traupman-Carr, Carol. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130719021226/http://www.bach.org/bach101/bach101_home.html">"A compendium of works performed by the Bach Choir"</a>. <i>Bach 101</i>. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from <a href="http://www.bach.org/bach101/bach101_home.html">the original</a> on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen49mode2up_10–11]_175-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n49/mode/2up">10–11</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen187mode2up_140–141]_176-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n187/mode/2up">140–141</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-177">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Jean-Claude_Zehnder">Zehnder, Jean-Claude</a> (2011) <a href="https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795/15014"><i>Toccatas and Fugues / Individual Works</i>.</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151123133749/https://www.breitkopf.com/work/8795/15014">Archived</a> 23 November 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> Leipzig, <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a>. Introduction p. 20.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-178">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bEq7DwAAQBAJ"><i>Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018</i></a>. Church Publishing, Inc. 17 December 2019. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-64065-235-4"><bdi>978-1-64065-235-4</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-179">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/What_is_Church_Music_Sunday.pdf">"Church Music Sunday"</a> (PDF). <a href="/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_in_America">Evangelical Lutheran Church in America</a>. 2013.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeck2003[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidN1zSVDYTCXgCpgPA141_141]_180-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeck2003">Geck 2003</a>, p. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=N1zSVDYTCXgC&amp;pg=PA141">141</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-181">^</a></b> Johann Sebastian Bach. Letter to Augustus III of Poland. 27 July 1733; Quoted in Hans T. David and <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Mendel">Arthur Mendel</a>, <i>The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents</i>. W. W. Norton, 1945, p. 128; Quoted in <a href="#CITEREFDavidMendelWolff1998">David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998</a>, p. 158.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-182">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Johann_Adolf_Scheibe">Johann Adolf Scheibe</a>. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_KVpDAAAAcAAJ#page/n86/mode/1up">pp. 46–47</a> in <i>Critischer Musicus</i> VI, 14 May 1737. Quoted in <a href="#CITEREFEidam2001">Eidam 2001</a>, Ch. XXII.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-183">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Johann_Mattheson">Johann Mattheson</a>. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_4CVDAAAAcAAJ#page/n259/mode/1up"><i>Das Beschützte Orchestre, oder desselben Zweyte Eröffnung</i>, footnote p. 222</a> Hamburg: Schiller, 1717.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-184">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Lorenz_Christoph_Mizler">Lorenz Christoph Mizler</a>. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/MusikalischeBibliothek1.band1736-38/MizlerMusikalischeBibliothekBd11736-39#page/n314/mode/1up"><i>Musikalische Bibliothek</i>. Volume I, Part 4, pp. 61–73.</a> Leipzig, April 1738. Includes a reprint of Johann Abraham Birnbaum's <a href="http://www.koelnklavier.de/quellen/scheibe-birnb/_index.html"><i>Unpartheyische Anmerckungen über eine bedenckliche stelle in dem Sechsten stück des Critischen Musicus.</i></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140201213832/http://www.koelnklavier.de/quellen/scheibe-birnb/_index.html">Archived</a> 1 February 2014 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> published early January of the same year.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-185">^</a></b> Bach was regarded as "passé even in his own lifetime". (<a href="#CITEREFMorris2005">Morris 2005</a>, p. 2)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2000456–461_186-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2000">Wolff 2000</a>, pp. 456–461.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen130mode1up_85–86]_187-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n130/mode/1up">85–86</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-188">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bach-digital.de/servlets/MCRSearchServlet?mode=results&amp;id=exhhx1msnjhcif500so9&amp;numPerPage=25&amp;mask=search_form_sources.xed&amp;query=(objectType%20=%20%22source%22)%20AND%20(source43%20=%20%220001%22)%20AND%20(source14%20contains%20%22C.%22)%20AND%20(source14%20contains%20%22P.%22)%20AND%20(source14%20contains%20%22E.%22)%20AND%20(source14%20contains%20%22Bach%22)&amp;maxResults=0">Listing of manuscripts of Bach compositions once in the possession of C. P. E. Bach</a><sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot">permanent dead link</a></i>]</sup> at <a href="http://www.bach-digital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bach-digital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-189">^</a></b> Peter Wollny. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ixadkfy40bwC&amp;pg=PA202">"Chapter twelve: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Halle performances of cantatas by his father", pp. 202–228</a> in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ixadkfy40bwC"><i>Bach Studies 2</i></a> edited by Daniel R. Melamed. Cambridge University Press 2006. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-02891-2">978-0-521-02891-2</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen186mode1up_139]_190-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n186/mode/1up">139</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2013459_191-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2013">Wolff 2013</a>, p. 459.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff2005_192-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff2005_192-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff2005_192-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Wolff2005_192-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a>. <a href="http://amacad.org/publications/bulletin/spring2005/wolff.pdf">"A Bach Cult in Late-Eighteenth-Century Berlin: Sara Levy's Musical Salon"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032959/http://www.amacad.org/publications/bulletin/spring2005/wolff.pdf">Archived</a> 4 March 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> in <i><a href="/wiki/Bulletin_of_the_American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences">Bulletin of the American Academy</a></i>. Spring 2005. pp. 26–31.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Apple14_193-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Apple14_193-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFApplegate2005">Applegate 2005</a>, p. 14
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitta1899b[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage518mode2up_518–519],_[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastianb02spituoftpage611mode1up_611]_194-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">Spitta 1899b</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb02spituoft#page/518/mode/2up">518–519</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastianb02spituoft#page/611/mode/1up">611</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-195">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000066">A-Wgm A 169 b (III 31685)</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151208153544/http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000066">Archived</a> 8 December 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="http://www.bachdigital.de/">www<wbr></wbr>.bachdigital<wbr></wbr>.de</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-196">^</a></b> <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Preludes_and_Fugues,_K.404a_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)">Preludes and Fugues, K.404a</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-197">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Ludwig_Ritter_von_K%C3%B6chel">Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von</a> (1862). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kV4VAAAAYAAJ"><i>Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's</i></a> (in German). Leipzig: <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/3309798">3309798</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160429105456/https://books.google.com/books?id=kV4VAAAAYAAJ">Archived</a> from the original on 29 April 2016.</cite>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/chronologischth01kcgoog#page/n355/mode/2up">No. 405, pp. 328–329</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-198">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.schillerinstitut.dk/bach.html">"Bach, Mozart and the 'Musical Midwife'"</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151104145350/http://www.schillerinstitut.dk/bach.html">Archived</a> from the original on 4 November 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-apbrown_199-0">^</a></b> Brown, A. Peter, <i>The Symphonic Repertoire</i> (Volume 2). Indiana University Press (<a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-253-33487-9">978-0-253-33487-9</a>), pp. 423–432 (2002).
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McKay_200-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> McKay, Cory. <a href="http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~cmckay/papers/musicology/BachReception.pdf">"The Bach Reception in the 18th and 19th century"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100202025624/http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~cmckay/papers/musicology/BachReception.pdf">Archived</a> 2 February 2010 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="http://www.music.mcgill.ca/">www<wbr></wbr>.music<wbr></wbr>.mcgill<wbr></wbr>.ca</a>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Schenk1959p101_201-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Schenk1959p101_201-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#CITEREFSchenkWinstonWinston1959">Schenk, Winston &amp; Winston 1959</a>, p. 452
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-202">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Heartz">Daniel Heartz</a>. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0wp2CQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA678"><i>Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781–1802</i>, p. 678.</a> W. W. Norton, 2008. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-28578-9">978-0-393-28578-9</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKerst1904101_203-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKerst1904">Kerst 1904</a>, p. 101.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-204">^</a></b> Edward Noel Green. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_UK4g0hzm4wC&amp;pg=PA273"><i>Chromatic Completion in the Late Vocal Music of Haydn and Mozart: A Technical, Philosophic, and Historical Study</i>, p. 273</a> New York University. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-549-79451-6">978-0-549-79451-6</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeck20069–10_205-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeck2006">Geck 2006</a>, pp. 9–10.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen99mode1up_94]_206-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchneider1907">Schneider 1907</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906/BachJahrbuch1906#page/n99/mode/1up">94</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen101mode1up_96–97]_207-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchneider1907">Schneider 1907</a>, pp. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906/BachJahrbuch1906#page/n101/mode/1up">96–97</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchneider1907[httpsarchiveorgstreamBach-jahrbuch03jg1906BachJahrbuch1906pagen105mode1up_100]_208-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFSchneider1907">Schneider 1907</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906/BachJahrbuch1906#page/n105/mode/1up">100</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEForkel1920[httpsarchiveorgstreamjohannsebastian01terrgoogpagen22mode1up_xvii]_209-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFForkel1920">Forkel 1920</a>, p. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastian01terrgoog#page/n22/mode/1up">xvii</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-210">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn_Bartholdy">Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy</a>. Magnificat, MWV A2 edited by Pietro Zappalà. Carus, 1996. Foreword, p. VI
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-211">^</a></b> <i>Johann Sebastian Bach's noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositionen (auch am Pianoforte von einem oder zwei Spielern ausführbar)</i>, three volumes, edited by <a href="/wiki/Adolph_Bernhard_Marx">Adolph Bernhard Marx</a>. Leipzig: <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a>, 1833
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKupferberg1985126_212-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKupferberg1985">Kupferberg 1985</a>, p. 126.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-213">^</a></b> Spitta <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899a">1899a</a>, <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899b">1899b</a>, <a href="#CITEREFSpitta1899c">1899c</a> (first publication in German, in two volumes: Leipzig, <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a> 1873 and 1880)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-214">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/11/23/142700464/robert-johnson-and-pablo-casals-game-changers-turn-75">"Robert Johnson and Pablo Casals' Game Changers Turn 70"</a>. <i>NPR Music</i>. National Public Radio. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120224050857/http://www.npr.org/2011/11/23/142700464/robert-johnson-and-pablo-casals-game-changers-turn-75">Archived</a> from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-216">^</a></b> <cite>McComb, Todd M. <a href="http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/whatis.htm#hip">"What is Early Music?–Historically Informed Performance"</a>. <i>Early Music FAQ</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150106133856/http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/whatis.htm#hip">Archived</a> from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-217">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Alyn_Shipton">Shipton, Alyn</a>. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/bach/bachatozj.shtml">"Bach and Jazz"</a>. <i>A Bach Christmas</i>. BBC Radio 3. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130924034912/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/bach/bachatozj.shtml">Archived</a> from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-KVNM2000_219-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-KVNM2000_219-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> Rokus de Groot (2000). <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/939103">"And Nowhere Bach. Bach Reception in a Late Twentieth-Century Dutch Composition by Elmer Schönberger"</a> pp. 145–158 in <i><a href="/wiki/Tijdschrift_van_de_Koninklijke_Vereniging_voor_Nederlandse_Muziekgeschiedenis">Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis</a></i>, volume 50, no. 1/2.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-220">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Dec01/BrilliantBach.htm">"Bach Edition"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161110120315/http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Dec01/BrilliantBach.htm">Archived</a> 10 November 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="http://www.musicweb-international.com/">www<wbr></wbr>.musicweb-international<wbr></wbr>.com</a> 1 December 2001
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-221">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Teldec">Teldec</a>'s 1999 <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bach-2000-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00001IV8B">Bach 2000 Box set, Limited Edition</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161012031531/https://www.amazon.com/Bach-2000-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00001IV8B">Archived</a> 12 October 2016 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/">www<wbr></wbr>.amazon<wbr></wbr>.com</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-222">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johann-sebastian-bach-edition/the-complete-works/the-complete-cd-edition.html">Bach-Edition: The Complete Works (172 CDs &amp; CDR)</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150929224617/http://www.haenssler-classic.de/en/series-and-editions/johann-sebastian-bach-edition/the-complete-works/the-complete-cd-edition.html">Archived</a> 29 September 2015 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a> at the <a href="/wiki/H%C3%A4nssler_Classic">Hänssler Classic</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-223">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html">"Golden Record: Music from Earth"</a>. <a href="/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130701054325/http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html">Archived</a> from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-224">^</a></b> <a href="https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/537">Bach</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111023211415/http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/537">Archived</a> 23 October 2011 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <a href="/wiki/United_States_Geological_Survey">USGS</a> Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-225">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1814+Bach">"JPL Small-Body Database Browser"</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170224022624/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1814+Bach">Archived</a> from the original on 24 February 2017.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-226">^</a></b> <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach">List of works by Johann Sebastian Bach</a> and <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Bach,_Johann_Sebastian">Category:Bach, Johann Sebastian</a> at <a href="/wiki/IMSLP">IMSLP</a> website
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-227">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/content/project.xml?XSL.lastPage.SESSION=/content/project.xml">"Bach Digital"</a>. <i>bach-digital.de</i>. <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a>. Retrieved 16 June 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-unesco_229-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://en.unesco.org/memoryoftheworld/registry/351">"Autograph of h-Moll-Messe (Mass in B minor) by Johann Sebastian Bach"</a>. <i>UNESCO</i>. 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-230">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/BBC_Music_Magazine">BBC Music Magazine</a> (31 October 2019). <a href="https://www.classical-music.com/news/js-bach-greatest-composer-all-time-say-today-s-leading-composers-bbc-music-magazine/">"JS Bach is the greatest composer of all time, say today's leading composers for BBC Music Magazine"</a>. <i>classical-music.com Ltd</i>. Retrieved 14 August 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-231">^</a></b> <cite>Zegers, Richard H.C.; Maas, Mario; <a href="/wiki/Ton_Koopman">Koopman, A.G.</a> &amp; Maat, George J.R. (2009). <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/190_04_160209/zeg10393_fm.pdf">"Are the alleged remains of Johann Sebastian Bach authentic?"</a> (PDF). <i>The Medical Journal of Australia</i>. <b>190</b> (4): 213–216. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5694%2Fj.1326-5377.2009.tb02354.x">10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02354.x</a>. <a href="/wiki/PMID_(identifier)">PMID</a> <a href="//pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19220191">19220191</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:7925258">7925258</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222952/https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/190_04_160209/zeg10393_fm.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2013.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h3>Works cited</h3>
<h4>Biographies</h4>
<div>
<ul><li><cite>Boyd, Malcolm (2000). <i>Bach</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-514222-8"><bdi>978-0-19-514222-8</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Theodor_David">David, Hans T.</a> [in German]; <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Mendel">Mendel, Arthur</a>; <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1998). <i>The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents</i>. New York: W. W. Norton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-31956-9"><bdi>978-0-393-31956-9</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/37801400">37801400</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Eidam">Eidam, Klaus</a> [in German] (2001). <i>The True Life of Johann Sebastian Bach</i>. New York: <a href="/wiki/Basic_Books">Basic Books</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-465-01861-1"><bdi>978-0-465-01861-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Johann_Nikolaus_Forkel">Forkel, Johann Nikolaus</a> (1920). <i><a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach:_His_Life,_Art,_and_Work">Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work</a></i>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Charles Sanford Terry</a>. New York; London: Harcourt, Brace and Howe; Constable.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/John_Eliot_Gardiner">Gardiner, John Eliot</a> (2013). <i>Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach</i>. London: <a href="/wiki/Allen_Lane_(imprint)">Allen Lane</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7139-9662-3"><bdi>978-0-7139-9662-3</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Geck, Martin (2003). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=N1zSVDYTCXgC"><i>Bach</i></a>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Anthea_Bell">Anthea Bell</a>. London: <a href="/wiki/Haus_Publishing">Haus Publishing</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-904341-16-1"><bdi>978-1-904341-16-1</bdi></a>.</cite> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170224001736/https://books.google.com/books?id=N1zSVDYTCXgC&amp;pg=PA141">Archived</a> 24 February 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Martin_Geck">Geck, Martin</a> (2006). <a href="https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb00geck"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work</i></a>. Orlando: <a href="/wiki/Harcourt_(publisher)">Harcourt</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-15-100648-9"><bdi>978-0-15-100648-9</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Karl_Geiringer">Geiringer, Karl</a> (1966). <a href="https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb0000geir"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: The Culmination of an Era</i></a>. New York: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-500554-7"><bdi>978-0-19-500554-7</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer">Schweitzer, Albert</a> (1911). <i>J. S. Bach</i>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Ernest_Newman">Ernest Newman</a>. New York: <a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers">Macmillan Publishers</a>.</cite>, first published in French in 1905 and in German in 1908.(<a href="https://archive.org/details/jsbachsc01schwuoft">Vol. 1</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/jsbachsc02schwuoft">Vol. 2</a>)</li>
<li><cite>Schweitzer, Albert (1923) [1905]. <a href="https://archive.org/details/jsbachsc01schwuoft"><i>J. S. Bach</i></a>. Vol. 1. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Ernest_Newman">Ernest Newman</a>. New York: <a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers">Macmillan Publishers</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Philipp_Spitta">Spitta, Philipp</a> (1899a). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kZM5AAAAIAAJ"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750</i></a>. Vol. 1. Translated by <a href="/wiki/Clara_Bell">Clara Bell</a>; <a href="/wiki/J._A._Fuller_Maitland">J. A. Fuller Maitland</a>. London: <a href="/wiki/Novello_%26_Co">Novello &amp; Co</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Spitta, Philipp (1899b). <a href="https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb02spituoft"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750</i></a>. Vol. 2. Translated by Clara Bell; J. A. Fuller Maitland. London: <a href="/wiki/Novello_%26_Co">Novello &amp; Co</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Spitta, Philipp (1899c). <a href="https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb03spituoft"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750</i></a>. Vol. 3. Translated by Clara Bell; J. A. Fuller Maitland. London: <a href="/wiki/Novello_%26_Co">Novello &amp; Co</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Terry, Charles Sanford</a> (1928). <i>Bach: A Biography</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Williams, Peter</a> (2003a). <a href="https://archive.org/details/lifeofbach0000will"><i>The Life of Bach</i></a>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-53374-4"><bdi>978-0-521-53374-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Williams, Peter (2007). <i>Bach: A Life in Music</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-87074-0"><bdi>978-0-521-87074-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Williams, Peter (2016). <i>Bach: A Musical Biography</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-107-13925-1"><bdi>978-1-107-13925-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1991). <i>Bach: Essays on his Life and Music</i>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: <a href="/wiki/Harvard_University_Press">Harvard University Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-674-05926-9"><bdi>978-0-674-05926-9</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Wolff, Christoph (2000). <i>Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-816534-7"><bdi>978-0-19-816534-7</bdi></a>.</cite> <cite>Second edition, 2013, W. W. Norton, New York and London, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-32256-9">978-0-393-32256-9</a> pbk.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Wolff, Christoph; Emery, Walter (20 January 2001). "Bach, Johann Sebastian". <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians#Grove_Music_Online_and_Oxford_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a></i> (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.6002278195">10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278195</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56159-263-0"><bdi>978-1-56159-263-0</bdi></a>.</cite> (subscription or <a href="https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/page/subscribe#public">UK public library membership</a> required)</li></ul>
</div>
<h4>Other</h4>
<div>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Celia_Applegate">Applegate, Celia</a> (2005). <i>Bach in Berlin: Nation and Culture in Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion</i>. Ithaca, New York: <a href="/wiki/Cornell_University_Press">Cornell University Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780801443893"><bdi>9780801443893</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Boyd, Malcolm, ed. (1999). <i>J. S. Bach</i>. Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/John_Butt_(musician)">Butt, John</a>, ed. (1997). <i>The Cambridge Companion to Bach</i>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-58780-8"><bdi>978-0-521-58780-8</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Jan_Chiapusso">Chiapusso, Jan</a> (1968). <i>Bach's World</i>. Scarborough, Ontario: <a href="/wiki/Indiana_University_Press">Indiana University Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-253-10520-2"><bdi>978-0-253-10520-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Crist, Stephen A.; Stauff, Derek (2011). <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199757824/obo-9780199757824-0043.xml">"Johann Sebastian Bach"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Oxford_Bibliographies_Online">Oxford Bibliographies</a>: Music</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2FOBO%2F9780199757824-0043">10.1093/OBO/9780199757824-0043</a>.</cite> (subscription required)</li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Edward_Joseph_Dent">Dent, Edward Joseph</a> (2004). <i>Handel</i>. R A Kessinger Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-4191-2275-4"><bdi>1-4191-2275-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Robert_Donington">Donington, Robert</a> (1982). <a href="https://archive.org/details/baroquemusicstyl00robe"><i>Baroque Music: Style and Performance: A Handbook</i></a>. New York: W. W. Norton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-30052-9"><bdi>978-0-393-30052-9</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Alfred_D%C3%BCrr">Dürr, Alfred</a> (1981). <i>Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach</i> (in German) (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-423-04080-8"><bdi>978-3-423-04080-8</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Alfred_D%C3%BCrr">Dürr, Alfred</a>; <a href="/wiki/Richard_D._P._Jones">Jones, Richard D. P.</a> (2006), <i>The Cantatas of J.S. Bach</i>, Oxford University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-929776-4"><bdi>978-0-19-929776-4</bdi></a></cite></li>
<li><cite>Herl, Joseph (2004). <i>Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-515439-9"><bdi>978-0-19-515439-9</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Herz, Gerhard (1985). <i>Essays on J. S. Bach</i>. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8357-1989-6"><bdi>978-0-8357-1989-6</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Richard_D._P._Jones">Jones, Richard</a> (2007). <i>The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-816440-1"><bdi>978-0-19-816440-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Kerst, Friedrich (1904). <a href="https://archive.org/details/beethovenimeige01kersgoog"><i>Beethoven im eigenen Wort</i></a> (in German). Berlin: Schuster &amp; Loeffler.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Kupferberg, Herbert (1985). <a href="https://archive.org/details/basicallybach3000000kupf"><i>Basically Bach: A 300th Birthday Celebration</i></a>. New York: McGraw-Hill. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-07-035646-7"><bdi>978-0-07-035646-7</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Leaver, Robin A. (2007). <i>Luther's Liturgical Music</i>. Grand Rapids, Michigan: <a href="/wiki/William_B._Eerdmans_Publishing_Company">William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8028-3221-4"><bdi>978-0-8028-3221-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Lester, Joel (1999). <i>Bach's Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, Performance</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-512097-4"><bdi>978-0-19-512097-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Miles, Russell H. (1962). <i>Johann Sebastian Bach: An Introduction to His Life and Works</i>. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/600065">600065</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Edmund_Morris_(writer)">Morris, Edmund</a> (2005). <i>Beethoven: the Universal Composer</i>. New York: HarperCollins. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-075974-2"><bdi>978-0-06-075974-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Alan_Rich">Rich, Alan</a> (1995). <a href="https://archive.org/details/johannsebastianb00rich"><i>Johann Sebastian Bach: Play by Play</i></a>. San Francisco: HarperCollins. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-263547-1"><bdi>978-0-06-263547-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Erich_Schenk">Schenk, Erich</a>; <a href="/wiki/Richard_and_Clara_Winston">Winston, Richard</a>; <a href="/wiki/Richard_and_Clara_Winston">Winston, Clara</a> (1959). <i>Mozart and His Times</i>. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/602180">602180</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Max_Schneider_(music_historian)">Schneider, Max</a> (1907). <a href="https://archive.org/stream/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906/BachJahrbuch1906#page/n89/mode/1up">"Verzeichnis der bis zum Jahre 1851 gedruckten (und der geschrieben im Handel gewesenen) Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Bach-Jahrbuch">Bach-Jahrbuch</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Neue_Bachgesellschaft">Neue Bachgesellschaft</a>. <b>VII</b> (3): 84–113.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Schulenberg, David (2006). <i>The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach</i>. New York: Routledge. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-97400-4"><bdi>978-0-415-97400-4</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Sigmund_Spaeth">Spaeth, Sigmund</a> (1937). <a href="https://archive.org/details/storiesbehindthe010040mbp"><i>Stories Behind the World's Great Music</i></a>. New York: Whittlesey House.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Stauffer, George B. (2008). "Music for "Cavaliers et Dames": Bach and the Repertoire of His Collegium Musicum". In Butler, Gregory G.; Stauffer, George B.; Greer, Mary Galton (eds.). <i>About Bach</i>. <a href="/wiki/University_of_Illinois_Press">University of Illinois Press</a>. pp. 135–156. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-252-03344-5"><bdi>978-0-252-03344-5</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Van Til, Marian (2007). <i>George Frideric Handel: A Music Lover's Guide to His Life, His Faith &amp; the Development of Messiah and His Other Oratorios</i>. Youngstown, New York: WordPower Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9794785-0-5"><bdi>978-0-9794785-0-5</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Peter_Williams_(musicologist)">Williams, Peter</a> (1980), <i>The Organ Music of J. S. Bach, Volume II: BWV 599–771, etc.</i>, Cambridge Studies in Music, Cambridge University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-31700-9"><bdi>978-0-521-31700-9</bdi></a></cite>; <cite>Williams, Peter (2003b), <i>The Organ Music of J. S. Bach</i> (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-89115-8"><bdi>978-0-521-89115-8</bdi></a></cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a>, ed. (1983). <i>The New Grove Bach Family</i>. London: Macmillan. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-333-34350-0"><bdi>978-0-333-34350-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Wolff, Christoph, ed. (1997). <i>The World of the Bach Cantatas: Johann Sebastian Bach's Early Sacred Cantatas</i>. New York: W. W. Norton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-393-33674-0"><bdi>978-0-393-33674-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a>; Emery, Walter; Wollny, Peter; Leisinger, Ulrich; Roe, Stephen (17 January 2018) [2001]. <a href="https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040023">"Bach family"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Grove_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a></i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.40023">10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40023</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56159-263-0"><bdi>978-1-56159-263-0</bdi></a>.</cite> (subscription or <a href="https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/page/subscribe#public">UK public library membership</a> required)</li></ul>
</div>
<h2>Further reading</h2>
<p><i>See: <a href="#CITEREFCristStauff2011">Crist &amp; Stauff 2011</a>, for an extensive bibliography</i>.
</p>
<ul><li><cite>Baron, Carol K. (2006). <i>Bach's Changing World: Voices in the Community</i>. Rochester, New York: <a href="/wiki/University_of_Rochester_Press">University of Rochester Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-58046-190-0"><bdi>978-1-58046-190-0</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Alfred_D%C3%B6rffel">Dörffel, Alfred</a> (1882). <a href="https://archive.org/details/thematischesverz00dr"><i>Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Joh. Seb. Bach</i></a> (in German). Leipzig: <a href="/wiki/Edition_Peters">C. F. Peters</a>.</cite> <i>N.B</i>.: First published in 1867; superseded, for scholarly purposes, by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Schmieder">Wolfgang Schmieder</a>'s complete thematic catalog, but useful as a handy reference tool for only the instrumental works of Bach and as a partial alternative to Schmieder's work.</li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter">Hofstadter, Douglas</a> (1999). <a href="/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach"><i>Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid</i></a>. New York: <a href="/wiki/Basic_Books">Basic Books</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-465-02656-2"><bdi>978-0-465-02656-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Leaver, Robin A. (2016), <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315452814"><i>The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach</i></a>, Routledge, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-367-58143-5"><bdi>978-0-367-58143-5</bdi></a></cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Pirro">Pirro, André</a> (2014) [1907]. <i>The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach</i>. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &amp; Littlefield. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-3290-7"><bdi>978-1-4422-3290-7</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Stauffer, George B.; May, Ernest (1986). <i>J. S. Bach as Organist: His Instruments, Music, and Performance Practices</i>. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-253-33181-6"><bdi>978-0-253-33181-6</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links</h2>
<div>
<p></p>
<div><p>German <a href="/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article:
</p></div></div>
<ul><li><cite><a href="http://bbc.co.uk/bach">"Discovering Bach"</a>. <a href="/wiki/BBC_Radio_3">BBC Radio 3</a>.</cite></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bach-leipzig.de/en/neutral/about-us">bach-leipzig website</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Bach_Archive">Bach Archive</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://homepages.bw.edu/bachbib/">Yo Tomita's <i>Bach Bibliography</i> (23 March 2012)</a>, mirror at the <a href="/wiki/Riemenschneider_Bach_Institute">Riemenschneider Bach Institute</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20Sebastian%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20S%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Bach%2C%20J%2E%20S%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Johann%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22J%2E%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Johann%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Johann%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20Sebastian%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20Sebastian%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20S%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bach%2C%20J%2E%20S%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bach%2C%20J%2E%20Sebastian%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Johann%20Bach%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Johann%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20title%3A%22J%2E%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Johann%20Bach%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Johann%20Sebastian%20Bach%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Johann%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20description%3A%22J%2E%20S%2E%20Bach%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20Sebastian%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%20S%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Johann%20Bach%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Bach%2C%20Johann%22%29%20OR%20%28%221685-1750%22%20AND%20Bach%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29">Works by or about Johann Sebastian Bach</a> at <a href="/wiki/Internet_Archive">Internet Archive</a>.</li></ul>
<p><b>Scores</b>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://musopen.org/composer/johann-sebastian-bach/">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Musopen">Musopen</a> project.</li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Bach,_Johann_Sebastian">Free scores by Johann Sebastian Bach</a> at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a> (IMSLP).</li>
<li><a href="https://www.bach-digital.de/servlets/solr/select?q=%2BobjectType%3A%22source%22+%2Bcategory%3A%22BachDigital_class_00000006%5C%3A0001%22+%2Bmusicrepo_imagesource%3A%22true%22&amp;fl=id%2CreturnId%2CobjectType&amp;sort=musicrepo_sourcesort01+asc&amp;rows=25&amp;version=4.5&amp;mask=search_form_source.xed">Music manuscripts and early prints</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bach_Digital">Bach Digital</a> website.</li></ul>
<p><b>Recordings</b>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102304">Johann Sebastian Bach recordings</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Discography_of_American_Historical_Recordings">Discography of American Historical Recordings</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.muziekweb.nl/en/Link/M00000000271/CLASSICAL/COMPOSER/">Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)</a> at <a href="/wiki/Muziekweb">Muziekweb</a> website.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach">All of Bach</a> website of the <a href="/wiki/Netherlands_Bach_Society">Netherlands Bach Society</a>.</li></ul>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Life
 + 1.1 Childhood (1685–1703)
 + 1.2 Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen (1703–1708)
 + 1.3 Return to Weimar (1708–1717)
 + 1.4 Köthen (1717–1723)
 + 1.5 Leipzig (1723–1750)
 o 1.5.1 Appointment in Leipzig
 o 1.5.2 Cantata cycle years (1723–1729)
 o 1.5.3 Middle years of the Leipzig period (1730–1739)
 o 1.5.4 Final years and death (1740–1750)
 * 2 Musical style
 + 2.1 Four-part harmony
 + 2.2 Modulation
 + 2.3 Ornamentation
 + 2.4 Continuo instruments solos
 + 2.5 Instrumentation
 + 2.6 Counterpoint
 + 2.7 Structure and lyrics
 * 3 Compositions
 + 3.1 Passions and oratorios
 + 3.2 Cantatas
 o 3.2.1 Church cantatas
 o 3.2.2 Secular cantatas
 + 3.3 A cappella music
 o 3.3.1 Motets
 o 3.3.2 Chorale harmonisations
 + 3.4 Church music in Latin
 o 3.4.1 Magnificat
 o 3.4.2 Mass in B minor
 + 3.5 Keyboard music
 o 3.5.1 Organ works
 o 3.5.2 Harpsichord and other stringed keyboard instruments
 + 3.6 Orchestral and chamber music
 o 3.6.1 Violin concertos
 o 3.6.2 Brandenburg Concertos
 o 3.6.3 Keyboard concertos
 o 3.6.4 Orchestral suites
 + 3.7 Copies, arrangements and uncertain attributions
 * 4 Reception
 + 4.1 18th century
 + 4.2 19th century
 + 4.3 20th century
 + 4.4 21st century
 + 4.5 Burial site
 * 5 References
 + 5.1 Notes
 + 5.2 Citations
 + 5.3 Works cited
 o 5.3.1 Biographies
 o 5.3.2 Other
 * 6 Further reading
 * 7 External links
 Toggle the table of contents

 Johann Sebastian Bach

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 This article is about the composer. For the painter, see Johann Sebastian Bach (painter). For the TV series, see Johann Sebastian Bach (TV series).
 "Bach" redirects here. For other uses, see Bach (disambiguation).

 This article may have too many section headers dividing up its content. Please help improve the article by merging similar sections and removing unneeded subheaders. ( July 2022 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
 

 Johann Sebastian Bach 
 Portrait of Bach by E. G. Haussmann , 1748 [n 1]
  21 March 1685 (O.S.) 
 Born 31 March 1685 (N.S.) 
  Eisenach 
 Died 28 July 1750 (aged 65)
  Leipzig 
 Works List of compositions 
 Signature 
  
 

 Johann Sebastian Bach[n 2] (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.[2][3]

 The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical education in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723 he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St Thomas's) in Leipzig. There he composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus III of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.

 Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic, and motivic organisation,[4] and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular. He composed Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs. He wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ the genres of canon and fugue.

 Throughout the 18th century, Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including the Air on the G String and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.

 Life

 Childhood (1685–1703)

 Johann Ambrosius Bach, 1685, Bach's father. Painting attributed to Johann David Herlicius [ de ]
 Further information: Bach family

 Johann Sebastian Bach[n 2] was born in Eisenach, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, in present-day Germany, on 21 March 1685 O.S. (31 March 1685 N.S.). He was the eighth and youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the town musicians, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt.[7][8][9] His father likely taught him violin and basic music theory. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts included church organists, court chamber musicians, and composers.[10] One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the organ,[11] and an older second cousin, Johann Ludwig Bach, was a well-known composer and violinist.[10][n 3]

 Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later.[12] The 10-year-old Bach moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at St. Michael's Church in Ohrdruf, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.[13] There he studied, performed, and copied music, including his own brother's, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private, and blank ledger paper of that type was costly.[14][15] He received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. Johann Christoph exposed him to the works of great composers of the day, including South Germans such as Johann Caspar Kerll, Johann Jakob Froberger and Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied); North Germans;[16] Frenchmen such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand and Marin Marais;[17] and even the Italian Girolamo Frescobaldi.[18] During this time, he was also taught theology, Latin and Greek at the local gymnasium.[19]

 By 3 April 1700, Bach and his schoolfriend Georg Erdmann – who was two years Bach's elder – were enrolled in the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, some two weeks' travel north of Ohrdruf.[20][21] Their journey was probably undertaken mostly on foot.[21] His two years there were critical in exposing Bach to a wider range of European culture. In addition to singing in the choir, he played the school's three-manual organ and harpsichords.[22] He also came into contact with sons of aristocrats from northern Germany who had been sent to the nearby Ritter-Academie to prepare for careers in other disciplines.[23]

 Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen (1703–1708)

 The Wender organ Bach played in Arnstadt

 In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post of organist at Sangerhausen,[24] Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar.[25] His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboardist spread so much that he was invited to inspect the new organ and give the inaugural recital at the New Church (now Bach Church) in Arnstadt, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Weimar.[26] On 14 August 1703, he became the organist at the New Church,[11] with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a new organ tuned in a temperament that allowed music written in a wider range of keys to be played.[27]

 Despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir. He called one of them a "Zippel Fagottist" (weenie bassoon player). Late one evening this student, named Geyersbach, went after Bach with a stick. Bach filed a complaint against Geyersbach with the authorities. They acquitted Geyersbach with a minor reprimand and ordered Bach to be more moderate regarding the musical qualities he expected from his students. Some months later Bach upset his employer by a prolonged absence from Arnstadt: after obtaining leave for four weeks, he was absent for around four months in 1705–1706 to visit the organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude in the northern city of Lübeck. The visit to Buxtehude involved a 450-kilometre (280 mi) journey each way, reportedly on foot.[28][29]

 In 1706, Bach applied for a post as organist at the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen.[30][31] As part of his application, he had a cantata performed on Easter, 24 April 1707, likely an early version of his Christ lag in Todes Banden.[32] A month later Bach's application was accepted and he took up the post in July.[30] The position included significantly higher remuneration, improved conditions, and a better choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, Bach married Maria Barbara Bach, his second cousin. Bach was able to convince the church and town government at Mühlhausen to fund an expensive renovation of the organ at the Blasius Church. In 1708 Bach wrote Gott ist mein König, a festive cantata for the inauguration of the new council, which was published at the council's expense.[22]

 Return to Weimar (1708–1717)

 Organ of the St. Paul's Church in Leipzig, tested by Bach in 1717.
 Further information: Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 § Background

 Bach left Mühlhausen in 1708, returning to Weimar this time as organist and from 1714 Konzertmeister (director of music) at the ducal court, where he had an opportunity to work with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians.[22] Bach and his wife moved into a house close to the ducal palace.[33] Later the same year, their first child, Catharina Dorothea, was born, and Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister joined them. She remained to help run the household until her death in 1729. Three sons were also born in Weimar: Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Gottfried Bernhard. Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara had three more children, who however did not live to their first birthday, including twins born in 1713.[34]

 Bach's time in Weimar was the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works. He attained the proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing structures and include influences from abroad. He learned to write dramatic openings and employ the dynamic rhythms and harmonic schemes found in the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli, and Torelli. Bach absorbed these stylistic aspects in part by transcribing Vivaldi's string and wind concertos for harpsichord and organ; many of these transcribed works are still regularly performed. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian style, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement.[35]

 In Weimar, Bach continued to play and compose for the organ and perform concert music with the duke's ensemble.[22] He also began to write the preludes and fugues which were later assembled into his monumental work The Well-Tempered Clavier ("clavier" meaning clavichord or harpsichord),[36] consisting of two books,[37] each containing 24 preludes and fugues in every major and minor key. Bach also started work on the Little Organ Book in Weimar, containing traditional Lutheran chorale tunes set in complex textures. In 1713, Bach was offered a post in Halle when he advised the authorities during a renovation by Christoph Cuntzius of the main organ in the west gallery of the Market Church of Our Dear Lady.[38][39]

 In the spring of 1714, Bach was promoted to Konzertmeister, an honour that entailed performing a church cantata monthly in the castle church.[40] The first three cantatas in the new series Bach composed in Weimar were Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV 182, for Palm Sunday, which coincided with the Annunciation that year; Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, for Jubilate Sunday; and Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 for Pentecost.[41] Bach's first Christmas cantata, Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, was premiered in 1714 or 1715.[42][43]

 In 1717, Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and, according to a translation of the court secretary's report, was jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed: "On November 6, [1717], the quondam [former] concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge."[44]

 Köthen (1717–1723)

 Bach's autograph of the first movement of the first sonata for solo violin, BWV 1001

 Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music) in 1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach's work from this period was secular,[45] including the orchestral suites, cello suites, sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and Brandenburg Concertos.[46] Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a.

