A Practical and Historical Guide to Johann Sebastian Bach s Solo in A Minor BWV 1013

Transcription

1 Southen Illinois Univesity Cabondale OpenSIUC Aticles School of Music Sping 2017 A Pactical and Histoical Guide to Johann Sebastian Bach s Solo in A Mino BWV 1013 Douglas Wothen wothen@siu.edu Follow this and additional woks at: Today's flute publications often limit texts which analyze ou epetoie in depth. This online publication offes a moe thoough teatment of one of the flute's most iconic woks. Recommended Citation Wothen, Douglas. "A Pactical and Histoical Guide to Johann Sebastian Bach s Solo in A Mino BWV 1013." (Sping 2017). This Aticle is bought to you fo fee and open access by the School of Music at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted fo inclusion in Aticles by an authoized administato of OpenSIUC. Fo moe infomation, please contact opensiuc@lib.siu.edu.

2 A Histoical and Pactical Guide to Johann Sebastian Bach s Solo in A Mino BWV 1013 By D. Douglas E. Wothen, Associate Pofesso, Southen Illinois Univesity Cabondale Copyight 2017 All Rights Reseved 1

3 All of us pobably began ou exposue to the woks of Johann Sebastian Bach by playing some of his Menuets, Bouées o othe dances in ou elementay method books. Even fom these fist expeiences, most of us esponded to the beauty, integity, and enegy of Bach s compositions. The stuctue and oganization of books fo beginnes is usually developmental, with laudably clea and defined goals of note eading, facility, ange, dynamics, and hythm. To augment this instuction, students can tun to esouces such as Tevo Wye s excellent books on tone, scales, and othe specific technical issues. These books contain technical goals with explanation, something conspicuously lacking in many othe texts. Howeve, the connection that must be made between these abstact execises and the actual epetoie is not always clea. The following aticles pesent Bach s woks didactically, offeing a methodical appoach that attempts to bidge theoy and pactice. Johann Sebastian Bach s woks have unpaalleled significance in the flute epetoie. No othe pimay common pactice compose left woks of such quality and quantity fo this instument. The scope of the poposed upcoming seies of commentaies will include histoical, theoetical, and pactical infomation by which musicians, be they baoque o moden, amateu o pofessional, will be inspied to ceate new and infomed intepetations woven fom the wap of atifact and histoy and the weft of pesent pefomance convention and taste. Bach was not seen as being paticulaly innovative in his own time. Yet his inteest in solving musical puzzles was not limited to his billiant canons, fugues, and methodical investigation of tempeament. Bach s woks fo flute challenge the flute s accepted ange, agility in distant key modulations, aticulation, and even dynamics and balance. Each wok seems expeimental in some paamete, and an inteesting and effective intepetation will take advantage of Bach s inteest in pobing peceived limitations of the instument. Thanks to Chistoph Wolff s Chonology of Bach s woks included in Gove s 1, the flute epetoie has come into cleae focus, and at least thee athe distinct peiods of activity have emeged. The fist, 1723 to 1724, includes his Patita fo flute alone, BWV 1013, and the Sonata in E mino, BWV The second, his Sonata in A, BWV 1032 and the geat Sonata in B mino, BWV 1030, both witten c Finally, the Sonata in E majo, BWV 1035, c as well as the Musical Offeing, BWV 1079, c. 1747, ae clealy in thei own moe Gallant style. Though they ae not confimed to be fom Bach s hand, The Eb Majo Sonata, BWV 1031 and the G Mino Sonata BWV 1020 have emakable similaities and ae cetainly wondeful music. Chistoph Wolff s chonology in Gove s lists the Eb Majo as c , and suggests that the G mino sonata was witten by C. P. E. Bach, though thee is no evidence as to the date of its oigin. The C Majo Sonata, dated c.1736, seems adically diffeent than the B Mino o the A majo, and was not 2

