FOOTNOTES
[1] "Ich dachte, diese Kunst wäre ausgestorben; ich sehe aber, dass sie in Ihnen noch lebt."
[2] See organo pleno, p. 70.
[3] The French are accustomed to group registers of similar quality, but varying in pitch, under a single name; as bourdons (stopped wood pipes), montres (diapasons), anches (reeds), qualifying them by the pitch; e.g., bourdons of 16' and 8' would be equivalent to our bourdon and stopped diapason, or gedackt.—Tr.
[4] Take the most beautiful type of the Plain-chant, for instance: the Te Deum. Simply vocalize it, sing it without words; rhythm, beauty, grandeur, all disappear. Translate it, and sing the same music with either French or German text, it becomes absurd. If the Roman Church had not prescribed Latin as the language of its liturgy, we should have no Plain-chant to-day.
[5] In the larger churches in Paris (and in that city the greatest attention is given to the perpetuation and cultivation of Plain-chant) are usually found two organs; the larger one located in a gallery, or tribune, at the west end of the church; the smaller one, with the choir (invariably of men and boys), being placed behind the altar, between it and the ambulatory. This smaller instrument, often augmented by one or more double-basses, serves only to accompany the choir, while the larger organ, called the Grand-orgue, is treated only as a solo instrument, either antiphonally with the choir and small organ, as in the Kyrie, or in solo selections, often improvisations of great merit, as at the Offertory.—Tr.
[6] Born about 1545 at Ferrara, organist and choirmaster in his native city. The "Transilvano" of Girolamo Diruta contains of his composition a Toccata in the fourth mode, and two Ricercare; one in the first, the other in the second mode.
[7] His father, Alexandre Milleville, was born in Paris about 1509, and died September 7, 1589, in Ferrara, where he was choirmaster. His most distinguished pupil was Ercole Pasquini, the predecessor of Frescobaldi at St. Peter's in Rome.
[8] He died in 1521, in the service of the Emperor of Austria. Luther said of him: "This man is truly a master of notes; they must subject themselves to his will, while other composers are compelled to obey them." And again, "His works express perfect contentment, like the song of finches."
[9] Peter Phillipps and Peter Cornet were the best-known organists in the Netherlands. One may judge of their works by the excerpts in G.A. Ritter's Geschichte des Orgelspiels (Leipzig, 1884), Nos. 28, 30, 31, and 32 (2d part).
[10] Luzzasco Luzzaschi, whose compositions were for that time of great value, was charged by Guidiccioni with inability to play trills and to bring out in relief the details of the counterpoint, which were blurred under a hard, heavy touch.
[11] We will not enumerate here all of Frescobaldi's works; we must be content to mention or analyze only those which from the point of view of our present study are most significant.
[12] The following is the complete title: Fiori musicali di diverse compositione, Toccate, Kyrie, Canzoni, Cappricci, e Ricercare in partitura a 4 utili per sonatori. Autore Girolamo Frescobaldi, organista di San Pietro di Roma. Opera duodecima. Con Privilegio. In Venetia. Apresso Alessandro Vicenti, 1635. The volume bears the arms of Cardinal Ant. Barberino, to whom the work is inscribed (the dedication is dated August 20, 1635). The music is written in score, on four staves, each part with its proper clef; the rests are carefully written out.
[13] This precious copy, of 104 pages (like the original), is dated 1714, and preserved in the library of the Kgl. Institut für Kirchenmusik, at Berlin.
[14] With Frescobaldi we find no final cadence other than a perfect major; at his time the idea of a major or minor tonality was still to be conceived, and even for a long time after this distinction was finally made the custom prevailed of ending a piece written in a minor key by a major chord. Thus, in a collection of 371 chorales by J.S. Bach, of which 113 are in the minor mode, 108 of the latter end with a major chord.
[15] Il secondo libro di Toccate, Canzoni, Versi d'hinni, Magnificat, Gagliarde, Correnti e altre Partite d'Intavolatura di cembalo e organo di Girolamo Frescobaldi. Con Privilegio. In Roma, con licenza de' Superiori. 1627. Da Nicolo Borbone.
[16] Ricercata, of which the fifth part must be sung, without being played.
[17] The circle, possessing neither beginning nor end, conveys the impression of the infinite, of perfection. This perfection is attributed to the number three; according to Franco of Cologne, the chief number, because of the Trinity, "vera et summa perfectio." (Musica et cantus mensurabilis, Chap. IV.)
[18] Il primo libro di capricci, canzoni francese e ricercari fatti sopra diversi soggetti et arie in partitura. Di Girolamo Frescobaldi, organista in San Pietro di Roma. Novamente ristampati. Con privilegio. In Venezia, appresso Alessandro Vicenti, 1642. An earlier edition dates from 1626, and is only the collection in a single volume of the works published in 1615 and 1624.