 Despite being born in the same year and only about 130 kilometres (80 mi) apart, Bach and Handel never met. In 1719, Bach made the 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey from Köthen to Halle with the intention of meeting Handel; however, Handel had left the town.[47][48] In 1730, Bach's oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, travelled to Halle to invite Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig, but the visit did not take place.[49]

 On 7 July 1720, while Bach was away in Carlsbad with Prince Leopold, Bach's wife suddenly died.[50] The following year, he met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 16 years his junior, who performed at the court in Köthen; they married on 3 December 1721.[51] Together they had 13 children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781); Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian, who both, especially Johann Christian, became significant musicians; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).[52]

 Leipzig (1723–1750)

 In 1723, Bach was appointed Thomaskantor, Cantor of the St. Thomas School at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, which provided music for four churches in the city: the St. Thomas Church and St. Nicholas Church and to a lesser extent the New Church and St. Peter's Church.[53] This was "the leading cantorate in Protestant Germany",[54] located in the mercantile city in the Electorate of Saxony, which he held for 27 years until his death. During that time he gained further prestige through honorary appointments at the courts of Köthen and Weissenfels, as well as that of the Elector Frederick Augustus (who was also King of Poland) in Dresden.[54] Bach frequently disagreed with his employer, Leipzig's city council, which he regarded as "penny-pinching".[55]

 Appointment in Leipzig

 St. Thomas Church and School, Leipzig in 1723

 Johann Kuhnau had been Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1701 until his death on 5 June 1722. Bach had visited Leipzig during Kuhnau's tenure: in 1714 he attended the service at the St. Thomas Church on the first Sunday of Advent,[56] and in 1717 he had tested the organ of the St. Paul's Church.[57] In 1716 Bach and Kuhnau had met on the occasion of the testing and inauguration of an organ in Halle.[39]

 After being offered the position, Bach was invited to Leipzig only after Georg Philipp Telemann indicated that he would not be interested in relocating to Leipzig.[58] Telemann went to Hamburg, where he "had his own struggles with the city's senate".[59]

 Bach was required to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing and provide church music for the main churches in Leipzig. He was also assigned to teach Latin but was allowed to employ four "prefects" (deputies) to do this instead. The prefects also aided with musical instruction.[60] A cantata was required for the church services on Sundays and additional church holidays during the liturgical year.

 Cantata cycle years (1723–1729)

 Bach usually led performances of his cantatas, most of which were composed within three years of his relocation to Leipzig. The first was Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, performed in the St. Nicholas Church on 30 May 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity. Bach collected his cantatas in annual cycles. Five are mentioned in obituaries, three are extant.[41] Of the more than 300 cantatas which Bach composed in Leipzig, over 100 have been lost to posterity.[61] Most of these works expound on the Gospel readings prescribed for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year. Bach started a second annual cycle the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724 and composed only chorale cantatas, each based on a single church hymn. These include O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62, and Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1.

 Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the school and the tenors and basses from the school and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six motets.[62] As part of his regular church work, he performed other composers' motets, which served as formal models for his own.[63]

 Bach's predecessor as cantor, Johann Kuhnau, had also been music director for the St. Paul's Church, the church of Leipzig University. But when Bach was installed as cantor in 1723, he was put in charge only of music for festal (church holiday) services at the St. Paul's Church; his petition to also provide music for regular Sunday services there (for a corresponding salary increase) went all the way to the Elector but was denied. After this, in 1725, Bach "lost interest" in working even for festal services at the St. Paul's Church and appeared there only on "special occasions".[64] The St. Paul's Church had a much better and newer (1716) organ than did the St. Thomas Church or the St. Nicholas Church.[65] Bach was not required to play any organ in his official duties, but it is believed he liked to play on the St. Paul's Church organ "for his own pleasure".[66]

 Café Zimmermann, c. 1720

 Bach broadened his composing and performing beyond the liturgy by taking over, in March 1729, the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble started by Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that were established by musically active university students; these societies had become increasingly important in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that "consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal musical institutions".[67] Every week the Collegium Musicum would give two-hour performances in winter at the Café Zimmermann, a coffeehouse on Catherine Street off the main market square; and during the summer months in the proprietor's outdoor coffee garden just outside the town walls, near the East Gate. The concerts, all free of charge, ended with Gottfried Zimmermann's death in 1741. Apart from showcasing his earlier orchestral repertoire such as the Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites, many of Bach's newly composed or reworked pieces were performed for these venues, including parts of his Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice), his violin and keyboard concertos and of course the eponymous Coffee Cantata.[22][68]

 Middle years of the Leipzig period (1730–1739)

 Bach's seal (centre), used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the superimposed letters J S B in mirror image topped with a crown. The flanking letters illustrate the arrangement on the seal.

 In 1733, Bach composed a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in B minor which he later incorporated in his Mass in B minor. He presented the manuscript to the Elector in an eventually successful bid to persuade the prince to give him the title of Court Composer.[69] He later extended this work into a full mass by adding a Credo , Sanctus , and Agnus Dei , the music for which was partly based on his own cantatas and partly original. Bach's appointment as Court Composer was an element of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig council. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf Gerlach held the directorship of the Collegium Musicum.

 In 1735 Bach started to prepare his first publication of organ music, which was printed as the third Clavier-Übung in 1739.[70] From around that year he started to compile and compose the set of preludes and fugues for harpsichord that would become his second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier.[71] He received the title of "Royal Court Composer" from Augustus III in 1736.[69][12]

 Final years and death (1740–1750)

 From 1740 to 1748 Bach copied, transcribed, expanded or programmed music in an older polyphonic style (stile antico) by, among others, Palestrina (BNB I/P/2),[72] Kerll (BWV 241),[73] Torri (BWV Anh. 30),[74] Bassani (BWV 1081),[75] Gasparini (Missa Canonica)[76] and Caldara (BWV 1082).[77] Bach's own style shifted in the last decade of his life, showing an increased integration of polyphonic structures and canons and other elements of the stile antico.[78] His fourth and last Clavier-Übung volume, the Goldberg Variations, for two-manual harpsichord, contained nine canons and was published in 1741.[79] Throughout this period, Bach also continued to adopt music of contemporaries such as Handel (BNB I/K/2)[80] and Stölzel (BWV 200),[81] and gave many of his own earlier compositions, such as the St Matthew and St John Passions and the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes,[82] their final revisions. He also programmed and adapted music by composers of a younger generation, including Pergolesi (BWV 1083)[83] and his own students such as Goldberg (BNB I/G/2).[84]

 In 1746 Bach was preparing to enter Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Society of Musical Sciences [ de ] .[85] In order to be admitted Bach had to submit a composition, for which he chose his Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", and a portrait, which was painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann and featured Bach's Canon triplex á 6 Voc.[86] In May 1747, Bach visited the court of King Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam. The king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach obliged, playing a three-part fugue on one of Frederick's fortepianos by Gottfried Silbermann,[87] which was a new type of instrument at the time. Upon his return to Leipzig he composed a set of fugues and canons, and a trio sonata, based on the Thema Regium (theme of the king). Within a few weeks this music was published as The Musical Offering and dedicated to Frederick. The Schübler Chorales, a set of six chorale preludes transcribed from cantata movements Bach had composed some two decades earlier, were published within a year.[88][89] Around the same time, the set of five canonic variations which Bach had submitted when entering Mizler's society in 1747 were also printed.[90]

 Two large-scale compositions occupied a central place in Bach's last years. From around 1742 he wrote and revised the various canons and fugues of The Art of Fugue, which he continued to prepare for publication until shortly before his death.[91][92] After extracting a cantata, BWV 191 from his 1733 Kyrie-Gloria Mass for the Dresden court in the mid-1740s, Bach expanded that setting into his Mass in B minor in the last years of his life. Although the complete mass was never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works in history.[93]

 In January 1749, Bach's daughter Elisabeth Juliane Friederica married his pupil Johann Christoph Altnickol. Bach's health was, however, declining. On 2 June, Heinrich von Brühl wrote to one of the Leipzig burgomasters to request that his music director, Johann Gottlob Harrer, fill the Thomaskantor and Director musices posts "upon the eventual ... decease of Mr. Bach".[94] Becoming blind, Bach underwent eye surgery, in March 1750 and again in April, by the British eye surgeon John Taylor, a man widely understood today as a charlatan and believed to have blinded hundreds of people.[95] Bach died on 28 July 1750 from complications due to the unsuccessful treatment.[96][97][98]

 An inventory drawn up a few months after Bach's death shows that his estate included five harpsichords, two lute-harpsichords, three violins, three violas, two cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, along with 52 "sacred books", including works by Martin Luther and Josephus.[99] The composer's son Carl Philipp Emanuel saw to it that The Art of Fugue, although still unfinished, was published in 1751.[100] Together with one of the composer's former students, Johann Friedrich Agricola, the son also wrote the obituary ("Nekrolog"), which was published in Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek [ de ] , a periodical journal produced by the Society of Musical Sciences, in 1754.[90]

 Musical style

 A handwritten note by Bach in his copy of the Calov Bible. The note next to 2 Chronicles 5:13 reads: "NB Bey einer andächtigen Musiq ist allezeit Gott mit seiner Gnaden Gegenwart" ( N(ota) B(ene) In a music of worship God is always present with his grace).
 See also: List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

 From an early age, Bach studied the works of his musical contemporaries of the Baroque period and those of prior generations, and those influences were reflected in his music.[101] Like his contemporaries Handel, Telemann and Vivaldi, Bach composed concertos, suites, recitatives, da capo arias, and four-part choral music and employed basso continuo. Bach's music was harmonically more innovative than his peer composers, employing surprisingly dissonant chords and progressions, often with extensive exploration of harmonic possibilities within one piece.[102]

 The hundreds of sacred works Bach created are usually seen as manifesting not just his craft but also a truly devout relationship with God.[103][104] He had taught Luther's Small Catechism as the Thomaskantor in Leipzig, and some of his pieces represent it.[105] The Lutheran chorale was the basis of much of his work. In elaborating these hymns into his chorale preludes, he wrote more cogent and tightly integrated works than most, even when they were massive and lengthy.[ citation needed ] The large-scale structure of every major Bach sacred vocal work is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning to create a religiously and musically powerful expression. For example, the St Matthew Passion, like other works of its kind, illustrated the Passion with Bible text reflected in recitatives, arias, choruses, and chorales, but in crafting this work, Bach created an overall experience that has been found over the intervening centuries to be both musically thrilling and spiritually profound.[106]

 Bach published or carefully compiled in manuscript many collections of pieces that explored the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in almost every genre of his time except opera. For example, The Well-Tempered Clavier comprises two books, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, displaying a dizzying variety of structural, contrapuntal and fugal techniques.[107]

 Four-part harmony

 "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden": the four-part chorale setting as included in the St. Matthew Passion

 Four-part harmonies predate Bach, but he lived during a time when modal music in Western tradition was largely supplanted in favour of the tonal system. In this system a piece of music progresses from one chord to the next according to certain rules, each chord being characterised by four notes. The principles of four-part harmony are found not only in Bach's four-part choral music: he also prescribes it for instance for the figured bass accompaniment.[108] The new system was at the core of Bach's style, and his compositions are to a large extent considered as laying down the rules for the evolving scheme that would dominate musical expression in the next centuries. Some examples of this characteristic of Bach's style and its influence:

 * When in the 1740s Bach staged his arrangement of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, he upgraded the viola part (which in the original composition plays in unison with the bass part) to fill out the harmony, thus adapting the composition to his four-part harmony style.[109]
 * When, starting in the 19th century in Russia, there was a discussion about the authenticity of four-part court chant settings compared to earlier Russian traditions, Bach's four-part chorale settings, such as those ending his Chorale cantatas, were considered as foreign-influenced models. Such influence was deemed unavoidable, however.[110]
 Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue BWV 903 performed by Kevin MacLeod
 1. Fantasia
 2. Fugue
 Bach re-interpreting older genres tied to the modal system

 Bach's insistence on the tonal system and contribution to shaping it did not imply he was less at ease with the older modal system and the genres associated with it: more than his contemporaries (who had "moved on" to the tonal system without much exception), Bach often returned to the then-antiquated modi and genres. His Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, emulating the chromatic fantasia genre as used by earlier composers such as Dowland and Sweelinck in D dorian mode (comparable to D minor in the tonal system), is an example of this.

 Modulation

 Modulation, or changing key in the course of a piece, is another style characteristic where Bach goes beyond what was usual in his time. Baroque instruments vastly limited modulation possibilities: keyboard instruments, prior to a workable system of temperament, limited the keys that could be modulated to, and wind instruments, especially brass instruments such as trumpets and horns, about a century before they were fitted with valves, were tied to the key of their tuning. Bach pushed the limits: he added "strange tones" in his organ playing, confusing the singing, according to an indictment he had to face in Arnstadt,[111] and Louis Marchand, another early experimenter with modulation, seems to have avoided confrontation with Bach because the latter went further than anyone had done before.[112] In the "Suscepit Israel" of his 1723 Magnificat, he had the trumpets in E-flat play a melody in the enharmonic scale of C minor.[113]

 The major development taking place in Bach's time, and to which he contributed in no small way, was a temperament for keyboard instruments that allowed their use in all available keys (12 major and 12 minor) and also modulation without retuning. His Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother, a very early work, showed a gusto for modulation unlike any contemporary work this composition has been compared to,[114] but the full expansion came with the Well-Tempered Clavier, using all keys, which Bach apparently had been developing since around 1720, the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach being one of its earliest examples.[115]

 Ornamentation

 Bach's guide on ornaments as contained in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
 "Aria" of the Goldberg Variations, showing Bach's use of ornaments

 The second page of the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is an ornament notation and performance guide that Bach wrote for his eldest son, who was nine years old at the time. Bach was generally quite specific on ornamentation in his compositions (where in his time much of the ornamentation was not written out by composers but rather considered a liberty of the performer),[116] and his ornamentation was often quite elaborate. For instance, the "Aria" of the Goldberg Variations has rich ornamentation in nearly every measure. Bach's dealing with ornamentation can also be seen in a keyboard arrangement he made of Marcello's Oboe Concerto: he added explicit ornamentation, which some centuries later is played by oboists when performing the concerto.

 Although Bach did not write any operas, he was not averse to the genre or its ornamented vocal style. In church music, Italian composers had imitated the operatic vocal style in genres such as the Neapolitan mass. In Protestant surroundings, there was more reluctance to adopt such a style for liturgical music. For instance, Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor in Leipzig, had notoriously shunned opera and Italian virtuoso vocal music.[117] Bach was less moved. One of the comments after a performance of his St Matthew Passion was that it all sounded much like opera.[118]

 Continuo instruments solos

 In concerted playing in Bach's time the basso continuo, consisting of instruments such as organ, viola da gamba or harpsichord, usually had the role of accompaniment, providing the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of a piece. From the late 1720s, Bach had the organ play concertante (i.e. as a soloist) with the orchestra in instrumental cantata movements,[119] a decade before Handel published his first organ concertos.[120] Apart from the 5th Brandenburg Concerto and the Triple Concerto, which already had harpsichord soloists in the 1720s, Bach wrote and arranged his harpsichord concertos in the 1730s,[121] and in his sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord neither instrument plays a continuo part: they are treated as equal soloists, far beyond the figured bass. In this sense, Bach played a key role in the development of genres such as the keyboard concerto.[122]

 Instrumentation

 Bach wrote virtuoso music for specific instruments as well as music independent of instrumentation. For instance, the sonatas and partitas for solo violin are considered the pinnacle of what has been written for this instrument, only within reach of accomplished players. The music fits the instrument, pushing it to the full scale of its possibilities and requiring virtuosity of the player but without bravura.[123] Notwithstanding that the music and the instrument seem inseparable, Bach made transcriptions for other instruments of some pieces of this collection. Similarly, for the cello suites, the virtuoso music seems tailored for the instrument, the best of what is offered for it, yet Bach made an arrangement for lute of one of these suites. The same applies to much of his most virtuoso keyboard music. Bach exploited the capabilities of an instrument to the fullest while keeping the core of such music independent of the instrument on which it is performed.

 In this sense, it is no surprise that Bach's music is easily and often performed on instruments it was not necessarily written for, that it is transcribed so often, and that his melodies turn up in unexpected places such as jazz music. Apart from this, Bach left a number of compositions without specified instrumentation: the canons BWV 1072–1078 fall in that category, as well as the bulk of the Musical Offering and the Art of Fugue.[124]

 Counterpoint

 Analysis of the counterpoint of the chorale prelude Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend', BWV 632 (Orgelbüchlein)
 BWV 632 (extract) ( 0 : 48 )
 This video shows the intertwining of melodies and motives, including the melody of the chorale "Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend"
 Sonata No. 3 in G minor for viola da gamba and harpsichord BWV 1029 performed by John Michel
 1st movement
 2nd movement
 3rd movement
 Continuo instruments moving to the front (here performed on cello and piano)
 Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 performed by the Fulda Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Simon Schindler with Johannes Volker Schmidt (piano)
 1. Allegro
 2. Adagio
 3. Allegro
 Keyboard concerto
 Double Violin Concerto in D minor BWV 1043 performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with David Perry and Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violins)
 1. Vivace
 2. Largo ma non tanto
 3. Allegro
 A strictly contrapuntal composition (the two violins playing in canon throughout) in the guise of an Italian type of concerto
 See also: List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Another characteristic of Bach's style is his extensive use of counterpoint, as opposed to the homophony used in his four-part Chorale settings, for example. Bach's canons, and especially his fugues, are most characteristic of this style, which Bach did not invent but contributed to so fundamentally that he defined it to a large extent. Fugues are as characteristic to Bach's style as, for instance, the Sonata form is characteristic to the composers of the Classical period.[125]

 These strictly contrapuntal compositions, and most of Bach's music in general, are characterised by distinct melodic lines for each of the voices, where the chords formed by the notes sounding at a given point follow the rules of four-part harmony. Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach's first biographer, gives this description of this feature of Bach's music, which sets it apart from most other music:

 If the language of music is merely the utterance of a melodic line, a simple sequence of musical notes, it can justly be accused of poverty. The addition of a Bass puts it upon a harmonic foundation and clarifies it, but defines rather than gives it added richness. A melody so accompanied—even though all the notes are not those of the true Bass—or treated with simple embellishments in the upper parts, or with simple chords, used to be called "homophony". But it is a very different thing when two melodies are so interwoven that they converse together like two persons upon a footing of pleasant equality. In the first case the accompaniment is subordinate, and serves merely to support the first or principal part. In the second case the two parts are not similarly related. New melodic combinations spring from their interweaving, out of which new forms of musical expression emerge. If more parts are interwoven in the same free and independent manner, the apparatus of language is correspondingly enlarged, and becomes practically inexhaustible if, in addition, varieties of form and rhythm are introduced. Hence harmony becomes no longer a mere accompaniment of melody, but rather a potent agency for augmenting the richness and expressiveness of musical conversation. To serve that end a simple accompaniment will not suffice. True harmony is the interweaving of several melodies, which emerge now in the upper, now in the middle, and now in the lower parts.

 From about the year 1720, when he was thirty-five, until his death in 1750, Bach's harmony consists in this melodic interweaving of independent melodies, so perfect in their union that each part seems to constitute the true melody. Herein Bach excels all the composers in the world. At least, I have found no one to equal him in music known to me. Even in his four-part writing we can, not infrequently, leave out the upper and lower parts and still find the middle parts melodious and agreeable.[126]

 Structure and lyrics

 Bach devoted more attention than his contemporaries to the structure of compositions. This can be seen in minor adjustments he made when adapting someone else's composition, such as his earliest version of the "Keiser" St Mark Passion, where he enhances scene transitions,[127] and in the architecture of his own compositions such as his Magnificat[113] and Leipzig Passions. In the last years of his life, Bach revised several of his prior compositions. Often the recasting of such previously composed music in an enhanced structure was the most visible change, as in the Mass in B minor. Bach's known preoccupation with structure led (peaking around the 1970s) to various numerological analyses of his compositions, although many such over-interpretations were later rejected, especially when wandering off into symbolism-ridden hermeneutics.[128][129]

 The librettos, or lyrics, of his vocal compositions played an important role for Bach. He sought collaboration with various text authors for his cantatas and major vocal compositions, possibly writing or adapting such texts himself to make them fit the structure of the composition he was designing when he could not rely on the talents of other text authors. His collaboration with Picander for the St Matthew Passion libretto is best known, but there was a similar process in achieving a multi-layered structure for his St John Passion libretto a few years earlier.[130]

 Compositions

 See also: List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

 In 1950, Wolfgang Schmieder published a thematic catalogue of Bach's compositions called the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue).[131] Schmieder largely followed the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe, a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1900. The first edition of the catalogue listed 1,080 surviving compositions indisputably composed by Bach.[132]

 BWV Range Compositions 
 BWV 1–224 Cantatas 
 BWV 225–231 Motets 
 BWV 232–243 Liturgical compositions in Latin
 BWV 244–249 Passions and oratorios 
 BWV 250–438 Four-part chorales 
 BWV 439–524 Small vocal works 
 BWV 525–771 Organ compositions 
 BWV 772–994 Other keyboard works 
 BWV 995–1000 Lute compositions 
 BWV 1001–1040 Other chamber music 
 BWV 1041–1071 Orchestral music 
 BWV 1072–1078 Canons 
 BWV 1079–1080 Late contrapuntal works 
 

 BWV 1081–1126 were added to the catalogue in the second half of the 20th century, and BWV 1127 and higher are 21st-century additions.[133][134][135]

 Passions and oratorios

 Bach's autograph of the recitative with the gospel text of Christ's death from St Matthew Passion (Matthew 27:45–47a)
 See also: List of masses, passions and oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach § Passions and oratorios

 Bach composed Passions for Good Friday services and oratorios such as the Christmas Oratorio, which is a set of six cantatas for use in the liturgical season of Christmas.[136][137][138] Shorter oratorios include the Easter Oratorio and the Ascension Oratorio. With its double choir and orchestra, the St Matthew Passion is one of Bach's most extended works. The St John Passion was the first passion Bach composed during his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig.

 Cantatas

 Cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 performed by the MIT Concert Choir conducted by W. Cutter
 1. Chorus "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"
 2. Recitative "Er kommt, er kommt, der Bräut'gam kommt"
 3. Duet "Wenn kömmst du, mein Heil?"
 4. Chorale "Zion hört die Wächter singen"
 5. Recitative "So geh herein zu mir"
 6. Duet "Mein Freund ist mein!"
 7. Chorale "Gloria sei dir gesungen"
 Cantata text
 See also: Bach cantata and List of Bach cantatas

 According to his obituary, Bach would have composed five year-cycles of sacred cantatas, and additional church cantatas for weddings and funerals, for example.[90] Approximately 200 of these sacred works are extant, an estimated two thirds of the total number of church cantatas he composed.[61][139] The Bach Digital website lists 50 known secular cantatas by the composer,[140] about half of which are extant or largely reconstructable.[141]

 Church cantatas

 See also: Church cantata (Bach)

 Bach's cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Many consist of a large opening chorus followed by one or more recitative-aria pairs for soloists (or duets) and a concluding chorale. The melody of the concluding chorale often appears as a cantus firmus in the opening movement.[ citation needed ]

 Bach's earliest cantatas date from his years in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. The earliest surviving work in the genre is Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150. As a whole, the extant early works all show remarkable mastery and skill. Many feature an instrumental opening which display effective use of the limited instrumental forces available to Bach, whether it be in the subdued combination of two recorders and two viola de gamba for BWV 106, or the independent bassoon in BWV 196. Bach's compositional skills are also manifested through his daring harmonies and advanced, unprecedented chord progressions. According to Christoph Wolff, Bach's early cantatas are impressive evidence of how the modest means at his disposal did not restrain the composer in the slightest, and they compare favourably with compositions by the most talented composers from the beginning of the 18th century, such as Krieger, Kuhnau or Zachow.[142]

 After taking up his office as Thomaskantor in late May 1723, Bach performed a cantata each Sunday and feast day, corresponding to the lectionary readings of the week.[22] His first cantata cycle ran from the first Sunday after Trinity of 1723 to Trinity Sunday the next year. For instance, the Visitation cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, containing the chorale that is known in English as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", belongs to this first cycle. The cantata cycle of his second year in Leipzig is called the chorale cantata cycle as it consists mainly of works in the chorale cantata format. His third cantata cycle was developed over a period of several years, followed by the Picander cycle of 1728–29.

 Later church cantatas include the chorale cantatas Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 (final version)[143] and Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140.[144] Only the first three Leipzig cycles are more or less completely extant. Apart from his own work, Bach also performed cantatas by Telemann and by his distant relative Johann Ludwig Bach.[22]

 Secular cantatas

 See also: List of secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach also wrote secular cantatas, for instance for members of the royal Polish and prince-electoral Saxonian families (e.g. Trauer-Ode),[145] or other public or private occasions (e.g. Hunting Cantata).[146] The text of these cantatas was occasionally in dialect (e.g. Peasant Cantata)[147] or Italian (e.g. Amore traditore).[148] Many of the secular cantatas were lost, but for some of them the text and occasion are known, for instance when Picander later published their librettos (e.g. BWV Anh. 11–12).[149]

 Some of the surviving secular cantatas have a plot involving mythological figures of Greek antiquity (e.g. Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan),[150] and others were almost miniature buffo operas (e.g. Coffee Cantata).[151] Although Bach never expressed any interest in opera,[152] his secular cantatas, or drammi per musica, would have allowed Leipzig audiences, deprived of opera since 1720, to experience musical performances comparable to the royal opera in Dresden. These were not at all "poor or makeshift substitutes for real opera" but spectacles displaying "full mastery of the dramatic genre and the proper pacing of the dialogues."[153]

 A cappella music

 Bach's a cappella music includes motets and chorale harmonisations.

 Motets

 Main article: Motets (Bach)

 Bach's motets (BWV 225–231) are pieces on sacred themes for choir and continuo, with instruments playing colla parte. Several of them were composed for funerals.[154] The six motets definitely composed by Bach are Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, Jesu, meine Freude, Fürchte dich nicht, Komm, Jesu, komm, and Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden. The motet Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren (BWV 231) is part of the composite motet Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt (BWV Anh. 160), other parts of which may be based on work by Telemann.[155]

 Chorale harmonisations

 See also: List of chorale harmonisations by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach wrote hundreds of four-part harmonisations of Lutheran chorales.

 Church music in Latin

 See also: Bach's church music in Latin

 Bach's church music in Latin includes the Magnificat, four Kyrie–Gloria Masses, and the Mass in B minor.

 Magnificat

 See also: Magnificat (Bach)

 The first version of Bach's Magnificat dates from 1723, but the work is best known in its D major version of 1733.

 Mass in B minor

 from Mass in B minor
 Agnus Dei
 performed by Solomija Drozd (voice), Petro Titiajev (violin) and Ivan Ostapovych (organ)
 See also: Mass in B minor

 In 1733 Bach composed a Kyrie–Gloria Mass for the Dresden court. Near the end of his life, around 1748–1749, he expanded this composition into the large-scale Mass in B minor. The work was never performed in full during Bach's lifetime.[156][157]

 Keyboard music

 Bach wrote for organ and for stringed keyboard instruments such as harpsichord, clavichord and lute-harpsichord.

 Organ works

 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 performed by Robert Köbler on the Silbermann organ in the village church of Großhartmannsdorf, Saxony
 Prelude
 Fugue
 See also: List of organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres (such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas) and stricter forms (such as chorale preludes and fugues).[22] At a young age, he established a reputation for creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by Georg Böhm, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and Dieterich Buxtehude, whom the young organist visited in Lübeck in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. During his most productive period (1708–1714) he composed about a dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, five toccatas and fugues, and the Orgelbüchlein or "Little Organ Book", an unfinished collection of 46 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After leaving Weimar, Bach wrote less for organ, although some of his best-known works (the six Organ Sonatas, the German Organ Mass in Clavier-Übung III from 1739, and the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, revised late in his life) were composed after leaving Weimar. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing new organs and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals.[158][159] The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" and the Schübler Chorales are organ works Bach published in the last years of his life.

 Harpsichord and other stringed keyboard instruments

 The Art of Fugue (title page) – Performed by Mehmet Okonsar on organ and harpsichord
 Nos. 1–12
 Nos. 13–20
 Prelude No. 1 in C major BWV 846 performed on harpsichord by Robert Schröter
 Prelude No. 1 in C major BWV 846
 Italian Concerto BWV 971 performed by Martha Goldstein
 1st movement
 2nd movement
 3rd movement
 See also: List of solo keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach wrote many works for harpsichord, some of which may also have been played on the clavichord or lute-harpsichord. Some of his larger works, such as Clavier-Übung II and IV, are intended for a harpsichord with two manuals: performing them on a keyboard instrument with a single manual (like a piano) may present technical difficulties for the crossing of hands.

 * The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book consists of a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor keys, in chromatic order from C major to B minor (thus, the whole collection is often referred to as "the 48"). "Well-tempered" in the title refers to the temperament (system of tuning); many temperaments before Bach's time were not flexible enough to allow compositions to utilise more than just a few keys.[160][161]
 * The Inventions and Sinfonias (BWV 772–801). These short two- and three-part contrapuntal works are arranged in the same chromatic order as The Well-Tempered Clavier, omitting some of the rarer keys. These pieces were intended by Bach for instructional purposes.[162]
 * Three collections of dance suites: the English Suites (BWV 806–811), French Suites (BWV 812–817), and Partitas for keyboard (Clavier-Übung I, BWV 825–830). Each collection contains six suites built on the standard model (allemande–courante–sarabande–(optional movement)–gigue). The English Suites closely follow the traditional model, adding a prelude before the allemande and including a single movement between the sarabande and gigue.[163] The French Suites omit preludes but have multiple movements between the sarabande and gigue.[164] The partitas expand the model further with elaborate introductory movements and miscellaneous movements between the basic elements of the model.[165]
 * The Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), an aria with 30 variations. The collection has a complex and unconventional structure: the variations build on the bass line of the aria rather than its melody, and musical canons are interpolated according to a grand plan. There are 9 canons within the 30 variations; every third variation is a canon.[166] These variations move in order from canon at unison to canon at the ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison and octave, second and seventh, third and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth canon stands on its own due to compositional dissimilarities. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon at the tenth, is a quodlibet.
 * Miscellaneous pieces such as the Overture in the French Style (French Overture, BWV 831) and the Italian Concerto (BWV 971) (published together as Clavier-Übung II), and the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue (BWV 903).

 Among Bach's lesser known keyboard works are seven toccatas (BWV 910–916), four duets (BWV 802–805), sonatas for keyboard (BWV 963–967), the Six Little Preludes (BWV 933–938), and the Aria variata alla maniera italiana (BWV 989).

 Orchestral and chamber music

 See also: List of chamber music works by Johann Sebastian Bach and List of orchestral works by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach wrote for single instruments, duets, and small ensembles. Many of his solo works, such as the six sonatas and partitas for violin (BWV 1001–1006) and the six cello suites (BWV 1007–1012), are widely considered to be among the most profound in the repertoire.[167][123] He wrote sonatas for a solo instrument such as the viola de gamba accompanied by harpsichord or continuo, as well as trio sonatas (two instruments and continuo).

 The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue are late contrapuntal works containing pieces for unspecified instruments or combinations of instruments.[168][169]

 Violin concertos

 Surviving works in the concerto form include two violin concertos (BWV 1041 in A minor and BWV 1042 in E major) and a concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043, often referred to as Bach's "double concerto".

 Brandenburg Concertos

 Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049
 1. Allegro
 2. Andante
 3. Presto
 Further information: Brandenburg Concertos

 Bach's best-known orchestral works are the Brandenburg Concertos, so named because he submitted them in the hope of gaining employment from Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721; his application was unsuccessful.[22] These works are examples of the concerto grosso genre.

 Keyboard concertos

 Further information: Keyboard concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

 Bach composed and transcribed concertos for one to four harpsichords. Many of the harpsichord concertos were not original works but arrangements of his concertos for other instruments, now lost.[170] A number of violin, oboe, and flute concertos have been reconstructed from these.

 Orchestral suites

 Main article: Orchestral suites (Bach)

 In addition to concertos, Bach wrote four orchestral suites, each suite being a series of stylised dances for orchestra, preceded by a French overture.[171]

 Copies, arrangements and uncertain attributions

 Some of Bach's most popular melodies are, more often than not, heard in various arrangements:
 Air on the G String (excerpt)
 "Air", 2nd movement from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, performed in an Air on the G String adaptation by Capella Istropolitana conducted by Oliver von Dohnányi (courtesy of Naxos)
 "Sheep May Safely Graze" (instrumental version)
 The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" (Sheep May Safely Graze), No. 9 from the Hunting Cantata, BWV 208: composed for soprano, recorders, and continuo, the music of this movement exists in a variety of instrumental arrangements.
 See also: BWV Anh. and List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

 In his early youth, Bach copied pieces by other composers to learn from them.[172] Later, he copied and arranged music for performance or as study material for his pupils. Some of these pieces, like "Bist du bei mir" (copied not by Bach but by Anna Magdalena), became famous before being dissociated with Bach. Bach copied and arranged Italian masters such as Vivaldi (e.g. BWV 1065), Pergolesi (BWV 1083) and Palestrina (Missa Sine nomine), French masters such as François Couperin (BWV Anh. 183), and, closer to home, various German masters including Telemann (e.g. BWV 824=TWV 32:14) and Handel (arias from Brockes Passion), and music from members of his own family. He also often copied and arranged his own music (e.g. movements from cantatas for his short masses BWV 233–236), as his music was likewise copied and arranged by others. Some of these arrangements, like the late 19th-century "Air on the G String", helped to popularise Bach's music.

 Sometimes "who copied whom" is not clear. For instance, Forkel mentions a Mass for double chorus among the works composed by Bach. The work was published and performed in the early 19th century, and although a score partially in Bach's handwriting exists, the work was later considered spurious.[173] In 1950, the design of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis was to keep such works out of the main catalogue: if there was a strong association with Bach they could be listed in its appendix (German: Anhang, abbreviated as Anh.). Thus, for instance, the aforementioned Mass for double chorus became BWV Anh. 167. But this was far from the end of the attribution issues. For instance, Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, BWV 53, was later attributed to Melchior Hoffmann. For other works, Bach's authorship was put in doubt without a generally accepted answer to the question of whether or not he composed it: the best known organ composition in the BWV catalogue, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, was indicated as one of these uncertain works in the late 20th century.[174]

 Reception

 Main article: Reception of Johann Sebastian Bach's music
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 The church in Arnstadt where Bach had been the organist from 1703 to 1707. In 1935 the church was renamed "Bachkirche".

 Throughout the 18th century, the appreciation of Bach's music was mostly limited to distinguished connoisseurs. The 19th century started with publication of the first biography of the composer and ended with the completion of the publication of all of Bach's known works by the Bach Gesellschaft. A Bach Revival had started from Mendelssohn's performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. Soon after that performance, Bach started to become regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, if not the greatest, a reputation he has retained ever since. A new extensive Bach biography was published in the second half of the 19th century.

 In the 20th century Bach's music was widely performed and recorded, while the Neue Bachgesellschaft, among others, published research on the composer. Modern adaptations of Bach's music contributed greatly to his popularisation in the second half of the 20th century. Among these were the Swingle Singers' versions of Bach pieces (for instance, the Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3, and the Wachet auf... chorale prelude) and Wendy Carlos' 1968 Switched-On Bach, which used the Moog electronic synthesiser.

 By the end of the 20th century, more classical performers were gradually moving away from the performance style and instrumentation that were established in the romantic era: they started to perform Bach's music on period instruments of the baroque era, studied and practised playing techniques and tempi as established in his time, and reduced the size of instrumental ensembles and choirs to what he would have employed. The BACH motif, used by the composer in his own compositions, was used in dozens of tributes to the composer from the 19th century to the 21st. In the 21st century the complete extant output of the composer became available online, with several websites exclusively dedicated to him.[ citation needed ]

 The liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church remembers Bach annually with a feast day on 28 July[175] on the same day, the Calendar of Saints of some Lutheran churches, such as the ELCA, remembers Bach and Handel with Heinrich Schütz.[176]

 18th century

 Painting of Johann Sebastian Bach by 'Gebel', before 1798.

 In his own time, Bach was highly regarded amongst his colleagues,[177] although his reputation outside of this small circle of connoisseurs was due not to his compositions (which had an extremely narrow circulation),[11] but due to his virtuosic abilities. Nevertheless, during his life, Bach received public recognition, such as the title of court composer by Augustus III of Poland and the appreciation he was shown by Frederick the Great and Hermann Karl von Keyserling. Such highly placed appreciation contrasted with the humiliations he had to cope with, for instance in Leipzig.[178] Also in the contemporary press, Bach had his detractors, such as Johann Adolf Scheibe, suggesting he write less complex music, and his supporters, such as Johann Mattheson and Lorenz Christoph Mizler.[179][180][181]

 After his death, Bach's reputation as a composer at first declined: his work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging galant style.[182] Initially, he was remembered more as a virtuoso player of the organ and as a teacher. The bulk of the music that had been printed during the composer's lifetime, at least the part that was remembered, was for the organ and the harpsichord. Thus, his reputation as a composer was initially mostly limited to his keyboard music, and that even fairly limited to its value in music education.