4 included in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, indicating that it too may be spuious. It nonetheless beas a close look, and adds to a pogessive appoach when leaning the sonatas based on chonology. The two G Majo Tio Sonatas, BWV 1038 fo fl. Vln. and B.C. in the ealy pat of the fouth decade of the Eighteenth Centuy, and BWV1039 fo two fl. and B.C., witten late in the decade, make fo an inteesting compaison and fall within the second peiod, duing which we have othe woks in a thee-voice textue. Intoducing and studying this epetoie in the afoementioned chonology has the advantage of beginning with one and then moving to two and then thee voices, as well as moving fom High Baoque to Gallant style. Each peiod of activity has two pincipal authenticated woks. Once the eade has a cleae pictue of Bach s compositional styles based on a chonology, attibuted woks can be moe accuately appaised. The Patita fo flute alone, BWV 1013 Histoical Context The Patita was likely Bach s fist solo piece fo flute 1. Although this wok is usually efeenced by its Baoque Patita fom, its oiginal title was Solo p[ou une] flûte tavesièe pa J. S. Bach, and the fou movements, Allemande, Coente, Saabande, and Bouèe angloise, ae Fench spellings of these dance movements. The Patita s fist movement is in the hand of two diffeent copyists. No extant autogaph suvives fom eithe this o the E mino, howeve both have been authenticated. Thee is evidence that the Solo was witten as ealy as 1717 in Cöthen, howeve its style suggests that it could have been witten as late as , afte he aived in Leipzig. This would make it contempoay to the E mino Sonata, and duing a peiod when Bach composed cantatas in which the flute played a pominent ole. Late, Bach chose moe unusual keys (E Majo and even modulating to B majo!) fo his flute sonatas, exploing the vaied affects of these tonalities. Some musicologists asset that Bach new little of the flute s limitations, citing phases which offe no obvious beathing points. Yet simila compositions by flutists Blockwitz and Blavet have vey simila pepetual motion, suggesting that such beathing demands wee common. Bach must have known to avoid the thid egiste high F even in a logical apeggiation (see Patita Allemande, M. 5 and 6), and knew that a high A would in fact be possible, poviding a spectacula end to the Allemande movement of the Solo. Unlike the moden instument, many of the Baoque taveso s pitches must be poduced by weake, fok fingeings. Fo this eason, scale collections have adically diffeent popeties and ae associated with specific emotional Affects. The Patita and E Mino Sonata favo a stong tonality, meaning that most of the notes, and specifically the tonic and 5 th, ae not foked fingeings. In the case of the A mino Patita, the tonic A is stong, and the 5 th (E) makes a stong lowe dominant. The Low D woks well fo a stong subdominant, 3

5 howeve the thid (C), is a bit veiled. STRUCTURES An impotant advantage of looking at Bach s woks chonologically is that he wote fist fo one, then two and finally thee voice textues. The hamonies implied in the Patita ae pesented monophonically, and the hythm of those changing hamonies is a pimay topic of the discouse. Although the basic hamonic movement will be discussed late, it is advisable fo the student to go though the piece and make his o he own hamonic analysis fist, keeping! #! # tack of the numbe of voices implied by the textue. Like many suggestions below, this pocess is intended to set in motion a methodology by which all epetoie might be studied. Allemande: A supeficial scan of the stuctue shows a piece in binay fom: A: B: with a coda beginning half way though M. 34. The Allemande topic is suggested by the typical upbeat (anacusis) of thee o seven sixteenths. The last note in the fist example falls on a stong beat (thesis), and should feel like an aival. (see below) This fist unit establishes the tonality being a epeat of measue two, is! of A ÓMino, and is epeated, popelling head as an echo only when 4 3 the piece fowad #! Ó 4 3 to the second pefomed # softe but with the measue. Aleady in measue two, identical inflections as measue two. Bach pesents five-notes that So fa, we have a fist measue foeshadow the opening of the thid composed of 2 identical halves, and a movement, as well as impotant second measue epeated in its mateial to follow. 2 Measue thee, entiety:. A B B Allemande 4! # # # + # # " Instead of pacticing the movement fom the beginning to the end, as is taditionally done, I popose studying segments of simila length. Late, when deciding whee to beathe in pefomance, some phases will be pepended with the thee o seven note allemande anacusis. This gestue will help popel the phases fowad, and ceate moe subtle connections fom one phase to the next. The pefome may choose whethe o not to beathe befoe the anacusis based # " b b 4