[19] The following is a facsimile of this tablature, taken from the beginning of the sixth Toccata in the second book (pp. 16-20), per l'organo sopra i pedali e senza:
[20] According to Michael Praetorius (Syntagma musicum, 1619) the Toccata was a prelude, a trial of the keyboard, as it were; a fantasia wholly devoid of form, where the organist improvised, alternating long-sustained chords with rapid passages. It was something entirely spontaneous in nature, in which every imperfection was pardoned, provided the performance was characterized by sufficient dash. The Toccatas of Frescobaldi, by virtue of their steadiness and of the balance of their parts, rise far above such a definition, which is justly applicable to the Toccatas of Claudio Merulo and of Gabrielli.
[21] This theme was again used by G.B. Fasolo (1645) and Fr. A. Scherer. Fasolo's version reminds us of the fugue in A major of J.S. Bach; it runs:
[22] The Pastorale belongs to the "Toccate d'intavolatura di Cembalo et organo. Partite di diverse Arie e Correnti, Balletti, Ciacone, Passacagli di Girolamo Frescobaldi. Libro Primo. Stampate l'anno 1637 per Nicolo Borbone in Roma." It is a reprint of works already published in different volumes.
[23] Compare Sœur Monique, by F. Couperin.
[24] Frère Jacques, a popular French tune.
[25] This taste was prevalent at the time; Frescobaldi's rival, S. Scheidt, organist at Halle, gives us numerous examples of it: in the first part of the Tabulatura nova (Hamburg, 1624), two Belgian melodies with variations, and the French song, Es ce Mars; in the second part, the English tune de Fortuna. The Tabulatura nova has been reprinted (Denkmäler der Tonkunst).
[26] Previous editions are dated 1614 and 1616. Each of these directions, addressed "al lettore," is preceded by its number, according to order; there are no less than nine of them.
[27] Geschichte der Musik, vol. iv, p. 438.
[28] The records of the city of Halle, from the year 1620 on, do not contain the name Froberger. It is thus useless to entertain the date 1635, given by some historians.
[29] At first he received twenty-five florins a month. Later his salary was raised to sixty florins, in addition to gratuities and money for clothing, beginning at twenty florins per year.
Two organists were usually in service.
[30] He was the father of the astronomer, Christian Huygens. Himself a composer, he was much interested in music. Curious facts concerning musicians of his time will be found in the work of W. Jonckenbloet and Land: Correspondance et œuvres musicales de Constantin Huygens, Leyden, 1882.
[31] "des pieces que un nommé Mons. Froberger ma donnez, et qui est un homme tres rare sur les Espinettes."
[32] This manuscript, carefully and finely written and embellished with pen-designs, is divided into four volumes, splendidly bound; they are preserved in the library of the Hofburg (the palace of the Emperor of Austria) in Vienna. A large number of the pieces are autographs; Froberger distinguishes these by the words Manu propria.
[33] Ferdinand III. was a musician; still extant are an aria of his composition with thirty-six variations, published by Ebner (Gerber), and some litanies in Kircher's Musurgia.
[34] It is worthy of notice that, save for the few months which preceded his journey to Rome, Froberger appears and departs, alternately, every four years; with the exception of the leave he obtained from 1645 to 1653—undoubtedly one of four years which he had renewed in 1649. The fulfilment of the duties of the position was assumed by rotation among several organists; like the custom established at the court of Louis XIV., where the four titular organists succeeded each other every three months, or every "quarter."
[35] "Allemande de M. Froberger, fait à Paris." It is No. 12 of the manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Vol. 7, 1862. This volume is ornamented with the arms of Bassyn d'Angervilliers and of N. Mothefelon. The title upon the binding reads: Préludes de M. Couperin. Besides these preludes and the Froberger pieces are contained works of Frescobaldi, Labarre, and Richard de Saint-Jacques.
[36] From this vacation seems also to date a journey to Dresden, where he was accorded a magnificent reception by the Elector of Saxony, to whom the Emperor had sent him.
[37] In two autograph letters, of June 25 and October 23, 1667, addressed to Christian Huygens, the Princesse de Montbéliard gives details of Froberger's death, expressing her grief at the decease of the "Chevalier," a true "Patron of noble music." These letters, which were discovered in 1874 by Dr. E. Schebeck, have been published by him, somewhat revised, and by Jonckenbloet and Land in their original form.
[38] These suites are found in the Vienna manuscript and in one of the Spitta collection. (See Franz Beier: Ueber J.J. Froberger's Leben und Bedeutung für die Klaviersuite.)
[39] Unam exhibemus quam D. Io. Jac. Frobergerus organoedus Caesarius celeberrimus olim organoedi Hieron. Frescobaldi discipulus supra UT RE MI FA SOL LA exhibuit. (Musurgia universalis, Vol. i, p. 466.)
[40] He excelled in movements in triplets.
[41] Anleitung zur musikalischen Gelahrtheit.
[42] J.S. Bach is already foreshadowed in Froberger's compositions. Thus, in this double of an Allemande:
[43] Kerl was sent to Rome by Emperor Ferdinand III. about 1649; he received some lessons from Carissimi.
[44] See Ed. Hanslick: Aus meinem Leben. (Deutsche Rundschau, July, 1894, p. 54.)
[45] "Our Father, who art in heaven." This chorale was one of eight published for Pachelbel by Johann Christoph Weigel at Nuremberg about 1693.