 Bach's surviving family members, who inherited a large part of his manuscripts, were not all equally concerned with preserving them, leading to considerable losses.[183] Carl Philipp Emanuel, his second eldest son, was most active in safeguarding his father's legacy: he co-authored his father's obituary, contributed to the publication of his four-part chorales,[184] staged some of his works, and the bulk of previously unpublished works of his father were preserved with his help.[185] Wilhelm Friedemann, the eldest son, performed several of his father's cantatas in Halle but after becoming unemployed sold part of the large collection of his father's works he owned.[186][187][188] Several students of the old master, such as his son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnickol, Johann Friedrich Agricola, Johann Kirnberger, and Johann Ludwig Krebs, contributed to the dissemination of his legacy. The early devotees were not all musicians; for example, in Berlin, Daniel Itzig, a high official of Frederick the Great's court, venerated Bach.[189] His eldest daughters took lessons from Kirnberger and their sister Sara from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who was in Berlin from 1774 to 1784.[189][190] Sara Itzig Levy became an avid collector of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons and was a "patron" of CPE Bach.[190]

 While in Leipzig, performances of Bach's church music were limited to some of his motets, and under cantor Doles some of his Passions.[191] A new generation of Bach aficionados emerged: they studiously collected and copied his music, including some of his large-scale works such as the Mass in B minor and performed it privately. One such connoisseur was Gottfried van Swieten, a high-ranking Austrian official who was instrumental in passing Bach's legacy on to the composers of the Viennese school. Haydn owned manuscript copies of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Mass in B minor and was influenced by Bach's music. Mozart owned a copy of one of Bach's motets,[192] transcribed some of his instrumental works (K. 404a, 405),[193][194] and wrote contrapuntal music influenced by his style.[195][196] Beethoven played the entire Well-Tempered Clavier by the time he was 11 and described Bach as Urvater der Harmonie (progenitor of harmony).[197][198][199][200][201]

 19th century

 Image of the Bach memorial [ de ] erected by Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig in 1843
 See also: Bach Revival and St Matthew Passion § 19th century

 In 1802, Johann Nikolaus Forkel published Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke, the first biography of the composer, which contributed to his becoming known to a wider public.[202] In 1805, Abraham Mendelssohn, who had married one of Itzig's granddaughters, bought a substantial collection of Bach manuscripts that had come down from C. P. E. Bach, and donated it to the Berlin Sing-Akademie.[189] The Sing-Akademie occasionally performed Bach's works in public concerts, for instance his first keyboard concerto, with Sara Itzig Levy at the piano.[189]

 The first decades of the 19th century saw an increasing number of first publications of Bach's music: Breitkopf started publishing chorale preludes,[203] Hoffmeister harpsichord music,[204] and the Well-Tempered Clavier was printed concurrently by Simrock (Germany), Nägeli (Switzerland) and Hoffmeister (Germany and Austria) in 1801.[205] Vocal music was also published: motets in 1802 and 1803, followed by the E ♭ major version of the Magnificat, the Kyrie-Gloria Mass in A major, and the cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (BWV 80).[206] In 1818, Hans Georg Nägeli called the Mass in B minor the greatest composition ever.[197] Bach's influence was felt in the next generation of early Romantic composers.[198] When Felix Mendelssohn, Abraham's son, aged 13, produced his first Magnificat setting in 1822, it is clear that he had been inspired by the then unpublished D major version of Bach's Magnificat.[207]

 Felix Mendelssohn significantly contributed to the renewed interest in Bach's work with his 1829 Berlin performance of the St Matthew Passion, which was instrumental in setting off what has been called the Bach Revival. The St John Passion saw its 19th-century premiere in 1833, and the first performance of the Mass in B minor followed in 1844. Besides these and other public performances and an increased coverage on the composer and his compositions in printed media, the 1830s and 1840s also saw the first publication of more vocal works by Bach: six cantatas, the St Matthew Passion, and the Mass in B minor. A series of organ compositions saw their first publication in 1833.[208] Chopin started composing his 24 Preludes, Op. 28, inspired by the Well-Tempered Clavier, in 1835, and Schumann published his Sechs Fugen über den Namen B-A-C-H in 1845. Bach's music was transcribed and arranged to suit contemporary tastes and performance practice by composers such as Carl Friedrich Zelter, Robert Franz, and Franz Liszt, or combined with new music such as the melody line of Charles Gounod's Ave Maria.[197][209] Brahms, Bruckner, and Wagner were among the composers who promoted Bach's music or wrote glowingly about it.

 In 1850, the Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was founded to promote Bach's music. In the second half of the 19th century, the Society published a comprehensive edition of the composer's works. Also in the second half of the 19th century, Philipp Spitta published Johann Sebastian Bach, the standard work on Bach's life and music.[210] By that time, Bach was known as the first of the three Bs in music. Throughout the 19th century, 200 books were published on Bach. By the end of the century, local Bach societies were established in several cities, and his music had been performed in all major musical centres.[197]

 In Germany all throughout the century, Bach was coupled to nationalist feelings, and the composer was inscribed in a religious revival. In England, Bach was coupled to an existing revival of religious and baroque music. By the end of the century, Bach was firmly established as one of the greatest composers, recognised for both his instrumental and his vocal music.[197]

 20th century

 1908 Statue of Bach in front of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig
 28 July 1950: memorial service for Bach in Leipzig's Thomaskirche, on the 200th anniversary of the composer's death

 During the 20th century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the pedagogic value of some of the works continued, as in the promotion of the cello suites by Pablo Casals, the first major performer to record these suites.[211] Leading performers of classical music such as Willem Mengelberg, Edwin Fischer, Georges Enescu, Leopold Stokowski, Herbert von Karajan, Arthur Grumiaux, Helmut Walcha, Wanda Landowska, Karl Richter, I Musici, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Glenn Gould recorded his music.[n 4]

 A significant development in the later part of the 20th century was the momentum gained by the historically informed performance practice, with forerunners such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt acquiring prominence by their performances of Bach's music. His keyboard music was again performed more on the instruments Bach was familiar with, rather than on modern pianos and 19th-century romantic organs. Ensembles playing and singing Bach's music not only kept to the instruments and the performance style of his day but were also reduced to the size of the groups Bach used for his performances.[212] But that was far from the only way Bach's music came to the forefront in the 20th century: his music was heard in versions ranging from Ferruccio Busoni's late romantic piano transcriptions to jazzy interpretations such as those by The Swingle Singers, orchestrations like the one opening Walt Disney's Fantasia movie, and synthesiser performances such as Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach recordings.

 Bach's music has influenced other genres. For instance, jazz musicians have adopted Bach's music, with Jacques Loussier, Ian Anderson, Uri Caine, and the Modern Jazz Quartet among those creating jazz versions of his works.[213] Several 20th-century composers referred to Bach or his music, for example Eugène Ysaÿe in Six Sonatas for solo violin, Dmitri Shostakovich in 24 Preludes and Fugues and Heitor Villa-Lobos in Bachianas Brasileiras. All kinds of publications involved Bach: not only were there the Bach Jahrbuch publications of the Neue Bachgesellschaft, various other biographies and studies by among others Albert Schweitzer, Charles Sanford Terry, Alfred Dürr, Christoph Wolff. Peter Williams, John Butt,[n 5] and the 1950 first edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis; but also books such as Gödel, Escher, Bach put the composer's art in a wider perspective. Bach's music was extensively listened to, performed, broadcast, arranged, adapted, and commented upon in the 1990s.[214] Around 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, three record companies issued box sets with complete recordings of Bach's music.[215][216][217]

 Bach's music features three times—more than that of any other composer—on the Voyager Golden Record, a gramophone record containing a broad sample of the images, common sounds, languages, and music of Earth, sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes.[218] Tributes to Bach in the 20th century include statues erected in his honour and a variety of things such as streets and space objects being named after him.[219][220] Also, a multitude of musical ensembles such as the Bach Aria Group, Deutsche Bachsolisten, Bachchor Stuttgart, and Bach Collegium Japan adopted the composer's name. Bach festivals were held on several continents, and competitions and prizes such as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition and the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize were named after the composer. While by the end of the 19th century Bach had been inscribed in nationalism and religious revival, the late 20th century saw Bach as the subject of a secularised art-as-religion (Kunstreligion).[197][214]

 21st century

 In the 21st century, Bach's compositions have become available online, for instance at the International Music Score Library Project.[221] High-resolution facsimiles of Bach's autographs became available at the Bach Digital website.[222] 21st-century biographers include Christoph Wolff, Peter Williams and John Eliot Gardiner.[n 6]

 In 2015, Bach's handwritten personal copy of his Mass in B minor, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register,[223] a program intended to protect culturally significant manuscripts.

 In 2019, Bach was named the greatest composer of all time in a poll conducted among 174 living composers.[224]

 Burial site

 Bach was originally buried at Old St. John's Cemetery in Leipzig. His grave went unmarked for nearly 150 years, but in 1894 his remains were located and moved to a vault in St. John's Church. This building was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, so in 1950 Bach's remains were taken to their present grave in St. Thomas Church.[22] Later research has called into question whether the remains in the grave are actually those of Bach.[225]

 References

 Notes

 1. ^ In the portrait, Bach holds a copy of the six-part canon BWV 1076[1]
 2. ^ a b German: [ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈbax] ( listen ) . The last name appears in English as / b ɑː x / on Lexico[5] and in Dictionary.com . [6]
 3. ^ Johann Sebastian Bach drafted a genealogy around 1735, titled "Origin of the musical Bach family", printed in translation in David, Mendel & Wolff 1998 , p. 283
 4. ^ For more information, please click the articles on performers; see also reviews and listings in Gramophone , Diapason , YouTube , Discogs and Muziekweb .
 5. ^ See
 + Schweitzer 1911 (1905 and 1908 editions)
 + Terry 1928
 + Dürr 1981
 + Dürr & Jones 2006 (English translation)
 + Wolff 1991
 + Wolff 2000
 + Williams 1980
 + Butt 1997
 6. ^ See
 + Wolff 2000
 + Williams 2003a
 + Williams 2007
 + Williams 2016
 + Gardiner 2013

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 71. ^ GB-Lbl Add. MS. 35021 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 72. ^ D-B Mus. ms. 16714 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 73. ^ D-Cv A.V,1109,(1), 1a Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine and 1b Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 74. ^ D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 195 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 75. ^ D-B Mus. ms. 1160 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 76. ^ D-WFe 191 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website ( RISM 250000899 )
 77. ^ D-Bsa SA 301, Fascicle 1 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine and Fascicle 2 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
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 79. ^ F-Pn Ms. 17669 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 80. ^ D-B N. Mus. ms. 468 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine and Privatbesitz C. Thiele, BWV deest (NBA Serie II:5) Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 81. ^ D-B N. Mus. ms. 307 Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 82. ^ D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 271, Fascicle 2 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 83. ^ D-B Mus. ms. 30199, Fascicle 14 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine and D-B Mus. ms. 17155/16 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 84. ^ D-B Mus. ms. 7918 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
 85. ^ Musikalische Bibliothek , III.2 [1746], 353 Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine , Felbick 2012, 284. In 1746, Mizler announced the membership of three famous members, Musikalische Bibliothek , III.2 [1746], 357 Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine .
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 87. ^ David, Mendel & Wolff 1998 , p. 224.
 88. ^ US-PRscheide BWV 645–650 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine (original print of the Schübler Chorales with Bach's handwritten corrections and additions from before August 1748 – description at Bach Digital website)
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 140. ^ Bach's secular cantatas in BWV order, each followed by a link to the Bach Digital Work (BDW) page of the cantata at the Bach-Digital website:
 1. BWV 30a (BDW 00039 )
 2. BWV 36a (BDW 00049 )
 3. BWV 36b (BDW 00050 )
 4. BWV 36c (BDW 00051 )
 5. BWV 66a (BDW 00083 )
 6. BWV 134a (BDW 00166 )
 7. BWV 173a (BDW 00211 )
 8. BWV 184a (BDW 00223 )
 9. BWV 193a (BDW 00235 )
 10. BWV 194a (BDW 00239 )
 11. BWV 198 (BDW 00246 )
 12. BWV 201 (BDW 00251 )
 13. BWV 202 (BDW 00252 )
 14. BWV 203 (BDW 00253 )
 15. BWV 204 (BDW 00254 )
 16. BWV 205 (BDW 00255 )
 17. BWV 205a (BDW 00256 )
 18. BWV 206 , first version (BDW 00257 )
 19. BWV 206 , second version (BDW 00258 )
 20. BWV 207 (BDW 00259 )
 21. BWV 207a (BDW 00260 )
 22. BWV 208 , first version (BDW 00261 )
 23. BWV 208 , second version (BDW 00262 )
 24. BWV 208a (BDW 00263 )
 25. BWV 209 (BDW 00264 )
 26. BWV 210 (BDW 00265 )
 27. BWV 210a (BDW 00266 )
 28. BWV 211 (BDW 00267 )
 29. BWV 212 (BDW 00268 )
 30. BWV 213 (BDW 00269 )
 31. BWV 214 (BDW 00270 )
 32. BWV 215 (BDW 00271 )
 33. BWV 216 (BDW 00272 )
 34. BWV 216a (BDW 00273 )
 35. BWV 249a (BDW 00318 )
 36. BWV 249b (BDW 00319 )
 37. BWV Anh. 6 (BDW 01314 )
 38. BWV Anh. 7 (BDW 01315 )
 39. BWV Anh. 8 (BDW 01316 )
 40. BWV Anh. 9 (BDW 01317 )
 41. BWV Anh. 10 (BDW 01318 )
 42. BWV Anh. 11 (BDW 01319 )
 43. BWV Anh. 12 (BDW 01320 )
 44. BWV Anh. 13 (BDW 01321 )
 45. BWV Anh. 18 (BDW 01326 )
 46. BWV Anh. 19 (BDW 01327 )
 47. BWV Anh. 20 (BDW 01328 )
 48. BWV Anh. 195 (BDW 01506 )
 49. BWV Anh. 196 (BDW 01507 )
 50. BWV deest (BDW 01536 )
 141. ^ For instance, Helmut Rilling's box set of the complete secular cantatas Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine contains 22 works
 142. ^ Wolff 2000 , pp. 100–101.
 143. ^ "Especially in its opening chorus, it is one of Bach's contrapuntal masterpieces": Robin A. Leaver in Boyd 1999 .
 144. ^ "one of Bach's best-known church works" wrote David Schulenberg in Boyd 1999 .
 145. ^ Bach Digital Work 00246 at www.bachdigital.de
 146. ^ Bach Digital Work 00261 , 00262 at www.bachdigital.de
 147. ^ Bach Digital Work 00268 at www.bachdigital.de
 148. ^ Bach Digital Work 00253 at www.bachdigital.de
 149. ^ Bach Digital Work 01319 , 01320 at www.bachdigital.de
 150. ^ Bach Digital Work 00251 at www.bachdigital.de
 151. ^ Traupman-Carr, Carol. "Cantata BWV 211, Coffee Cantata". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015 . Retrieved 31 March 2014 .
 152. ^ Wolff 2000 , p. 65
 153. ^ Wolff 2000 , p. 363.
 154. ^ Traupman-Carr, Carol. "Choral Works". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014 . Retrieved 31 March 2014 .
 155. ^ Melamed, Daniel R. (1995). J. S. Bach and the German Motet. pp. 90–94. ISBN 978-0-521-41864-5. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015.
 156. ^ "The Mass in B Minor, BWV 232". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014 . Retrieved 29 March 2014 .
 157. ^ Herz 1985 , p. 187.
 158. ^ "Bach, Johann Sebastian". GMN ClassicalPlus. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008 . Retrieved 19 May 2008 .
 159. ^ Smith, Timothy A. "Arnstadt (1703–1707)". The Canons and Fugues of J. S. Bach. Archived from the original on 5 February 2014 . Retrieved 11 April 2014 .
 160. ^ Schweitzer 1923 , p. 333.
 161. ^ Kroesbergen, Willem; Cruickshank, Andrew (October 2015) [November 2013]. "18th Century Quotations Relating to J. S. Bach's Temperament" (2nd ed.). Academia.edu.
 162. ^ Tomita, Yo. "J. S. Bach: Inventions and Sinfonias". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012 . Retrieved 22 February 2012 .
 163. ^ McComb, Todd M. "Bach: English Suites". Early Music FAQ. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014 . Retrieved 10 December 2014 .
 164. ^ Traupman-Carr, Carol. "French Suites 1–6". Bach 101. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013 . Retrieved 23 December 2014 .
 165. ^ McComb, Todd M. "Bach: Partitas, BWV 825–30". Early Music FAQ. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 . Retrieved 10 December 2014 .
 166. ^ Libbey, Ted. "Gold Standard for Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'". NPR Music. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012 . Retrieved 22 February 2012 .
 167. ^ Bratman, David. "Shaham: Bold, Brilliant, All-Bach". San Francisco Classical Voice. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012 . Retrieved 23 February 2012 .
 168. ^ Wolff 1991 , p. 111.
 169. ^ Schwarm, Betsy (19 April 2019). "The Art of Fugue | History, Description & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 22 August 2021 .
 170. ^ "Baroque Music". Music of the Baroque. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014 . Retrieved 27 December 2014 .
 171. ^ Traupman-Carr, Carol. "A compendium of works performed by the Bach Choir". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013 . Retrieved 23 December 2014 .
 172. ^ Forkel 1920 , pp. 10–11 .
 173. ^ Forkel 1920 , pp. 140–141 .
 174. ^ Zehnder, Jean-Claude (2011) Toccatas and Fugues / Individual Works. Archived 23 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel . Introduction p. 20.
 175. ^ Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018. Church Publishing, Inc. 17 December 2019. ISBN 978-1-64065-235-4.
 176. ^ "Church Music Sunday" (PDF) . Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 2013.
 177. ^ Geck 2003 , p. 141 .
 178. ^ Johann Sebastian Bach. Letter to Augustus III of Poland. 27 July 1733; Quoted in Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel , The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents . W. W. Norton, 1945, p. 128; Quoted in David, Mendel & Wolff 1998 , p. 158.
 179. ^ Johann Adolf Scheibe . pp. 46–47 in Critischer Musicus VI, 14 May 1737. Quoted in Eidam 2001 , Ch. XXII.
 180. ^ Johann Mattheson . Das Beschützte Orchestre, oder desselben Zweyte Eröffnung, footnote p. 222 Hamburg: Schiller, 1717.
 181. ^ Lorenz Christoph Mizler . Musikalische Bibliothek. Volume I, Part 4, pp. 61–73. Leipzig, April 1738. Includes a reprint of Johann Abraham Birnbaum's Unpartheyische Anmerckungen über eine bedenckliche stelle in dem Sechsten stück des Critischen Musicus. Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine published early January of the same year.
 182. ^ Bach was regarded as "passé even in his own lifetime". ( Morris 2005 , p. 2)
 183. ^ Wolff 2000 , pp. 456–461.
 184. ^ Forkel 1920 , pp. 85–86 .
 185. ^ Listing of manuscripts of Bach compositions once in the possession of C. P. E. Bach [ permanent dead link ] at www.bach-digital.de
 186. ^ Peter Wollny. "Chapter twelve: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Halle performances of cantatas by his father", pp. 202–228 in Bach Studies 2 edited by Daniel R. Melamed. Cambridge University Press 2006. ISBN 978-0-521-02891-2
 187. ^ Forkel 1920 , p. 139 .
 188. ^ Wolff 2013 , p. 459.
 189. ^ a b c d Christoph Wolff . "A Bach Cult in Late-Eighteenth-Century Berlin: Sara Levy's Musical Salon" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine in Bulletin of the American Academy . Spring 2005. pp. 26–31.
 190. ^ a b Applegate 2005 , p. 14
 191. ^ Spitta 1899b , p. 518–519 , 611 .
 192. ^ A-Wgm A 169 b (III 31685) Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at www.bachdigital.de
 193. ^ Preludes and Fugues, K.404a : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 194. ^ Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von (1862). Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. OCLC 3309798. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. , No. 405, pp. 328–329
 195. ^ "Bach, Mozart and the 'Musical Midwife'". Archived from the original on 4 November 2015.
 196. ^ Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press ( ISBN 978-0-253-33487-9 ), pp. 423–432 (2002).
 197. ^ a b c d e f McKay, Cory. "The Bach Reception in the 18th and 19th century" Archived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine at www.music.mcgill.ca
 198. ^ a b Schenk, Winston & Winston 1959 , p. 452
 199. ^ Daniel Heartz . Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781–1802, p. 678. W. W. Norton, 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-28578-9
 200. ^ Kerst 1904 , p. 101.
 201. ^ Edward Noel Green. Chromatic Completion in the Late Vocal Music of Haydn and Mozart: A Technical, Philosophic, and Historical Study, p. 273 New York University. ISBN 978-0-549-79451-6
 202. ^ Geck 2006 , pp. 9–10.
 203. ^ Schneider 1907 , p. 94 .
 204. ^ Schneider 1907 , pp. 96–97 .
 205. ^ Schneider 1907 , p. 100 .
 206. ^ Forkel 1920 , p. xvii .
 207. ^ Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . Magnificat, MWV A2 edited by Pietro Zappalà. Carus, 1996. Foreword, p. VI
 208. ^ Johann Sebastian Bach's noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositionen (auch am Pianoforte von einem oder zwei Spielern ausführbar) , three volumes, edited by Adolph Bernhard Marx . Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel , 1833
 209. ^ Kupferberg 1985 , p. 126.
 210. ^ Spitta 1899a , 1899b , 1899c (first publication in German, in two volumes: Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel 1873 and 1880)
 211. ^ "Robert Johnson and Pablo Casals' Game Changers Turn 70". NPR Music. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012 . Retrieved 22 February 2012 .
 212. ^ McComb, Todd M. "What is Early Music?–Historically Informed Performance". Early Music FAQ. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015 . Retrieved 2 January 2015 .
 213. ^ Shipton, Alyn. "Bach and Jazz". A Bach Christmas. BBC Radio 3. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013 . Retrieved 27 December 2014 .
 214. ^ a b Rokus de Groot (2000). "And Nowhere Bach. Bach Reception in a Late Twentieth-Century Dutch Composition by Elmer Schönberger" pp. 145–158 in Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis , volume 50, no. 1/2.
 215. ^ "Bach Edition" Archived 10 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at www.musicweb-international.com 1 December 2001
 216. ^ Teldec 's 1999 Bach 2000 Box set, Limited Edition Archived 12 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine at www.amazon.com
 217. ^ Bach-Edition: The Complete Works (172 CDs & CDR) Archived 29 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the Hänssler Classic website
 218. ^ "Golden Record: Music from Earth". NASA. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013 . Retrieved 26 July 2012 .
 219. ^ Bach Archived 23 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine , USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
 220. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". Archived from the original on 24 February 2017.
 221. ^ List of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Category:Bach, Johann Sebastian at IMSLP website
 222. ^ "Bach Digital". bach-digital.de. Bach Digital . Retrieved 16 June 2021 .
 223. ^ "Autograph of h-Moll-Messe (Mass in B minor) by Johann Sebastian Bach". UNESCO. 2015 . Retrieved 31 January 2022 .
 224. ^ BBC Music Magazine (31 October 2019). "JS Bach is the greatest composer of all time, say today's leading composers for BBC Music Magazine". classical-music.com Ltd . Retrieved 14 August 2020 .
 225. ^ Zegers, Richard H.C.; Maas, Mario; Koopman, A.G. & Maat, George J.R. (2009). "Are the alleged remains of Johann Sebastian Bach authentic?" (PDF) . The Medical Journal of Australia. 190 (4): 213–216. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02354.x. PMID 19220191. S2CID 7925258. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2013.

 Works cited

 Biographies

 See also: Biographies of Johann Sebastian Bach
 * Boyd, Malcolm (2000). Bach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514222-8.
 * David, Hans T. [in German] ; Mendel, Arthur; Wolff, Christoph (1998). The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-31956-9. OCLC 37801400.
 * Eidam, Klaus [in German] (2001). The True Life of Johann Sebastian Bach. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-01861-1.
 * Forkel, Johann Nikolaus (1920). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work. Translated by Charles Sanford Terry. New York; London: Harcourt, Brace and Howe; Constable.
 * Gardiner, John Eliot (2013). Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9662-3.
 * Geck, Martin (2003). Bach. Translated by Anthea Bell. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-904341-16-1. Archived 24 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
 * Geck, Martin (2006). Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-15-100648-9.
 * Geiringer, Karl (1966). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Culmination of an Era. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-500554-7.
 * Schweitzer, Albert (1911). J. S. Bach. Translated by Ernest Newman. New York: Macmillan Publishers., first published in French in 1905 and in German in 1908.(Vol. 1, Vol. 2)
 * Schweitzer, Albert (1923) [1905]. J. S. Bach. Vol. 1. Translated by Ernest Newman. New York: Macmillan Publishers.
 * Spitta, Philipp (1899a). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750. Vol. 1. Translated by Clara Bell; J. A. Fuller Maitland. London: Novello & Co.
 * Spitta, Philipp (1899b). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750. Vol. 2. Translated by Clara Bell; J. A. Fuller Maitland. London: Novello & Co.
 * Spitta, Philipp (1899c). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750. Vol. 3. Translated by Clara Bell; J. A. Fuller Maitland. London: Novello & Co.
 * Terry, Charles Sanford (1928). Bach: A Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 * Williams, Peter (2003a). The Life of Bach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53374-4.
 * Williams, Peter (2007). Bach: A Life in Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87074-0.
 * Williams, Peter (2016). Bach: A Musical Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-13925-1.
 * Wolff, Christoph (1991). Bach: Essays on his Life and Music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-05926-9.
 * Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816534-7. Second edition, 2013, W. W. Norton, New York and London, ISBN 978-0-393-32256-9 pbk.
 * Wolff, Christoph; Emery, Walter (20 January 2001). "Bach, Johann Sebastian". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278195. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)

 Other

 * Applegate, Celia (2005). Bach in Berlin: Nation and Culture in Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801443893.
 * Boyd, Malcolm, ed. (1999). J. S. Bach. Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press.
 * Butt, John, ed. (1997). The Cambridge Companion to Bach. ISBN 978-0-521-58780-8.
 * Chiapusso, Jan (1968). Bach's World. Scarborough, Ontario: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-10520-2.
 * Crist, Stephen A.; Stauff, Derek (2011). "Johann Sebastian Bach". Oxford Bibliographies: Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OBO/9780199757824-0043. (subscription required)
 * Dent, Edward Joseph (2004). Handel. R A Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4191-2275-4.
 * Donington, Robert (1982). Baroque Music: Style and Performance: A Handbook. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-30052-9.
 * Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German) (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. ISBN 978-3-423-04080-8.
 * Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006), The Cantatas of J.S. Bach, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4
 * Herl, Joseph (2004). Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515439-9.
 * Herz, Gerhard (1985). Essays on J. S. Bach. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-8357-1989-6.
 * Jones, Richard (2007). The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816440-1.
 * Kerst, Friedrich (1904). Beethoven im eigenen Wort (in German). Berlin: Schuster & Loeffler.
 * Kupferberg, Herbert (1985). Basically Bach: A 300th Birthday Celebration. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-035646-7.
 * Leaver, Robin A. (2007). Luther's Liturgical Music. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-3221-4.
 * Lester, Joel (1999). Bach's Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, Performance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512097-4.
 * Miles, Russell H. (1962). Johann Sebastian Bach: An Introduction to His Life and Works. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. OCLC 600065.
 * Morris, Edmund (2005). Beethoven: the Universal Composer. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-075974-2.
 * Rich, Alan (1995). Johann Sebastian Bach: Play by Play. San Francisco: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-263547-1.
 * Schenk, Erich; Winston, Richard; Winston, Clara (1959). Mozart and His Times. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. OCLC 602180.
 * Schneider, Max (1907). "Verzeichnis der bis zum Jahre 1851 gedruckten (und der geschrieben im Handel gewesenen) Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach". Bach-Jahrbuch. Neue Bachgesellschaft. VII (3): 84–113.
 * Schulenberg, David (2006). The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97400-4.
 * Spaeth, Sigmund (1937). Stories Behind the World's Great Music. New York: Whittlesey House.
 * Stauffer, George B. (2008). "Music for "Cavaliers et Dames": Bach and the Repertoire of His Collegium Musicum". In Butler, Gregory G.; Stauffer, George B.; Greer, Mary Galton (eds.). About Bach. University of Illinois Press. pp. 135–156. ISBN 978-0-252-03344-5.
 * Van Til, Marian (2007). George Frideric Handel: A Music Lover's Guide to His Life, His Faith & the Development of Messiah and His Other Oratorios. Youngstown, New York: WordPower Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9794785-0-5.
 * Williams, Peter (1980), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach, Volume II: BWV 599–771, etc., Cambridge Studies in Music, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-31700-9; Williams, Peter (2003b), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-89115-8
 * Wolff, Christoph, ed. (1983). The New Grove Bach Family. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-34350-0.
 * Wolff, Christoph, ed. (1997). The World of the Bach Cantatas: Johann Sebastian Bach's Early Sacred Cantatas. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-33674-0.
 * Wolff, Christoph; Emery, Walter; Wollny, Peter; Leisinger, Ulrich; Roe, Stephen (17 January 2018) [2001]. "Bach family". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40023. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)

 Further reading

 See: Crist & Stauff 2011, for an extensive bibliography .

 * Baron, Carol K. (2006). Bach's Changing World: Voices in the Community. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1-58046-190-0.
 * Dörffel, Alfred (1882). Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Joh. Seb. Bach (in German). Leipzig: C. F. Peters. N.B.: First published in 1867; superseded, for scholarly purposes, by Wolfgang Schmieder's complete thematic catalog, but useful as a handy reference tool for only the instrumental works of Bach and as a partial alternative to Schmieder's work.
 * Hofstadter, Douglas (1999). Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02656-2.
 * Leaver, Robin A. (2016), The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-367-58143-5
 * Pirro, André (2014) [1907]. The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-3290-7.
 * Stauffer, George B.; May, Ernest (1986). J. S. Bach as Organist: His Instruments, Music, and Performance Practices. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-33181-6.

 External links

 Johann Sebastian Bach at Wikipedia's sister projects
 * Media from Commons
 * Quotations from Wikiquote
 * Texts from Wikisource
 German Wikisource has original text related to this article:
 Johann Sebastian Bach
 * "Discovering Bach". BBC Radio 3.
 * bach-leipzig website of the Bach Archive.
 * Yo Tomita's Bach Bibliography (23 March 2012), mirror at the Riemenschneider Bach Institute.
 * Works by or about Johann Sebastian Bach at Internet Archive.

 Scores

 * Johann Sebastian Bach at the Musopen project.
 * Free scores by Johann Sebastian Bach at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP).
 * Music manuscripts and early prints at Bach Digital website.

 Recordings

 * Johann Sebastian Bach recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
 * Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) at Muziekweb website.
 * All of Bach website of the Netherlands Bach Society.
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Johann Sebastian Bach        Portrait of Bach by E. G. Haussmann, 1748 [n 1]       Born 21 March 1685 (O.S.) 31 March 1685 (N.S.)    Eisenach      Died 28 July 1750 (aged 65)   Leipzig      Works  List of compositions    Signature         
 Johann Sebastian Bach  [n 2]  (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the  Brandenburg Concertos ; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the  Goldberg Variations  and  The Well-Tempered Clavier ; organ works such as the  Schubler Chorales  and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the  St Matthew Passion  and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. [2]   [3] 
 The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical education in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723 he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St Thomas's) in Leipzig. There he composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus III of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.
 Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic, and motivic organisation, [4]  and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular. He composed Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs. He wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ the genres of canon and fugue.
 Throughout the 18th century, Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the  Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis  (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including the  Air on the G String  and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
Life
Childhood (1685–1703)
     
Johann Sebastian Bach [n 2]  was born in Eisenach, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, in present-day Germany, on 21 March 1685 O.S. (31 March 1685 N.S.). He was the eighth and youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the town musicians, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. [7]   [8]   [9]  His father likely taught him violin and basic music theory. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts included church organists, court chamber musicians, and composers. [10]  One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the organ, [11]  and an older second cousin, Johann Ludwig Bach, was a well-known composer and violinist. [10]   [n 3] 
 Bach's mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later. [12]  The 10-year-old Bach moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at St. Michael's Church in Ohrdruf, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. [13]  There he studied, performed, and copied music, including his own brother's, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private, and blank ledger paper of that type was costly. [14]   [15]  He received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. Johann Christoph exposed him to the works of great composers of the day, including South Germans such as Johann Caspar Kerll, Johann Jakob Froberger and Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied); North Germans; [16]  Frenchmen such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand and Marin Marais; [17]  and even the Italian Girolamo Frescobaldi. [18]  During this time, he was also taught theology, Latin and Greek at the local gymnasium. [19] 
 By 3 April 1700, Bach and his schoolfriend Georg Erdmann – who was two years Bach's elder – were enrolled in the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, some two weeks' travel north of Ohrdruf. [20]   [21]  Their journey was probably undertaken mostly on foot. [21]  His two years there were critical in exposing Bach to a wider range of European culture. In addition to singing in the choir, he played the school's three-manual organ and harpsichords. [22]  He also came into contact with sons of aristocrats from northern Germany who had been sent to the nearby Ritter-Academie to prepare for careers in other disciplines. [23] 
Weimar, Arnstadt, and Mühlhausen (1703–1708)
      The Wender organ Bach played in Arnstadt  
In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post of organist at Sangerhausen, [24]  Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar. [25]  His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboardist spread so much that he was invited to inspect the new organ and give the inaugural recital at the New Church (now Bach Church) in Arnstadt, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Weimar. [26]  On 14 August 1703, he became the organist at the New Church, [11]  with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a new organ tuned in a temperament that allowed music written in a wider range of keys to be played. [27] 
 Despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir. He called one of them a "Zippel Fagottist" (weenie bassoon player). Late one evening this student, named Geyersbach, went after Bach with a stick. Bach filed a complaint against Geyersbach with the authorities. They acquitted Geyersbach with a minor reprimand and ordered Bach to be more moderate regarding the musical qualities he expected from his students. Some months later Bach upset his employer by a prolonged absence from Arnstadt: after obtaining leave for four weeks, he was absent for around four months in 1705–1706 to visit the organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude in the northern city of Lübeck. The visit to Buxtehude involved a 450-kilometre (280 mi) journey each way, reportedly on foot. [28]   [29] 
 In 1706, Bach applied for a post as organist at the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen. [30]   [31]  As part of his application, he had a cantata performed on Easter, 24 April 1707, likely an early version of his  Christ lag in Todes Banden . [32]  A month later Bach's application was accepted and he took up the post in July. [30]  The position included significantly higher remuneration, improved conditions, and a better choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, Bach married Maria Barbara Bach, his second cousin. Bach was able to convince the church and town government at Mühlhausen to fund an expensive renovation of the organ at the Blasius Church. In 1708 Bach wrote  Gott ist mein König , a festive cantata for the inauguration of the new council, which was published at the council's expense. [22] 
Return to Weimar (1708–1717)
     
Bach left Mühlhausen in 1708, returning to Weimar this time as organist and from 1714 Konzertmeister (director of music) at the ducal court, where he had an opportunity to work with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians. [22]  Bach and his wife moved into a house close to the ducal palace. [33]  Later the same year, their first child, Catharina Dorothea, was born, and Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister joined them. She remained to help run the household until her death in 1729. Three sons were also born in Weimar: Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Gottfried Bernhard. Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara had three more children, who however did not live to their first birthday, including twins born in 1713. [34] 
 Bach's time in Weimar was the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works. He attained the proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing structures and include influences from abroad. He learned to write dramatic openings and employ the dynamic rhythms and harmonic schemes found in the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli, and Torelli. Bach absorbed these stylistic aspects in part by transcribing Vivaldi's string and wind concertos for harpsichord and organ; many of these transcribed works are still regularly performed. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian style, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement. [35] 
 In Weimar, Bach continued to play and compose for the organ and perform concert music with the duke's ensemble. [22]  He also began to write the preludes and fugues which were later assembled into his monumental work  The Well-Tempered Clavier  ("clavier" meaning clavichord or harpsichord), [36]  consisting of two books, [37]  each containing 24 preludes and fugues in every major and minor key. Bach also started work on the  Little Organ Book  in Weimar, containing traditional Lutheran chorale tunes set in complex textures. In 1713, Bach was offered a post in Halle when he advised the authorities during a renovation by Christoph Cuntzius of the main organ in the west gallery of the Market Church of Our Dear Lady. [38]   [39] 
 In the spring of 1714, Bach was promoted to Konzertmeister, an honour that entailed performing a church cantata monthly in the castle church. [40]  The first three cantatas in the new series Bach composed in Weimar were  Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV 182, for Palm Sunday, which coincided with the Annunciation that year;  Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, for Jubilate Sunday; and  Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!  BWV 172 for Pentecost. [41]  Bach's first Christmas cantata,  Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, was premiered in 1714 or 1715. [42]   [43] 
 In 1717, Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and, according to a translation of the court secretary's report, was jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed: "On November 6, [1717], the quondam [former] concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge." [44] 
Köthen (1717–1723)
     
 Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, hired Bach to serve as his  Kapellmeister  (director of music) in 1717. Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. The prince was a Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; accordingly, most of Bach's work from this period was secular, [45]  including the orchestral suites, cello suites, sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and Brandenburg Concertos. [46]  Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as  Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a.
 Despite being born in the same year and only about 130 kilometres (80 mi) apart, Bach and Handel never met. In 1719, Bach made the 35-kilometre (22 mi) journey from Köthen to Halle with the intention of meeting Handel; however, Handel had left the town. [47]   [48]  In 1730, Bach's oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, travelled to Halle to invite Handel to visit the Bach family in Leipzig, but the visit did not take place. [49] 
 On 7 July 1720, while Bach was away in Carlsbad with Prince Leopold, Bach's wife suddenly died. [50]  The following year, he met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 16 years his junior, who performed at the court in Köthen; they married on 3 December 1721. [51]  Together they had 13 children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781); Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian, who both, especially Johann Christian, became significant musicians; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809). [52] 
Leipzig (1723–1750)
In 1723, Bach was appointed  Thomaskantor , Cantor of the St. Thomas School at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, which provided music for four churches in the city: the St. Thomas Church and St. Nicholas Church and to a lesser extent the New Church and St. Peter's Church. [53]  This was "the leading cantorate in Protestant Germany", [54]  located in the mercantile city in the Electorate of Saxony, which he held for 27 years until his death. During that time he gained further prestige through honorary appointments at the courts of Köthen and Weissenfels, as well as that of the Elector Frederick Augustus (who was also King of Poland) in Dresden. [54]  Bach frequently disagreed with his employer, Leipzig's city council, which he regarded as "penny-pinching". [55] 
Appointment in Leipzig
     