6 on his o he individual intention and taste. To begin, we will stat with phases of thee measues, and then move to two measues and less. In the above example, the phase is thee measues long. Those who ae accustomed to beathing afte only two measues ae encouaged to pactice the passage faste, theeby becoming comfotable with the phase length, and then gadually slow the tempo to the desied speed. Ba 9 to the fist sixteenth of ba 12 ae similaly in thee measues, with a beath afte final low D. #! Ó 4 # Œ c j A A 1 b! 9 C # b # " " " " " 11 " " " " " " " 7! # n R! Sequences that tanspot the tonality by half bas ae two measues long, fo example bas 7 and 8. The double stems indicate a two voice textue.! R! Œ then 12 and 13:! # # # # n # # # 0! # n R Note that in bas 32 and 33, as in bas 7 and 8 above, the half ba hamonic hythm is emphasized by the " leading tone (half step) immediately " peceding the stong beat, " indicated by the double stem. "! " " Bas 32 and 33: 32! b n R # # # # # R! # 5 " " "

7 4! # # # Johann # # Sebastian Bach ed. Douglas Wothen llemande p 4! # # # # # # # - - " # b # " n # # " # # - - # # # n " - - " b b As the hamony changes moe and moe apidly, and the phases and beaths move fom thee to two measues in length, the sense of ugency and intensity gows. Moving to # measues whee the hamony changes on pevey beat, a falling b fifth pogession follows in bas 13 though 15: " # # # n # # n n - - b # b # n " # End of ba 15 and ba 16: " # " # # " # b # b # # # # " # " n # # # " # # # # # Ÿ " # " # Ÿ. " # # " # # # # # n # # n n b n # # # " # # # " The section is bought to a close with an authentic cadence of thee consecutive # # # # n Ÿ. quates as indicated below: " 2. #. # # " n n b Ÿ. - # n # # " #. # 1. # # Ÿ. " 2. # " Ÿ. # # # # # # " # - # # # n # # n p 2014 Douglas Wothen # # # # # # " # # n # # n p The last bas befoe the fist ending and again at the coda slow down the hamonic hythm. and n utilize the # thee sixteenth allemande pefix.. # Bas 18 and 19: 2014 Douglas Wothen 6

8 Opening the second half of the movement, Measues follow the same model as the opening tansposed down a fifth, in E Mino. A B B! # # # # # # # # Measues 9 to 11 ae found tansposed to D mino (M.26) modulating to G majo in ba! 29, Œ and Ó fom thee " aiving! in C majo in ba 32. R A A 1 C 26 # #! # # # # R! R! Œ Ó " " " Segments that ae a single ba in length have a numbe of hamonic designs. Some occu afte a high degee of hamonic activity, and seve to slow down Bach the A hamonic mino Excepts hythm. Though the hamony in measues 24 to 25 moves by the half ba, accents ae ceated by half-step appoggiatuas on the second, # # fouth, and sixth # M Œ Ó! # # # n eighth-note beats, as was seen in ba 4. The same stuctue appeas again in ba 39. The asymmety of five iteations of the figue in ba 36 into 37 entiely obliteates the common time mete, ceating a sense # of cadenza-like feedom: # # # R! Ó 7 " Œ! # # #! "