[46] Georg Muffat, born about 1635, was a pupil of Lully, and studied also in Rome and Vienna. For some time he was organist in Strassburg, and about 1667 entered the service of the Bishop of Salzburg. About 1687 he became organist and master of the pages at the court in Passau. He died there February 23, 1714. He published in 1690, at Augsburg, the "Apparatus musico-organisticus" (re-edited by S. de Lange, Leipzig, 1888), which contains twelve Toccatas, one in each of the Gregorian modes, and some pieces of lesser importance.
These Toccatas are a development of the older form of the same name, where brilliant passages, harmonic progressions, or fugal imitations, succeeded each other. From each of these elements Muffat made a whole, developed separately; a similar method suggested in certain Canzoni of Frescobaldi was extended in some of the Capricci of Froberger. Nothing but the too sparing use of the pedal prevents these works from being ranked among the most important.
[47] J. Commer. Musica sacra, vol. i, No. 132.
[48] Following the publication of the "neu eröffnetes Orchester" of Mattheson, Buttstedt had written an essay entitled:
Ut mi sol
re fa la
Tota musica (Erfurt, 1717),
in which he defended the old solmisation, or system of changes, the si, a changeable note, being disregarded. Mattheson answered it the same year by the "neu beschütztes Orchester" (defense of the new orchestra), with the epigraph:
Ut mi sol
re fa la
Todte (nicht tota) Musica,
a bad pun on the words tota, the whole, and todte, dead.
[49] He was installed in this position April 11, 1668, and upon the third of the following August married Anna Margaretha, daughter of his deceased predecessor.
[50] Dietrich Buxtehude's Orgelcompositionen, herausgegeben von P. Spitta. (The first volume contains the preludes, fugues, etc.; the second the chorales.) Leipzig, 1876.
[51] It is curious to notice, even in these surroundings, an example of what was in the middle ages called the "proportio hemiolia," the immediate passage from triple to duple time, which we find as late as in the works of Bach and Händel. (See The Messiah, third chorus, thirty-fifth measure.)
In endeavoring to accentuate the rhythm, Buxtehude unconsciously breaks it. In reality, the pedal brings an accent upon the third beat; and we obtain, by taking as the first beats of measures the chords marked with a sign:
[52] See Merkel (Johann): "Betrachtungen über die deutsche Tonkunst im 18. Jahrhundert." Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde (School of Philosophy of Leipzig University, 1886).
[53] These concerts were inaugurated in 1673; undoubtedly for one of these, to which the name Abendmusik, evening music, was applied, the Chaconnes and the Passacaglia were written.
[54] Centone (It.): a composition made up of excerpts from other works.
[55] Peters Edition, edited by Griepenkerl and Roitzsch, vol. iv, No. 5.
[56] Peters Edition, vol. iv, No. 9.
[57] P. viii, 11.
[58] P. iii, 9.
[59] Bruhns was born at Schwabstädt (Schleswig) in 1666, and died at Husum in 1697; he was organist there, and had formerly occupied for some time a similar position in Copenhagen.
[60] It will be interesting to compare this piece with the prelude in F sharp minor by Buxtehude, particularly with this excerpt from it (ed. Spitta, xii, p. 68):
[61] For instance, in the Chaconne (iii, p. 15, from the 8th measure), which we have already analyzed:
[62] P. ix, 6. In this edition, this work bears the title of concerto, undoubtedly because of its form in several movements; at least, it was so designated in Griepenkerl's collection. A manuscript which has come down from the organist Westphal, in Hamburg, gives it this title: "Fantasia, clamat in G♮, di J.S. Bach."
[63] P. iv, 11.
[64] P. iii, 10. Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe (W. Rust), year XV, p. 100.
[65] For example, this theme:
[66] Hanslick: Vom Musikalisch-Schönen.
[67] Schopenhauer: Lichtstrahlen aus seinen Werken (J. Frauenstädt, Leipzig, 1874, p. 128).
[68] P. iv, 4; B.-G. xv.
[69] P. iii, 7; B.-G. xv, p. 276. This work also bears the title of Toccata. It presents the peculiarity of being divided into four movements, whence, possibly, this designation, concertato, which accompanies it in one of the MSS. It is essentially an imitation of Buxtehude's compositions in several movements.
[70] P. iv, 3; B.-G. xv, p. 88.
[71] "It is not necessary," says Mattheson, "to indicate the degree of rapidity of an alla breve; these words suffice to animate the most sluggish brain, to make supple the heaviest of hands. For example, it is like 'clucking' to a horse."—Grosse Generalbass-Schule, Hamburg, 1732.
[72] P. iii, 5; B.-G. xv, p. 112.
[73] P. viii, 5. These works are part of the collection of G. Pölchau, a well-known musician of Hamburg in the last century.
[74] Born in 1663, Duke Wilhelm Ernst reigned from 1683. Early becoming a widower, and left without children, he adopted a somewhat retired mode of life, as we may judge. At the palace, "Wilhelmsburg," everyone had to retire at nine o'clock in summer and eight in winter. He evinced a marked taste for theological studies and discussions; in 1710 he brought together in a synod one hundred pastors, and he built or repaired a number of churches and seminaries. He was also interested in numismatics. This austerity was in some degree tempered by concerts, whose programs were performed (J.O. Köhler tells us, Historische Münzbelustigung, Nuremberg, 1730) by sixteen picked musicians, dressed in Hungarian costume (Bach en tzigane!). Further, the duke built a theatre in 1696; the patronage accorded to the troupe of Gabriel Möller, "Hofcomödiant" (court comedian), was not of long duration; it had already ceased in 1709.