 Johann Kuhnau had been Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1701 until his death on 5 June 1722. Bach had visited Leipzig during Kuhnau's tenure: in 1714 he attended the service at the St. Thomas Church on the first Sunday of Advent, [56]  and in 1717 he had tested the organ of the St. Paul's Church. [57]  In 1716 Bach and Kuhnau had met on the occasion of the testing and inauguration of an organ in Halle. [39] 
 After being offered the position, Bach was invited to Leipzig only after Georg Philipp Telemann indicated that he would not be interested in relocating to Leipzig. [58]  Telemann went to Hamburg, where he "had his own struggles with the city's senate". [59] 
 Bach was required to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing and provide church music for the main churches in Leipzig. He was also assigned to teach Latin but was allowed to employ four "prefects" (deputies) to do this instead. The prefects also aided with musical instruction. [60]  A cantata was required for the church services on Sundays and additional church holidays during the liturgical year.
Cantata cycle years (1723–1729)
Bach usually led performances of his cantatas, most of which were composed within three years of his relocation to Leipzig. The first was  Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, performed in the St. Nicholas Church on 30 May 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity. Bach collected his cantatas in annual cycles. Five are mentioned in obituaries, three are extant. [41]  Of the more than 300 cantatas which Bach composed in Leipzig, over 100 have been lost to posterity. [61]  Most of these works expound on the Gospel readings prescribed for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year. Bach started a second annual cycle the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724 and composed only chorale cantatas, each based on a single church hymn. These include  O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20,  Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140,  Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62, and  Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1.
 Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the school and the tenors and basses from the school and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six motets. [62]  As part of his regular church work, he performed other composers' motets, which served as formal models for his own. [63] 
 Bach's predecessor as cantor, Johann Kuhnau, had also been music director for the St. Paul's Church, the church of Leipzig University. But when Bach was installed as cantor in 1723, he was put in charge only of music for festal (church holiday) services at the St. Paul's Church; his petition to also provide music for regular Sunday services there (for a corresponding salary increase) went all the way to the Elector but was denied. After this, in 1725, Bach "lost interest" in working even for festal services at the St. Paul's Church and appeared there only on "special occasions". [64]  The St. Paul's Church had a much better and newer (1716) organ than did the St. Thomas Church or the St. Nicholas Church. [65]  Bach was not required to play any organ in his official duties, but it is believed he liked to play on the St. Paul's Church organ "for his own pleasure". [66] 
     
Bach broadened his composing and performing beyond the liturgy by taking over, in March 1729, the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble started by Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that were established by musically active university students; these societies had become increasingly important in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that "consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal musical institutions". [67]  Every week the Collegium Musicum would give two-hour performances in winter at the Café Zimmermann, a coffeehouse on Catherine Street off the main market square; and during the summer months in the proprietor's outdoor coffee garden just outside the town walls, near the East Gate. The concerts, all free of charge, ended with Gottfried Zimmermann's death in 1741. Apart from showcasing his earlier orchestral repertoire such as the Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites, many of Bach's newly composed or reworked pieces were performed for these venues, including parts of his  Clavier-Übung  (Keyboard Practice), his violin and keyboard concertos and of course the eponymous Coffee Cantata. [22]   [68] 
Middle years of the Leipzig period (1730–1739)
      Bach's seal (centre), used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the superimposed letters J S B in mirror image topped with a crown. The flanking letters illustrate the arrangement on the seal.  
In 1733, Bach composed a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in B minor which he later incorporated in his Mass in B minor. He presented the manuscript to the Elector in an eventually successful bid to persuade the prince to give him the title of Court Composer. [69]  He later extended this work into a full mass by adding a Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, the music for which was partly based on his own cantatas and partly original. Bach's appointment as Court Composer was an element of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig council. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf Gerlach held the directorship of the Collegium Musicum.
 In 1735 Bach started to prepare his first publication of organ music, which was printed as the third Clavier-Übung  in 1739. [70]  From around that year he started to compile and compose the set of preludes and fugues for harpsichord that would become his second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier. [71]  He received the title of "Royal Court Composer" from Augustus III in 1736. [69]   [12] 
Final years and death (1740–1750)
From 1740 to 1748 Bach copied, transcribed, expanded or programmed music in an older polyphonic style ( stile antico ) by, among others, Palestrina (BNB I/P/2), [72]  Kerll (BWV 241), [73]  Torri (BWV Anh. 30), [74]  Bassani (BWV 1081), [75]  Gasparini ( Missa Canonica ) [76]  and Caldara (BWV 1082). [77]  Bach's own style shifted in the last decade of his life, showing an increased integration of polyphonic structures and canons and other elements of the stile antico. [78]  His fourth and last Clavier-Übung volume, the  Goldberg Variations , for two-manual harpsichord, contained nine canons and was published in 1741. [79]  Throughout this period, Bach also continued to adopt music of contemporaries such as Handel (BNB I/K/2) [80]  and Stölzel (BWV 200), [81]  and gave many of his own earlier compositions, such as the St Matthew and St John Passions and the  Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes , [82]  their final revisions. He also programmed and adapted music by composers of a younger generation, including Pergolesi (BWV 1083) [83]  and his own students such as Goldberg (BNB I/G/2). [84] 
 In 1746 Bach was preparing to enter Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Society of Musical Sciences [de]. [85]  In order to be admitted Bach had to submit a composition, for which he chose his Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", and a portrait, which was painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann and featured Bach's  Canon triplex á 6 Voc . [86]  In May 1747, Bach visited the court of King Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam. The king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach obliged, playing a three-part fugue on one of Frederick's fortepianos by Gottfried Silbermann, [87]  which was a new type of instrument at the time. Upon his return to Leipzig he composed a set of fugues and canons, and a trio sonata, based on the Thema Regium (theme of the king). Within a few weeks this music was published as  The Musical Offering  and dedicated to Frederick. The  Schübler Chorales , a set of six chorale preludes transcribed from cantata movements Bach had composed some two decades earlier, were published within a year. [88]   [89]  Around the same time, the set of five canonic variations which Bach had submitted when entering Mizler's society in 1747 were also printed. [90] 
 Two large-scale compositions occupied a central place in Bach's last years. From around 1742 he wrote and revised the various canons and fugues of  The Art of Fugue , which he continued to prepare for publication until shortly before his death. [91]   [92]  After extracting a cantata, BWV 191 from his 1733 Kyrie-Gloria Mass for the Dresden court in the mid-1740s, Bach expanded that setting into his Mass in B minor in the last years of his life. Although the complete mass was never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works in history. [93] 
 In January 1749, Bach's daughter Elisabeth Juliane Friederica married his pupil Johann Christoph Altnickol. Bach's health was, however, declining. On 2 June, Heinrich von Brühl wrote to one of the Leipzig burgomasters to request that his music director, Johann Gottlob Harrer, fill the Thomaskantor and Director musices posts "upon the eventual ... decease of Mr. Bach". [94]  Becoming blind, Bach underwent eye surgery, in March 1750 and again in April, by the British eye surgeon John Taylor, a man widely understood today as a charlatan and believed to have blinded hundreds of people. [95]  Bach died on 28 July 1750 from complications due to the unsuccessful treatment. [96]   [97]   [98] 
 An inventory drawn up a few months after Bach's death shows that his estate included five harpsichords, two lute-harpsichords, three violins, three violas, two cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, along with 52 "sacred books", including works by Martin Luther and Josephus. [99]  The composer's son Carl Philipp Emanuel saw to it that The Art of Fugue, although still unfinished, was published in 1751. [100]  Together with one of the composer's former students, Johann Friedrich Agricola, the son also wrote the obituary ("Nekrolog"), which was published in Mizler's  Musikalische Bibliothek  [de], a periodical journal produced by the Society of Musical Sciences, in 1754. [90] 
Musical style
      A handwritten note by Bach in his copy of the Calov Bible. The note next to 2 Chronicles 5:13 reads: "NB Bey einer andächtigen Musiq ist allezeit Gott mit seiner Gnaden Gegenwart" (N(ota) B(ene) In a music of worship God is always present with his grace).  
From an early age, Bach studied the works of his musical contemporaries of the Baroque period and those of prior generations, and those influences were reflected in his music. [101]  Like his contemporaries Handel, Telemann and Vivaldi, Bach composed concertos, suites, recitatives, da capo arias, and four-part choral music and employed basso continuo. Bach's music was harmonically more innovative than his peer composers, employing surprisingly dissonant chords and progressions, often with extensive exploration of harmonic possibilities within one piece. [102] 
 The hundreds of sacred works Bach created are usually seen as manifesting not just his craft but also a truly devout relationship with God. [103]   [104]  He had taught Luther's Small Catechism as the Thomaskantor in Leipzig, and some of his pieces represent it. [105]  The Lutheran chorale was the basis of much of his work. In elaborating these hymns into his chorale preludes, he wrote more cogent and tightly integrated works than most, even when they were massive and lengthy.[ citation needed ] The large-scale structure of every major Bach sacred vocal work is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning to create a religiously and musically powerful expression. For example, the St Matthew Passion, like other works of its kind, illustrated the Passion with Bible text reflected in recitatives, arias, choruses, and chorales, but in crafting this work, Bach created an overall experience that has been found over the intervening centuries to be both musically thrilling and spiritually profound. [106] 
 Bach published or carefully compiled in manuscript many collections of pieces that explored the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in almost every genre of his time except opera. For example, The Well-Tempered Clavier comprises two books, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, displaying a dizzying variety of structural, contrapuntal and fugal techniques. [107] 
Four-part harmony
     
 Four-part harmonies predate Bach, but he lived during a time when modal music in Western tradition was largely supplanted in favour of the tonal system. In this system a piece of music progresses from one chord to the next according to certain rules, each chord being characterised by four notes. The principles of four-part harmony are found not only in Bach's four-part choral music: he also prescribes it for instance for the figured bass accompaniment. [108]  The new system was at the core of Bach's style, and his compositions are to a large extent considered as laying down the rules for the evolving scheme that would dominate musical expression in the next centuries. Some examples of this characteristic of Bach's style and its influence:
 When in the 1740s Bach staged his arrangement of Pergolesi's  Stabat Mater , he upgraded the viola part (which in the original composition plays in unison with the bass part) to fill out the harmony, thus adapting the composition to his four-part harmony style. [109]  
When, starting in the 19th century in Russia, there was a discussion about the authenticity of four-part court chant settings compared to earlier Russian traditions, Bach's four-part chorale settings, such as those ending his Chorale cantatas, were considered as foreign-influenced models. Such influence was deemed unavoidable, however. [110]   
   
 
Bach re-interpreting older genres tied to the modal system   
Bach's insistence on the tonal system and contribution to shaping it did not imply he was less at ease with the older modal system and the genres associated with it: more than his contemporaries (who had "moved on" to the tonal system without much exception), Bach often returned to the then-antiquated modi and genres. His  Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue , emulating the chromatic fantasia genre as used by earlier composers such as Dowland and Sweelinck in D dorian mode (comparable to D minor in the tonal system), is an example of this.
Modulation
 Modulation, or changing key in the course of a piece, is another style characteristic where Bach goes beyond what was usual in his time. Baroque instruments vastly limited modulation possibilities: keyboard instruments, prior to a workable system of temperament, limited the keys that could be modulated to, and wind instruments, especially brass instruments such as trumpets and horns, about a century before they were fitted with valves, were tied to the key of their tuning. Bach pushed the limits: he added "strange tones" in his organ playing, confusing the singing, according to an indictment he had to face in Arnstadt, [111]  and Louis Marchand, another early experimenter with modulation, seems to have avoided confrontation with Bach because the latter went further than anyone had done before. [112]  In the "Suscepit Israel" of his 1723 Magnificat, he had the trumpets in E-flat play a melody in the enharmonic scale of C minor. [113] 
 The major development taking place in Bach's time, and to which he contributed in no small way, was a temperament for keyboard instruments that allowed their use in all available keys (12 major and 12 minor) and also modulation without retuning. His  Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother , a very early work, showed a gusto for modulation unlike any contemporary work this composition has been compared to, [114]  but the full expansion came with the Well-Tempered Clavier, using all keys, which Bach apparently had been developing since around 1720, the  Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach  being one of its earliest examples. [115] 
Ornamentation
     
      "Aria" of the Goldberg Variations, showing Bach's use of ornaments  
The second page of the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is an ornament notation and performance guide that Bach wrote for his eldest son, who was nine years old at the time. Bach was generally quite specific on ornamentation in his compositions (where in his time much of the ornamentation was not written out by composers but rather considered a liberty of the performer), [116]  and his ornamentation was often quite elaborate. For instance, the "Aria" of the Goldberg Variations has rich ornamentation in nearly every measure. Bach's dealing with ornamentation can also be seen in a keyboard arrangement he made of Marcello's Oboe Concerto: he added explicit ornamentation, which some centuries later is played by oboists when performing the concerto.
 Although Bach did not write any operas, he was not averse to the genre or its ornamented vocal style. In church music, Italian composers had imitated the operatic vocal style in genres such as the Neapolitan mass. In Protestant surroundings, there was more reluctance to adopt such a style for liturgical music. For instance, Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor in Leipzig, had notoriously shunned opera and Italian virtuoso vocal music. [117]  Bach was less moved. One of the comments after a performance of his St Matthew Passion was that it all sounded much like opera. [118] 
Continuo instruments solos
In concerted playing in Bach's time the basso continuo, consisting of instruments such as organ, viola da gamba or harpsichord, usually had the role of accompaniment, providing the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of a piece. From the late 1720s, Bach had the organ play concertante (i.e. as a soloist) with the orchestra in instrumental cantata movements, [119]  a decade before Handel published his first organ concertos. [120]  Apart from the 5th Brandenburg Concerto  and the  Triple Concerto , which already had harpsichord soloists in the 1720s, Bach wrote and arranged his harpsichord concertos in the 1730s, [121]  and in his sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord neither instrument plays a continuo part: they are treated as equal soloists, far beyond the figured bass. In this sense, Bach played a key role in the development of genres such as the keyboard concerto. [122] 
Instrumentation
Bach wrote virtuoso music for specific instruments as well as music independent of instrumentation. For instance, the sonatas and partitas for solo violin are considered the pinnacle of what has been written for this instrument, only within reach of accomplished players. The music fits the instrument, pushing it to the full scale of its possibilities and requiring virtuosity of the player but without bravura. [123]  Notwithstanding that the music and the instrument seem inseparable, Bach made transcriptions for other instruments of some pieces of this collection. Similarly, for the cello suites, the virtuoso music seems tailored for the instrument, the best of what is offered for it, yet Bach made an arrangement for lute of one of these suites. The same applies to much of his most virtuoso keyboard music. Bach exploited the capabilities of an instrument to the fullest while keeping the core of such music independent of the instrument on which it is performed.
 In this sense, it is no surprise that Bach's music is easily and often performed on instruments it was not necessarily written for, that it is transcribed so often, and that his melodies turn up in unexpected places such as jazz music. Apart from this, Bach left a number of compositions without specified instrumentation: the canons BWV 1072–1078 fall in that category, as well as the bulk of the Musical Offering and the Art of Fugue. [124] 
Counterpoint
   
   
  
Continuo instruments moving to the front (here performed on cello and piano)   
   
   
  
A strictly contrapuntal composition (the two violins playing in canon throughout) in the guise of an Italian type of concerto   
Another characteristic of Bach's style is his extensive use of counterpoint, as opposed to the homophony used in his four-part Chorale settings, for example. Bach's canons, and especially his fugues, are most characteristic of this style, which Bach did not invent but contributed to so fundamentally that he defined it to a large extent. Fugues are as characteristic to Bach's style as, for instance, the Sonata form is characteristic to the composers of the Classical period. [125] 
 These strictly contrapuntal compositions, and most of Bach's music in general, are characterised by distinct melodic lines for each of the voices, where the chords formed by the notes sounding at a given point follow the rules of four-part harmony. Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach's first biographer, gives this description of this feature of Bach's music, which sets it apart from most other music:
 If the language of music is merely the utterance of a melodic line, a simple sequence of musical notes, it can justly be accused of poverty. The addition of a Bass puts it upon a harmonic foundation and clarifies it, but defines rather than gives it added richness. A melody so accompanied—even though all the notes are not those of the true Bass—or treated with simple embellishments in the upper parts, or with simple chords, used to be called "homophony". But it is a very different thing when two melodies are so interwoven that they converse together like two persons upon a footing of pleasant equality. In the first case the accompaniment is subordinate, and serves merely to support the first or principal part. In the second case the two parts are not similarly related. New melodic combinations spring from their interweaving, out of which new forms of musical expression emerge. If more parts are interwoven in the same free and independent manner, the apparatus of language is correspondingly enlarged, and becomes practically inexhaustible if, in addition, varieties of form and rhythm are introduced. Hence harmony becomes no longer a mere accompaniment of melody, but rather a potent agency for augmenting the richness and expressiveness of musical conversation. To serve that end a simple accompaniment will not suffice. True harmony is the interweaving of several melodies, which emerge now in the upper, now in the middle, and now in the lower parts. 
From about the year 1720, when he was thirty-five, until his death in 1750, Bach's harmony consists in this melodic interweaving of independent melodies, so perfect in their union that each part seems to constitute the true melody. Herein Bach excels all the composers in the world. At least, I have found no one to equal him in music known to me. Even in his four-part writing we can, not infrequently, leave out the upper and lower parts and still find the middle parts melodious and agreeable. [126]   
Structure and lyrics
Bach devoted more attention than his contemporaries to the structure of compositions. This can be seen in minor adjustments he made when adapting someone else's composition, such as his earliest version of the "Keiser" St Mark Passion , where he enhances scene transitions, [127]  and in the architecture of his own compositions such as his Magnificat  [113]  and Leipzig Passions . In the last years of his life, Bach revised several of his prior compositions. Often the recasting of such previously composed music in an enhanced structure was the most visible change, as in the Mass in B minor. Bach's known preoccupation with structure led (peaking around the 1970s) to various numerological analyses of his compositions, although many such over-interpretations were later rejected, especially when wandering off into symbolism-ridden hermeneutics. [128]   [129] 
 The librettos, or lyrics, of his vocal compositions played an important role for Bach. He sought collaboration with various text authors for his cantatas and major vocal compositions, possibly writing or adapting such texts himself to make them fit the structure of the composition he was designing when he could not rely on the talents of other text authors. His collaboration with Picander for the St Matthew Passion libretto is best known, but there was a similar process in achieving a multi-layered structure for his St John Passion libretto a few years earlier. [130] 
Compositions
In 1950, Wolfgang Schmieder published a thematic catalogue of Bach's compositions called the  Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis  (Bach Works Catalogue). [131]  Schmieder largely followed the  Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe , a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1900. The first edition of the catalogue listed 1,080 surviving compositions indisputably composed by Bach. [132] 
 
BWV Range
Compositions
 
BWV 1–224
 Cantatas
 
BWV 225–231
 Motets
 
BWV 232–243
 Liturgical compositions in Latin
 
BWV 244–249
 Passions and oratorios
 
BWV 250–438
 Four-part chorales
 
BWV 439–524
 Small vocal works
 
BWV 525–771
 Organ compositions
 
BWV 772–994
 Other keyboard works
 
BWV 995–1000
 Lute compositions
 
BWV 1001–1040
 Other chamber music
 
BWV 1041–1071
 Orchestral music
 
BWV 1072–1078
 Canons
 
BWV 1079–1080
 Late contrapuntal works
   
 BWV 1081–1126 were added to the catalogue in the second half of the 20th century, and BWV 1127 and higher are 21st-century additions. [133]   [134]   [135] 
Passions and oratorios
      Bach's autograph of the recitative with the gospel text of Christ's death from St Matthew Passion (Matthew 27:45–47a)  
Bach composed Passions for Good Friday services and oratorios such as the  Christmas Oratorio , which is a set of six cantatas for use in the liturgical season of Christmas. [136]   [137]   [138]  Shorter oratorios include the  Easter Oratorio  and the  Ascension Oratorio . With its double choir and orchestra, the  St Matthew Passion  is one of Bach's most extended works. The  St John Passion  was the first passion Bach composed during his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig.
Cantatas
   
According to his obituary, Bach would have composed five year-cycles of sacred cantatas, and additional church cantatas for weddings and funerals, for example. [90]  Approximately 200 of these sacred works are extant, an estimated two thirds of the total number of church cantatas he composed. [61]   [139]  The Bach Digital website lists 50 known secular cantatas by the composer, [140]  about half of which are extant or largely reconstructable. [141] 
Church cantatas
Bach's cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Many consist of a large opening chorus followed by one or more recitative-aria pairs for soloists (or duets) and a concluding chorale. The melody of the concluding chorale often appears as a cantus firmus in the opening movement.[ citation needed ]
  Bach's earliest cantatas date from his years in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. The earliest surviving work in the genre is  Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150. As a whole, the extant early works all show remarkable mastery and skill. Many feature an instrumental opening which display effective use of the limited instrumental forces available to Bach, whether it be in the subdued combination of two recorders and two viola de gamba for BWV 106, or the independent bassoon in BWV 196. Bach's compositional skills are also manifested through his daring harmonies and advanced, unprecedented chord progressions. According to Christoph Wolff, Bach's early cantatas are impressive evidence of how the modest means at his disposal did not restrain the composer in the slightest, and they compare favourably with compositions by the most talented composers from the beginning of the 18th century, such as Krieger, Kuhnau or Zachow. [142] 
 After taking up his office as  Thomaskantor  in late May 1723, Bach performed a cantata each Sunday and feast day, corresponding to the lectionary readings of the week. [22]  His first cantata cycle ran from the first Sunday after Trinity of 1723 to Trinity Sunday the next year. For instance, the Visitation cantata  Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, containing the chorale that is known in English as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", belongs to this first cycle. The cantata cycle of his second year in Leipzig is called the chorale cantata cycle as it consists mainly of works in the chorale cantata format. His third cantata cycle was developed over a period of several years, followed by the Picander cycle of 1728–29.
 Later church cantatas include the chorale cantatas  Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 (final version) [143]  and  Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140. [144]  Only the first three Leipzig cycles are more or less completely extant. Apart from his own work, Bach also performed cantatas by Telemann and by his distant relative Johann Ludwig Bach. [22] 
Secular cantatas
Bach also wrote secular cantatas, for instance for members of the royal Polish and prince-electoral Saxonian families (e.g.  Trauer-Ode ), [145]  or other public or private occasions (e.g.  Hunting Cantata ). [146]  The text of these cantatas was occasionally in dialect (e.g.  Peasant Cantata ) [147]  or Italian (e.g.  Amore traditore ). [148]  Many of the secular cantatas were lost, but for some of them the text and occasion are known, for instance when Picander later published their librettos (e.g. BWV Anh. 11–12). [149] 
 Some of the surviving secular cantatas have a plot involving mythological figures of Greek antiquity (e.g.  Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan ), [150]  and others were almost miniature  buffo  operas (e.g.  Coffee Cantata ). [151]  Although Bach never expressed any interest in opera, [152]  his secular cantatas, or  drammi per musica , would have allowed Leipzig audiences, deprived of opera since 1720, to experience musical performances comparable to the royal opera in Dresden. These were not at all "poor or makeshift substitutes for real opera" but spectacles displaying "full mastery of the dramatic genre and the proper pacing of the dialogues." [153] 
A cappella music
Bach's a cappella music includes motets and chorale harmonisations.
Motets
Bach's motets (BWV 225–231) are pieces on sacred themes for choir and continuo, with instruments playing colla parte. Several of them were composed for funerals. [154]  The six motets definitely composed by Bach are  Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied ,  Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf ,  Jesu, meine Freude ,  Fürchte dich nicht ,  Komm, Jesu, komm , and  Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden . The motet Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren (BWV 231) is part of the composite motet  Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt  (BWV Anh. 160), other parts of which may be based on work by Telemann. [155] 
Chorale harmonisations
Bach wrote hundreds of four-part harmonisations of Lutheran chorales.
Church music in Latin
Bach's church music in Latin includes the Magnificat, four Kyrie–Gloria Masses, and the Mass in B minor.
Magnificat
The first version of Bach's Magnificat dates from 1723, but the work is best known in its D major version of 1733.
Mass in B minor
   
performed by Solomija Drozd (voice), Petro Titiajev (violin) and Ivan Ostapovych (organ)  
In 1733 Bach composed a Kyrie–Gloria Mass for the Dresden court. Near the end of his life, around 1748–1749, he expanded this composition into the large-scale Mass in B minor. The work was never performed in full during Bach's lifetime. [156]   [157] 
Keyboard music
Bach wrote for organ and for stringed keyboard instruments such as harpsichord, clavichord and lute-harpsichord.
Organ works
   
Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres (such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas) and stricter forms (such as chorale preludes and fugues). [22]  At a young age, he established a reputation for creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by Georg Böhm, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and Dieterich Buxtehude, whom the young organist visited in Lübeck in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. During his most productive period (1708–1714) he composed about a dozen pairs of preludes and fugues, five toccatas and fugues, and the  Orgelbüchlein  or "Little Organ Book", an unfinished collection of 46 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After leaving Weimar, Bach wrote less for organ, although some of his best-known works (the six Organ Sonatas, the German Organ Mass in  Clavier-Übung III from 1739, and the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, revised late in his life) were composed after leaving Weimar. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing new organs and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals. [158]   [159]  The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" and the  Schübler Chorales  are organ works Bach published in the last years of his life.
Harpsichord and other stringed keyboard instruments
       The Art of Fugue (title page) – Performed by Mehmet Okonsar on organ and harpsichord   
   
   
Bach wrote many works for harpsichord, some of which may also have been played on the clavichord or lute-harpsichord. Some of his larger works, such as  Clavier-Übung II and IV, are intended for a harpsichord with two manuals: performing them on a keyboard instrument with a single manual (like a piano) may present technical difficulties for the crossing of hands.
   The Well-Tempered Clavier , Books 1 and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book consists of a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor keys, in chromatic order from C major to B minor (thus, the whole collection is often referred to as "the 48"). "Well-tempered" in the title refers to the temperament (system of tuning); many temperaments before Bach's time were not flexible enough to allow compositions to utilise more than just a few keys. [160]   [161]  
The  Inventions and Sinfonias  (BWV 772–801). These short two- and three-part contrapuntal works are arranged in the same chromatic order as The Well-Tempered Clavier, omitting some of the rarer keys. These pieces were intended by Bach for instructional purposes. [162]  
Three collections of dance suites: the English Suites (BWV 806–811), French Suites (BWV 812–817), and Partitas for keyboard (Clavier-Übung I, BWV 825–830). Each collection contains six suites built on the standard model ( allemande – courante – sarabande –(optional movement)– gigue ). The English Suites closely follow the traditional model, adding a prelude before the allemande and including a single movement between the sarabande and gigue. [163]  The French Suites omit preludes but have multiple movements between the sarabande and gigue. [164]  The partitas expand the model further with elaborate introductory movements and miscellaneous movements between the basic elements of the model. [165]  
The Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), an aria with 30 variations. The collection has a complex and unconventional structure: the variations build on the bass line of the aria rather than its melody, and musical canons are interpolated according to a grand plan. There are 9 canons within the 30 variations; every third variation is a canon. [166]  These variations move in order from canon at unison to canon at the ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison and octave, second and seventh, third and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth canon stands on its own due to compositional dissimilarities. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon at the tenth, is a quodlibet.
Miscellaneous pieces such as the  Overture in the French Style  (French Overture, BWV 831) and the  Italian Concerto  (BWV 971) (published together as Clavier-Übung II), and the  Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue  (BWV 903). 
Among Bach's lesser known keyboard works are seven toccatas (BWV 910–916), four duets (BWV 802–805), sonatas for keyboard (BWV 963–967), the Six Little Preludes (BWV 933–938), and the  Aria variata alla maniera italiana  (BWV 989).
Orchestral and chamber music
Bach wrote for single instruments, duets, and small ensembles. Many of his solo works, such as the six sonatas and partitas for violin (BWV 1001–1006) and the six cello suites (BWV 1007–1012), are widely considered to be among the most profound in the repertoire. [167]   [123]  He wrote sonatas for a solo instrument such as the viola de gamba accompanied by harpsichord or continuo, as well as trio sonatas (two instruments and continuo).
  The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue are late contrapuntal works containing pieces for unspecified instruments or combinations of instruments. [168]   [169] 
Violin concertos
Surviving works in the concerto form include two violin concertos (BWV 1041 in A minor and BWV 1042 in E major) and a concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043, often referred to as Bach's "double concerto".
 Brandenburg Concertos 
   
Bach's best-known orchestral works are the Brandenburg Concertos, so named because he submitted them in the hope of gaining employment from Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721; his application was unsuccessful. [22]  These works are examples of the concerto grosso genre.
Keyboard concertos
Bach composed and transcribed concertos for one to four harpsichords. Many of the harpsichord concertos were not original works but arrangements of his concertos for other instruments, now lost. [170]  A number of violin, oboe, and flute concertos have been reconstructed from these.
Orchestral suites
In addition to concertos, Bach wrote four orchestral suites, each suite being a series of stylised dances for orchestra, preceded by a French overture. [171] 
Copies, arrangements and uncertain attributions
   
 
The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" (Sheep May Safely Graze), No. 9 from the  Hunting Cantata , BWV 208: composed for soprano, recorders, and continuo, the music of this movement exists in a variety of instrumental arrangements.   
In his early youth, Bach copied pieces by other composers to learn from them. [172]  Later, he copied and arranged music for performance or as study material for his pupils. Some of these pieces, like "Bist du bei mir" (copied not by Bach but by Anna Magdalena), became famous before being dissociated with Bach. Bach copied and arranged Italian masters such as Vivaldi (e.g. BWV 1065), Pergolesi (BWV 1083) and Palestrina (Missa Sine nomine), French masters such as François Couperin (BWV Anh. 183), and, closer to home, various German masters including Telemann (e.g. BWV 824=TWV 32:14) and Handel (arias from Brockes Passion ), and music from members of his own family. He also often copied and arranged his own music (e.g. movements from cantatas for his short masses BWV 233–236), as his music was likewise copied and arranged by others. Some of these arrangements, like the late 19th-century "Air on the G String", helped to popularise Bach's music.
 Sometimes "who copied whom" is not clear. For instance, Forkel mentions a Mass for double chorus among the works composed by Bach. The work was published and performed in the early 19th century, and although a score partially in Bach's handwriting exists, the work was later considered spurious. [173]  In 1950, the design of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis was to keep such works out of the main catalogue: if there was a strong association with Bach they could be listed in its appendix (German: Anhang, abbreviated as Anh.). Thus, for instance, the aforementioned Mass for double chorus became BWV Anh. 167. But this was far from the end of the attribution issues. For instance,  Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, BWV 53, was later attributed to Melchior Hoffmann. For other works, Bach's authorship was put in doubt without a generally accepted answer to the question of whether or not he composed it: the best known organ composition in the BWV catalogue, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, was indicated as one of these uncertain works in the late 20th century. [174] 
Reception
      The church in Arnstadt where Bach had been the organist from 1703 to 1707. In 1935 the church was renamed "Bachkirche".  
Throughout the 18th century, the appreciation of Bach's music was mostly limited to distinguished connoisseurs. The 19th century started with publication of the first biography of the composer and ended with the completion of the publication of all of Bach's known works by the Bach Gesellschaft. A Bach Revival had started from Mendelssohn's performance of the  St Matthew Passion  in 1829. Soon after that performance, Bach started to become regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, if not the greatest, a reputation he has retained ever since. A new extensive Bach biography was published in the second half of the 19th century.
 In the 20th century Bach's music was widely performed and recorded, while the Neue Bachgesellschaft, among others, published research on the composer. Modern adaptations of Bach's music contributed greatly to his popularisation in the second half of the 20th century. Among these were the Swingle Singers' versions of Bach pieces (for instance, the Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3, and the Wachet auf... chorale prelude) and Wendy Carlos' 1968  Switched-On Bach , which used the Moog electronic synthesiser.
 By the end of the 20th century, more classical performers were gradually moving away from the performance style and instrumentation that were established in the romantic era: they started to perform Bach's music on period instruments of the baroque era, studied and practised playing techniques and tempi as established in his time, and reduced the size of instrumental ensembles and choirs to what he would have employed. The BACH motif, used by the composer in his own compositions, was used in dozens of tributes to the composer from the 19th century to the 21st. In the 21st century the complete extant output of the composer became available online, with several websites exclusively dedicated to him.[ citation needed ]
 The liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church remembers Bach annually with a feast day on 28 July [175]  on the same day, the Calendar of Saints of some Lutheran churches, such as the ELCA, remembers Bach and Handel with Heinrich Schütz. [176] 
18th century
      Painting of Johann Sebastian Bach by 'Gebel', before 1798.  
In his own time, Bach was highly regarded amongst his colleagues, [177]  although his reputation outside of this small circle of connoisseurs was due not to his compositions (which had an extremely narrow circulation), [11]  but due to his virtuosic abilities. Nevertheless, during his life, Bach received public recognition, such as the title of court composer by Augustus III of Poland and the appreciation he was shown by Frederick the Great and Hermann Karl von Keyserling. Such highly placed appreciation contrasted with the humiliations he had to cope with, for instance in Leipzig. [178]  Also in the contemporary press, Bach had his detractors, such as Johann Adolf Scheibe, suggesting he write less complex music, and his supporters, such as Johann Mattheson and Lorenz Christoph Mizler. [179]   [180]   [181] 
 After his death, Bach's reputation as a composer at first declined: his work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging galant style. [182]  Initially, he was remembered more as a virtuoso player of the organ and as a teacher. The bulk of the music that had been printed during the composer's lifetime, at least the part that was remembered, was for the organ and the harpsichord. Thus, his reputation as a composer was initially mostly limited to his keyboard music, and that even fairly limited to its value in music education.
 Bach's surviving family members, who inherited a large part of his manuscripts, were not all equally concerned with preserving them, leading to considerable losses. [183]  Carl Philipp Emanuel, his second eldest son, was most active in safeguarding his father's legacy: he co-authored his father's obituary, contributed to the publication of his four-part chorales, [184]  staged some of his works, and the bulk of previously unpublished works of his father were preserved with his help. [185]  Wilhelm Friedemann, the eldest son, performed several of his father's cantatas in Halle but after becoming unemployed sold part of the large collection of his father's works he owned. [186]   [187]   [188]  Several students of the old master, such as his son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnickol, Johann Friedrich Agricola, Johann Kirnberger, and Johann Ludwig Krebs, contributed to the dissemination of his legacy. The early devotees were not all musicians; for example, in Berlin, Daniel Itzig, a high official of Frederick the Great's court, venerated Bach. [189]  His eldest daughters took lessons from Kirnberger and their sister Sara from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who was in Berlin from 1774 to 1784. [189]   [190]  Sara Itzig Levy became an avid collector of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons and was a "patron" of CPE Bach. [190] 
 While in Leipzig, performances of Bach's church music were limited to some of his motets, and under cantor Doles some of his Passions. [191]  A new generation of Bach aficionados emerged: they studiously collected and copied his music, including some of his large-scale works such as the Mass in B minor and performed it privately. One such connoisseur was Gottfried van Swieten, a high-ranking Austrian official who was instrumental in passing Bach's legacy on to the composers of the Viennese school. Haydn owned manuscript copies of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Mass in B minor and was influenced by Bach's music. Mozart owned a copy of one of Bach's motets, [192]  transcribed some of his instrumental works (K. 404a, 405), [193]   [194]  and wrote contrapuntal music influenced by his style. [195]   [196]  Beethoven played the entire Well-Tempered Clavier by the time he was 11 and described Bach as Urvater der Harmonie (progenitor of harmony). [197]   [198]   [199]   [200]   [201] 
19th century
      Image of the Bach memorial [de] erected by Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig in 1843  
In 1802, Johann Nikolaus Forkel published  Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke , the first biography of the composer, which contributed to his becoming known to a wider public. [202]  In 1805, Abraham Mendelssohn, who had married one of Itzig's granddaughters, bought a substantial collection of Bach manuscripts that had come down from C. P. E. Bach, and donated it to the Berlin Sing-Akademie. [189]  The Sing-Akademie occasionally performed Bach's works in public concerts, for instance his first keyboard concerto, with Sara Itzig Levy at the piano. [189] 
 The first decades of the 19th century saw an increasing number of first publications of Bach's music: Breitkopf started publishing chorale preludes, [203]  Hoffmeister harpsichord music, [204]  and the Well-Tempered Clavier was printed concurrently by Simrock (Germany), Nägeli (Switzerland) and Hoffmeister (Germany and Austria) in 1801. [205]  Vocal music was also published: motets in 1802 and 1803, followed by the E♭ major version of the  Magnificat , the Kyrie-Gloria Mass in A major, and the cantata  Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (BWV 80). [206]  In 1818, Hans Georg Nägeli called the Mass in B minor the greatest composition ever. [197]  Bach's influence was felt in the next generation of early Romantic composers. [198]  When Felix Mendelssohn, Abraham's son, aged 13, produced his first Magnificat setting in 1822, it is clear that he had been inspired by the then unpublished D major version of Bach's Magnificat. [207] 
 Felix Mendelssohn significantly contributed to the renewed interest in Bach's work with his 1829 Berlin performance of the  St Matthew Passion , which was instrumental in setting off what has been called the Bach Revival. The  St John Passion  saw its 19th-century premiere in 1833, and the first performance of the Mass in B minor followed in 1844. Besides these and other public performances and an increased coverage on the composer and his compositions in printed media, the 1830s and 1840s also saw the first publication of more vocal works by Bach: six cantatas, the St Matthew Passion, and the Mass in B minor. A series of organ compositions saw their first publication in 1833. [208]  Chopin started composing his 24 Preludes, Op. 28, inspired by the Well-Tempered Clavier, in 1835, and Schumann published his  Sechs Fugen über den Namen B-A-C-H  in 1845. Bach's music was transcribed and arranged to suit contemporary tastes and performance practice by composers such as Carl Friedrich Zelter, Robert Franz, and Franz Liszt, or combined with new music such as the melody line of Charles Gounod's  Ave Maria . [197]   [209]  Brahms, Bruckner, and Wagner were among the composers who promoted Bach's music or wrote glowingly about it.
 In 1850, the  Bach-Gesellschaft  (Bach Society) was founded to promote Bach's music. In the second half of the 19th century, the Society published a comprehensive edition of the composer's works. Also in the second half of the 19th century, Philipp Spitta published  Johann Sebastian Bach , the standard work on Bach's life and music. [210]  By that time, Bach was known as the first of the three Bs in music. Throughout the 19th century, 200 books were published on Bach. By the end of the century, local Bach societies were established in several cities, and his music had been performed in all major musical centres. [197] 
 In Germany all throughout the century, Bach was coupled to nationalist feelings, and the composer was inscribed in a religious revival. In England, Bach was coupled to an existing revival of religious and baroque music. By the end of the century, Bach was firmly established as one of the greatest composers, recognised for both his instrumental and his vocal music. [197] 
20th century
      1908 Statue of Bach in front of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig  
      28 July 1950: memorial service for Bach in Leipzig's Thomaskirche, on the 200th anniversary of the composer's death  
During the 20th century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the pedagogic value of some of the works continued, as in the promotion of the cello suites by Pablo Casals, the first major performer to record these suites. [211]  Leading performers of classical music such as Willem Mengelberg, Edwin Fischer, Georges Enescu, Leopold Stokowski, Herbert von Karajan, Arthur Grumiaux, Helmut Walcha, Wanda Landowska, Karl Richter, I Musici, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Glenn Gould recorded his music. [n 4] 
 A significant development in the later part of the 20th century was the momentum gained by the historically informed performance practice, with forerunners such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt acquiring prominence by their performances of Bach's music. His keyboard music was again performed more on the instruments Bach was familiar with, rather than on modern pianos and 19th-century romantic organs. Ensembles playing and singing Bach's music not only kept to the instruments and the performance style of his day but were also reduced to the size of the groups Bach used for his performances. [212]  But that was far from the only way Bach's music came to the forefront in the 20th century: his music was heard in versions ranging from Ferruccio Busoni's late romantic piano transcriptions to jazzy interpretations such as those by The Swingle Singers, orchestrations like the one opening Walt Disney's  Fantasia  movie, and synthesiser performances such as Wendy Carlos'  Switched-On Bach  recordings.
 Bach's music has influenced other genres. For instance, jazz musicians have adopted Bach's music, with Jacques Loussier, Ian Anderson, Uri Caine, and the Modern Jazz Quartet among those creating jazz versions of his works. [213]  Several 20th-century composers referred to Bach or his music, for example Eugène Ysaÿe in Six Sonatas for solo violin, Dmitri Shostakovich in 24 Preludes and Fugues and Heitor Villa-Lobos in  Bachianas Brasileiras . All kinds of publications involved Bach: not only were there the Bach Jahrbuch publications of the Neue Bachgesellschaft, various other biographies and studies by among others Albert Schweitzer, Charles Sanford Terry, Alfred Dürr, Christoph Wolff. Peter Williams, John Butt, [n 5]  and the 1950 first edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis; but also books such as  Gödel, Escher, Bach  put the composer's art in a wider perspective. Bach's music was extensively listened to, performed, broadcast, arranged, adapted, and commented upon in the 1990s. [214]  Around 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, three record companies issued box sets with complete recordings of Bach's music. [215]   [216]   [217] 
 Bach's music features three times—more than that of any other composer—on the Voyager Golden Record, a gramophone record containing a broad sample of the images, common sounds, languages, and music of Earth, sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes. [218]  Tributes to Bach in the 20th century include statues erected in his honour and a variety of things such as streets and space objects being named after him. [219]   [220]  Also, a multitude of musical ensembles such as the Bach Aria Group, Deutsche Bachsolisten, Bachchor Stuttgart, and Bach Collegium Japan adopted the composer's name. Bach festivals were held on several continents, and competitions and prizes such as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition and the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize were named after the composer. While by the end of the 19th century Bach had been inscribed in nationalism and religious revival, the late 20th century saw Bach as the subject of a secularised art-as-religion ( Kunstreligion ). [197]   [214] 
21st century
In the 21st century, Bach's compositions have become available online, for instance at the International Music Score Library Project. [221]  High-resolution facsimiles of Bach's autographs became available at the Bach Digital website. [222]  21st-century biographers include Christoph Wolff, Peter Williams and John Eliot Gardiner. [n 6] 
 In 2015, Bach's handwritten personal copy of his Mass in B minor, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, [223]  a program intended to protect culturally significant manuscripts.
 In 2019, Bach was named the greatest composer of all time in a poll conducted among 174 living composers. [224] 
Burial site
Bach was originally buried at Old St. John's Cemetery in Leipzig. His grave went unmarked for nearly 150 years, but in 1894 his remains were located and moved to a vault in St. John's Church. This building was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, so in 1950 Bach's remains were taken to their present grave in St. Thomas Church. [22]  Later research has called into question whether the remains in the grave are actually those of Bach. [225] 
References
Notes
  ^  In the portrait, Bach holds a copy of the six-part canon BWV 1076  [1] 
^    a       b    German:   [ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯a(ː)n ˈbax] (  listen). The last name appears in English as on Lexico  [5]  and in  Dictionary.com . [6] 
  ^  Johann Sebastian Bach drafted a genealogy around 1735, titled "Origin of the musical Bach family", printed in translation in David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 283
  ^  For more information, please click the articles on performers; see also reviews and listings in Gramophone, Diapason, YouTube, Discogs and Muziekweb.
  ^  See
  Schweitzer 1911 (1905 and 1908 editions)
 Terry 1928 
 Dürr 1981 
 Dürr &amp; Jones 2006 (English translation)
 Wolff 1991 
 Wolff 2000 
 Williams 1980 
 Butt 1997  
  ^  See 
  Wolff 2000 
 Williams 2003a 
 Williams 2007 
 Williams 2016 
 Gardiner 2013  
 