9 The scales and apeggios, beginning on the second beat of ba 37 continue the quasi-cadenza, using common conventions boowed fom Italian sting witing of the peiod. (A beath afte the fist note (G#) einfoces the Allemande gestue and peseves the intiguing ambiguity ceated by ovelapping phases). Ba 40 is an example in this style, utilizing a dominant E pedal point. " " The most complex and sometimes contovesial measues of the piece ae bas 17 and 42. At this point the listene peceives two voices, the uppe voice in falling thids and the lowe voice in seconds. The pitch of the thid to last sixteenth has been often questioned, howeve the choice of allowing the diminished thid to stand is clealy moe inteesting in pefomance. M # # # n M.42 5 # # n # # # # # n n n n b b n n b b # n n b b # n! Œ R! R # Ó R! As the movement daws to a close with a coda beginning half way though ba 44, the allemande seven note figue etuns, and the intevals become suddenly moe exteme. The leaps of a tenth natually bing back the tempo, and the added half ba of the coda is neve etuned, allowing the pefome to play the highest A fo two full beats. " " Futhe Pactice of the Allemande Whethe using a Baoque taveso o a moden instument, the following suggestions should be equally valuable. By fist gouping the phases by the numbe of measues of each, we can begin to compae the function, key, and gestue that might be associated with them. It is advisable to go though the segments sluing all the notes and playing them in pecise hythm, focusing on an even and consistent ai pessue and minimum finge motion. Fist, pactice all of the thee measue segments. The measues maked A apeggiate the tonality by epetition, wheeas the measues maked B use the cadential chod pogession i - V 7 6/3 - i 6/3 V einfocing the tonality. Thei declamatoy natue allows the pefome to play without haste. Not all the thee measue segments ae 8

10 tanspositions of the same mateial, and so vay in thei espective gestual meanings. Some ae indeed modulatoy, fo instance bas 9-11 (which has a diffeent gestue and meaning when the unexpected C# is intoduced), 26-28, and The two ba segments should be subsequently evaluated and pacticed. They often move sequentially on evey beat, and imply diection and dive. Thei intevals ae often unexpected, and include augmented fouths. Since the ange is not as lage in these measues, singing them will help the pefome diect the sound of each note to its cente. The one ba segments have yet moe vaiants, and include chomatic and hythmic enegy. As you play though these segments, notice thei individual chaacteistics. In ode to ceate a smooth and consistent ai steam, pactice sluing the entie piece, obseving the new beath maks in the text below, which incopoate the pepended anacuses. In ode to focus the tone, ty fluttetonguing (with the tip of the tongue) the entie movement, again always obseving the beaths and phases. Repeat, this time playing the movement up an octave. Now epeat the entie pocess, pianissimo, to develop contol ove the loudness. As the piece is stitched togethe, continue to conside vaious ways of expessing and diffeentiating each phase unit, no matte what the aticulation o loudness. Woking with a metonome, but taking as much time as is necessay fo each beath, make sue the finge movements ae elaxed and close to the keys o holes. Finges should be comfotable and move evenly whethe on taveso o the moden instument. Othe vaiants can include changing the hythm to dotted sixteenths o an eighth with a sixteenth tiplet. Pacticing each segment in etogade eveals how often Bach uses a evese ode of pitches in his witing. Now that a substantial amount of technical wok has been done, tun off the metonome and play the piece using as much ubato and dynamic change as you can possibly muste. Exaggeating the gestue is always the test of fie. If the gestue does not fit the text, it will seem completely wong when exaggeated, but will still be toleable if the gestue matches the text. Now, binging the gestues back to scale, ecod a pefomance of the movement. You will notice that if you ae making a point by tenuto, only half as much gestue is needed to make the same effect in analogous moments. Suggested beath maks added to the scoe may be seen below: 9

11 Solo pou une Flute Tavesiee Johann Sebastian Bach 4 Allemande 4! # # # # # p " # # # - - " b b " 10 b b # " # 13 # # # " n # # " # # # 16 # # # # # " 2. # n# # n n b n # # # ". # " # # # 22 # # # # # # p 2014 Douglas Wothen 10 " # # n # # n

12 2 [Title] 25 # # n # b! # # 28 # #! # 31! b n # # # # # 34 #! # b# #! # # n # # 37 # # U! # # n# # # # # #! 40 #! # # n# n n b b # # #! # U!!. n! # b n! # 11