[75] Prince Johann Ernst was of a weak constitution; he died in 1715, at the age of nineteen years, and the only way he could make his insomnia bearable was to keep with him in his room during entire nights Walther, his music teacher, who would play for him his favorite pieces.
[76] Johann Gottfried Walther was born in 1684, and from 1707 held the position of town organist in Weimar. Not only was he a good musician, but he was also a theoretician of merit; while he learned from his friend Bach the principles of the old school of Sweelinck, the traditions of which had descended through the teachings of Reinken and Buxtehude (see J.G. Walther als Theoretiker.—Study by Gehrmann in the Vierteljahrschrift für Musikwissenschaft, 1891), Bach, on the other hand, was able to obtain other advantages from this interchange; Walther was remarkably well-schooled in harmony, and from his thorough knowledge, of long standing, of Italian chamber music, he undoubtedly was not indirectly connected with these new studies of Bach's.
[77] I am not speaking of virtuosos. We know with what astonishment Corelli, the great Italian violinist, listened to the playing of Nikolaus Strungk of Celle: "I call myself arcangelo," said he to the latter, "but you deserve the title of arcidiavolo." And we must not forget the old musician, J. Franz Biber, who was born in 1638 and died at Salzburg in 1698, and who exerted a perceptible influence upon the creation of the violin sonata.
But what the Germans sought was not, let me repeat, within the domain of that expressive instrument; they could not be content with simple melody, they must have complete harmony. And so we learn that Bruhns (the remarkable organ-pupil of Buxtehude, and an exceptionally talented violinist) would seat himself before the pedal of an organ, violin in hand, and would play in four parts—the bass with his feet, the other parts upon his violin.
[78] P. viii, 1-4. Vivaldi was born toward the end of the seventeenth century; in 1713 he was appointed maestro di cappella at l'Ospitale della Pietà, at Venice; later he was for some time in the service of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. He died in 1743.
[79] The title of this last transcription gives us a clue to its date; it reads as follows: "Concerto dell'illustrissimo Principe Giovanni Ernesto Duca di Sassonia appropriato all'Organo a 2 clav. e pedale da Giovanni Sebastiano Bach." So it must have been written before 1715, the date of the Duke's death. Bach was not the only one to make these transcriptions; Mattheson tells us (Das beschützte Orchester): "Compositions of this order (concerti grossi, sinfonie in specie, overtures) may also be played upon a polyphonic instrument, for instance upon the organ or harpsichord; a few years ago the celebrated S. de Graue, the blind organist of the new Dunes Church in Amsterdam, played from memory and with remarkable clearness in my presence, upon the excellent organ in his church, the latest Italian sonatas and concertos in three and four parts."
[80] P. iii, 8. B.-G. xv, p. 253.
[81] This work, perhaps, dates from the journey which Bach made to Cassel in 1714 to examine a recently restored organ. At least the pedal passage in the prelude reminds us of that pedal solo executed during this tour before the Hereditary Prince of Hesse with such virtuosity that the latter drew from his finger a valuable ring and presented it to Bach. "One might have believed," says Adlung (Anleitung an der Musikgelahrtheit), "that his feet were winged, with such agility did they move over the keys which caused the powerful basses to resound. If the dexterity of his feet drew from the Prince so rich a present, what should he have given him in recognition of the genius of his hands?"
[82] It will be interesting to compare one of these themes with the following from the counterpoint of a fugue in A major by Albinoni:
especially if we remember this first transformation which it underwent at the hands of Bach in a fugue for harpsichord:
[83] Here are noticeable the pauses Bach contrives to introduce for one of the hands, that it might effect the changes in registration necessary to play the fugue coll'organo pleno.
[84] P. iv, 8.
[85] Corelli was born in 1653, and died in 1713. The theme mentioned is found in Joachim's edition of Corelli's works (Denkmäler der Tonkunst, vol. iii. Bergedorf, near Hamburg, 1871). It is the theme of a fugue, the second part of a "church sonata," opus 3; the fugue is marked vivace, and is but thirty-nine measures in length.
[86] The manuscript of this fugue, coming down from Andreas Bach, bears the following qualification: "Thema Legrenzianum elaboratum cum subjecto pedaliter."
[87] P. iv, 10.
[88] Sweelinck, who was born at Deventer about 1560, studied with Zarlino at Venice, and upon his return home in 1580 occupied (until his death in 1620) the position of organist to the old Protestant Church in Amsterdam (see Max Seiffert: J. Peter Sweelinck und seine directen deutschen Schüler).
[89] It is the third number in the volume entitled, Drei Phantasien, drei Toccaten und vier Variationen, nach einem Manuscript des grauen Klosters zu Berlin aus der Orgeltabulatur übersetzt und herausgegeben von Rob. Eitner (Berlin, 1870).