Citations
 
  ^  Wolff &amp; Emery 2001, "10. Iconography".
  ^  Crist &amp; Stauff 2011.
  ^  Marshall, Robert L.; Emery, Walter (18 May 2020). "Johann Sebastian Bach | Biography, Music, Death &amp; Facts".  Encyclopædia Britannica . Chicago. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  ^   Blanning, T. C. W. (2008).  The Triumph of Music: The Rise of Composers, Musicians and Their Art . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 272. ISBN  978-0-674-03104-3 . And of course the greatest master of harmony and counterpoint of all time was Johann Sebastian Bach, 'the Homer of music'. 
  ^   "Bach, Johann Sebastian". Lexico. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  ^   "Bach". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  ^  Jones 2007, p. 3.
  ^  Geck 2003, pp. 2, 156.
  ^  Boyd 2000, p. 6.
^    a       b    Wolff et al. 2018, II. List of all family members alphabetically by first name.
^    a       b       c    Wolff &amp; Emery 2001.
^    a       b    Miles 1962, pp. 86–87.
  ^  Boyd 2000, pp. 7–8.
  ^  David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 299.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 45.
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 19, 46.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 73.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 170.
  ^  Spitta 1899a, pp. 186–187.
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 41–43.
^    a       b    Eidam 2001, Ch. I
^    a       b       c       d       e       f       g       h       i       j     "Johann Sebastian Bach: a detailed informative biography". The Baroque Music Site. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 55–56.
  ^  Rich 1995, p. 27.
  ^  Boyd 2000, pp. 15–16.
  ^  Chiapusso 1968, p. 62.
  ^  Williams 2003a, p. 40.
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 83ff
  ^  Snyder, Kerala J. (2007).  Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck  (2nd ed.). pp. 104–106. ISBN  978-1-58046-253-2 . Archived from the original on 28 September 2015.
^    a       b    Wolff 2000, pp. 102–104
  ^  Williams 2003a, p. 38–39.
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00005 at www .bach-digital .de
  ^   "History of the Bach House". Bach House Weimar. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  ^  Forkel 1920, Table VII, p. 309.
  ^   Thornburgh, Elaine. "Baroque Music – Part One". Music in Our World. San Diego State University. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  ^  Chiapusso 1968, p. 168.
  ^  Schweitzer 1923, p. 331.
  ^  Koster, Jan. "Weimar (II) 1708–1717". J. S. Bach Archive and Bibliography. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
^    a       b     Sadie, Julie Anne, ed. (1998).  Companion to Baroque Music . p. 205. ISBN  978-0-520-21414-9 . Archived from the original on 14 May 2015.
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 147, 156.
^    a       b    Wolff 1991, p. 30
  ^   Gardiner, John Eliot (2010). "Cantatas for Christmas Day: Herderkirche, Weimar" (PDF). pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  ^   Wolff, Christoph (1996). "From konzertmeister to thomaskantor: Bach's cantata production 1713–1723" (PDF). pp. 15–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  ^  David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 80.
  ^  Miles 1962, p. 57.
  ^  Boyd 2000, p. 74.
  ^  Van Til 2007, pp. 69, 372.
  ^  Dent 2004, p. 23.
  ^  Spaeth 1937, p. 37.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, p. 11.
  ^  Geiringer 1966, p. 50.
  ^  Wolff 1983, pp. 98, 111.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, pp. 192–193.
^    a       b    Wolff 2013, p. 253
  ^  Wolff 2013, p. 345.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, p. 265.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, p. 184.
  ^   "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)". British Library: Online Gallery. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  ^  Wolff 2013, p. 348.
  ^  Wolff 2013, p. 349.
^    a       b    Wolff 1997, p. 5
  ^   "Motets BWV 225–231". Bach Cantatas Website. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  ^   "Works of Other Composers performed by J.S. Bach". Bach Cantatas Website. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  ^  Boyd 2000, pp. 112–113.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, pp. 288–290.
  ^  Spitta 1899b, pp. 281, 287.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 341.
  ^  Stauffer 2008
^    a       b     "Bach Mass in B Minor BWV 232". The Baroque Music Site. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  ^  US-PRu M 3.1. B2 C5. 1739q Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  GB-Lbl Add. MS. 35021 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. 16714 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-Cv A.V,1109,(1), 1a Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine and 1b Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 195 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. 1160 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-WFe 191 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website (RISM 250000899)
  ^  D-Bsa SA 301, Fascicle 1 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine and Fascicle 2 Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  Neuaufgefundenes Bach-Autograph in Weißenfels Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at lisa .gerda-henkel-stiftung .de
  ^  F-Pn Ms. 17669 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B N. Mus. ms. 468 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine and Privatbesitz C. Thiele, BWV deest (NBA Serie II:5) Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B N. Mus. ms. 307 Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 271, Fascicle 2 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. 30199, Fascicle 14 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine and D-B Mus. ms. 17155/16 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  D-B Mus. ms. 7918 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Bach Digital website
  ^  Musikalische Bibliothek, III.2 [1746], 353 Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Felbick 2012, 284. In 1746, Mizler announced the membership of three famous members, Musikalische Bibliothek, III.2 [1746], 357 Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  ^  Musikalische Bibliothek, IV.1 [1754], 108 and Tab. IV, fig. 16 (Source online); letter of Mizler to Spieß, 29 June 1748, in: Hans Rudolf Jung and Hans-Eberhard Dentler: Briefe von Lorenz Mizler und Zeitgenossen an Meinrad Spieß, in: Studi musicali 2003, Nr. 32, 115.
  ^  David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 224.
  ^  US-PRscheide BWV 645–650 Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine (original print of the Schübler Chorales with Bach's handwritten corrections and additions from before August 1748 – description at Bach Digital website)
  ^  Breig, Werner (2010). "Introduction Archived 22 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine" (pp. 14, 17–18) in Vol. 6: Clavierübung III, Schübler-Chorales, Canonische Veränderungen  Archived 11 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine of Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Organ Works. Archived 5 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Breitkopf.
^    a       b       c     Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel; Agricola, Johann Friedrich (1754). "Nekrolog".  Musikalische Bibliothek [de] (in German). Leipzig: Mizlerischer Bücherverlag. IV.1: 158–173. Printed in translation in David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 299.
  ^  Hans Gunter Hoke: "Neue Studien zur Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080", in: Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 17 (1975), 95–115; Hans-Eberhard Dentler: "Johann Sebastian Bachs Kunst der Fuge – Ein pythagoreisches Werk und seine Verwirklichung", Mainz 2004; Hans-Eberhard Dentler: "Johann Sebastian Bachs Musicalisches Opfer – Musik als Abbild der Sphärenharmonie", Mainz 2008.
  ^  Chiapusso 1968, p. 277.
  ^  Rathey, Markus (18 April 2003).  Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor: The Greatest Artwork of All Times and All People  (PDF). The Tangeman Lecture. New Haven. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2014.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 442, from David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998
  ^  Zegers, Richard H.C. (2005). "The Eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach". Archives of Ophthalmology. 123 (10): 1427–1430. doi:10.1001/archopht.123.10.1427. PMID 16219736.
  ^  Hanford, Jan. "J.S. Bach: Timeline of His Life". J.S. Bach Home Page. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  ^  David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 188.
  ^  Spitta 1899c, p. 274.
  ^  David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, pp. 191–197.
  ^   "Did Bach really leave Art of Fugue unfinished?". The Art of Fugue. American Public Media. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 166.
  ^   "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)". British Library. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  ^  Herl 2004, p. 123.
  ^   Fuller Maitland, J. A., ed. (1911). "Johann Sebastian Bach". Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Publishers. p. 154.
  ^  Leaver 2007, pp. 280, 289–291.
  ^  Huizenga, Tom. "A Visitor's Guide to the St. Matthew Passion". NPR Music. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  ^  Traupman-Carr, Carol. "The Well Tempered Clavier BWV 846–869". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  ^  Spitta 1899c, vol. 3, appendix XII, p. 315.
  ^  Clemens Romijn. Liner notes for  Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083 (after Pergolesi's Stabat Mater). Brilliant Classics, 2000. (2014 reissue: J.S. Bach Complete Edition. "Liner notes" Archived 22 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine p. 54)
  ^  Jopi Harri.  St. Petersburg Court Chant and the Tradition of Eastern Slavic Church Singing. Archived 20 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine Finland: University of Turku (2011), p. 24
  ^  Eidam 2001, Ch. IV.
  ^  Eidam 2001, Ch. IX.
^    a       b    Marshall, Robert L. (1989). Franklin, Don O. (ed.).  On the Origin of Bach's Magnificat: a Lutheran composer's challenge . Vol. Bach Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–17. ISBN  978-0-521-34105-9 . Archived from the original on 29 April 2016.
  ^  Eidam 2001, Ch. III.
  ^  Klavierbüchlein für W. F. Bach Archived 18 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Donington 1982, p. 91.
  ^   Kuhnau, Johann (1700), Der musicalische Quack-Salber, Dresden
  ^  Eidam 2001, Ch. XVIII.
  ^  André Isoir (organ) and Le Parlement de Musique conducted by Martin Gester. Johann Sebastian Bach: L'oeuvre pour orgue et orchestre. Calliope 1993. Liner notes by Gilles Cantagrel.
  ^  George Frideric Handel. 6 Organ Concertos, Op. 4 at IMSLP website
  ^  Peter Wollny, "Harpsichord Concertos," Archived 22 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine booklet notes for Andreas Staier's 2015 recording of the concertos, Harmonia mundi HMC 902181.82
  ^  Schulenberg 2006, pp. 1–2.
^    a       b    Lester 1999, pp. 3–24
  ^   "Did Bach intend Art of Fugue to be performed?". The Art of Fugue. American Public Media. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  ^  Eidam 2001, Ch. XXX.
  ^  Forkel 1920, pp. 73–74.
  ^  Bach Digital Work 01677 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Williams 1980, p. 217
  ^   Basso, Alberto (1979). Frau Musika: La vita e le opere di J. S. Bach (in Italian). Vol. 1. Turin: EDT. p. 493. ISBN  978-88-7063-011-4 .
  ^  Don O. Franklin. "The Libretto of Bach's John Passion and the Doctrine of Reconciliation: An Historical Perspective", pp. 179–203 Archived 31 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine in Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences  Vol. 143 edited by A. A. Clement, 1995.
  ^   "Bach Works Catalogue". Bach Digital. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  ^  Wolfgang Schmieder (editor). Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach. Leipzig: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel, 1950. Unaltered through its eighth printing in 1986.
  ^   Schmieder, Wolfgang; Alfred, Dürr; Kobayashi, Yoshitake, eds. (1998).  Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe (BWV2a)  (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel. ISBN  978-3-7651-0249-3 . Archived from the original on 31 October 2016.
  ^  Bach Digital Work 01307
  ^  Joel H. Kuznik. "BWV 1128: A recently discovered Bach organ work" pp. 22–23 [ permanent dead link ] in  The Diapason , Vol. 99 No. 22. December 2008. (archived 21 July 2011)
  ^  Leaver 2007, p. 430.
  ^  Williams 2003a, p. 114.
  ^  Traupman-Carr, Carol. "The Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  ^  Traupman-Carr, Carol. "Bach, Master of the Cantata". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  ^  Bach's secular cantatas in BWV order, each followed by a link to the Bach Digital Work (BDW) page of the cantata at the Bach-Digital website: 
  BWV 30a (BDW 00039)
 BWV 36a (BDW 00049)
 BWV 36b (BDW 00050)
 BWV 36c (BDW 00051)
 BWV 66a (BDW 00083)
 BWV 134a (BDW 00166)
 BWV 173a (BDW 00211)
 BWV 184a (BDW 00223)
 BWV 193a (BDW 00235)
 BWV 194a (BDW 00239)
 BWV 198 (BDW 00246)
 BWV 201 (BDW 00251)
 BWV 202 (BDW 00252)
 BWV 203 (BDW 00253)
 BWV 204 (BDW 00254)
 BWV 205 (BDW 00255)
 BWV 205a (BDW 00256)
 BWV 206, first version (BDW 00257)
 BWV 206, second version (BDW 00258)
 BWV 207 (BDW 00259)
 BWV 207a (BDW 00260)
 BWV 208, first version (BDW 00261)
 BWV 208, second version (BDW 00262)
 BWV 208a (BDW 00263)
 BWV 209 (BDW 00264)
 BWV 210 (BDW 00265)
 BWV 210a (BDW 00266)
 BWV 211 (BDW 00267)
 BWV 212 (BDW 00268)
 BWV 213 (BDW 00269)
 BWV 214 (BDW 00270)
 BWV 215 (BDW 00271)
 BWV 216 (BDW 00272)
 BWV 216a (BDW 00273)
 BWV 249a (BDW 00318)
 BWV 249b (BDW 00319)
 BWV Anh. 6 (BDW 01314)
 BWV Anh. 7 (BDW 01315)
 BWV Anh. 8 (BDW 01316)
 BWV Anh. 9 (BDW 01317)
 BWV Anh. 10 (BDW 01318)
 BWV Anh. 11 (BDW 01319)
 BWV Anh. 12 (BDW 01320)
 BWV Anh. 13 (BDW 01321)
 BWV Anh. 18 (BDW 01326)
 BWV Anh. 19 (BDW 01327)
 BWV Anh. 20 (BDW 01328)
 BWV Anh. 195 (BDW 01506)
 BWV Anh. 196 (BDW 01507)
BWV deest (BDW 01536) 
  ^  For instance, Helmut Rilling's box set of the complete secular cantatas Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine contains 22 works
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 100–101.
  ^  "Especially in its opening chorus, it is one of Bach's contrapuntal masterpieces": Robin A. Leaver in Boyd 1999.
  ^  "one of Bach's best-known church works" wrote David Schulenberg in Boyd 1999.
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00246 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00261, 00262 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00268 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00253 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Bach Digital Work 01319, 01320 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Bach Digital Work 00251 at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Traupman-Carr, Carol. "Cantata BWV 211, Coffee Cantata". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 65
  ^  Wolff 2000, p. 363.
  ^  Traupman-Carr, Carol. "Choral Works". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
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  ^   "The Mass in B Minor, BWV 232". Bach 101. Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  ^  Herz 1985, p. 187.
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  ^  Schweitzer 1923, p. 333.
  ^   Kroesbergen, Willem; Cruickshank, Andrew (October 2015) [November 2013]. "18th Century Quotations Relating to J. S. Bach's Temperament" (2nd ed.). Academia.edu.
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  ^  McComb, Todd M. "Bach: Partitas, BWV 825–30". Early Music FAQ. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
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  ^  Forkel 1920, pp. 10–11.
  ^  Forkel 1920, pp. 140–141.
  ^  Zehnder, Jean-Claude (2011)  Toccatas and Fugues / Individual Works. Archived 23 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Leipzig, Breitkopf &amp; Härtel. Introduction p. 20.
  ^    Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 . Church Publishing, Inc. 17 December 2019. ISBN  978-1-64065-235-4 .
  ^   "Church Music Sunday" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 2013.
  ^  Geck 2003, p. 141.
  ^  Johann Sebastian Bach. Letter to Augustus III of Poland. 27 July 1733; Quoted in Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. W. W. Norton, 1945, p. 128; Quoted in David, Mendel &amp; Wolff 1998, p. 158.
  ^  Johann Adolf Scheibe. pp. 46–47 in Critischer Musicus VI, 14 May 1737. Quoted in Eidam 2001, Ch. XXII.
  ^  Johann Mattheson.  Das Beschützte Orchestre, oder desselben Zweyte Eröffnung, footnote p. 222 Hamburg: Schiller, 1717.
  ^  Lorenz Christoph Mizler.  Musikalische Bibliothek. Volume I, Part 4, pp. 61–73. Leipzig, April 1738. Includes a reprint of Johann Abraham Birnbaum's  Unpartheyische Anmerckungen über eine bedenckliche stelle in dem Sechsten stück des Critischen Musicus.  Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine published early January of the same year.
  ^  Bach was regarded as "passé even in his own lifetime". (Morris 2005, p. 2)
  ^  Wolff 2000, pp. 456–461.
  ^  Forkel 1920, pp. 85–86.
  ^  Listing of manuscripts of Bach compositions once in the possession of C. P. E. Bach [ permanent dead link ] at www .bach-digital .de
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  ^  Forkel 1920, p. 139.
  ^  Wolff 2013, p. 459.
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^    a       b    Applegate 2005, p. 14
  ^  Spitta 1899b, p. 518–519, 611.
  ^  A-Wgm A 169 b (III 31685) Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine at www .bachdigital .de
  ^  Preludes and Fugues, K.404a: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  ^   Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von (1862).  Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's  (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel. OCLC 3309798. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016., No. 405, pp. 328–329
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  ^  Geck 2006, pp. 9–10.
  ^  Schneider 1907, p. 94.
  ^  Schneider 1907, pp. 96–97.
  ^  Schneider 1907, p. 100.
  ^  Forkel 1920, p. xvii.
  ^  Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Magnificat, MWV A2 edited by Pietro Zappalà. Carus, 1996. Foreword, p. VI
  ^  Johann Sebastian Bach's noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositionen (auch am Pianoforte von einem oder zwei Spielern ausführbar), three volumes, edited by Adolph Bernhard Marx. Leipzig: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel, 1833
  ^  Kupferberg 1985, p. 126.
  ^  Spitta 1899a, 1899b, 1899c (first publication in German, in two volumes: Leipzig, Breitkopf &amp; Härtel 1873 and 1880)
  ^   "Robert Johnson and Pablo Casals' Game Changers Turn 70". NPR Music. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
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 Miles, Russell H. (1962). Johann Sebastian Bach: An Introduction to His Life and Works. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. OCLC 600065. 
  Morris, Edmund (2005). Beethoven: the Universal Composer. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN  978-0-06-075974-2 . 
  Rich, Alan (1995).  Johann Sebastian Bach: Play by Play . San Francisco: HarperCollins. ISBN  978-0-06-263547-1 . 
  Schenk, Erich; Winston, Richard; Winston, Clara (1959). Mozart and His Times. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. OCLC 602180. 
  Schneider, Max (1907). "Verzeichnis der bis zum Jahre 1851 gedruckten (und der geschrieben im Handel gewesenen) Werke von Johann Sebastian Bach".  Bach-Jahrbuch . Neue Bachgesellschaft. VII (3): 84–113. 
 Schulenberg, David (2006). The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach. New York: Routledge. ISBN  978-0-415-97400-4 . 
  Spaeth, Sigmund (1937).  Stories Behind the World's Great Music . New York: Whittlesey House. 
 Stauffer, George B. (2008). "Music for "Cavaliers et Dames": Bach and the Repertoire of His Collegium Musicum". In Butler, Gregory G.; Stauffer, George B.; Greer, Mary Galton (eds.). About Bach. University of Illinois Press. pp. 135–156. ISBN  978-0-252-03344-5 . 
 Van Til, Marian (2007). George Frideric Handel: A Music Lover's Guide to His Life, His Faith &amp; the Development of Messiah and His Other Oratorios. Youngstown, New York: WordPower Publishing. ISBN  978-0-9794785-0-5 . 
  Williams, Peter (1980), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach, Volume II: BWV 599–771, etc., Cambridge Studies in Music, Cambridge University Press, ISBN  978-0-521-31700-9  ; Williams, Peter (2003b), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN  978-0-521-89115-8   
  Wolff, Christoph, ed. (1983). The New Grove Bach Family. London: Macmillan. ISBN  978-0-333-34350-0 . 
 Wolff, Christoph, ed. (1997). The World of the Bach Cantatas: Johann Sebastian Bach's Early Sacred Cantatas. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN  978-0-393-33674-0 . 
  Wolff, Christoph; Emery, Walter; Wollny, Peter; Leisinger, Ulrich; Roe, Stephen (17 January 2018) [2001]. "Bach family".  Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40023. ISBN  978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required) 
Further reading
 See: Crist &amp; Stauff 2011, for an extensive bibliography.
  Baron, Carol K. (2006). Bach's Changing World: Voices in the Community. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press. ISBN  978-1-58046-190-0 . 
  Dörffel, Alfred (1882).  Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Joh. Seb. Bach  (in German). Leipzig: C. F. Peters. N.B.: First published in 1867; superseded, for scholarly purposes, by Wolfgang Schmieder's complete thematic catalog, but useful as a handy reference tool for only the instrumental works of Bach and as a partial alternative to Schmieder's work.
  Hofstadter, Douglas (1999).  Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid . New York: Basic Books. ISBN  978-0-465-02656-2 . 
 Leaver, Robin A. (2016),  The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach , Routledge, ISBN  978-0-367-58143-5   
  Pirro, André (2014) [1907]. The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &amp; Littlefield. ISBN  978-1-4422-3290-7 . 
 Stauffer, George B.; May, Ernest (1986). J. S. Bach as Organist: His Instruments, Music, and Performance Practices. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN  978-0-253-33181-6 .  
External links
 
 German Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  
   "Discovering Bach". BBC Radio 3. 
 bach-leipzig website of the Bach Archive.
 Yo Tomita's Bach Bibliography (23 March 2012), mirror at the Riemenschneider Bach Institute.
 Works by or about Johann Sebastian Bach at Internet Archive. 
 Scores
  Johann Sebastian Bach at the Musopen project.
 Free scores by Johann Sebastian Bach at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP).
 Music manuscripts and early prints at Bach Digital website. 
 Recordings
  Johann Sebastian Bach recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) at Muziekweb website.
 All of Bach website of the Netherlands Bach Society.
Johann Sebastian Bach - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_family
Bach family - Wikipedia
2004-06-10
Authority control
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>The <b>Bach family</b> refers to several notable composers of the <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music">baroque</a> and <a href="/wiki/Classical_period_(music)">classical</a> periods of music, the best-known of whom was <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> (1685–1750).<sup><a href="#cite_note-EB1911-1">[1]</a></sup> A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was 50 and was completed by his son <a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Wechmar_Bachhaus.JPG"></a></p><div><p>Bach family house, Wechmar</p></div></div>
<p>Four branches of the Bach family were known at the beginning of the 16th century; a Hans Bach of <a href="/wiki/Wechmar">Wechmar</a>, a village between <a href="/wiki/Gotha">Gotha</a> and <a href="/wiki/Arnstadt">Arnstadt</a> in <a href="/wiki/Thuringia">Thuringia</a>, is known to have been alive in 1561. He is believed to be the father of <a href="/wiki/Veit_Bach">Veit Bach</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-EB1911-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<ul><li>Veit (Vitus) Bach (c. 1550–1619, Wechmar) was, according to Johann Sebastian's genealogy, "a white-bread baker in <a href="/wiki/Hungary">Hungary</a>" who had to flee Hungary because he was a <a href="/wiki/Lutheranism">Lutheran</a>, settling in Wechmar. He "found the greatest pleasure in a little <a href="/wiki/Cittern">cittern</a> which he took with him even into the mill";</li>
<li>His son <a href="/wiki/Johannes_Bach_I">Johannes Bach I</a> (c. 1580–1626) "<i><i>der Spielmann</i></i>" (lit. "the player"), was the first professional musician of the family. He "at first took up the trade of baker, but having a particular bent for music," he became a piper;</li>
<li>His second grandson <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Bach_(musician)">Christoph</a> (c. 1613–1661) was an instrumentalist;</li>
<li>His first great-grandson <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ambrosius_Bach">Johann Ambrosius</a> was a violinist, and the father of Johann Sebastian Bach.</li></ul>
<h3>Others born before 1685[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Johann Ambrosius' uncle, <a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Bach">Heinrich</a> of <a href="/wiki/Arnstadt">Arnstadt</a>, had two sons: <a href="/wiki/Johann_Michael_Bach">Johann Michael</a> and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach">Johann Christoph</a>. The latter was once thought to be the author of the <a href="/wiki/Motet">motet</a> <i><i>Ich [ver]lasse dich nicht</i></i> (I will not leave you), which is now confirmed to be Johann Sebastian Bach's (<a href="/wiki/Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis">BWV</a> 159a).<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> Another descendant of Veit Bach, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach">Johann Ludwig</a>, was revered more than any other ancestor by Johann Sebastian, who copied twelve of his church <a href="/wiki/Cantata">cantatas</a> and sometimes added work of his own to them.<sup><a href="#cite_note-EB1911-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Of the seven children that Johann Sebastian Bach had with his first wife <a href="/wiki/Maria_Barbara_Bach">Maria Barbara Bach</a>, his second cousin, only three survived. Two of these had musical careers of their own: <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann</a> and <a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach</a> (the "Berlin Bach", later the "Hamburg Bach").
</p><p>After his first wife died, Johann Sebastian Bach married <a href="/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Bach">Anna Magdalena Wilcken</a>, a gifted soprano and daughter of the court trumpeter of Prince <a href="/wiki/Saxe-Weissenfels">Saxe-Weissenfels</a>. They had 13 children, of whom <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_Bach">Johann Christoph Friedrich</a> (the "Bückeburg Bach") and <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christian_Bach">Johann Christian</a> (the "London Bach") became significant musicians. A further four survived into adulthood: <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Heinrich_Bach">Gottfried Heinrich</a>; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781), who married Bach's pupil <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Altnickol">Johann Christoph Altnickol</a>; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>Of Bach's surviving children, only five would marry. Of these, Johann Christian would have no children from his marriage to the soprano Cecilia Grassi. Carl Philipp Emanuel, who married Johanna Maria Dannemann, would have three surviving children.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954336-5">[5]</a></sup> Of these children the youngest, <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach_(painter)">Johann Sebastian</a> (1748–1778) was a gifted painter who died young. None of Emanuel's children would marry or have offspring, with his bloodline dying out with the presumed death of his daughter Anna Carolina Philippina (1746–1804).<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954350-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p><p>Elisabeth Juliane Friederica, known as Liesgen, with Altnickol had three surviving children. Their only son, Johann Sebastian died in infancy in 1740. The elder daughter, Augusta Magdalena (1751–1809) married Ernest Friedrich Ahlefeldt and have four daughters, of whom only one, Christiane Johanne (1780–1816) would survive. From her marriage to Paul Johann Müller, a daughter, Augusta Wilhelmina (1809–1818) was born, though she would die as an infant, ending this line of Bach's descendants.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p><p>Of the next generation, <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedrich_Ernst_Bach">Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach</a>, also known as William Bach (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to <a href="/wiki/Frederick_William_II_of_Prussia">Frederick William II</a> of Prussia. WFE's only son died in infancy. The first born of his three daughters, Caroline Augusta Wilhelmine, lived the longest. She died in 1871 – the last of Bach's descendants to hold the Bach name.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup>
</p><p>Bach has living descendants via two granddaughters born to Friedemann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, respectively. Anna Philippine Friederike (1755–1804), sister of Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst, married Wilhelm Ernst Colson, a lieutenant in an artillery regiment. They would have five sons and a daughter. While this bloodline was traditionally assumed to have died out with this generation, one of her sons, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1778–1831) married and had offspring with progeny to the modern day.<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954378-10">[10]</a></sup>
</p><p>Friedemann married Dorothea Elisabeth Georgi and would have two sons and a daughter. Both sons died in infancy, with his daughter Friederica Sophia (b. 1757). During the 20th-century scholarship has uncovered several children born to Friederica Sophia, which were hitherto unknown. Friederica Sophia married Johann Schmidt, a footsoldier in 1793 shortly after the birth of an illegitimate daughter. Of this child and a sister little is known.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954303–316-12">[12]</a></sup> In 1780 she had given birth to an illegitimate son, of which nothing further is known.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2003123–130-13">[13]</a></sup> Friederica Sophia appears to have left her husband for a man by the name of Schwarzschulz, with whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Karoline Beata (b. 1798) whose descendants eventually emigrated to Oklahoma.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff2003129-14">[14]</a></sup>
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:JohannSebastianBach1685-1750UndSoehne.jpg"></a></p></div>
<h2>Partial family tree[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<table>
<tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Veit_Bach">Veit Bach</a><br />(d. 1619)</td><td></td></tr><tr></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Bach_I">Johannes Bach I</a><br />(1580–1626)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Philippus Bach<br />(1590–1620)</td><td></td></tr><tr></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Bach">Johannes Bach</a><br />(1604–1673)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Bach">Heinrich Bach</a><br />(1615–1692)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Bach_(musician)">Christoph Bach</a><br />(1613–1661)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Wendel Bach<br />(1619–1682)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Aegidius_Bach">Johann Aegidius Bach</a><br />(1645–1716)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach">Johann Christoph Bach</a><br />(1642–1703)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Michael_Bach">Johann Michael Bach</a><br />(1648–1694)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Bach">Georg Christoph Bach</a><br />(1642–1697)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ambrosius_Bach">Johann Ambrosius Bach</a><br />(1645–1695)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Maria_Elisabeth_L%C3%A4mmerhirt">Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt</a><br />(1644–1694)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(1645%E2%80%9393)">Johann Christoph Bach</a><br />(1645–1693)</td><td></td><td><a href="/w/index.php?title=Jacob_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Jacob Bach</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bach_(Musiker)">de</a>]<br />(1655–1718)</td><td></td><td>Anna Martha Schneider</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach">Johann Bernhard Bach</a><br />(1676–1749)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Nicolaus_Bach">Johann Nicolaus Bach</a><br />(1669–1753)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Maria_Barbara_Bach">Maria Barbara Bach</a><br />(1684–1720)</td><td></td><td><b><a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a></b><br />(1685–1750)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Wilcke">Anna Magdalena Wilcke</a><br />(1701–1760)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach">Johann Ludwig Bach</a><br />(1677–1731)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ernst_Bach_II">Johann Ernst Bach II</a><br />(1722–1777)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a><br />(1710–1784)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach</a><br />(1714–1788)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Heinrich_Bach">Gottfried Heinrich Bach</a><br />(1724–1763)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_Bach">Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach</a><br />(1732–1795)</td><td></td><td>Lucia Elisabeth Münchhausen<br />(1728–1803)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christian_Bach">Johann Christian Bach</a><br />(1735–1782)</td><td></td><td>Elisabeth Juliane Friederica<br />(1726–1781)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Altnickol">Johann Christoph Altnickol</a><br />(1720–1759)</td><td></td><td>Johanna Carolina<br />(1737–1781)</td><td></td><td>Regina Susanna<br />(1742–1809)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Georg_Bach">Johann Georg Bach</a><br />(1751–1797)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach_(painter)">Johann Sebastian Bach</a><br />(1748–1778)</td><td></td><td>Anna Philippiana Friederica Bach<br />(1755–1804)</td><td></td><td><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedrich_Ernst_Bach">Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach</a><br />(1759–1845)</td><td></td><td>Charlotte Philippina Elerdt<br />(1780–1801)</td><td></td><td>Christina Luise Bach<br />(d. 1852)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Johann Sebastian Altnickol<br />(1749–1749)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Ludwig Albrecht Hermann Ritter</td><td></td><td>Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Bach<br />(1800–1871)</td><td></td><td>Juliane Friederica<br /> (b. 1800)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>Expanded genealogy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Veit_Bach">Veit Bach</a> (about 1550–1619)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Bach_I">Johannes Bach I</a> (d. 1626) (son of Veit Bach)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Bach">Johann(es) Bach III</a> (1604–1673) – the so-called <i>Erfurt Line</i>
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christian_Bach_I&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christian Bach I</a> (1640–1682)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Jacob_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Jacob Bach II</a> (1668–1692)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Bach_IV&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Bach IV</a> (1673–1727)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Samuel_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Samuel Bach</a> (1694–1720)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christian_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christian Bach II</a> (1696–)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_G%C3%BCnther_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Günther Bach II</a> (1703–1756)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Aegidius_Bach">Johann Aegidius Bach I</a> (1645–1716)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Balthasar_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Balthasar Bach</a> (1673–1691)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach">Johann Bernhard Bach I</a> (1676–1749)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ernst_Bach_II">Johann Ernst Bach II</a> (1722–1777)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Georg_Bach">Johann Georg Bach I</a> (1751–1797)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Bach_VI&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Bach VI</a> (1685–1740)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Friedrich_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Friedrich Bach II</a> (1706–1743)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Aegidius_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Aegidius Bach II</a> (1709–1746)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Nicolaus_Bach_(violist)">Johann Nicolaus Bach I</a> (1653–1682)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Bach_(musician)">Christoph Bach</a> (1613–1661)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Bach">Georg Christoph Bach</a> (1642–1697)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Valentin_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Valentin Bach</a> (1669–1720)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Lorenz_Bach">Johann Lorenz Bach</a> (1695–1773)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Elias_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Elias Bach</a> (1705–1755)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Michael_Bach_(1745%E2%80%931820)">Johann Michael Bach III</a> (1745–1820) – the music theorist
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Georg_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Georg Bach II</a> (1786–1874)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Georg_Friedrich_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Georg Friedrich Bach</a> (1792–1860)</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(1645%E2%80%9393)">Johann Christoph Bach II</a> (1645–1693)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ernst_Bach_I">Johann Ernst Bach I</a> (1683–1739)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Bach_VII&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Bach VII</a> (1689–1740)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ambrosius_Bach">Johann Ambrosius Bach</a> (1645–1695)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(1671%E2%80%931721)">Johann Christoph Bach III</a> (1671–1721)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Andreas_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Andreas Bach</a> (1713–1779)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Georg_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Georg Bach</a> (1747–1814)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach_(the_younger)">Johann Bernhard Bach II</a> (1700–1743)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Bach_VIII&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Bach VIII</a> (1702–1756)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ernst_Carl_Gottfried_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Ernst Carl Gottfried Bach</a> (1738–1801)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ernst_Christian_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Ernst Christian Bach</a> (1747–1822)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Philipp_Christian_Georg_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Philipp Christian Georg Bach</a> (1734–1809)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Jacob_Bach">Johann Jacob Bach III</a> (1682–1722)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> (1685–1750) – wed in his first marriage to second cousin <a href="/wiki/Maria_Barbara_Bach">Maria Barbara Bach</a> (1684–1720); in second marriage 1721 to <a href="/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Bach">Anna Magdalena Wilcke</a> (1701–1760)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Catharina_Dorothea_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Catharina Dorothea Bach</a> (1708–1774)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a> (1710–1784) – the so-called "Dresden Bach" or "Halle Bach"</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach</a> (1714–1788) – the so-called "Hamburg Bach" or "Berlin Bach"
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach_(painter)">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> (1748–1778) – painter</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Bernhard_Bach">Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach</a> (1715–1739)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Gottfried_Heinrich_Bach">Gottfried Heinrich Bach</a> (1724–1763)</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_Bach">Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach</a> (1732–1795) – the so-called "Bückeburg Bach"
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedrich_Ernst_Bach">Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach</a> (1759–1845) – the so-called "Minden Bach"</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christian_Bach">Johann Christian Bach III</a> (1735–1782) – the so-called "Milan Bach" or "London Bach"</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Bach">Heinrich Bach I</a> (1615–1692) – the so-called <i>Arnstadt Line</i>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach">Johann Christoph Bach I</a> (1642–1703)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Nicolaus_Bach">Johann Nikolaus Bach II</a> (1669–1753)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christoph_Bach_V&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christoph Bach V</a> (1676–)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Heinrich_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Heinrich Bach II</a> (1709–)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Friedrich_Bach_I&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Friedrich Bach I</a> (1682–1730)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Michael_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Michael Bach II</a> (1685–)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Michael_Bach">Johann Michael Bach I</a> (1648–1694)
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Maria_Barbara_Bach">Maria Barbara Bach</a> (1684–1720) – married <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> (1685–1750)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_G%C3%BCnther_Bach_I&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Günther Bach I</a> (1653–1683)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Philippus_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Philippus "Lips" Bach</a> (1590–1620) – son of Veit Bach
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wendel_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Wendel Bach</a> (1619–1682)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Jacob_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Jacob Bach</a> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bach_(Musiker)">de</a>] (1655–1718)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nicolaus_Ephraim_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Nicolaus Ephraim Bach</a> (1690–1760)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Georg_Michael_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Georg Michael Bach</a> (1703–1771)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Christian_Bach_IV&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Christian Bach IV</a> (1743–1814)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach">Johann Ludwig Bach</a> (1677–1731) – the so-called "Meininger Bach", composer
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Gottlieb_Friedrich_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Gottlieb Friedrich Bach</a> (1714–1785) – court organist, court painter, Meinigen
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Philipp_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Philipp Bach</a> (1752–1846) – musician, painter</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Samuel_Anton_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Samuel Anton Bach</a> (1713–1781)</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Bach_IV&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Bach IV</a> (1621–1686) – nephew of Lips Bach
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Stephan_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann Stephan Bach</a> (1665–1717)</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Caspar_Bach_I&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Caspar Bach I</a> (1570–1640) (brother of Veit Bach?)
<ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Caspar_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Caspar Bach II</a> (1600–)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Heinrich_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Heinrich "Blinder Jonas" Bach</a> (−1635)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Johann_Bach_II&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Johann(es) Bach II</a> (1612–1632)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Melchior_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Melchior Bach</a> (1603–1634)</li>
<li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nicolaus_Bach&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Nicolaus Bach</a> (1619–1637)</li></ul></li></ul>
</div>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/P._D._Q._Bach">P. D. Q. Bach</a></li></ul>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-EB1911_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EB1911_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EB1911_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Bach,_Johann_Sebastian">"Bach, Johann Sebastian" </a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 124–130.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Charles Sanford Terry</a>, ed. (1929). <a href="https://archive.org/details/originoffamilyof00bach/page/n9/mode/2up"><i>The Origin of the Family of Bach Musicians: Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen familie</i></a>. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://bach.org/education/motet-bwv-159a/">"Motet BWV 159a"</a>. <i>The Bach Choir of Bethlehem</i>. Retrieved 2022-06-12.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians">The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians</a></i>, "Bach Family", pp. 98, 111
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954336_5-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeiringer1954">Geiringer 1954</a>, p. 336.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954350_6-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeiringer1954">Geiringer 1954</a>, p. 350.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Terry, Charles Sanford</a> (December 1935). "A Bach Relic". <i><a href="/wiki/The_Musical_Times">The Musical Times</a></i>. <b>76</b> (1114): 1076–1077. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/919266">919266</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Harvey_Grace">Grace, Harvey</a> (1938). <i>Bach</i>. Novello's Biographies of Great Musicians. Novello. p. 1.</cite> 22 pages.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Terry, Charles Sanford</a> (1 June 1930). "Has Bach Surviving Descendants?". <i><a href="/wiki/The_Musical_Times">The Musical Times</a></i>. <b>71</b> (1048): 511 (511–513). <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F917359">10.2307/917359</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/917359">917359</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954378_10-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeiringer1954">Geiringer 1954</a>, p. 378.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Sanford_Terry_(historian)">Terry, Charles Sanford</a> (1 March 1932). "Bach's Descendants". <i><a href="/wiki/The_Musical_Times">The Musical Times</a></i>. <b>73</b> (1069): 256. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="//www.jstor.org/stable/916949">916949</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGeiringer1954303–316_12-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFGeiringer1954">Geiringer 1954</a>, pp. 303–316.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2003123–130_13-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2003">Wolff 2003</a>, pp. 123–130.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff2003129_14-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff2003">Wolff 2003</a>, p. 129.
</li>
</ol></div>
<h3>Sources[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Karl_Geiringer">Geiringer, Karl</a> (1954). <i>The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius</i>. Oxford University Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (2003). <i>Bach Perspectives, Volume 5: Bach in America</i>. University of Illinois Press.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Bach_family&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<p></p>
</div>
<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150817231431/http://www2.nau.edu/tas3/famtree.html">Bach family tree</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Family-Tree.htm">Bach family</a>, bach-cantatas.com</li></ul>
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 * (Top)
 * 1 Ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach
 + 1.1 Others born before 1685
 * 2 Descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach
 * 3 Partial family tree
 * 4 Expanded genealogy
 * 5 See also
 * 6 References
 + 6.1 Sources
 * 7 External links
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 Bach family