13 Coente The Coente is the Italian vesion of the Fench Couant, and Bach wote many such movements in his suites fo solo stings and fo keyboad. Some couants wee danced even slowe than the Saabande, howeve the technical demands of this fast Coente ae fomidable. Of the fou movements of this suite, this is clealy the most vituosic, imitating Italian sting witing in billiant baiolage style. It is theefoe supising that this fiey and billiant wok is not head moe often as an encoe piece. The textue quickly moves to two voices in measue two, and then thee voices in measue 13. It is fuitful wok to go though the entie movement and mak the voices using double stems, as has been indicated in the pevious examples. Like the fist movement, the Coente gives pominence to the inteval of a 10 th, and the pefome is well advised to scan the text fo these intevals. Sometimes the inteval is used to define the compass o ange of the phase, as seen in the fist two measues. Late in the piece, on the fist beats of measues 52, 53, and 54 fo example, the 10 th defines the hamonic space of the thee-pat textue. When seen so often as well as seen in the context of the fist movement, the inteval becomes topical. In Measue 41, the cadenza is announced by the D# diminished 7 th hamony. One of the hadest things to do on a flute is to keep the aisteam at a constant velocity and pessue while tonguing. This movement is an ideal vehicle to pactice sluing thee and tonguing one in a set of fou sixteenths. Sometimes the figue may be evesed, tonguing the fist sixteenth followed by the thee slued notes. Thee is a geat deal of evidence that Bach pefeed asymmetical goupings, as evidenced by the slus that he included in his manuscipts. In the execution of this figue, thee is a tendency to clip the last note of a slu befoe an aticulated pitch, so that one has moe time to set up the aticulation, but this stops the othewise continuous flow of ai. Afte making the phases and beaths following the model of the fist movement, poceed to sluing each phase in its entiety. Then continue by pacticing one phase at a time, sluing eithe one and thee sixteenths o thee and one. Of couse, thee ae some moments whee this cannot be done due to the eighth note motion, but these moments ae few and fa between. The teatises of the eighteenth centuy devote most of thei text to aticulation and onamentation, while vey little mateial is pesented about tone poduction. Might this be because the acoustical spaces of the peiod wee so evebeant that clea diction was impeative? Did the acoustics geneally favo the sound of the taveso, simila to today s pop musician having the advantage of amplification and atificial evebeation? Seen as flute speech, we can well imagine that the wods that wee spoken into the flute elied heavily on a vaiety of consonants of tonguing as well as vowels of tone. 12

14 Saabande: Baoque dance style is in lage pat detemined by the appopiate succession of stong and weak beats of each measue. In this movement, the Saabande emphasizes the second beat in the fist measue, followed by emphasis on the downbeat of the second measue. Still, moments whee Bach foils such expectations account fo much of the inteest and vaiety in this movement. Assuming that the movement s fist two measues fit the above model of a stong second beat in the fist measue followed by a stong fist beat in the second, and that this patten is epeated in measues thee and fou, the fou ba phase stuctue is clea. Still a majo question does emain. Does the E natual in the second ba feel like a esolution of the half note F? If so, a beath afte the F would beak the suspension, and should be avoided. If the F is head as the last note of the motif, then it would at least soften, even if a beath is not needed. The latte solution is pobably moe in keeping with the style of Bach s ealy woks, howeve both solutions can make sense. Although the Saabande was consideed a slow dance at this point in time, the wok still moves quickly enough that a fou ba phase is easily attainable. Measues five though eight all clealy have a stong fist beat. The shot till maked on the second beats of both measues six and eight ae often played fom the note above on the beat, howeve Fedeick Neumann s intepetation is also wothy of consideation. This would call fo a weake appoggiatua befoe the beat, making the figue smoothe and less accentuated. Bouée Angloise This Bouée contasts a low style, o folk-like chaacte with the fome high style movements. Examples of the Bouée and English style ae common in the ealy Eighteenth centuy, and geneally have a quate anacusis followed by a stongly accented downbeat. It is unusual to end a suite with such a movement; a concluding Gigue is most typical. Hence, pefomes often find this moe ustic movement anticlimactic, and tend to eithe ush the tempo o exaggeate featues of the wok. I suggest using the baoque ti-i-ti aticulation in most of the iteations of two sixteenths followed by an eighth. It sounds well on both baoque and moden instuments, and can help with the natual stess of the dance movement. 1 Although the Bandenbug Concetos pedate these woks, the flute was acting in a subodinate ole to the violin o keyboad. 2 These five notes, tansposed to C Mino, ae the fist notes of the Musical Offeing theme as well. It is emakable that Bach both began and ended his witing fo flute with this famous motif. 13

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