[90] Livre d'orgue (1701).
[91] Let it be remembered that Bach, imitating these same Sonatas in composing the Lamento of the "Capriccio upon the departure of his most beloved brother" (1704), employs this motif as a basso quasi ostinato, and that in the Easter Cantata written in the same year the viola sorrowfully gives expression to the same theme.
[92] His compatriot, John Bull, who died in Antwerp in 1628, had already written a series of variations upon this subject. (See "A General History of Music," by Charles Burney. London, 1789, p. 115.)
[93] This is the term which Bach employs in the preface to his Inventionen und Sinfonien compiled in 1723, that his pupils might, through their study, acquire un jeu cantable.
[94] P. viii, 6.
[95] Commer. Musica Sacra (Vol. I, No. 123, p. 137).
[96] P. i, 2. B.-G. xv, p. 289. [M. Pirro writes me: "You may state that the theme of the Passacaglia was the composition of the French organist André Raison." To which M. Widor adds: "André Raison, organist of St.-Étienne du Mont in Paris at the time of Louis XIV, left a volume of organ works, now very rare, which I have presented to the library of the Conservatoire. Raison's collection is interesting, in that it gives indications of the registration of his time; the chorale is usually found in the pedal, treated as the tenor, the real bass being played by the left hand. The melody of the chorale is performed upon a reed stop in the pedal, while upon the manuals only mixtures are drawn." Tr.]
[97] P. ii, 5. B.-G. xv, p. 104.
[98] P. iii, 6. B.-G. xv, p. 129, and P. iv, 12 (a 5 voci). Accompanying the latter Fantasia is a fugue of which, unfortunately, only the first twenty-seven measures are extant.
[99] P. iii, 2. B.-G. xv, p. 155.
[100] P. ii, 6. B.-G. xv, p. 218.
[101] P. iii, 3. B.-G. xv, p. 136.
[At the time of Bach it was a frequent usage to omit an accidental from the signature; in the above case the omission of the only flat undoubtedly suggested the appellation frequently given "in modo dorico," although otherwise the composition bears hardly a trace of the Dorian mode. Tr.]
[102] Geschichte der evangelisch-lutherischen St. Agnuskirche in Köthen. Herausgegeben von C.F. Hartmann, Köthen, in der Commission der Huschen Buchhandlung (1802). The organ is described on pages 19 and 20.
[103] [The pedal, even of modern organs, extends upwards only to f'. Since the middle of the last decade, the house of Cavaillé-Coll in Paris, has applied to the larger instruments constructed by it the compass of C to g'. This range was recommended by the translator and adopted for an organ now in process of construction in Boston; it is also a feature of the large organ for Yale University, recently contracted for.]
[104] P. iii, 2. B.-G. xv, p. 155.
[105] The beginning, at least; while the conclusion is characterized by repetitions, this part of the work is not its least imposing portion.
[106] P. ii, 3. B.-G. xv, p. 120.
[107] This cantata, written for soloists, was first performed December 29, 1715. B.-G. xxx, 2.
[108] For example, in the fugue in G minor (P. iv, 7).
[109] P. i, 1. B.-G. xv.
[110] The first part of the sonata in D minor undoubtedly dates from the year 1722; the adagio and vivace of the sonata in E minor are transcribed from the cantata Die Himmel erzählen (1723), B.-G. xviii. The last movement of this sonata was originally intended to serve as an interlude between the prelude and the fugue in G major (P. ii, 2. B.-G. xv, p. 169. The theme of the fugue is, in major, that of the first chorus in the cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmerniss, performed in 1714), composed, according to the water-mark of the autograph, in 1724 or 1725.
[111] See S. Bagge: Die geschichtliche Entwickelung der Sonate.
[112] P. ii, 4. B.-G. xv, p. 177.
[113] Grosse General-Bass-Schule, oder Exemplarische Organistenprobe (Hamburg, 1731), p. 34. "The subject of this fugue was produced by a facile pen, and, in 1725, presented to a candidate for the position of organist."
[114] Charles Gounod: Le Don Juan de Mozart, p. 5.
[115] Clavierübung.—Dritter Theil der Clavierübung bestehend in verschiedenen Vorspielen über den Catechismus und andere Gesänge vor die Orgel: denen Liebhabern und besonders denen Kennern von dergleichen Arbeit, zur Gemüths-Ergötzung verfertiget von J.S. Bach, königl. Pohlnischen, und Churfürstlich Sächsischen Hof-Compositeur, Capellmeister, und Directore Chori Musici in Leipzig. In Verlegung des Authoris.
[116] P. iii, 1. B.-G. iii, pp. 173 and 254.
[117] It is worthy of note that the fugue, a last reminiscence of Buxtehude, is in three movements of different rhythms.
[118] P. ii, 9. B.-G. xv, p. 236.
[119] P. ii, 10. B.-G. xv, p. 199.
[120] Schopenhauer. Lichtstrahlen aus seinen Werken. J. Frauenstädt, Leipzig, 1874.
[121] P. ii, 1.
[122] P. ii, 6. B.-G. xv, p. 218. Here are noticeable reminiscences from the Recordare in the Dies Irae of Legrenzi, for eight-part chorus, three violes and organ.