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 For people named Bach, see Bach (surname).
 Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach by E. G. Haussmann, 1748

 The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the baroque and classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750).[1] A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was 50 and was completed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel.[2]

 Ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach [ edit ]

 See also: Bach's Nekrolog § Ancestors and musicians in the Bach family, and Altbachisches Archiv
 Bach family house, Wechmar

 Four branches of the Bach family were known at the beginning of the 16th century; a Hans Bach of Wechmar, a village between Gotha and Arnstadt in Thuringia, is known to have been alive in 1561. He is believed to be the father of Veit Bach.[1]

 * Veit (Vitus) Bach (c. 1550–1619, Wechmar) was, according to Johann Sebastian's genealogy, "a white-bread baker in Hungary" who had to flee Hungary because he was a Lutheran, settling in Wechmar. He "found the greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill";
 * His son Johannes Bach I (c. 1580–1626) "der Spielmann" (lit. "the player"), was the first professional musician of the family. He "at first took up the trade of baker, but having a particular bent for music," he became a piper;
 * His second grandson Christoph (c. 1613–1661) was an instrumentalist;
 * His first great-grandson Johann Ambrosius was a violinist, and the father of Johann Sebastian Bach.

 Others born before 1685 [ edit ]

 Johann Ambrosius' uncle, Heinrich of Arnstadt, had two sons: Johann Michael and Johann Christoph. The latter was once thought to be the author of the motet Ich [ver]lasse dich nicht (I will not leave you), which is now confirmed to be Johann Sebastian Bach's (BWV 159a).[3] Another descendant of Veit Bach, Johann Ludwig, was revered more than any other ancestor by Johann Sebastian, who copied twelve of his church cantatas and sometimes added work of his own to them.[1]

 Descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach [ edit ]

 Of the seven children that Johann Sebastian Bach had with his first wife Maria Barbara Bach, his second cousin, only three survived. Two of these had musical careers of their own: Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (the "Berlin Bach", later the "Hamburg Bach").

 After his first wife died, Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, a gifted soprano and daughter of the court trumpeter of Prince Saxe-Weissenfels. They had 13 children, of whom Johann Christoph Friedrich (the "Bückeburg Bach") and Johann Christian (the "London Bach") became significant musicians. A further four survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781), who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnickol; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).[4]

 Of Bach's surviving children, only five would marry. Of these, Johann Christian would have no children from his marriage to the soprano Cecilia Grassi. Carl Philipp Emanuel, who married Johanna Maria Dannemann, would have three surviving children.[5] Of these children the youngest, Johann Sebastian (1748–1778) was a gifted painter who died young. None of Emanuel's children would marry or have offspring, with his bloodline dying out with the presumed death of his daughter Anna Carolina Philippina (1746–1804).[6]

 Elisabeth Juliane Friederica, known as Liesgen, with Altnickol had three surviving children. Their only son, Johann Sebastian died in infancy in 1740. The elder daughter, Augusta Magdalena (1751–1809) married Ernest Friedrich Ahlefeldt and have four daughters, of whom only one, Christiane Johanne (1780–1816) would survive. From her marriage to Paul Johann Müller, a daughter, Augusta Wilhelmina (1809–1818) was born, though she would die as an infant, ending this line of Bach's descendants.[7]

 Of the next generation, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, also known as William Bach (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to Frederick William II of Prussia. WFE's only son died in infancy. The first born of his three daughters, Caroline Augusta Wilhelmine, lived the longest. She died in 1871 – the last of Bach's descendants to hold the Bach name.[8]

 Bach has living descendants via two granddaughters born to Friedemann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, respectively. Anna Philippine Friederike (1755–1804), sister of Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst, married Wilhelm Ernst Colson, a lieutenant in an artillery regiment. They would have five sons and a daughter. While this bloodline was traditionally assumed to have died out with this generation, one of her sons, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1778–1831) married and had offspring with progeny to the modern day.[9][10]

 Friedemann married Dorothea Elisabeth Georgi and would have two sons and a daughter. Both sons died in infancy, with his daughter Friederica Sophia (b. 1757). During the 20th-century scholarship has uncovered several children born to Friederica Sophia, which were hitherto unknown. Friederica Sophia married Johann Schmidt, a footsoldier in 1793 shortly after the birth of an illegitimate daughter. Of this child and a sister little is known.[11][12] In 1780 she had given birth to an illegitimate son, of which nothing further is known.[13] Friederica Sophia appears to have left her husband for a man by the name of Schwarzschulz, with whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Karoline Beata (b. 1798) whose descendants eventually emigrated to Oklahoma.[14]

 Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christian, Wilhelm Friedemann, and Johann Christoph Friedrich

 Partial family tree [ edit ]

     Veit Bach 
     (d. 1619) 
 
       
      
  Johannes Bach I    Philippus Bach 
  (1580–1626)    (1590–1620) 
 
       
      
 Johannes Bach Heinrich Bach   Christoph Bach  Wendel Bach 
 (1604–1673) (1615–1692)   (1613–1661)  (1619–1682) 
 
       
     
 Johann Aegidius Bach Johann Christoph Bach Johann Michael Bach Georg Christoph Bach Johann Ambrosius Bach Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt Johann Christoph Bach Jacob Bach [ de ] Anna Martha Schneider  
 (1645–1716) (1642–1703) (1648–1694) (1642–1697) (1645–1695) (1644–1694) (1645–1693) (1655–1718)  
 
       
  
 Johann Bernhard Bach Johann Nicolaus Bach Maria Barbara Bach Johann Sebastian Bach Anna Magdalena Wilcke   Johann Ludwig Bach 
 (1676–1749) (1669–1753) (1684–1720) (1685–1750) (1701–1760)   (1677–1731) 
 
       
       
 Johann Ernst Bach II Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gottfried Heinrich Bach Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Lucia Elisabeth Münchhausen Johann Christian Bach Elisabeth Juliane Friederica Johann Christoph Altnickol Johanna Carolina Regina Susanna 
 (1722–1777) (1710–1784) (1714–1788) (1724–1763) (1732–1795) (1728–1803) (1735–1782) (1726–1781) (1720–1759) (1737–1781) (1742–1809) 
 
       
    
 Johann Georg Bach  Johann Sebastian Bach Anna Philippiana Friederica Bach Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach Charlotte Philippina Elerdt Christina Luise Bach Johann Sebastian Altnickol 
 (1751–1797)  (1748–1778) (1755–1804) (1759–1845) (1780–1801) (d. 1852) (1749–1749) 
 
       
  
    Ludwig Albrecht Hermann Ritter Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Bach Juliane Friederica  
    (1800–1871) (b. 1800)  
 
 

 Expanded genealogy [ edit ]

 * Veit Bach (about 1550–1619)
 + Johannes Bach I (d. 1626) (son of Veit Bach)
 o Johann(es) Bach III (1604–1673) – the so-called Erfurt Line
 - Johann Christian Bach I (1640–1682)
 * Johann Jacob Bach II (1668–1692)
 * Johann Christoph Bach IV (1673–1727)
 + Johann Samuel Bach (1694–1720)
 + Johann Christian Bach II (1696–)
 + Johann Günther Bach II (1703–1756)
 - Johann Aegidius Bach I (1645–1716)
 * Johann Balthasar Bach (1673–1691)
 * Johann Bernhard Bach I (1676–1749)
 + Johann Ernst Bach II (1722–1777)
 o Johann Georg Bach I (1751–1797)
 * Johann Christoph Bach VI (1685–1740)
 + Johann Friedrich Bach II (1706–1743)
 + Johann Aegidius Bach II (1709–1746)
 - Johann Nicolaus Bach I (1653–1682)
 o Christoph Bach (1613–1661)
 - Georg Christoph Bach (1642–1697)
 * Johann Valentin Bach (1669–1720)
 + Johann Lorenz Bach (1695–1773)
 + Johann Elias Bach (1705–1755)
 o Johann Michael Bach III (1745–1820) – the music theorist
 - Johann Georg Bach II (1786–1874)
 - Georg Friedrich Bach (1792–1860)
 - Johann Christoph Bach II (1645–1693)
 * Johann Ernst Bach I (1683–1739)
 * Johann Christoph Bach VII (1689–1740)
 - Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–1695)
 * Johann Christoph Bach III (1671–1721)
 + Johann Andreas Bach (1713–1779)
 o Johann Christoph Georg Bach (1747–1814)
 + Johann Bernhard Bach II (1700–1743)
 + Johann Christoph Bach VIII (1702–1756)
 o Ernst Carl Gottfried Bach (1738–1801)
 o Ernst Christian Bach (1747–1822)
 o Philipp Christian Georg Bach (1734–1809)
 * Johann Jacob Bach III (1682–1722)
 * Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) – wed in his first marriage to second cousin Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720); in second marriage 1721 to Anna Magdalena Wilcke (1701–1760)
 + Catharina Dorothea Bach (1708–1774)
 + Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784) – the so-called "Dresden Bach" or "Halle Bach"
 + Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) – the so-called "Hamburg Bach" or "Berlin Bach"
 o Johann Sebastian Bach (1748–1778) – painter
 + Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (1715–1739)
 + Gottfried Heinrich Bach (1724–1763)
 + Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–1795) – the so-called "Bückeburg Bach"
 o Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759–1845) – the so-called "Minden Bach"
 + Johann Christian Bach III (1735–1782) – the so-called "Milan Bach" or "London Bach"
 o Heinrich Bach I (1615–1692) – the so-called Arnstadt Line
 - Johann Christoph Bach I (1642–1703)
 * Johann Nikolaus Bach II (1669–1753)
 * Johann Christoph Bach V (1676–)
 + Johann Heinrich Bach II (1709–)
 * Johann Friedrich Bach I (1682–1730)
 * Johann Michael Bach II (1685–)
 - Johann Michael Bach I (1648–1694)
 * Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720) – married Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
 - Johann Günther Bach I (1653–1683)
 + Philippus "Lips" Bach (1590–1620) – son of Veit Bach
 o Wendel Bach (1619–1682)
 - Jacob Bach [ de ] (1655–1718)
 * Nicolaus Ephraim Bach (1690–1760)
 * Georg Michael Bach (1703–1771)
 + Johann Christian Bach IV (1743–1814)
 * Johann Ludwig Bach (1677–1731) – the so-called "Meininger Bach", composer
 + Gottlieb Friedrich Bach (1714–1785) – court organist, court painter, Meinigen
 o Johann Philipp Bach (1752–1846) – musician, painter
 + Samuel Anton Bach (1713–1781)
 o Johann Bach IV (1621–1686) – nephew of Lips Bach
 - Johann Stephan Bach (1665–1717)
 * Caspar Bach I (1570–1640) (brother of Veit Bach?)
 + Caspar Bach II (1600–)
 + Heinrich "Blinder Jonas" Bach (−1635)
 + Johann(es) Bach II (1612–1632)
 + Melchior Bach (1603–1634)
 + Nicolaus Bach (1619–1637)

 See also [ edit ]

 * Classical music portal
 * P. D. Q. Bach

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bach, Johann Sebastian" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 124–130.
 2. ^ Charles Sanford Terry, ed. (1929). The Origin of the Family of Bach Musicians: Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen familie. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford.
 3. ^ "Motet BWV 159a". The Bach Choir of Bethlehem . Retrieved 2022-06-12 .
 4. ^ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , "Bach Family", pp. 98, 111
 5. ^ Geiringer 1954 , p. 336.
 6. ^ Geiringer 1954 , p. 350.
 7. ^ Terry, Charles Sanford (December 1935). "A Bach Relic". The Musical Times. 76 (1114): 1076–1077. JSTOR 919266.
 8. ^ Grace, Harvey (1938). Bach. Novello's Biographies of Great Musicians. Novello. p. 1. 22 pages.
 9. ^ Terry, Charles Sanford (1 June 1930). "Has Bach Surviving Descendants?". The Musical Times. 71 (1048): 511 (511–513). doi:10.2307/917359. JSTOR 917359.
 10. ^ Geiringer 1954 , p. 378.
 11. ^ Terry, Charles Sanford (1 March 1932). "Bach's Descendants". The Musical Times. 73 (1069): 256. JSTOR 916949.
 12. ^ Geiringer 1954 , pp. 303–316.
 13. ^ Wolff 2003 , pp. 123–130.
 14. ^ Wolff 2003 , p. 129.

 Sources [ edit ]

 * Geiringer, Karl (1954). The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius. Oxford University Press.
 * Wolff, Christoph (2003). Bach Perspectives, Volume 5: Bach in America. University of Illinois Press.

 External links [ edit ]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
     
The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the baroque and classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). [1]  A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was 50 and was completed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. [2] 
Ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach[edit]
      Bach family house, Wechmar  
Four branches of the Bach family were known at the beginning of the 16th century; a Hans Bach of Wechmar, a village between Gotha and Arnstadt in Thuringia, is known to have been alive in 1561. He is believed to be the father of Veit Bach. [1] 
 Veit (Vitus) Bach (c. 1550–1619, Wechmar) was, according to Johann Sebastian's genealogy, "a white-bread baker in Hungary" who had to flee Hungary because he was a Lutheran, settling in Wechmar. He "found the greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill";
His son Johannes Bach I (c. 1580–1626) " der Spielmann " (lit. "the player"), was the first professional musician of the family. He "at first took up the trade of baker, but having a particular bent for music," he became a piper;
His second grandson Christoph (c. 1613–1661) was an instrumentalist;
His first great-grandson Johann Ambrosius was a violinist, and the father of Johann Sebastian Bach. 
Others born before 1685[edit]
Johann Ambrosius' uncle, Heinrich of Arnstadt, had two sons: Johann Michael and Johann Christoph. The latter was once thought to be the author of the motet  Ich [ver]lasse dich nicht  (I will not leave you), which is now confirmed to be Johann Sebastian Bach's (BWV 159a). [3]  Another descendant of Veit Bach, Johann Ludwig, was revered more than any other ancestor by Johann Sebastian, who copied twelve of his church cantatas and sometimes added work of his own to them. [1] 
Descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach[edit]
Of the seven children that Johann Sebastian Bach had with his first wife Maria Barbara Bach, his second cousin, only three survived. Two of these had musical careers of their own: Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (the "Berlin Bach", later the "Hamburg Bach").
 After his first wife died, Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, a gifted soprano and daughter of the court trumpeter of Prince Saxe-Weissenfels. They had 13 children, of whom Johann Christoph Friedrich (the "Bückeburg Bach") and Johann Christian (the "London Bach") became significant musicians. A further four survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–1781), who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnickol; Johanna Carolina (1737–1781); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809). [4] 
 Of Bach's surviving children, only five would marry. Of these, Johann Christian would have no children from his marriage to the soprano Cecilia Grassi. Carl Philipp Emanuel, who married Johanna Maria Dannemann, would have three surviving children. [5]  Of these children the youngest, Johann Sebastian (1748–1778) was a gifted painter who died young. None of Emanuel's children would marry or have offspring, with his bloodline dying out with the presumed death of his daughter Anna Carolina Philippina (1746–1804). [6] 
 Elisabeth Juliane Friederica, known as Liesgen, with Altnickol had three surviving children. Their only son, Johann Sebastian died in infancy in 1740. The elder daughter, Augusta Magdalena (1751–1809) married Ernest Friedrich Ahlefeldt and have four daughters, of whom only one, Christiane Johanne (1780–1816) would survive. From her marriage to Paul Johann Müller, a daughter, Augusta Wilhelmina (1809–1818) was born, though she would die as an infant, ending this line of Bach's descendants. [7] 
 Of the next generation, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, also known as William Bach (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to Frederick William II of Prussia. WFE's only son died in infancy. The first born of his three daughters, Caroline Augusta Wilhelmine, lived the longest. She died in 1871 – the last of Bach's descendants to hold the Bach name. [8] 
 Bach has living descendants via two granddaughters born to Friedemann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, respectively. Anna Philippine Friederike (1755–1804), sister of Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst, married Wilhelm Ernst Colson, a lieutenant in an artillery regiment. They would have five sons and a daughter. While this bloodline was traditionally assumed to have died out with this generation, one of her sons, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1778–1831) married and had offspring with progeny to the modern day. [9]   [10] 
 Friedemann married Dorothea Elisabeth Georgi and would have two sons and a daughter. Both sons died in infancy, with his daughter Friederica Sophia (b. 1757). During the 20th-century scholarship has uncovered several children born to Friederica Sophia, which were hitherto unknown. Friederica Sophia married Johann Schmidt, a footsoldier in 1793 shortly after the birth of an illegitimate daughter. Of this child and a sister little is known. [11]   [12]  In 1780 she had given birth to an illegitimate son, of which nothing further is known. [13]  Friederica Sophia appears to have left her husband for a man by the name of Schwarzschulz, with whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Karoline Beata (b. 1798) whose descendants eventually emigrated to Oklahoma. [14] 
     
Partial family tree[edit]
                                             Veit Bach (d. 1619)     
                                                                                                                           
                        Johannes Bach I (1580–1626)                                   Philippus Bach(1590–1620)     
                                                                                                                               
    Johannes Bach (1604–1673)            Heinrich Bach (1615–1692)                    Christoph Bach (1613–1661)               Wendel Bach(1619–1682)               
                                                                                                                                       
    Johann Aegidius Bach (1645–1716)        Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703)    Johann Michael Bach (1648–1694)    Georg Christoph Bach (1642–1697)    Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–1695)    Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt (1644–1694)    Johann Christoph Bach (1645–1693)    Jacob Bach [de](1655–1718)   Anna Martha Schneider                           
                                                                                                             
    Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749)        Johann Nicolaus Bach (1669–1753)    Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720)     Johann Sebastian Bach  (1685–1750)    Anna Magdalena Wilcke (1701–1760)                        Johann Ludwig Bach (1677–1731)                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
    Johann Ernst Bach II (1722–1777)        Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784)    Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788)    Gottfried Heinrich Bach (1724–1763)    Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–1795)   Lucia Elisabeth Münchhausen(1728–1803)    Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782)   Elisabeth Juliane Friederica(1726–1781)    Johann Christoph Altnickol (1720–1759)   Johanna Carolina(1737–1781)   Regina Susanna(1742–1809)                 
                                                                                                                       
    Johann Georg Bach (1751–1797)                Johann Sebastian Bach (1748–1778)   Anna Philippiana Friederica Bach(1755–1804)    Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759–1845)   Charlotte Philippina Elerdt(1780–1801)   Christina Luise Bach(d. 1852)       Johann Sebastian Altnickol(1749–1749)         
                                                                                               
                               Ludwig Albrecht Hermann Ritter   Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Bach(1800–1871)   Juliane Friederica (b. 1800)                     
 
Expanded genealogy[edit]
  Veit Bach (about 1550–1619)
  Johannes Bach I (d. 1626) (son of Veit Bach)
  Johann(es) Bach III (1604–1673) – the so-called Erfurt Line
  Johann Christian Bach I (1640–1682)
  Johann Jacob Bach II (1668–1692)
 Johann Christoph Bach IV (1673–1727)
  Johann Samuel Bach (1694–1720)
 Johann Christian Bach II (1696–)
 Johann Günther Bach II (1703–1756)    
 Johann Aegidius Bach I (1645–1716)
  Johann Balthasar Bach (1673–1691)
 Johann Bernhard Bach I (1676–1749)
  Johann Ernst Bach II (1722–1777)
  Johann Georg Bach I (1751–1797)    
 Johann Christoph Bach VI (1685–1740)
  Johann Friedrich Bach II (1706–1743)
 Johann Aegidius Bach II (1709–1746)    
 Johann Nicolaus Bach I (1653–1682)  
 Christoph Bach (1613–1661)
  Georg Christoph Bach (1642–1697)
  Johann Valentin Bach (1669–1720)
  Johann Lorenz Bach (1695–1773)
 Johann Elias Bach (1705–1755)
  Johann Michael Bach III (1745–1820) – the music theorist
  Johann Georg Bach II (1786–1874)
 Georg Friedrich Bach (1792–1860)        
 Johann Christoph Bach II (1645–1693)
  Johann Ernst Bach I (1683–1739)
 Johann Christoph Bach VII (1689–1740)  
 Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–1695)
  Johann Christoph Bach III (1671–1721)
  Johann Andreas Bach (1713–1779)
  Johann Christoph Georg Bach (1747–1814)  
 Johann Bernhard Bach II (1700–1743)
 Johann Christoph Bach VIII (1702–1756)
  Ernst Carl Gottfried Bach (1738–1801)
 Ernst Christian Bach (1747–1822)
 Philipp Christian Georg Bach (1734–1809)    
 Johann Jacob Bach III (1682–1722)
 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) – wed in his first marriage to second cousin Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720); in second marriage 1721 to Anna Magdalena Wilcke (1701–1760)
  Catharina Dorothea Bach (1708–1774)
 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784) – the so-called "Dresden Bach" or "Halle Bach"
 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) – the so-called "Hamburg Bach" or "Berlin Bach"
  Johann Sebastian Bach (1748–1778) – painter  
 Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (1715–1739)
 Gottfried Heinrich Bach (1724–1763)
 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–1795) – the so-called "Bückeburg Bach"
  Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759–1845) – the so-called "Minden Bach"  
 Johann Christian Bach III (1735–1782) – the so-called "Milan Bach" or "London Bach"      
 Heinrich Bach I (1615–1692) – the so-called Arnstadt Line
  Johann Christoph Bach I (1642–1703)
  Johann Nikolaus Bach II (1669–1753)
 Johann Christoph Bach V (1676–)
  Johann Heinrich Bach II (1709–)  
 Johann Friedrich Bach I (1682–1730)
 Johann Michael Bach II (1685–)  
 Johann Michael Bach I (1648–1694)
  Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720) – married Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)  
 Johann Günther Bach I (1653–1683)    
 Philippus "Lips" Bach (1590–1620) – son of Veit Bach
  Wendel Bach (1619–1682)
  Jacob Bach [de] (1655–1718)
  Nicolaus Ephraim Bach (1690–1760)
 Georg Michael Bach (1703–1771)
  Johann Christian Bach IV (1743–1814)  
 Johann Ludwig Bach (1677–1731) – the so-called "Meininger Bach", composer
  Gottlieb Friedrich Bach (1714–1785) – court organist, court painter, Meinigen
  Johann Philipp Bach (1752–1846) – musician, painter  
 Samuel Anton Bach (1713–1781)      
 Johann Bach IV (1621–1686) – nephew of Lips Bach
  Johann Stephan Bach (1665–1717)      
 Caspar Bach I (1570–1640) (brother of Veit Bach?)
  Caspar Bach II (1600–)
 Heinrich "Blinder Jonas" Bach (−1635)
 Johann(es) Bach II (1612–1632)
 Melchior Bach (1603–1634)
 Nicolaus Bach (1619–1637)   
See also[edit]
  P. D. Q. Bach  
References[edit]
 
^    a       b       c    Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bach, Johann Sebastian" .  Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 124–130.
  ^   Charles Sanford Terry, ed. (1929).  The Origin of the Family of Bach Musicians: Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen familie . London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford.
  ^   "Motet BWV 159a". The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  ^   The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , "Bach Family", pp. 98, 111
  ^  Geiringer 1954, p. 336.
  ^  Geiringer 1954, p. 350.
  ^   Terry, Charles Sanford (December 1935). "A Bach Relic".  The Musical Times . 76 (1114): 1076–1077. JSTOR 919266.
  ^   Grace, Harvey (1938). Bach. Novello's Biographies of Great Musicians. Novello. p. 1. 22 pages.
  ^   Terry, Charles Sanford (1 June 1930). "Has Bach Surviving Descendants?".  The Musical Times . 71 (1048): 511 (511–513). doi:10.2307/917359. JSTOR 917359.
  ^  Geiringer 1954, p. 378.
  ^   Terry, Charles Sanford (1 March 1932). "Bach's Descendants".  The Musical Times . 73 (1069): 256. JSTOR 916949.
  ^  Geiringer 1954, pp. 303–316.
  ^  Wolff 2003, pp. 123–130.
  ^  Wolff 2003, p. 129.
 
