Bach Duets Choral Preludes Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig 2 Ich ruf zu dir Jesu, meine Freude 7 Kommst du nun, Jesu, von Himmel herunter auf Erden 10 Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier 22 Meine Seele erhebt den Herren 2 Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten 27 Wo soll ich fliehen hin 2 Andante 8 Italian Concerto Adagio Concerto 7 Antoni Vivaldi Adagio Sonata 52 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
excelled at the art of writing three and four independent melodies that could stand on their own and, better yet, be played with each other. During the Baroque era, much of the orchestral music was based upon just a bass line and a melody, with chords played by between these two on the harpsichord, organ or lute. Suddenly every instrument playing was just as important as the other. Bach s writing of multiple melodies, writing independent melodies instead of notating chords to support higher and low voices, is one of the things that helped establish him as a genius. When studying piano or harpsichord students learn to play his Inventions in 2 parts, then move on to the Inventions in three parts - three melodies against each other. These are stepping stones in preparation of taking on his four part music. The music in this book is in three parts and the more advanced level of four parts. The three part music duplicates the bass line in each instrument, taking advantage of the combines sound of sustained notes of the organ and the percussive, dying notes of the piano. The four part music has, as you will seen, individual melodies in each part. Bach regularly reset music from cantatas and other works, not changing notes, but assigning the parts to different instruments. These duets follow the same idea. They are not arrangements, but rather revoicings - the assignment of the original notes, for organ solo, to two different instruments, a duet between piano and organ. Bach was said to not like the piano. Early forms of the piano that he had the opportunity to play were quite crude. Some had keys which, when played, would strike the strings with leather padded hammers, rather than the felt hammers we use today. The key action, too, did not provide the degree of sensitivity that modern pianists enjoy on current instruments. However, there is a belief that Bach would definitely have enjoyed writing for, and playing, the modern piano. His favorite instrument has been said to be the clavichord, which was touch-responsive, unlike the organ and harpsichord. However, they are very soft instruments, suited for playing in very small gatherings. The touch sensitivity and the beauty of the modern piano s sustained tone make it well suited for use in small gatherings, as well as in large concert halls. In assigning parts to the piano and organ, melodic lines that might be best suited to the piano are assigned to that instrument; supportive and counter lines assigned to the organ. All of these preludes on chorales, hymns, include an indication of the Cantus Firmus, the melody - using C.F. The Cantus Firmus must always be heard over the other voices. This does not mean that it has to tower over them, though, unless the music calls for it. The basso continuo, usually played by the left hand, is often doubled between the organ and piano in these revoicings, to take advantage of the percussive sound of the piano, as well as the legato sound of the organ. This raises the question of the choice of organ stops. The organ should be in balance with the piano, which suggests that these might be treated as chamber music rather than grand performance works. These pieces may also serve as an introduction to playing Bach for organists and pianists who are not yet ready to handle the more challenging works in Bach s repertoire. The three concerto movements which appear in this book - two by, and one by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - were written for instruments wth two keyboards. In addition, the Adagio on page 7, was originally part of an orchestral concerto composed by Antonio Vivaldi. The harpsichord is not expressive, not touch sensitive, to the degree that the piano is. If a composer wanted to have both loud and soft sections in a piece, the harpsichordist had to move a lever or more to a different keyboard for this effect. As you play the arrangements of these three pieces in this book, for piano and organ, listen for changes in tone color. Changes in tone color, though, are also possible when using two pianos, by using the Una Corda pedal when playing a grand piano. This pedal shifts the keyboard and causes only two strings to be played at the same time, giving an alternate tone color. The tone color also changes when the keyboard have shifted because the hammers are striking felt against the string which has had less use. The Una Corda pedal on a standard vertical piano, however, only moves the hammers closer to the strings, reducing the possible speed of the travel. Try playing Forte, then, while depressing the Una Corda pedal, to experience some of the possible variations in tone color. 1
Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig 2
Ich ruf zu Dir 2 2
Jesu, meine Freude 7
Kommst du nun, Jesu, von Himmel herunter auf Erden 10
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier 22
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren 5 5 9 9 2
Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten 27
Wo soll ich fliehen hin 2
Andante Italian Concerto 8
Adagio BWV 59 Transcription of Vivaldi Concerto in D Minor 7 7 7
Adagio Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Adagio e mesto. 52