[123] P. ii, 8. B.-G. xv.
[124] P. ii, 7. B.-G. xv, p. 228.
[125] These variations are contained in the fifth volume of the Peters edition (Part ii, 1 and 2).
[126] P. vi, 15.
[127] This also must have been written for the clavecin; the right hand passing over the left in order to strike the bass note e, held meanwhile by the pedal, clearly indicates the intention of thereby prolonging the sound.
[128] Published by Ritter: Geschichte des Orgelspiels, part ii, p. 181.
[129] Musica Sacra, vol. i, p. 5.
[130] Orgelbüchlein Worinne einem anfahenden Organisten Anleitung gegeben wird, auff allerhand Arth einen Choral durchzuführen, anbey auch sich im Pedal Studio zu habilitiren, indem in solchen darinne befindlichen Choralen das Pedal gantz obligat tractiret wird. Dem Höchsten Gott allein zu ehren, Dem Nechsten, draus sich zu belehren. Autore Joanne Sebast. Bach p.t. Capellae Magistro S.P.R. Anhaltini-Cotheniensis.
The chorales of the Orgelbüchlein are published in the fifth volume of the Peters, and in the twenty-fifth year of the Bach-Gesellschaft edition. W. Rust, in the latter volume, has preserved the order adopted by Bach in the succession of these chorales, which is according to the church year.
[131] Durch Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt. Buxtehude employed fifths to symbolize this descent.
[132] Organists often played the sortie (postlude) in the form of a chaconne, with full organ (see Mattheson: "Der vollkommene Capellmeister," and Becker, "Rathgeber für Organisten"). The prelude to the chorale "Heut' triumphiret Gottes Sohn" is conceived in the same manner.
[133] In the collection Lustgarten neuer teutscher Gesänge, Balletti, Galliarden und Intraden mit 4, 5, 6, 7, und 8 Stimmen. 1601, Nürnberg, bei Kaufmann.
[134] O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.—Cf. chorale in St. Matthew Passion.
[135] Compare that chorale with this fragment of a chorale by Böhm, Vater unser im Himmelreich:
[136] P. vi, and vii. B.-G. xxv, vol. ii, 3rd part.
[137] For example, upon the melodies "Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'" (several versions), "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" and "Herr Jesus Christ, dich zu uns wend."
[138] Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland.
[139] Various arrangements by Bach of this chorale are in existence; we would cite in particular the one which he made with double pedal, upon the same harmonic bass as the one already referred to. It was probably composed for the journey to Hamburg (in 1720), when Bach drew from old Reinken the avowal of an admiration which the latter was not wont to lavish, for his improvisations upon this theme. Reinken had also composed a prelude upon it. It is interesting to compare the profusion of ornaments by which he renders the melody almost unrecognizable, with the elegant design in which Bach clothes it. Reinken thus distorts the beginning:
With a Toccata and another Choralvorspiel, this arrangement is all that remains to us of Reinken's works.
[140] Schumann said of this prelude, by which he himself was influenced in certain compositions (Cologne): "Thou didst play, Felix Meritis (Mendelssohn), a prelude upon one of those figured chorales: 'Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele,' was the text; the melody seemed interlaced with garlands of gold, and the work breathed forth such happiness that you inspired in me this avowal: 'Were life deprived of all trust, of all faith, this simple chorale would restore all to me.' I fell into a revery; then, almost unconsciously, I found myself in the cemetery, and I felt poignant grief at not being able to cover with flowers the grave of the great Bach."—Letters, vol. i. Mendelssohn had played this chorale at a concert given, in St. Thomas' Church, to further the erection of a monument to the memory of J.S. Bach.
The melody of this chorale is found in choral-books since 1649.
[141] Einige kanonische Veränderungen über das Weihnachtslied: Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her.
[142] These variations were published separately. Bach had them engraved about 1746 by Balthasar Schmidt in Nuremberg, in order to present them as the work for admission which the "Society for Musical Sciences" founded by Mizler in 1738 imposed upon each of its candidates. Bach was elected in 1747. He must have composed them, however, some years previously. The MS. and the engraved edition present numerous differences of editing.
[143] P. vi, and vii. B.-G. iii.
[144] Cart. Un maître deux fois centenaire.
[145] P. vii, 58. B.-G. xxv.
[146] Forkel.
[147] At the commencement of his compositions he wrote the initials J.J. (Jesu Juva) or S.D.G. (Soli Deo Gloria).
[148] Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke. Leipzig, 1802.
[149] Dieupart, born in France during the last third of the seventeenth century, was a remarkable violinist and clavecinist. He went to England early in the eighteenth century, and, associated with Clayton, introduced Italian opera at Drury Lane. After disasters similar to those which later befell Händel, he renounced the theatre and busied himself no longer with instrumental music. He died in 1740.
Of his compositions are extant: Six suites for the clavecin, divided into Overtures, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gavottes, Minuets, Rondos, and Gigues, composed and arranged for concert performance by a Violin and a Flute, with a Bass Viol and an Archilute. (See Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians.") The prelude of Bach's first English Suite was inspired by a passage in the A major suite of Dieupart.