Sources[edit]
   Geiringer, Karl (1954). The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius. Oxford University Press. 
  Wolff, Christoph (2003). Bach Perspectives, Volume 5: Bach in America. University of Illinois Press.  
External links[edit]
 
  Bach family tree 
 Bach family, bach-cantatas.com
Bach family - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_family
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach | Biography, Music, Death, & Facts
2023-10-09
Walter Emery; Robert L Marshall
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<dt>Born: </dt>
<dd>March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Eisenach">Eisenach</a>, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]</dd>
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<dt>Died: </dt>
<dd>July 28, 1750, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Leipzig-Germany">Leipzig</a> (aged 65)</dd>
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<div><p>
	Top Questions
	</p><div><h3><p>Why is Johann Sebastian Bach important?</p></h3><h3><p>What did Johann Sebastian Bach compose?</p></h3><h3><p>What was Johann Sebastian Bach’s childhood like?</p></h3><h3><p>When did Johann Sebastian Bach get married?</p></h3><h3><p>What were Johann Sebastian Bach’s children’s names?</p></h3></div></div><section><p><strong>Johann Sebastian Bach</strong>, (born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]—died July 28, 1750, Leipzig), composer of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Baroque-music">Baroque era</a>, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/contemporaries">contemporaries</a> primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building, Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time and is celebrated as the creator of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brandenburg-Concertos"><em>Brandenburg Concertos</em></a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Well-Tempered-Clavier-BWV-846-893"><em>The Well-Tempered Clavier</em></a>, the <em>Mass in B Minor</em>, and numerous other masterpieces of church and instrumental music. Appearing at a propitious moment in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Western-music">history of music</a>, Bach was able to survey and bring together the principal styles, forms, and national traditions that had developed during preceding generations and, by virtue of his synthesis, enrich them all.</p><p>He was a member of a remarkable family of musicians who were proud of their achievements, and about 1735 he <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/drafted">drafted</a> a genealogy, <em>Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen Familie</em> (“Origin of the Musical Bach Family”), in which he traced his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather Veit Bach, a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lutheranism">Lutheran</a> baker (or miller) who late in the 16th century was driven from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hungary">Hungary</a> to Wechmar in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Thuringia">Thuringia</a>, a historic region of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany">Germany</a>, by religious persecution and died in 1619. There were Bachs in the area before then, and it may be that, when Veit moved to Wechmar, he was returning to his birthplace. He used to take his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cittern">cittern</a> to the mill and play it while the mill was grinding. Johann Sebastian remarked, “A pretty noise they must have made together! However, he learnt to keep time, and this apparently was the beginning of music in our family.”</p><p>Until the birth of Johann Sebastian, his was the least distinguished branch of the family; some of its members, such as Johann Christoph and Johann Ludwig, had been <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/competent">competent</a> practical musicians but not composers. In later days the most important musicians in the family were Johann Sebastian’s sons—<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Friedemann-Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach">Carl Philipp Emanuel</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Christian-Bach">Johann Christian</a> (the “English Bach”).</p></section> <section><h2>Life</h2> <section><h2>Early years</h2> <p>J.S. Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. Ambrosius was a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/stringed-instrument">string</a> player, employed by the town council and the ducal court of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Eisenach">Eisenach</a>. Johann Sebastian started school in 1692 or 1693 and did well in spite of frequent absences. Of his musical education at this time, nothing definite is known; however, he may have picked up the rudiments of string playing from his father, and no doubt he attended the Georgenkirche, where Johann Christoph Bach was organist until 1703.</p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/quiz/composers-their-music">
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<p>Britannica Quiz</p>
<p>Composers &amp; Their Music</p>
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</a> <p>By 1695 both his parents were dead, and he was looked after by his eldest brother, also named Johann Christoph (1671–1721), organist at Ohrdruf. This Christoph had been a pupil of the influential <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/keyboard-instrument">keyboard</a> composer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Pachelbel">Johann Pachelbel</a>, and he apparently gave Johann Sebastian his first formal keyboard lessons. The young Bach again did well at school, and in 1700 his voice secured him a place in a select choir of poor boys at the school at Michaelskirche, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Luneburg-Germany">Lüneburg</a>.</p> <p>His voice must have broken soon after this, but he remained at Lüneburg for a time, making himself generally useful. No doubt he studied in the school library, which had a large and up-to-date collection of church music; he probably heard <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georg-Bohm">Georg Böhm</a>, organist of the Johanniskirche; and he visited <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hamburg-Germany">Hamburg</a> to hear the renowned organist and composer Johann Adam Reinken at the Katharinenkirche, contriving also to hear the French orchestra maintained by the duke of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Celle">Celle</a>.</p><div>
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</div> <p>He seems to have returned to Thuringia in the late summer of 1702. By this time he was already a reasonably proficient organist. His experience at Lüneburg, if not at Ohrdruf, had turned him away from the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secular">secular</a> string-playing tradition of his immediate ancestors; thenceforth he was chiefly, though not exclusively, a composer and performer of keyboard and sacred music. The next few months are wrapped in mystery, but by March 4, 1703, he was a member of the orchestra employed by Johann Ernst, duke of Weimar (and brother of Wilhelm Ernst, whose service Bach entered in 1708). This post was a mere stopgap; he probably already had his eye on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/organ-musical-instrument">organ</a> then being built at the Neue Kirche (New Church) in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Arnstadt">Arnstadt</a>, for, when it was finished, he helped to test it, and in August 1703 he was appointed organist—all this at age 18. Arnstadt documents imply that he had been court organist at Weimar; this is incredible, though it is likely enough that he had occasionally played there.</p></section> <section><h2>The Arnstadt period</h2> <p>At Arnstadt, on the northern edge of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Thuringian-Forest">Thuringian Forest</a>, where he remained until 1707, Bach devoted himself to keyboard music, the organ in particular. While at Lüneburg he had apparently had no opportunity of becoming directly acquainted with the spectacular, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamboyant">flamboyant</a> playing and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compositions">compositions</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dietrich-Buxtehude">Dietrich Buxtehude</a>, the most significant exponent of the north German school of organ music. In October 1705 he repaired this gap in his knowledge by obtaining a month’s leave and walking to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Lubeck">Lübeck</a> (more than 200 miles [300 km]). His visit must have been profitable, for he did not return until about the middle of January 1706. In February his employers complained about his absence and about other things as well: he had harmonized the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hymn">hymn</a> tunes so freely that the congregation could not sing to his accompaniment, and, above all, he had produced no <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music">cantatas</a>. Perhaps the real reasons for his neglect were that he was temporarily obsessed with the organ and was on bad terms with the local singers and instrumentalists, who were not under his control and did not come up to his standards. In the summer of 1705 he had made some offensive remark about a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/bassoon">bassoon</a> player, which led to an unseemly scuffle in the street. His replies to these complaints were neither satisfactory nor even accommodating; and the fact that he was not dismissed out of hand suggests that his employers were as well aware of his exceptional ability as he was himself and were reluctant to lose him.</p> <p>During these early years, Bach inherited the musical <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture">culture</a> of the Thuringian area, a thorough familiarity with the traditional forms and hymns (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/chorale">chorales</a>) of the orthodox Lutheran service, and, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/keyboard-instrument">keyboard</a> music, perhaps (through his brother, Johann Christoph) a bias toward the formalistic styles of the south. But he also learned eagerly from the northern rhapsodists, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dietrich-Buxtehude">Buxtehude</a> above all. By 1708 he had probably learned all that his German predecessors could teach him and arrived at a first synthesis of northern and southern German styles. He had also studied, on his own and during his presumed excursions to Celle, some French organ and instrumental music.</p> <p>Among the few works that can be <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/ascribed">ascribed</a> to these early years with anything more than a show of plausibility are the <em>Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo</em> (1704; <em>Capriccio on the Departure of His Most Beloved Brother</em>, BWV 992), the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/chorale-prelude">chorale prelude</a> on <em>Wie schön leuchtet</em> (<em>c.</em> 1705; <em>How Brightly Shines</em>, BWV 739), and the fragmentary early version of the organ <em>Prelude and Fugue in G Minor</em> (before 1707, BWV 535a). (The “BWV” numbers provided are the standard catalog numbers of Bach’s works as established in the <em>Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis</em>, prepared by the German musicologist Wolfgang Schmieder.)</p></section> <section><h2>The Mühlhausen period</h2> <p>In June 1707 Bach obtained a post at the Blasiuskirche in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Muhlhausen">Mühlhausen</a> in Thuringia. He moved there soon after and married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach at Dornheim on October 17. At Mühlhausen things seem, for a time, to have gone more smoothly. He produced several church <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music">cantatas</a> at this time; all of these works are cast in a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative">conservative</a> mold, based on biblical and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/chorale">chorale</a> texts and displaying no influence of the “modern” Italian operatic forms that were to appear in Bach’s later cantatas. The famous organ <em>Toccata and Fugue in D Minor</em> (BWV 565), written in the rhapsodic northern style, and the <em>Prelude and Fugue in D Major</em> (BWV 532) may also have been composed during the Mühlhausen period, as well as the organ <em>Passacaglia in C Minor</em> (BWV 582), an early example of Bach’s instinct for large-scale organization. Cantata No. 71, <em>Gott ist mein König</em> (<em>God Is My King</em>), of February 4, 1708, was printed at the expense of the city council and was the first of Bach’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/compositions">compositions</a> to be published. While at Mühlhausen, Bach copied music to enlarge the choir library, tried to encourage music in the surrounding villages, and was in sufficient favour to be able to interest his employers in a scheme for rebuilding the organ (February 1708). His real reason for resigning on June 25, 1708, is not known. He himself said that his plans for a “well-regulated [concerted] <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/liturgical-music">church music</a>” had been hindered by conditions in Mühlhausen and that his salary was inadequate. It is generally supposed that he had become involved in a theological controversy between his own pastor Frohne and Archdeacon Eilmar of the Marienkirche. Certainly, he was friendly with Eilmar, who provided him with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/libretto">librettos</a> and became godfather to Bach’s first child; and it is likely enough that he was not in sympathy with Frohne, who, as a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pietism">Pietist</a>, would have frowned on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/elaborate">elaborate</a> church music. It is just as possible, however, that it was the dismal state of musical life in Mühlhausen that prompted Bach to seek employment elsewhere. At all events, his resignation was accepted, and shortly afterward he moved to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Weimar-Germany">Weimar</a>, some miles west of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jena-Germany">Jena</a> on the Ilm River. He continued nevertheless to be on good terms with Mühlhausen personalities, for he supervised the rebuilding of the organ, is supposed to have inaugurated it on October 31, 1709, and composed a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music">cantata</a> for February 4, 1709, which was printed but has disappeared.</p></section> <section><h2>The Weimar period</h2> <p>Bach was, from the outset, court organist at Weimar and a member of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/orchestra-music">orchestra</a>. Encouraged by Wilhelm Ernst, he concentrated on the organ during the first few years of his <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenure">tenure</a>. From Weimar, Bach occasionally visited Weissenfels; in February 1713 he took part in a court celebration there that included a performance of his first secular cantata, <em>Was mir behagt</em>, also called the <em>Hunt Cantata</em> (BWV 208).</p> <p>Late in 1713 Bach had the opportunity of succeeding <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-III-king-of-Prussia-and-emperor-of-Germany">Friedrich Wilhelm</a> Zachow at the Liebfrauenkirche, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Halle">Halle</a>; but the duke raised his salary, and he stayed on at Weimar. On March 2, 1714, he became concertmaster, with the duty of composing a cantata every month. He became friendly with a relative, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Gottfried-Walther">Johann Gottfried Walther</a>, a music lexicographer and composer who was organist of the town church, and, like Walther, Bach took part in the musical activities at the Gelbes Schloss (“Yellow Castle”), then occupied by Duke Wilhelm’s two nephews, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Augustus-elector-of-Hanover">Ernst August</a> and Johann Ernst, both of whom he taught. The latter was a talented composer who wrote <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/concerto-music">concerti</a> in the Italian manner, some of which Bach arranged for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/keyboard-instrument">keyboard instruments</a>; the boy died in 1715, in his 19th year.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Bach’s development cannot be traced in detail during the vital years 1708–14, when his style underwent a profound change. There are too few datable works. From the series of cantatas written in 1714–16, however, it is obvious that he had been decisively influenced by the new styles and forms of the contemporary Italian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/opera-music">opera</a> and by the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovations">innovations</a> of such Italian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/concerto-music">concerto</a> composers as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonio-Vivaldi">Antonio Vivaldi</a>. The results of this encounter can be seen in such cantatas as No. 182, 199, and 61 in 1714, 31 and 161 in 1715, and 70 and 147 in 1716. His favourite forms appropriated from the Italians were those based on refrain (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/ritornello">ritornello</a>) or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/da-capo-aria">da capo</a> schemes in which wholesale repetition—literal or with modifications—of entire sections of a piece permitted him to create <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent">coherent</a> musical forms with much larger dimensions than had hitherto been possible. These newly acquired techniques henceforth governed a host of Bach’s arias and concerto movements, as well as many of his larger fugues (especially the mature ones for organ), and profoundly affected his treatment of chorales.</p> <p>Among other works almost certainly composed at Weimar are most of the <em>Orgelbüchlein</em> (<em>Little Organ Book</em>), all but the last of the so-called 18 “Great” chorale preludes, the earliest organ trios, and most of the organ <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/prelude-music">preludes</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/fugue">fugues</a>. The “Great” <em>Prelude and Fugue in G Major</em> for organ (BWV 541) was finally revised about 1715, and the <em>Toccata and Fugue in F Major</em> (BWV 540) may have been played at Weissenfels.</p> <p>On December 1, 1716, Johann Samuel Drese, musical director at Weimar, died. He was then succeeded by his son, who was rather a nonentity. Bach presumably resented being thus passed over, and in due course he accepted an appointment as musical director to Prince Leopold of Köthen, which was confirmed in August 1717. Duke Wilhelm, however, refused to accept his resignation—partly, perhaps, because of Bach’s friendship with the duke’s nephews, with whom the duke was on the worst of terms. About September a contest between Bach and the famous French organist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Marchand">Louis Marchand</a> was arranged at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Dresden-Germany">Dresden</a>. The exact circumstances are not known, but Marchand avoided the contest by leaving Dresden a few hours before it should have taken place. By <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implication">implication</a>, Bach won. Perhaps this emboldened him to renew his request for permission to leave Weimar; at all events he did so but in such terms that the duke imprisoned him for a month (November 6–December 2). A few days after his release, Bach moved to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kothen">Köthen</a>, some 30 miles north of Halle.</p></section> <section><h2>The Köthen period</h2> <p>There, as musical director, he was concerned chiefly with chamber and orchestral music. Even though some of the works may have been composed earlier and revised later, it was at Köthen that the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/sonata">sonatas</a> for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/violin">violin</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/clavier">clavier</a> and for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/viola-musical-instrument">viola</a> da gamba and clavier and the works for unaccompanied violin and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cello">cello</a> were put into something like their present form. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brandenburg-Concertos"><em>Brandenburg Concertos</em></a> were finished by March 24, 1721; in the sixth concerto—so it has been suggested—Bach bore in mind the technical limitations of the prince, who played the gamba. Bach played the viola by choice; he liked to be “in the middle of the harmony.” He also wrote a few <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music">cantatas</a> for the prince’s birthday and other such occasions; most of these seem to have survived only in later versions, adapted to more generally useful words. And he found time to compile <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedagogical">pedagogical</a> keyboard works: the <em>Clavierbüchlein</em> for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Friedemann-Bach">W.F. Bach</a> (begun January 22, 1720), some of the <em>French Suites</em>, the <em>Inventions</em> (1720), and the first book (1722) of <em>Das Wohltemperierte Klavier</em> (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Well-Tempered-Clavier-BWV-846-893"><em>The Well-Tempered Clavier</em></a>, eventually consisting of two books, each of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys and known as “the Forty-Eight”). This remarkable collection systematically explores both the potentials of a newly established <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/tuning-and-temperament">tuning</a> procedure—which, for the first time in the history of keyboard music, made all the keys equally usable—and the possibilities for musical organization afforded by the system of “functional <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/tonality">tonality</a>,” a kind of musical <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syntax">syntax</a> consolidated in the music of the Italian concerto composers of the preceding generation and a system that was to prevail for the next 200 years. At the same time, <em>The Well-Tempered Clavier</em> is a compendium of the most popular forms and styles of the era: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/dance">dance</a> types, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/aria-solo-song">arias</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/motet">motets</a>, concerti, etc., presented within the unified aspect of a single compositional technique—the rigorously logical and venerable <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/fugue">fugue</a>.</p> <p>Maria Barbara Bach died unexpectedly and was buried on July 7, 1720. About November, Bach visited <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hamburg-Germany">Hamburg</a>; his wife’s death may have unsettled him and led him to inquire after a vacant post at the Jacobikirche. Nothing came of this, but he played at the Katharinenkirke in the presence of Reinken. After hearing Bach <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/improvise">improvise</a> variations on a chorale tune, the old man said, “I thought this art was dead; but I see it still lives in you.”</p> <p>On December 3, 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, daughter of a trumpeter at Weissenfels. Apart from his first wife’s death, these first four years at Köthen were probably the happiest of Bach’s life. He was on the best terms with the prince, who was genuinely musical; and in 1730 Bach said that he had expected to end his days there. But the prince married on December 11, 1721, and conditions deteriorated. The princess—described by Bach as “an <em>amusa</em>” (that is to say, opposed to the muses)—required so much of her husband’s attention that Bach began to feel neglected. He also had to think of the education of his elder sons, born in 1710 and 1714, and he probably began to think of moving to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Leipzig-Germany">Leipzig</a> as soon as the cantorate fell vacant with the death of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Kuhnau">Johann Kuhnau</a> on June 5, 1722. Bach applied in December, but the post—already turned down by Bach’s friend, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georg-Philipp-Telemann">Georg Philipp Telemann</a>—was offered to another prominent composer of the day, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christoph-Graupner">Christoph Graupner</a>, the musical director at Darmstadt. As the latter was not sure that he would be able to accept, Bach gave a trial performance (Cantata No. 22, <em>Jesu nahm zu sich die Zwölfe</em> [<em>Jesus Called unto Him the Twelve</em>]) on February 7, 1723; and, when Graupner <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/withdrew">withdrew</a> (April 9), Bach was so deeply committed to Leipzig that, although the princess had died on April 4, he applied for permission to leave Köthen. This he obtained on April 13, and on May 13 he was sworn in at Leipzig.</p> <p>He was appointed honorary musical director at Köthen, and both he and Anna were employed there from time to time until the prince died, on November 19, 1728.</p></section> <section><h2>Years at Leipzig</h2> <p>As director of church music for the city of Leipzig, Bach had to supply performers for four churches. At the Peterskirche the choir merely led the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hymn">hymns</a>. At the Neue Kirche, Nikolaikirche, and Thomaskirche, part singing was required; but Bach himself conducted, and his own church music was performed, only at the last two. His first official performance was on May 30, 1723, the first Sunday after <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Feast-of-the-Holy-Trinity">Trinity Sunday</a>, with Cantata No. 75, <em>Die Elenden sollen essen</em>. New works produced during this year include many cantatas and the <em>Magnificat</em> in its first version. The first half of 1724 saw the production of the <em>St. John Passion</em>, which was subsequently revised. The total number of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music">cantatas</a> produced during this <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecclesiastical">ecclesiastical</a> year was about 62, of which about 39 were new works.</p> <p>On June 11, 1724, the first Sunday after Trinity, Bach began a fresh annual cycle of cantatas, and within the year he wrote 52 of the so-called chorale cantatas, formerly supposed to have been composed over the nine-year period 1735–44. The “Sanctus” of the <em>Mass in B Minor</em> was produced at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a>.</p> <p>During his first two or three years at Leipzig, Bach produced a large number of new cantatas, sometimes, as research has revealed, at the rate of one a week. This phenomenal pace raises the question of Bach’s approach to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/composition">composition</a>. Bach and his contemporaries, subject to the hectic pace of production, had to invent or discover their ideas quickly and could not rely on the unpredictable arrival of “inspiration.” Nor did the musical conventions and techniques or the generally rationalistic outlook of the time necessitate this reliance, as long as the composer was willing to accept them. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Baroque-music">Baroque</a> composer who submitted to the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regimen">regimen</a> inevitably had to be a traditionalist who willingly embraced the conventions.</p> <section><h2><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/symbolism">Symbolism</a></h2> <p>A <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repertoire">repertoire</a> of melody types existed, for example, that was generated by an explicit “doctrine of figures” that created musical equivalents for the figures of speech in the art of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoric">rhetoric</a>. Closely related to these “figures” are such examples of pictorial symbolism in which the composer writes, say, a rising scale to match words that speak of rising from the dead or a descending chromatic scale (depicting a howl of pain) to sorrowful words. Pictorial symbolism of this kind occurs only in connection with words—in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/vocal-music">vocal music</a> and in chorale preludes, where the words of the chorale are in the listener’s mind. There is no point in looking for resurrection <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/motifs">motifs</a> in <em>The Well-Tempered Clavier</em>. Pictorialism, even when not codified into a doctrine, seems to be a fundamental musical instinct and essentially an expressive device. It can, however, become more abstract, as in the case of number symbolism, a phenomenon observed too often in the works of Bach to be dismissed out of hand.</p> <p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/number-symbolism">Number symbolism</a> is sometimes pictorial; in the <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/St-Matthew-Passion-BWV-244">St. Matthew Passion</a></em> it is reasonable that the question “Lord, is it I?” should be asked 11 times, once by each of the faithful <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciples">disciples</a>. But the deliberate search for such symbolism in Bach’s music can be taken too far. Almost any number may be called “symbolic” (3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 41 are only a few examples); any multiple of such a number is itself symbolic; and the number of sharps in a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/key-signature">key signature</a>, notes in a melody, measures in a piece, and so on may all be considered significant. As a result, it is easy to find symbolic numbers anywhere, but ridiculous to suppose that such discoveries invariably have a meaning.</p> <p>Besides the melody types, the Baroque composer also had at his disposal similar <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotypes">stereotypes</a> regarding the further elaboration of these themes into complete compositions, so that the arias and choruses of a cantata almost seem to have been spun out “automatically.” One is reminded of Bach’s delightfully innocent remark “I have had to work hard; anyone who works just as hard will get just as far,” with its implication that everything in the “craft” of music is teachable and learnable. The fact that no other composer of the period, with the arguable exception of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Frideric-Handel">Handel</a>, even remotely approached Bach’s achievement indicates clearly enough that the application of the “mechanical” procedures was not literally “automatic” but was controlled throughout by something else—artistic <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrimination">discrimination</a>, or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/taste-art">taste</a>. One of the most respected attributes in the culture of the 18th century, “taste” is an utterly individual <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compound">compound</a> of raw talent, imagination, psychological <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disposition">disposition</a>, judgment, skill, and experience. It is unteachable and unlearnable.</p> <p>As a result of his intense activity in cantata production during his first three years in Leipzig, Bach had created a supply of church music to meet his future needs for the regular Sunday and feast day services. After 1726, therefore, he turned his attention to other projects. He did, however, produce the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/St-Matthew-Passion-BWV-244"><em>St. Matthew Passion</em></a> in 1729, a work that inaugurated a renewed interest in the mid-1730s for vocal works on a larger scale than the cantata: the now-lost <em>St. Mark Passion</em> (1731), the <em>Christmas Oratorio</em>, BWV 248 (1734), and the <em>Ascension Oratorio</em> (Cantata No. 11, <em>Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen</em>; 1735).</p></section> <section><h2>Nonmusical duties</h2> <p>In addition to his responsibilities as director of church music, Bach also had various nonmusical duties in his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/capacity">capacity</a> as the cantor of the school at Thomaskirche. Since he resented these latter obligations, Bach frequently absented himself without leave, playing or examining organs, taking his son Friedemann to hear the “pretty tunes,” as he called them, at the Dresden opera, and fulfilling the duties of the honorary court posts that he contrived to hold all his life. To some extent, no doubt, he accepted engagements because he needed money—he complained in 1730 that his income was less than he had been led to expect (he remarked that there were not enough funerals)—but, obviously, his routine work must have suffered. Friction between Bach and his employers thus developed almost at once. On the one hand, Bach’s initial understanding of the fees and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prerogatives">prerogatives</a> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accruing">accruing</a> to his position—particularly regarding his responsibility for musical activities in the University of Leipzig’s Paulinerkirche—differed from that of the town council and the university organist, Johann Gottlieb Görner. On the other hand, Bach remained, in the eyes of his employers, their third (and unenthusiastic) choice for the post, behind Telemann and Graupner. Furthermore, the authorities insisted on admitting unmusical boys to the school, thus making it difficult for Bach to keep his churches supplied with competent singers; they also refused to spend enough money to keep a decent orchestra together.</p> <p>The resulting ill feeling had become serious by 1730. It was temporarily dispelled by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/tact">tact</a> of the new rector, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Matthais-Gesner">Johann Matthias Gesner</a>, who admired Bach and had known him at Weimar; but Gesner stayed only until 1734 and was succeeded by Johann August Ernesti, a young man with up-to-date ideas on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/education">education</a>, one of which was that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/music">music</a> was not one of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanities">humanities</a> but a time-wasting sideline. Trouble flared up again in July 1736; it then took the form of a dispute over Bach’s right to appoint prefects and became a public scandal. Fortunately for Bach, he became court composer to the elector of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Saxony-historical-region-duchy-and-kingdom-Europe">Saxony</a> in November 1736. As such, after some delay, he was able to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/induce">induce</a> his friends at court to hold an official inquiry, and his dispute with Ernesti was settled in 1738. The exact terms of the settlement are not known, but thereafter Bach did as he liked.</p></section> <section><h2>Instrumental works</h2> <p>In 1726, after he had completed the bulk of his cantata production, Bach began to publish the clavier <em>Partitas</em> singly, with a collected edition in 1731, perhaps with the intention of attracting recognition beyond Leipzig and thus securing a more <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amenable">amenable</a> appointment elsewhere. The second part of the <em>Clavierübung</em>, containing the <em>Concerto in the Italian Style</em> and the <em>French Overture (Partita) in B Minor</em>, appeared in 1735. The third part, consisting of the <em>Organ Mass</em> with the <em>Prelude and Fugue [“St. Anne”] in E-flat Major</em> (BWV 552), appeared in 1739. From <em>c.</em> 1729 to 1736 Bach was honorary musical director to Weissenfels; and, from 1729 to 1737 and again from 1739 for a year or two, he directed the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. For these concerts, he adapted some of his earlier concerti as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/harpsichord">harpsichord</a> concerti, thus becoming one of the first composers—if not the very first—of concerti for keyboard instrument and orchestra, just as he was one of the first to use the harpsichordist’s right hand as a true melodic part in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/chamber-music">chamber music</a>. These are just two of several respects in which the basically conservative and traditional Bach was a significant innovator as well.</p> <p>About 1733 Bach began to produce cantatas in honour of the elector of Saxony and his family, evidently with a view to the court appointment he secured in 1736; many of these <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/secular">secular</a> movements were adapted to sacred words and reused in the <em>Christmas Oratorio</em>. The “Kyrie” and “Gloria” of the <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mass-in-B-Minor">Mass in B Minor</a></em>, written in 1733, were also dedicated to the elector, but the rest of the <em>Mass</em> was not put together until Bach’s last years. On his visits to Dresden, Bach had won the regard of the Russian envoy, Hermann Karl, Reichsgraf (count) von Keyserlingk, who commissioned the so-called <em>Goldberg Variations</em>; these were published as part four of the <em>Clavierübung</em> in 1741, and Book Two of “the Forty-Eight” seems to have been compiled about the same time. In addition, he wrote a few cantatas, revised some of his Weimar organ works, and published the so-called <em>Schübler Chorale Preludes</em> in or after 1746.</p></section></section> <section><h2>Last years</h2> <p>In May 1747 he visited his son Emanuel at Potsdam and played before <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-II-king-of-Prussia">Frederick II</a> (the Great) of Prussia; in July his improvisations, on a theme proposed by the king, took shape as <em>The Musical Offering</em>. In June 1747 he joined a Society of the Musical Sciences that had been founded by his former pupil Lorenz Christoph Mizler; he presented the canonic variations on the chorale <em>Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her</em> (<em>From Heaven Above to Earth I Come</em>) to the society, in manuscript, and afterward published them.</p> <p>Of Bach’s last illness little is known except that it lasted several months and prevented him from finishing <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Art-of-Fugue"><em>The Art of the Fugue</em></a>. His constitution was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/undermined">undermined</a> by two unsuccessful eye operations performed by John Taylor, the itinerant English quack who numbered Handel among his other failures; and Bach died on July 28, 1750, at Leipzig. His employers proceeded with relief to appoint a successor; Burgomaster Stieglitz remarked, “The school needs a cantor, not a musical director—though certainly he ought to understand music.” Anna Magdalena was left badly off. For some reason, her stepsons did nothing to help her, and her own sons were too young to do so. She died on February 27, 1760, and was given a pauper’s funeral.</p> <p>Unfinished as it was, <em>The Art of the Fugue</em> was published in 1751. It attracted little attention and was reissued in 1752 with a laudatory preface by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Wilhelm-Marpurg">Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg</a>, a well-known Berlin musician who later became director of the royal lottery. In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/spite">spite</a> of Marpurg and of some appreciative remarks by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Mattheson">Johann Mattheson</a>, the influential Hamburg critic and composer, only about 30 copies had been sold by 1756, when Emanuel Bach offered the plates for sale. As far as is known, they were sold for scrap.</p> <p>Emanuel Bach and the organist-composer Johann Friedrich Agricola (a pupil of Sebastian’s) wrote an obituary; Mizler added a few closing words and published the result in the journal of his society (1754). There is an English translation of it in <em>The Bach Reader</em>. Though incomplete and inaccurate, the obituary is of very great importance as a firsthand source of information.</p> <p>Bach appears to have been a good husband and father. Indeed, he was the father of 20 children, only 10 of whom survived to maturity. There is amusing evidence of a certain thriftiness—a necessary virtue, for he was never more than moderately well off and he delighted in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/hospitality">hospitality</a>. Living as he did at a time when music was beginning to be regarded as no occupation for a gentleman, he occasionally had to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/stand-up-comedy">stand up</a> for his rights both as a man and as a musician; he was then obstinate in the extreme. But no sympathetic employer had any trouble with Bach, and with his professional brethren he was modest and friendly. He was also a good teacher and from his Mühlhausen days onward was never without pupils.</p></section></section> </div></div>||||I|||| Search Britannica Click here to search
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 Johann Sebastian Bach
 Table of Contents
 Johann Sebastian Bach
 Table of Contents
 * Introduction & Top Questions
 * Life
 + Early years
 + The Arnstadt period
 + The Mühlhausen period
 + The Weimar period
 + The Köthen period
 + Years at Leipzig
 o Symbolism
 o Nonmusical duties
 o Instrumental works
 + Last years
 * Reputation and influence
 + Revival of music
 + Editions of Bach’s works
 References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
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 Johann Sebastian Bach summary
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 Composers & Their Music
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 Johann Sebastian Bach

 German composer
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 * Johann Sebastian Bach - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Johann Sebastian Bach - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
 Written by
 Walter Emery
 Director, Novello and Company Ltd., London. Specialist on the work of Bach. Author of Bach's Ornaments.
 Walter Emery ,
 Robert L. Marshall
 Emeritus Professor of Music, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Author of The Compositional Process of J.S. Bach.
 Robert L. Marshall See All
 Fact-checked by
 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
 Last Updated: Oct 9, 2023 • Article History
 Table of Contents
 Johann Sebastian Bach
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 Category: Arts & Culture
 Born: March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany] (Show more)
 Died: July 28, 1750, Leipzig (aged 65) (Show more)
 Notable Works: sinfonia “Brandenburg Concertos” “Christmas Oratorio” “Fugue in E-flat Major” “God Is My King” “Hunt Cantata” “Jesu meine Freude” “Mass in B Minor” “Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor” “St. John Passion” “St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244” “Three-Part Inventions” (Show more)
 Movement / Style: Baroque music (Show more)
 Notable Family Members: son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach son Johann Christian Bach (Show more)
 See all related content →
 Top Questions

 Why is Johann Sebastian Bach important?

 Johann Sebastian Bach is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. He is celebrated as the creator of many masterpieces of church and instrumental music. His compositions represent the best of the Baroque era.

 What did Johann Sebastian Bach compose?

 Johann Sebastian Bach composed over 1,000 pieces of music. Some of his most famous work included the Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, and the Mass in B Minor.

 What was Johann Sebastian Bach’s childhood like?

 Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a musical family. Orphaned before he turned 10 years old, he was looked after by his eldest brother, an organist who gave him his first keyboard lessons. Bach did well at school, and he was selected for a choir of poor boys at the school in Michaelskirche, Lüneburg, Germany.

 When did Johann Sebastian Bach get married?

 On October 17, 1707, Johann Sebastian Bach married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach at Dornheim. After Maria died Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, the daughter of a trumpeter at Weissenfels, on December 3, 1721.

 What were Johann Sebastian Bach’s children’s names?

 Johann Sebastian Bach had 20 children, 7 with his first wife and 13 with his second wife. Only 10 of them lived to adulthood. Several of his sons, including Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Christian, who was called the “English Bach,” were also composers.

 Johann Sebastian Bach, (born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]—died July 28, 1750, Leipzig), composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building, Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time and is celebrated as the creator of the Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, and numerous other masterpieces of church and instrumental music. Appearing at a propitious moment in the history of music, Bach was able to survey and bring together the principal styles, forms, and national traditions that had developed during preceding generations and, by virtue of his synthesis, enrich them all.

 He was a member of a remarkable family of musicians who were proud of their achievements, and about 1735 he drafted a genealogy, Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen Familie (“Origin of the Musical Bach Family”), in which he traced his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather Veit Bach, a Lutheran baker (or miller) who late in the 16th century was driven from Hungary to Wechmar in Thuringia, a historic region of Germany, by religious persecution and died in 1619. There were Bachs in the area before then, and it may be that, when Veit moved to Wechmar, he was returning to his birthplace. He used to take his cittern to the mill and play it while the mill was grinding. Johann Sebastian remarked, “A pretty noise they must have made together! However, he learnt to keep time, and this apparently was the beginning of music in our family.”

 Until the birth of Johann Sebastian, his was the least distinguished branch of the family; some of its members, such as Johann Christoph and Johann Ludwig, had been competent practical musicians but not composers. In later days the most important musicians in the family were Johann Sebastian’s sons—Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Christian (the “English Bach”).

 Life

 Early years

 J.S. Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. Ambrosius was a string player, employed by the town council and the ducal court of Eisenach. Johann Sebastian started school in 1692 or 1693 and did well in spite of frequent absences. Of his musical education at this time, nothing definite is known; however, he may have picked up the rudiments of string playing from his father, and no doubt he attended the Georgenkirche, where Johann Christoph Bach was organist until 1703.

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 Composers & Their Music

 By 1695 both his parents were dead, and he was looked after by his eldest brother, also named Johann Christoph (1671–1721), organist at Ohrdruf. This Christoph had been a pupil of the influential keyboard composer Johann Pachelbel, and he apparently gave Johann Sebastian his first formal keyboard lessons. The young Bach again did well at school, and in 1700 his voice secured him a place in a select choir of poor boys at the school at Michaelskirche, Lüneburg.

 His voice must have broken soon after this, but he remained at Lüneburg for a time, making himself generally useful. No doubt he studied in the school library, which had a large and up-to-date collection of church music; he probably heard Georg Böhm, organist of the Johanniskirche; and he visited Hamburg to hear the renowned organist and composer Johann Adam Reinken at the Katharinenkirche, contriving also to hear the French orchestra maintained by the duke of Celle.

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 He seems to have returned to Thuringia in the late summer of 1702. By this time he was already a reasonably proficient organist. His experience at Lüneburg, if not at Ohrdruf, had turned him away from the secular string-playing tradition of his immediate ancestors; thenceforth he was chiefly, though not exclusively, a composer and performer of keyboard and sacred music. The next few months are wrapped in mystery, but by March 4, 1703, he was a member of the orchestra employed by Johann Ernst, duke of Weimar (and brother of Wilhelm Ernst, whose service Bach entered in 1708). This post was a mere stopgap; he probably already had his eye on the organ then being built at the Neue Kirche (New Church) in Arnstadt, for, when it was finished, he helped to test it, and in August 1703 he was appointed organist—all this at age 18. Arnstadt documents imply that he had been court organist at Weimar; this is incredible, though it is likely enough that he had occasionally played there.

 The Arnstadt period

 At Arnstadt, on the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest, where he remained until 1707, Bach devoted himself to keyboard music, the organ in particular. While at Lüneburg he had apparently had no opportunity of becoming directly acquainted with the spectacular, flamboyant playing and compositions of Dietrich Buxtehude, the most significant exponent of the north German school of organ music. In October 1705 he repaired this gap in his knowledge by obtaining a month’s leave and walking to Lübeck (more than 200 miles [300 km]). His visit must have been profitable, for he did not return until about the middle of January 1706. In February his employers complained about his absence and about other things as well: he had harmonized the hymn tunes so freely that the congregation could not sing to his accompaniment, and, above all, he had produced no cantatas. Perhaps the real reasons for his neglect were that he was temporarily obsessed with the organ and was on bad terms with the local singers and instrumentalists, who were not under his control and did not come up to his standards. In the summer of 1705 he had made some offensive remark about a bassoon player, which led to an unseemly scuffle in the street. His replies to these complaints were neither satisfactory nor even accommodating; and the fact that he was not dismissed out of hand suggests that his employers were as well aware of his exceptional ability as he was himself and were reluctant to lose him.

 During these early years, Bach inherited the musical culture of the Thuringian area, a thorough familiarity with the traditional forms and hymns (chorales) of the orthodox Lutheran service, and, in keyboard music, perhaps (through his brother, Johann Christoph) a bias toward the formalistic styles of the south. But he also learned eagerly from the northern rhapsodists, Buxtehude above all. By 1708 he had probably learned all that his German predecessors could teach him and arrived at a first synthesis of northern and southern German styles. He had also studied, on his own and during his presumed excursions to Celle, some French organ and instrumental music.

 Among the few works that can be ascribed to these early years with anything more than a show of plausibility are the Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo (1704; Capriccio on the Departure of His Most Beloved Brother, BWV 992), the chorale prelude on Wie schön leuchtet (c. 1705; How Brightly Shines, BWV 739), and the fragmentary early version of the organ Prelude and Fugue in G Minor (before 1707, BWV 535a). (The “BWV” numbers provided are the standard catalog numbers of Bach’s works as established in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, prepared by the German musicologist Wolfgang Schmieder.)

 The Mühlhausen period

 In June 1707 Bach obtained a post at the Blasiuskirche in Mühlhausen in Thuringia. He moved there soon after and married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach at Dornheim on October 17. At Mühlhausen things seem, for a time, to have gone more smoothly. He produced several church cantatas at this time; all of these works are cast in a conservative mold, based on biblical and chorale texts and displaying no influence of the “modern” Italian operatic forms that were to appear in Bach’s later cantatas. The famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565), written in the rhapsodic northern style, and the Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532) may also have been composed during the Mühlhausen period, as well as the organ Passacaglia in C Minor (BWV 582), an early example of Bach’s instinct for large-scale organization. Cantata No. 71, Gott ist mein König (God Is My King), of February 4, 1708, was printed at the expense of the city council and was the first of Bach’s compositions to be published. While at Mühlhausen, Bach copied music to enlarge the choir library, tried to encourage music in the surrounding villages, and was in sufficient favour to be able to interest his employers in a scheme for rebuilding the organ (February 1708). His real reason for resigning on June 25, 1708, is not known. He himself said that his plans for a “well-regulated [concerted] church music” had been hindered by conditions in Mühlhausen and that his salary was inadequate. It is generally supposed that he had become involved in a theological controversy between his own pastor Frohne and Archdeacon Eilmar of the Marienkirche. Certainly, he was friendly with Eilmar, who provided him with librettos and became godfather to Bach’s first child; and it is likely enough that he was not in sympathy with Frohne, who, as a Pietist, would have frowned on elaborate church music. It is just as possible, however, that it was the dismal state of musical life in Mühlhausen that prompted Bach to seek employment elsewhere. At all events, his resignation was accepted, and shortly afterward he moved to Weimar, some miles west of Jena on the Ilm River. He continued nevertheless to be on good terms with Mühlhausen personalities, for he supervised the rebuilding of the organ, is supposed to have inaugurated it on October 31, 1709, and composed a cantata for February 4, 1709, which was printed but has disappeared.

 The Weimar period

 Bach, Johann Sebastian
 Johann Sebastian Bach. (more)

 Bach was, from the outset, court organist at Weimar and a member of the orchestra. Encouraged by Wilhelm Ernst, he concentrated on the organ during the first few years of his tenure. From Weimar, Bach occasionally visited Weissenfels; in February 1713 he took part in a court celebration there that included a performance of his first secular cantata, Was mir behagt, also called the Hunt Cantata (BWV 208).

 Late in 1713 Bach had the opportunity of succeeding Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow at the Liebfrauenkirche, Halle; but the duke raised his salary, and he stayed on at Weimar. On March 2, 1714, he became concertmaster, with the duty of composing a cantata every month. He became friendly with a relative, Johann Gottfried Walther, a music lexicographer and composer who was organist of the town church, and, like Walther, Bach took part in the musical activities at the Gelbes Schloss (“Yellow Castle”), then occupied by Duke Wilhelm’s two nephews, Ernst August and Johann Ernst, both of whom he taught. The latter was a talented composer who wrote concerti in the Italian manner, some of which Bach arranged for keyboard instruments; the boy died in 1715, in his 19th year.

 Unfortunately, Bach’s development cannot be traced in detail during the vital years 1708–14, when his style underwent a profound change. There are too few datable works. From the series of cantatas written in 1714–16, however, it is obvious that he had been decisively influenced by the new styles and forms of the contemporary Italian opera and by the innovations of such Italian concerto composers as Antonio Vivaldi. The results of this encounter can be seen in such cantatas as No. 182, 199, and 61 in 1714, 31 and 161 in 1715, and 70 and 147 in 1716. His favourite forms appropriated from the Italians were those based on refrain (ritornello) or da capo schemes in which wholesale repetition—literal or with modifications—of entire sections of a piece permitted him to create coherent musical forms with much larger dimensions than had hitherto been possible. These newly acquired techniques henceforth governed a host of Bach’s arias and concerto movements, as well as many of his larger fugues (especially the mature ones for organ), and profoundly affected his treatment of chorales.

 Among other works almost certainly composed at Weimar are most of the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), all but the last of the so-called 18 “Great” chorale preludes, the earliest organ trios, and most of the organ preludes and fugues. The “Great” Prelude and Fugue in G Major for organ (BWV 541) was finally revised about 1715, and the Toccata and Fugue in F Major (BWV 540) may have been played at Weissenfels.