[150] Der Vollkommene Kapellmeister, Hamburg, 1739, §69, p. 467.
[151] Mattheson says, à propos of this stop: "The French have given to the Nachsatz (thus named on account of its high pitch, in contrast to the Untersatz of thirty-two feet) of the Netherlanders, the designation Nasard or Nasarde, 'a vulgar expression, of which use is made in comedy or burlesque,' says Boyer's dictionary."
[152] This register, composed of two ranks of pipes of tin or of composition, is a compound stop. The longer pipe gives the fifth of the octave, the shorter the third of the fifteenth; there is thus the interval of a major sixth between the two ranks.
[153] In Das neu eröffnete Orchester (1717). Mattheson was born in Hamburg in 1681; aside from his critical works on music he was an organist of ability; he knew Buxtehude, becoming acquainted with him in 1703. He even expected to succeed him, but renounced his aspirations in this direction upon learning that in accepting the position of the father he would be obliged to marry the daughter, Anna Margaretha, born in 1669, and therefore much too old for him; this was one of the conditions of the place, which also deterred Händel from presenting himself as a candidate.
[154] Certain organists abused this powerful combination; Adlung says, "There are many who, in playing the chorale or music in general, know only the noise of the plein-jeu. One may be content to continually wear the same clothes, but an organist who produces the same sounds every day will render himself insupportable by his monotony. In the chorale, in the last verse, one may play a little louder, to remind the minister to prepare for the resumption of his duties; especially in towns where it is no longer customary (as is still the honored usage in some villages) to rap with a bâton for this purpose, as though one by force would arouse him from slumber." Anleitung zur musikalischen Gelahrtheit, 1758.
[155] Premier livre d'orgue, 1665.
[156] Livre d'orgue, 1688.
[157] "Reed-stops are often Fool-stops; but if they be clear and bright, they are refreshing to heart and soul."
[158] Sechs Choräle von verschiedener Art auf einer Orgel mit 2 Clavieren und Pedal vorzuspielen, verfertiget von Johann Sebastian Bach, königl. Pohln. und Churf. Sächs. Hoff-Compositeur, Capellm. und Direct. Chor. Mus. Lips. In Verlegung Joh. Georg Schüblers zu Zella am Thüringer Wald.
These chorales are taken from the cantatas composed at Leipzig. They are, however, only transcriptions; it is interesting in registrating them to know their orchestration. In the chorale Ach bleib' bei uns! (B.-G. xxv, P. vi, 2) the melody is sung by the soprano, accompanied by a violoncello piccolo, the continuo sustaining the harmony. In Meine Seele erhebt den Herrn (Magnificat, P. vii, 42), the continuo is played by the pedal, the parts entrusted to the left hand corresponding to the duet between tenor and alto, while the chorale (dextra forte) is executed in the score by the first and second oboes and the trumpet.
[159] Musica mechanica organoedi (Langensalza, 1762).
[160] Der vollkommene Kapellmeister, part ii, chap. xxv.
[161] It appears that this carillon was not constructed; it is possible, however, that Bach had it in mind when writing the chorale. Moreover, it was to be found in other organs.
[162] Livre d'orgue contenant une messe et quatre hymnes pour les principales festes de l'année. Par Nicolas de Grigny, organiste de l'église-cathédrale de Reims. À Paris, chez Christophe Ballard, seul imprimeur du Roy pour la Musique. Rue Saint-Jean de Beauvais, au Mont-Parnasse. 1701. Avec Privilège de Sa Majesté.
[163] [The cornet here referred to is obviously a mixture, not the reed of the same name already mentioned.—Tr.]
[164] This organ was the only one with three manuals which Bach could have had in mind while he was in Weimar with Walther; it is natural that in his compositions he should be preoccupied with an organ whose restoration he had planned, and undoubtedly supervised—Weimar being not far from Mühlhausen—and which in all probability he looked forward to inaugurating. This remark, moreover, may apply to the composition of the chorale In dir ist Freude, although here Bach had been disappointed.
[165] That is, for playing the basso continuo of the orchestra.
[166] [En montre signifies literally "on show"; that is, in front. The French designation for a diapason, Montre, is derived from the custom of placing the pipes of that register in an exposed position.—Tr.]
[167] [The filling-out of the figured bass by the organ, made necessary in music with orchestra by the paucity of the instrumental numbers, was referred to as the "music."—Tr.]
[168] [The word swell I have used in the foregoing merely to designate the third manual; and it by no means implies that the pipes belonging to that keyboard were enclosed in a swell-box. Although this invention was applied to an English organ for the first time in 1712 (St. Magnus Church, London Bridge), its adoption in Germany has become general only within comparatively recent years, and then only in newly-built instruments.—Tr.]
[169] J. Th. Mosewius: J.S. Bach in seinen Kirchencantaten und Choralgesängen (Berlin, Trautwein, 1845), p. 25.
[170] This is what was done by Robert Franz. See Offener Brief an Eduard Hanslick (Leipzig, 1873).
[171] Deutliche Anweisung zum Generalbass (Halberstadt, 1772), p. 137.
[172] Anleitung zur practischen Musik (Leipzig, 1782).
[173] B.-G. iv. [The first and last numbers, respectively, of Part I. In the first the chorale is sung by a special chorus of sopranos, usually boys, while the two mixed choruses and the two orchestras are treated contrapuntally. In the other instance the two choruses are united in one, as are also the two orchestras, and the chorale is sung by all the sopranos, the counterpoint being assigned to the remaining three vocal parts, supported by the orchestra.—Tr.]
[174] B.-G. v.
[175] B.-G. xviii, 10.
[176] The organo obbligato was sometimes written with more delicate intentions; for example, in the alto aria with accompaniment of an oboe da caccia, from the cantata Wer weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende? (B.-G. v.).
[177] We should add here, that the organs were not of the same pitch as the other instruments, for they were tuned to chorus-pitch, a whole tone lower than the normal diapason. The organ at Weimar, on the contrary, was a minor third higher.
[178] Oberwerk means literally the higher manual; in two-manual organs the stronger was, at that time, found above the other. The name Rückpositif came from the custom of placing the pipes behind the back (Rücken) of the organist. Finally, the swell bore the name Brustwerk, the pipes being placed facing the breast (Brust) of the player. In a three-manual organ the great keyboard was situated between the swell, which was above, and the choir, which was below it.
[179] This instrument was constructed in 1701, by J.F. Wender, an organ-builder of Mühlhausen. [The specification as compiled from the existing stop-handles by Mr. C.F.A. Williams ("Bach": J.M. Dent & Co.: London), differs slightly from the above, which is given by Spitta.—Tr.]
[180] A sort of Glockenspiel, which produced l'accord parfait [undoubtedly the major triad].
[181] This was a reed stop.
[182] Historische Nachrichten von der berühmten Residenzstadt Weimar. Weimar, 1737, p. 175, 176.
[183] [The Principal here referred to is undoubtedly the eight-foot Diapason.—Tr.]
[184] Undoubtedly larigot.
[185] Vogel, Leipziger Chronicke. Vol. iii, chap. vi, p. 110.
[186] In combination with the Quintatön of eight feet, says Adlung, the Geigenregal sounds almost like a stringed instrument.
[187] Cromorne. Also called lituus (clarion) by Praetorius (Syntagma musicum), Tome ii, chap. xv, p. 40. Adlung suggests this simple derivation: cor and morne (sad, reserved).
[188] Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke.
[189] Die wahren Grundsätze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie (Berlin, 1773) p. 53. See also Mizler (Necrolog, p. 171) and Forkel (p. 22).
[190] Clavierbüchlein, vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach angefangen in Cöthen den 22. Januar, anno 1720.
[191] See A. Méreaux: Les Clavecinistes de 1637 à 1790. Tableau synoptique et comparatif de tous les agréments avec leur signes et leur effet. Heugel, Paris.
[192] L. Diémer: Les Clavecinistes français du XVIIIe siècle (Durand and Schönewerk).
[193] This work contains, with numerous examples, a study of ornamentation, from G. Diruta to J.S. Bach in the first part, from Ph. E. Bach to our own period in the second. (London: Novello, Ewer & Co.)
[194] P. vi, 9. B.-G.
[195] B.-G. xiii, p. xvi. We again encounter this grouping in the flute part of the et in unum Deum of the B minor Mass.
[196] The autograph was contained in the collection of Ph. Spitta.
[197] Toccata II (libro i).
[198] Toccata 6a (adagio), and Toccata 3a of the Apparatus musico-organisticus.
[199] Veit Bach was born in Gotha during the second half of the sixteenth century; he is considered the progenitor of the Bach family. He was the first representative of the race of musicians who furnished "cantors" and organists to the greater number of the central German cities. At Erfurt, for instance, the direction of the "council music" was in their hands from 1625 until 1735, and even after their disappearance the town musicians were still referred to as "the Bachs."
[200] This instrument was constructed in 1701 by Wender, an organ-builder in Mühlhausen. Wender had a certain local reputation, but was unskilful and not very conscientious.
[201] Besides a salary of 85 thalers, he had various perquisites "in kind."
[202] One of his cantatas, Gott ist mein König, was engraved in separate parts by Brückner of Mühlhausen.
[203] See Philipp Spitta: Johann Sebastian Bach, vol. i, p. 354.
[204] [Subsequent to the writing of the above, and during the progress of general disinterment incidental to the devotion to other uses of the land occupied by the cemetery, Bach's remains were found and identified by most scientific methods. In August, 1900, took place the official ceremony of reinterment in a stone sarcophagus, contained in a crypt constructed for the purpose at the foot of the chancel steps of the new Johanniskirche (St. John's Church). Upon this occasion the University Gesangverein zu St. Pauli sang. September 2d of the same year, at the close of the weekly "Abend-Motette" (the program on this occasion having been devoted entirely to works of Bach), the solo-quartet of the church sang in the crypt the chorale from the St. Matthew Passion Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden, in the presence of a few other reverent "friends of Bach's music." The following morning the lid of the sarcophagus was permanently closed and sealed.
By its side, enclosed in a similar receptacle, lie the ashes of Gellert, the poet.—Tr.]
[205] A small-sized violin, tuned a fourth higher.