 On December 1, 1716, Johann Samuel Drese, musical director at Weimar, died. He was then succeeded by his son, who was rather a nonentity. Bach presumably resented being thus passed over, and in due course he accepted an appointment as musical director to Prince Leopold of Köthen, which was confirmed in August 1717. Duke Wilhelm, however, refused to accept his resignation—partly, perhaps, because of Bach’s friendship with the duke’s nephews, with whom the duke was on the worst of terms. About September a contest between Bach and the famous French organist Louis Marchand was arranged at Dresden. The exact circumstances are not known, but Marchand avoided the contest by leaving Dresden a few hours before it should have taken place. By implication, Bach won. Perhaps this emboldened him to renew his request for permission to leave Weimar; at all events he did so but in such terms that the duke imprisoned him for a month (November 6–December 2). A few days after his release, Bach moved to Köthen, some 30 miles north of Halle.

 The Köthen period

 There, as musical director, he was concerned chiefly with chamber and orchestral music. Even though some of the works may have been composed earlier and revised later, it was at Köthen that the sonatas for violin and clavier and for viola da gamba and clavier and the works for unaccompanied violin and cello were put into something like their present form. The Brandenburg Concertos were finished by March 24, 1721; in the sixth concerto—so it has been suggested—Bach bore in mind the technical limitations of the prince, who played the gamba. Bach played the viola by choice; he liked to be “in the middle of the harmony.” He also wrote a few cantatas for the prince’s birthday and other such occasions; most of these seem to have survived only in later versions, adapted to more generally useful words. And he found time to compile pedagogical keyboard works: the Clavierbüchlein for W.F. Bach (begun January 22, 1720), some of the French Suites, the Inventions (1720), and the first book (1722) of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier, eventually consisting of two books, each of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys and known as “the Forty-Eight”). This remarkable collection systematically explores both the potentials of a newly established tuning procedure—which, for the first time in the history of keyboard music, made all the keys equally usable—and the possibilities for musical organization afforded by the system of “functional tonality,” a kind of musical syntax consolidated in the music of the Italian concerto composers of the preceding generation and a system that was to prevail for the next 200 years. At the same time, The Well-Tempered Clavier is a compendium of the most popular forms and styles of the era: dance types, arias, motets, concerti, etc., presented within the unified aspect of a single compositional technique—the rigorously logical and venerable fugue.

 Maria Barbara Bach died unexpectedly and was buried on July 7, 1720. About November, Bach visited Hamburg; his wife’s death may have unsettled him and led him to inquire after a vacant post at the Jacobikirche. Nothing came of this, but he played at the Katharinenkirke in the presence of Reinken. After hearing Bach improvise variations on a chorale tune, the old man said, “I thought this art was dead; but I see it still lives in you.”

 On December 3, 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, daughter of a trumpeter at Weissenfels. Apart from his first wife’s death, these first four years at Köthen were probably the happiest of Bach’s life. He was on the best terms with the prince, who was genuinely musical; and in 1730 Bach said that he had expected to end his days there. But the prince married on December 11, 1721, and conditions deteriorated. The princess—described by Bach as “an amusa” (that is to say, opposed to the muses)—required so much of her husband’s attention that Bach began to feel neglected. He also had to think of the education of his elder sons, born in 1710 and 1714, and he probably began to think of moving to Leipzig as soon as the cantorate fell vacant with the death of Johann Kuhnau on June 5, 1722. Bach applied in December, but the post—already turned down by Bach’s friend, Georg Philipp Telemann—was offered to another prominent composer of the day, Christoph Graupner, the musical director at Darmstadt. As the latter was not sure that he would be able to accept, Bach gave a trial performance (Cantata No. 22, Jesu nahm zu sich die Zwölfe [Jesus Called unto Him the Twelve]) on February 7, 1723; and, when Graupner withdrew (April 9), Bach was so deeply committed to Leipzig that, although the princess had died on April 4, he applied for permission to leave Köthen. This he obtained on April 13, and on May 13 he was sworn in at Leipzig.

 He was appointed honorary musical director at Köthen, and both he and Anna were employed there from time to time until the prince died, on November 19, 1728.

 Years at Leipzig

 As director of church music for the city of Leipzig, Bach had to supply performers for four churches. At the Peterskirche the choir merely led the hymns. At the Neue Kirche, Nikolaikirche, and Thomaskirche, part singing was required; but Bach himself conducted, and his own church music was performed, only at the last two. His first official performance was on May 30, 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday, with Cantata No. 75, Die Elenden sollen essen. New works produced during this year include many cantatas and the Magnificat in its first version. The first half of 1724 saw the production of the St. John Passion, which was subsequently revised. The total number of cantatas produced during this ecclesiastical year was about 62, of which about 39 were new works.

 On June 11, 1724, the first Sunday after Trinity, Bach began a fresh annual cycle of cantatas, and within the year he wrote 52 of the so-called chorale cantatas, formerly supposed to have been composed over the nine-year period 1735–44. The “Sanctus” of the Mass in B Minor was produced at Christmas.

 During his first two or three years at Leipzig, Bach produced a large number of new cantatas, sometimes, as research has revealed, at the rate of one a week. This phenomenal pace raises the question of Bach’s approach to composition. Bach and his contemporaries, subject to the hectic pace of production, had to invent or discover their ideas quickly and could not rely on the unpredictable arrival of “inspiration.” Nor did the musical conventions and techniques or the generally rationalistic outlook of the time necessitate this reliance, as long as the composer was willing to accept them. The Baroque composer who submitted to the regimen inevitably had to be a traditionalist who willingly embraced the conventions.

 Symbolism

 A repertoire of melody types existed, for example, that was generated by an explicit “doctrine of figures” that created musical equivalents for the figures of speech in the art of rhetoric. Closely related to these “figures” are such examples of pictorial symbolism in which the composer writes, say, a rising scale to match words that speak of rising from the dead or a descending chromatic scale (depicting a howl of pain) to sorrowful words. Pictorial symbolism of this kind occurs only in connection with words—in vocal music and in chorale preludes, where the words of the chorale are in the listener’s mind. There is no point in looking for resurrection motifs in The Well-Tempered Clavier. Pictorialism, even when not codified into a doctrine, seems to be a fundamental musical instinct and essentially an expressive device. It can, however, become more abstract, as in the case of number symbolism, a phenomenon observed too often in the works of Bach to be dismissed out of hand.

 Number symbolism is sometimes pictorial; in the St. Matthew Passion it is reasonable that the question “Lord, is it I?” should be asked 11 times, once by each of the faithful disciples. But the deliberate search for such symbolism in Bach’s music can be taken too far. Almost any number may be called “symbolic” (3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 41 are only a few examples); any multiple of such a number is itself symbolic; and the number of sharps in a key signature, notes in a melody, measures in a piece, and so on may all be considered significant. As a result, it is easy to find symbolic numbers anywhere, but ridiculous to suppose that such discoveries invariably have a meaning.

 Bach, J.S.: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244b, “Have mercy, Lord, on me”
 The aria “Have mercy, Lord, on me” from J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion , BWV 244b; from a 1946 recording featuring contralto Kathleen Ferrier and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent. (more)

 Bach, J.S.: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244b, “Mein Jesu, gute Nacht!”
 The final chorus, “Mein Jesu, gute Nacht!,” from J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion , BWV 244b; from a 1954 recording by the Chamber Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna Academy of Music conducted by Ferdinand Grossmann. (more)

 Besides the melody types, the Baroque composer also had at his disposal similar stereotypes regarding the further elaboration of these themes into complete compositions, so that the arias and choruses of a cantata almost seem to have been spun out “automatically.” One is reminded of Bach’s delightfully innocent remark “I have had to work hard; anyone who works just as hard will get just as far,” with its implication that everything in the “craft” of music is teachable and learnable. The fact that no other composer of the period, with the arguable exception of Handel, even remotely approached Bach’s achievement indicates clearly enough that the application of the “mechanical” procedures was not literally “automatic” but was controlled throughout by something else—artistic discrimination, or taste. One of the most respected attributes in the culture of the 18th century, “taste” is an utterly individual compound of raw talent, imagination, psychological disposition, judgment, skill, and experience. It is unteachable and unlearnable.

 As a result of his intense activity in cantata production during his first three years in Leipzig, Bach had created a supply of church music to meet his future needs for the regular Sunday and feast day services. After 1726, therefore, he turned his attention to other projects. He did, however, produce the St. Matthew Passion in 1729, a work that inaugurated a renewed interest in the mid-1730s for vocal works on a larger scale than the cantata: the now-lost St. Mark Passion (1731), the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (1734), and the Ascension Oratorio (Cantata No. 11, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen; 1735).

 Nonmusical duties

 In addition to his responsibilities as director of church music, Bach also had various nonmusical duties in his capacity as the cantor of the school at Thomaskirche. Since he resented these latter obligations, Bach frequently absented himself without leave, playing or examining organs, taking his son Friedemann to hear the “pretty tunes,” as he called them, at the Dresden opera, and fulfilling the duties of the honorary court posts that he contrived to hold all his life. To some extent, no doubt, he accepted engagements because he needed money—he complained in 1730 that his income was less than he had been led to expect (he remarked that there were not enough funerals)—but, obviously, his routine work must have suffered. Friction between Bach and his employers thus developed almost at once. On the one hand, Bach’s initial understanding of the fees and prerogatives accruing to his position—particularly regarding his responsibility for musical activities in the University of Leipzig’s Paulinerkirche—differed from that of the town council and the university organist, Johann Gottlieb Görner. On the other hand, Bach remained, in the eyes of his employers, their third (and unenthusiastic) choice for the post, behind Telemann and Graupner. Furthermore, the authorities insisted on admitting unmusical boys to the school, thus making it difficult for Bach to keep his churches supplied with competent singers; they also refused to spend enough money to keep a decent orchestra together.

 The resulting ill feeling had become serious by 1730. It was temporarily dispelled by the tact of the new rector, Johann Matthias Gesner, who admired Bach and had known him at Weimar; but Gesner stayed only until 1734 and was succeeded by Johann August Ernesti, a young man with up-to-date ideas on education, one of which was that music was not one of the humanities but a time-wasting sideline. Trouble flared up again in July 1736; it then took the form of a dispute over Bach’s right to appoint prefects and became a public scandal. Fortunately for Bach, he became court composer to the elector of Saxony in November 1736. As such, after some delay, he was able to induce his friends at court to hold an official inquiry, and his dispute with Ernesti was settled in 1738. The exact terms of the settlement are not known, but thereafter Bach did as he liked.

 Instrumental works

 Bach, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
 “Aria” from J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations , BWV 988; from a 1933 recording by harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. (more)

 In 1726, after he had completed the bulk of his cantata production, Bach began to publish the clavier Partitas singly, with a collected edition in 1731, perhaps with the intention of attracting recognition beyond Leipzig and thus securing a more amenable appointment elsewhere. The second part of the Clavierübung, containing the Concerto in the Italian Style and the French Overture (Partita) in B Minor, appeared in 1735. The third part, consisting of the Organ Mass with the Prelude and Fugue [“St. Anne”] in E-flat Major (BWV 552), appeared in 1739. From c. 1729 to 1736 Bach was honorary musical director to Weissenfels; and, from 1729 to 1737 and again from 1739 for a year or two, he directed the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. For these concerts, he adapted some of his earlier concerti as harpsichord concerti, thus becoming one of the first composers—if not the very first—of concerti for keyboard instrument and orchestra, just as he was one of the first to use the harpsichordist’s right hand as a true melodic part in chamber music. These are just two of several respects in which the basically conservative and traditional Bach was a significant innovator as well.

 About 1733 Bach began to produce cantatas in honour of the elector of Saxony and his family, evidently with a view to the court appointment he secured in 1736; many of these secular movements were adapted to sacred words and reused in the Christmas Oratorio. The “Kyrie” and “Gloria” of the Mass in B Minor, written in 1733, were also dedicated to the elector, but the rest of the Mass was not put together until Bach’s last years. On his visits to Dresden, Bach had won the regard of the Russian envoy, Hermann Karl, Reichsgraf (count) von Keyserlingk, who commissioned the so-called Goldberg Variations; these were published as part four of the Clavierübung in 1741, and Book Two of “the Forty-Eight” seems to have been compiled about the same time. In addition, he wrote a few cantatas, revised some of his Weimar organ works, and published the so-called Schübler Chorale Preludes in or after 1746.

 Last years

 In May 1747 he visited his son Emanuel at Potsdam and played before Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia; in July his improvisations, on a theme proposed by the king, took shape as The Musical Offering. In June 1747 he joined a Society of the Musical Sciences that had been founded by his former pupil Lorenz Christoph Mizler; he presented the canonic variations on the chorale Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come) to the society, in manuscript, and afterward published them.

 Of Bach’s last illness little is known except that it lasted several months and prevented him from finishing The Art of the Fugue. His constitution was undermined by two unsuccessful eye operations performed by John Taylor, the itinerant English quack who numbered Handel among his other failures; and Bach died on July 28, 1750, at Leipzig. His employers proceeded with relief to appoint a successor; Burgomaster Stieglitz remarked, “The school needs a cantor, not a musical director—though certainly he ought to understand music.” Anna Magdalena was left badly off. For some reason, her stepsons did nothing to help her, and her own sons were too young to do so. She died on February 27, 1760, and was given a pauper’s funeral.

 Unfinished as it was, The Art of the Fugue was published in 1751. It attracted little attention and was reissued in 1752 with a laudatory preface by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, a well-known Berlin musician who later became director of the royal lottery. In spite of Marpurg and of some appreciative remarks by Johann Mattheson, the influential Hamburg critic and composer, only about 30 copies had been sold by 1756, when Emanuel Bach offered the plates for sale. As far as is known, they were sold for scrap.

 Emanuel Bach and the organist-composer Johann Friedrich Agricola (a pupil of Sebastian’s) wrote an obituary; Mizler added a few closing words and published the result in the journal of his society (1754). There is an English translation of it in The Bach Reader. Though incomplete and inaccurate, the obituary is of very great importance as a firsthand source of information.

 Bach appears to have been a good husband and father. Indeed, he was the father of 20 children, only 10 of whom survived to maturity. There is amusing evidence of a certain thriftiness—a necessary virtue, for he was never more than moderately well off and he delighted in hospitality. Living as he did at a time when music was beginning to be regarded as no occupation for a gentleman, he occasionally had to stand up for his rights both as a man and as a musician; he was then obstinate in the extreme. But no sympathetic employer had any trouble with Bach, and with his professional brethren he was modest and friendly. He was also a good teacher and from his Mühlhausen days onward was never without pupils.

Born: 
March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]
Died: 
July 28, 1750, Leipzig (aged 65)
 
	Top Questions
	   Why is Johann Sebastian Bach important?   What did Johann Sebastian Bach compose?   What was Johann Sebastian Bach’s childhood like?   When did Johann Sebastian Bach get married?   What were Johann Sebastian Bach’s children’s names?      Johann Sebastian Bach, (born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]—died July 28, 1750, Leipzig), composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building, Bach is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time and is celebrated as the creator of the  Brandenburg Concertos ,  The Well-Tempered Clavier , the Mass in B Minor, and numerous other masterpieces of church and instrumental music. Appearing at a propitious moment in the history of music, Bach was able to survey and bring together the principal styles, forms, and national traditions that had developed during preceding generations and, by virtue of his synthesis, enrich them all. He was a member of a remarkable family of musicians who were proud of their achievements, and about 1735 he drafted a genealogy, Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen Familie (“Origin of the Musical Bach Family”), in which he traced his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather Veit Bach, a Lutheran baker (or miller) who late in the 16th century was driven from Hungary to Wechmar in Thuringia, a historic region of Germany, by religious persecution and died in 1619. There were Bachs in the area before then, and it may be that, when Veit moved to Wechmar, he was returning to his birthplace. He used to take his cittern to the mill and play it while the mill was grinding. Johann Sebastian remarked, “A pretty noise they must have made together! However, he learnt to keep time, and this apparently was the beginning of music in our family.” Until the birth of Johann Sebastian, his was the least distinguished branch of the family; some of its members, such as Johann Christoph and Johann Ludwig, had been competent practical musicians but not composers. In later days the most important musicians in the family were Johann Sebastian’s sons—Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Christian (the “English Bach”).   Life  Early years J.S. Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. Ambrosius was a string player, employed by the town council and the ducal court of Eisenach. Johann Sebastian started school in 1692 or 1693 and did well in spite of frequent absences. Of his musical education at this time, nothing definite is known; however, he may have picked up the rudiments of string playing from his father, and no doubt he attended the Georgenkirche, where Johann Christoph Bach was organist until 1703. 
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Composers &amp; Their Music
 By 1695 both his parents were dead, and he was looked after by his eldest brother, also named Johann Christoph (1671–1721), organist at Ohrdruf. This Christoph had been a pupil of the influential keyboard composer Johann Pachelbel, and he apparently gave Johann Sebastian his first formal keyboard lessons. The young Bach again did well at school, and in 1700 his voice secured him a place in a select choir of poor boys at the school at Michaelskirche, Lüneburg. His voice must have broken soon after this, but he remained at Lüneburg for a time, making himself generally useful. No doubt he studied in the school library, which had a large and up-to-date collection of church music; he probably heard Georg Böhm, organist of the Johanniskirche; and he visited Hamburg to hear the renowned organist and composer Johann Adam Reinken at the Katharinenkirche, contriving also to hear the French orchestra maintained by the duke of Celle. 
 
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 He seems to have returned to Thuringia in the late summer of 1702. By this time he was already a reasonably proficient organist. His experience at Lüneburg, if not at Ohrdruf, had turned him away from the secular string-playing tradition of his immediate ancestors; thenceforth he was chiefly, though not exclusively, a composer and performer of keyboard and sacred music. The next few months are wrapped in mystery, but by March 4, 1703, he was a member of the orchestra employed by Johann Ernst, duke of Weimar (and brother of Wilhelm Ernst, whose service Bach entered in 1708). This post was a mere stopgap; he probably already had his eye on the organ then being built at the Neue Kirche (New Church) in Arnstadt, for, when it was finished, he helped to test it, and in August 1703 he was appointed organist—all this at age 18. Arnstadt documents imply that he had been court organist at Weimar; this is incredible, though it is likely enough that he had occasionally played there.   The Arnstadt period At Arnstadt, on the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest, where he remained until 1707, Bach devoted himself to keyboard music, the organ in particular. While at Lüneburg he had apparently had no opportunity of becoming directly acquainted with the spectacular, flamboyant playing and compositions of Dietrich Buxtehude, the most significant exponent of the north German school of organ music. In October 1705 he repaired this gap in his knowledge by obtaining a month’s leave and walking to Lübeck (more than 200 miles [300 km]). His visit must have been profitable, for he did not return until about the middle of January 1706. In February his employers complained about his absence and about other things as well: he had harmonized the hymn tunes so freely that the congregation could not sing to his accompaniment, and, above all, he had produced no cantatas. Perhaps the real reasons for his neglect were that he was temporarily obsessed with the organ and was on bad terms with the local singers and instrumentalists, who were not under his control and did not come up to his standards. In the summer of 1705 he had made some offensive remark about a bassoon player, which led to an unseemly scuffle in the street. His replies to these complaints were neither satisfactory nor even accommodating; and the fact that he was not dismissed out of hand suggests that his employers were as well aware of his exceptional ability as he was himself and were reluctant to lose him. During these early years, Bach inherited the musical culture of the Thuringian area, a thorough familiarity with the traditional forms and hymns (chorales) of the orthodox Lutheran service, and, in keyboard music, perhaps (through his brother, Johann Christoph) a bias toward the formalistic styles of the south. But he also learned eagerly from the northern rhapsodists, Buxtehude above all. By 1708 he had probably learned all that his German predecessors could teach him and arrived at a first synthesis of northern and southern German styles. He had also studied, on his own and during his presumed excursions to Celle, some French organ and instrumental music. Among the few works that can be ascribed to these early years with anything more than a show of plausibility are the Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo (1704; Capriccio on the Departure of His Most Beloved Brother, BWV 992), the chorale prelude on Wie schön leuchtet (c. 1705; How Brightly Shines, BWV 739), and the fragmentary early version of the organ Prelude and Fugue in G Minor (before 1707, BWV 535a). (The “BWV” numbers provided are the standard catalog numbers of Bach’s works as established in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, prepared by the German musicologist Wolfgang Schmieder.)   The Mühlhausen period In June 1707 Bach obtained a post at the Blasiuskirche in Mühlhausen in Thuringia. He moved there soon after and married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach at Dornheim on October 17. At Mühlhausen things seem, for a time, to have gone more smoothly. He produced several church cantatas at this time; all of these works are cast in a conservative mold, based on biblical and chorale texts and displaying no influence of the “modern” Italian operatic forms that were to appear in Bach’s later cantatas. The famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565), written in the rhapsodic northern style, and the Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532) may also have been composed during the Mühlhausen period, as well as the organ Passacaglia in C Minor (BWV 582), an early example of Bach’s instinct for large-scale organization. Cantata No. 71, Gott ist mein König (God Is My King), of February 4, 1708, was printed at the expense of the city council and was the first of Bach’s compositions to be published. While at Mühlhausen, Bach copied music to enlarge the choir library, tried to encourage music in the surrounding villages, and was in sufficient favour to be able to interest his employers in a scheme for rebuilding the organ (February 1708). His real reason for resigning on June 25, 1708, is not known. He himself said that his plans for a “well-regulated [concerted] church music” had been hindered by conditions in Mühlhausen and that his salary was inadequate. It is generally supposed that he had become involved in a theological controversy between his own pastor Frohne and Archdeacon Eilmar of the Marienkirche. Certainly, he was friendly with Eilmar, who provided him with librettos and became godfather to Bach’s first child; and it is likely enough that he was not in sympathy with Frohne, who, as a Pietist, would have frowned on elaborate church music. It is just as possible, however, that it was the dismal state of musical life in Mühlhausen that prompted Bach to seek employment elsewhere. At all events, his resignation was accepted, and shortly afterward he moved to Weimar, some miles west of Jena on the Ilm River. He continued nevertheless to be on good terms with Mühlhausen personalities, for he supervised the rebuilding of the organ, is supposed to have inaugurated it on October 31, 1709, and composed a cantata for February 4, 1709, which was printed but has disappeared.   The Weimar period Bach was, from the outset, court organist at Weimar and a member of the orchestra. Encouraged by Wilhelm Ernst, he concentrated on the organ during the first few years of his tenure. From Weimar, Bach occasionally visited Weissenfels; in February 1713 he took part in a court celebration there that included a performance of his first secular cantata, Was mir behagt, also called the Hunt Cantata (BWV 208). Late in 1713 Bach had the opportunity of succeeding Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow at the Liebfrauenkirche, Halle; but the duke raised his salary, and he stayed on at Weimar. On March 2, 1714, he became concertmaster, with the duty of composing a cantata every month. He became friendly with a relative, Johann Gottfried Walther, a music lexicographer and composer who was organist of the town church, and, like Walther, Bach took part in the musical activities at the Gelbes Schloss (“Yellow Castle”), then occupied by Duke Wilhelm’s two nephews, Ernst August and Johann Ernst, both of whom he taught. The latter was a talented composer who wrote concerti in the Italian manner, some of which Bach arranged for keyboard instruments; the boy died in 1715, in his 19th year. Unfortunately, Bach’s development cannot be traced in detail during the vital years 1708–14, when his style underwent a profound change. There are too few datable works. From the series of cantatas written in 1714–16, however, it is obvious that he had been decisively influenced by the new styles and forms of the contemporary Italian opera and by the innovations of such Italian concerto composers as Antonio Vivaldi. The results of this encounter can be seen in such cantatas as No. 182, 199, and 61 in 1714, 31 and 161 in 1715, and 70 and 147 in 1716. His favourite forms appropriated from the Italians were those based on refrain (ritornello) or da capo schemes in which wholesale repetition—literal or with modifications—of entire sections of a piece permitted him to create coherent musical forms with much larger dimensions than had hitherto been possible. These newly acquired techniques henceforth governed a host of Bach’s arias and concerto movements, as well as many of his larger fugues (especially the mature ones for organ), and profoundly affected his treatment of chorales. Among other works almost certainly composed at Weimar are most of the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), all but the last of the so-called 18 “Great” chorale preludes, the earliest organ trios, and most of the organ preludes and fugues. The “Great” Prelude and Fugue in G Major for organ (BWV 541) was finally revised about 1715, and the Toccata and Fugue in F Major (BWV 540) may have been played at Weissenfels. On December 1, 1716, Johann Samuel Drese, musical director at Weimar, died. He was then succeeded by his son, who was rather a nonentity. Bach presumably resented being thus passed over, and in due course he accepted an appointment as musical director to Prince Leopold of Köthen, which was confirmed in August 1717. Duke Wilhelm, however, refused to accept his resignation—partly, perhaps, because of Bach’s friendship with the duke’s nephews, with whom the duke was on the worst of terms. About September a contest between Bach and the famous French organist Louis Marchand was arranged at Dresden. The exact circumstances are not known, but Marchand avoided the contest by leaving Dresden a few hours before it should have taken place. By implication, Bach won. Perhaps this emboldened him to renew his request for permission to leave Weimar; at all events he did so but in such terms that the duke imprisoned him for a month (November 6–December 2). A few days after his release, Bach moved to Köthen, some 30 miles north of Halle.   The Köthen period There, as musical director, he was concerned chiefly with chamber and orchestral music. Even though some of the works may have been composed earlier and revised later, it was at Köthen that the sonatas for violin and clavier and for viola da gamba and clavier and the works for unaccompanied violin and cello were put into something like their present form. The  Brandenburg Concertos  were finished by March 24, 1721; in the sixth concerto—so it has been suggested—Bach bore in mind the technical limitations of the prince, who played the gamba. Bach played the viola by choice; he liked to be “in the middle of the harmony.” He also wrote a few cantatas for the prince’s birthday and other such occasions; most of these seem to have survived only in later versions, adapted to more generally useful words. And he found time to compile pedagogical keyboard works: the Clavierbüchlein for W.F. Bach (begun January 22, 1720), some of the French Suites, the Inventions (1720), and the first book (1722) of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier ( The Well-Tempered Clavier , eventually consisting of two books, each of 24 preludes and fugues in all keys and known as “the Forty-Eight”). This remarkable collection systematically explores both the potentials of a newly established tuning procedure—which, for the first time in the history of keyboard music, made all the keys equally usable—and the possibilities for musical organization afforded by the system of “functional tonality,” a kind of musical syntax consolidated in the music of the Italian concerto composers of the preceding generation and a system that was to prevail for the next 200 years. At the same time, The Well-Tempered Clavier is a compendium of the most popular forms and styles of the era: dance types, arias, motets, concerti, etc., presented within the unified aspect of a single compositional technique—the rigorously logical and venerable fugue. Maria Barbara Bach died unexpectedly and was buried on July 7, 1720. About November, Bach visited Hamburg; his wife’s death may have unsettled him and led him to inquire after a vacant post at the Jacobikirche. Nothing came of this, but he played at the Katharinenkirke in the presence of Reinken. After hearing Bach improvise variations on a chorale tune, the old man said, “I thought this art was dead; but I see it still lives in you.” On December 3, 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, daughter of a trumpeter at Weissenfels. Apart from his first wife’s death, these first four years at Köthen were probably the happiest of Bach’s life. He was on the best terms with the prince, who was genuinely musical; and in 1730 Bach said that he had expected to end his days there. But the prince married on December 11, 1721, and conditions deteriorated. The princess—described by Bach as “an amusa” (that is to say, opposed to the muses)—required so much of her husband’s attention that Bach began to feel neglected. He also had to think of the education of his elder sons, born in 1710 and 1714, and he probably began to think of moving to Leipzig as soon as the cantorate fell vacant with the death of Johann Kuhnau on June 5, 1722. Bach applied in December, but the post—already turned down by Bach’s friend, Georg Philipp Telemann—was offered to another prominent composer of the day, Christoph Graupner, the musical director at Darmstadt. As the latter was not sure that he would be able to accept, Bach gave a trial performance (Cantata No. 22, Jesu nahm zu sich die Zwölfe [Jesus Called unto Him the Twelve]) on February 7, 1723; and, when Graupner withdrew (April 9), Bach was so deeply committed to Leipzig that, although the princess had died on April 4, he applied for permission to leave Köthen. This he obtained on April 13, and on May 13 he was sworn in at Leipzig. He was appointed honorary musical director at Köthen, and both he and Anna were employed there from time to time until the prince died, on November 19, 1728.   Years at Leipzig As director of church music for the city of Leipzig, Bach had to supply performers for four churches. At the Peterskirche the choir merely led the hymns. At the Neue Kirche, Nikolaikirche, and Thomaskirche, part singing was required; but Bach himself conducted, and his own church music was performed, only at the last two. His first official performance was on May 30, 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday, with Cantata No. 75, Die Elenden sollen essen. New works produced during this year include many cantatas and the Magnificat in its first version. The first half of 1724 saw the production of the St. John Passion, which was subsequently revised. The total number of cantatas produced during this ecclesiastical year was about 62, of which about 39 were new works. On June 11, 1724, the first Sunday after Trinity, Bach began a fresh annual cycle of cantatas, and within the year he wrote 52 of the so-called chorale cantatas, formerly supposed to have been composed over the nine-year period 1735–44. The “Sanctus” of the Mass in B Minor was produced at Christmas. During his first two or three years at Leipzig, Bach produced a large number of new cantatas, sometimes, as research has revealed, at the rate of one a week. This phenomenal pace raises the question of Bach’s approach to composition. Bach and his contemporaries, subject to the hectic pace of production, had to invent or discover their ideas quickly and could not rely on the unpredictable arrival of “inspiration.” Nor did the musical conventions and techniques or the generally rationalistic outlook of the time necessitate this reliance, as long as the composer was willing to accept them. The Baroque composer who submitted to the regimen inevitably had to be a traditionalist who willingly embraced the conventions.   Symbolism  A repertoire of melody types existed, for example, that was generated by an explicit “doctrine of figures” that created musical equivalents for the figures of speech in the art of rhetoric. Closely related to these “figures” are such examples of pictorial symbolism in which the composer writes, say, a rising scale to match words that speak of rising from the dead or a descending chromatic scale (depicting a howl of pain) to sorrowful words. Pictorial symbolism of this kind occurs only in connection with words—in vocal music and in chorale preludes, where the words of the chorale are in the listener’s mind. There is no point in looking for resurrection motifs in The Well-Tempered Clavier. Pictorialism, even when not codified into a doctrine, seems to be a fundamental musical instinct and essentially an expressive device. It can, however, become more abstract, as in the case of number symbolism, a phenomenon observed too often in the works of Bach to be dismissed out of hand.  Number symbolism is sometimes pictorial; in the  St. Matthew Passion  it is reasonable that the question “Lord, is it I?” should be asked 11 times, once by each of the faithful disciples. But the deliberate search for such symbolism in Bach’s music can be taken too far. Almost any number may be called “symbolic” (3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 41 are only a few examples); any multiple of such a number is itself symbolic; and the number of sharps in a key signature, notes in a melody, measures in a piece, and so on may all be considered significant. As a result, it is easy to find symbolic numbers anywhere, but ridiculous to suppose that such discoveries invariably have a meaning. Besides the melody types, the Baroque composer also had at his disposal similar stereotypes regarding the further elaboration of these themes into complete compositions, so that the arias and choruses of a cantata almost seem to have been spun out “automatically.” One is reminded of Bach’s delightfully innocent remark “I have had to work hard; anyone who works just as hard will get just as far,” with its implication that everything in the “craft” of music is teachable and learnable. The fact that no other composer of the period, with the arguable exception of Handel, even remotely approached Bach’s achievement indicates clearly enough that the application of the “mechanical” procedures was not literally “automatic” but was controlled throughout by something else—artistic discrimination, or taste. One of the most respected attributes in the culture of the 18th century, “taste” is an utterly individual compound of raw talent, imagination, psychological disposition, judgment, skill, and experience. It is unteachable and unlearnable. As a result of his intense activity in cantata production during his first three years in Leipzig, Bach had created a supply of church music to meet his future needs for the regular Sunday and feast day services. After 1726, therefore, he turned his attention to other projects. He did, however, produce the  St. Matthew Passion  in 1729, a work that inaugurated a renewed interest in the mid-1730s for vocal works on a larger scale than the cantata: the now-lost St. Mark Passion (1731), the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (1734), and the Ascension Oratorio (Cantata No. 11, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen; 1735).   Nonmusical duties In addition to his responsibilities as director of church music, Bach also had various nonmusical duties in his capacity as the cantor of the school at Thomaskirche. Since he resented these latter obligations, Bach frequently absented himself without leave, playing or examining organs, taking his son Friedemann to hear the “pretty tunes,” as he called them, at the Dresden opera, and fulfilling the duties of the honorary court posts that he contrived to hold all his life. To some extent, no doubt, he accepted engagements because he needed money—he complained in 1730 that his income was less than he had been led to expect (he remarked that there were not enough funerals)—but, obviously, his routine work must have suffered. Friction between Bach and his employers thus developed almost at once. On the one hand, Bach’s initial understanding of the fees and prerogatives accruing to his position—particularly regarding his responsibility for musical activities in the University of Leipzig’s Paulinerkirche—differed from that of the town council and the university organist, Johann Gottlieb Görner. On the other hand, Bach remained, in the eyes of his employers, their third (and unenthusiastic) choice for the post, behind Telemann and Graupner. Furthermore, the authorities insisted on admitting unmusical boys to the school, thus making it difficult for Bach to keep his churches supplied with competent singers; they also refused to spend enough money to keep a decent orchestra together. The resulting ill feeling had become serious by 1730. It was temporarily dispelled by the tact of the new rector, Johann Matthias Gesner, who admired Bach and had known him at Weimar; but Gesner stayed only until 1734 and was succeeded by Johann August Ernesti, a young man with up-to-date ideas on education, one of which was that music was not one of the humanities but a time-wasting sideline. Trouble flared up again in July 1736; it then took the form of a dispute over Bach’s right to appoint prefects and became a public scandal. Fortunately for Bach, he became court composer to the elector of Saxony in November 1736. As such, after some delay, he was able to induce his friends at court to hold an official inquiry, and his dispute with Ernesti was settled in 1738. The exact terms of the settlement are not known, but thereafter Bach did as he liked.   Instrumental works In 1726, after he had completed the bulk of his cantata production, Bach began to publish the clavier Partitas singly, with a collected edition in 1731, perhaps with the intention of attracting recognition beyond Leipzig and thus securing a more amenable appointment elsewhere. The second part of the Clavierübung, containing the Concerto in the Italian Style and the French Overture (Partita) in B Minor, appeared in 1735. The third part, consisting of the Organ Mass with the Prelude and Fugue [“St. Anne”] in E-flat Major (BWV 552), appeared in 1739. From c. 1729 to 1736 Bach was honorary musical director to Weissenfels; and, from 1729 to 1737 and again from 1739 for a year or two, he directed the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. For these concerts, he adapted some of his earlier concerti as harpsichord concerti, thus becoming one of the first composers—if not the very first—of concerti for keyboard instrument and orchestra, just as he was one of the first to use the harpsichordist’s right hand as a true melodic part in chamber music. These are just two of several respects in which the basically conservative and traditional Bach was a significant innovator as well. About 1733 Bach began to produce cantatas in honour of the elector of Saxony and his family, evidently with a view to the court appointment he secured in 1736; many of these secular movements were adapted to sacred words and reused in the Christmas Oratorio. The “Kyrie” and “Gloria” of the  Mass in B Minor , written in 1733, were also dedicated to the elector, but the rest of the Mass was not put together until Bach’s last years. On his visits to Dresden, Bach had won the regard of the Russian envoy, Hermann Karl, Reichsgraf (count) von Keyserlingk, who commissioned the so-called Goldberg Variations; these were published as part four of the Clavierübung in 1741, and Book Two of “the Forty-Eight” seems to have been compiled about the same time. In addition, he wrote a few cantatas, revised some of his Weimar organ works, and published the so-called Schübler Chorale Preludes in or after 1746.    Last years In May 1747 he visited his son Emanuel at Potsdam and played before Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia; in July his improvisations, on a theme proposed by the king, took shape as The Musical Offering. In June 1747 he joined a Society of the Musical Sciences that had been founded by his former pupil Lorenz Christoph Mizler; he presented the canonic variations on the chorale Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come) to the society, in manuscript, and afterward published them. Of Bach’s last illness little is known except that it lasted several months and prevented him from finishing  The Art of the Fugue . His constitution was undermined by two unsuccessful eye operations performed by John Taylor, the itinerant English quack who numbered Handel among his other failures; and Bach died on July 28, 1750, at Leipzig. His employers proceeded with relief to appoint a successor; Burgomaster Stieglitz remarked, “The school needs a cantor, not a musical director—though certainly he ought to understand music.” Anna Magdalena was left badly off. For some reason, her stepsons did nothing to help her, and her own sons were too young to do so. She died on February 27, 1760, and was given a pauper’s funeral. Unfinished as it was, The Art of the Fugue was published in 1751. It attracted little attention and was reissued in 1752 with a laudatory preface by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, a well-known Berlin musician who later became director of the royal lottery. In spite of Marpurg and of some appreciative remarks by Johann Mattheson, the influential Hamburg critic and composer, only about 30 copies had been sold by 1756, when Emanuel Bach offered the plates for sale. As far as is known, they were sold for scrap. Emanuel Bach and the organist-composer Johann Friedrich Agricola (a pupil of Sebastian’s) wrote an obituary; Mizler added a few closing words and published the result in the journal of his society (1754). There is an English translation of it in The Bach Reader. Though incomplete and inaccurate, the obituary is of very great importance as a firsthand source of information. Bach appears to have been a good husband and father. Indeed, he was the father of 20 children, only 10 of whom survived to maturity. There is amusing evidence of a certain thriftiness—a necessary virtue, for he was never more than moderately well off and he delighted in hospitality. Living as he did at a time when music was beginning to be regarded as no occupation for a gentleman, he occasionally had to stand up for his rights both as a man and as a musician; he was then obstinate in the extreme. But no sympathetic employer had any trouble with Bach, and with his professional brethren he was modest and friendly. He was also a good teacher and from his Mühlhausen days onward was never without pupils.
Johann Sebastian Bach | Biography, Music, Death, & Facts
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach