by Rebecca Cochran
 
Bach composed a set of six Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin. Not surprisingly, the Partitas employ a different structure than the Sonatas.
 
In the Partita No. 1 in B minor (BWV 1002), Bach follows each of the four traditional dance movements with a single variation called a “double.” The double is an elaboration of the bass line of the previous movement.
 
Enjoy this recording of the first Partita with violinist, Itzhak Perlman.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Last evening, I had the pleasure of hearing a live performance of the trio sonata from Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079). Scored for flute, violin and continuo, this setting is part of a larger work for solo keyboard that Bach quickly composed following his famous visit to the court of King (and flutist) Frederick the Great.
 
Bach’s exquisite writing allows this trio sonata to stand on its own, without the benefit of the ricercars, canons and fugues based on the Thema Regium (King’s Theme). Imagine my delight when, well into the second movement, the theme appears in the violin line. I’d completely forgotten about the King’s Theme!
 
I was also reminded that Bach was unclear as to the intended order of these pieces. Bach has a way of surprising and challenging me to this day!

​by Rebecca Cochran
 
Johann Christoph Altnickol (1720-1759) was J.S. Bach’s musical son-in-law. A student of theology at the University of Leipzig, he also sang in Bach’s choirs. He married Bach’s daughter, Elisabeth Juliane Friederica in January 1749; their first son, Johann Sebastian, died in infancy.
 
Altnickol, an organist and composer, also acted as a copyist for his father-in-law. Following Bach’s death, he was named a trustee in the distribution of the Bach estate.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Bach Digital is an incredible resource for musicians and researchers interested in J.S. Bach and related composers. A massive project, it currently includes scans of 90% of J.S. Bach’s works, in manuscript form, where possible. Furthermore, the library is constantly updated to reflect the latest research findings.

Explore Bach Digital here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
I’m in a playful mood today and just can’t help sharing another quiz I found on the Fun Trivia website. This one is entitled The Definitive Quiz on P.D.Q. Bach or "What happens when someone with a degree in music has waaaayyyy too much free time on their hands?"

Enjoy the quiz here!

by Rebecca Cochran

“For the past 80 years I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine, but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning for me. It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being a part. It fills me with awareness of the wonder of life, with a feeling of the incredible marvel of being a human being. The music is never the same for me, never. Each day it is something new, fantastic and unbelievable. That is Bach, like nature, a miracle.”

— 'cellist, Pablo Casals

I ran into a fun trivia site that tests your knowledge on certain composers. Of course, J.S. Bach is one the composers included.

If you've been reading My Year of Bach regularly, you'll have no trouble acing the Bach quiz. Have fun with it here!

by Rebecca Cochran
 
A recent exhibition at the Berlin Cathedral focused on the role of women’s in Bach’s life. Entitled “Women and Bach’s Music,” the show highlighted eight women who had a strong influence on Bach and his output.
 
The exhibition closed on May 1. Read more about it here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Twentieth century composer, Anton Webern studied with noted musicologist, Guido Adler at Vienna University. It is there, most likely, that he cultivated an affinity for early music.
 
Webern was particularly taken with the music of J.S. Bach. His 1935 transcription of Bach’s Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is one his seminal works. Webern orchestrated the work for flute, oboe, English horn, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, timpani, harp and strings, employing a style called Klangfarbenmelodie, in which melody lines are passed from one instrument to another every few notes, adding color and texture to the melodic line.
 
Enjoy this rendition with Pierre Boulez conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
According to Johann Forkel who penned the first biography of Bach in 1802, “In musical parties, Bach took pleasure in playing the viola. With this instrument he was in the centre of harmony, whence he could best hear and enjoy it on both sides."
 
Bach understood the potential of the viola. In his orchestral works, the viola part is as important as the other string parts. In the 6th Brandenburg Concerto, the violins are completely absent.
 
There is much speculation as to why Bach chose to omit the violin from this and other works. One theory is that Bach wished to upset the musical status quo by giving the violas, typically played by servants and other “lesser” individuals, a more important role.
 
I cannot help but be proud of the fact that my favorite composer, way back in 1721, was a proponent of equal rights!

by Rebecca Cochran
 
I had the pleasure of performing the C.P.E. Bach Sonata in G Major for flute and continuo recently. Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788) is probably the best known of the musical sons of J.S. Bach. His middle name was given in honor of his godfather, George Philipp Telemann.
 
This sonata is nicknamed the “Hamburger” since it was composed when Emmanuel was working in Hamburg as successor to his godfather as director of music there. A fairly late work in Emmanuel’s life, like his late keyboard sonatas, it consists of only two movements, Allegretto and Rondo: Presto, linked with a short bridge passage. The expressive, virtuosic flute part is at a high range, perhaps suggesting the florid style to come in the next century.
 
Despite the new compositional techniques that Emmanuel was introducing, an audience member approached me following my performance and proclaimed that this sonata, in his opinion, had Johann Sebastian Bach written all over it!

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Bach composed four cantatas for solo alto. Three of the four were written around the same time in the year 1726 during Bach’s tenure in Leipzig. The alto parts in these solo cantatas are demanding, so we assume that Bach took the opportunity to compose them for a particular singer who was in his midst at the time.
 
Cantata 35 is one of my favorites. I wrote about the opening instrumental sinfonia with solo organ in an earlier post here. In the second aria of this cantata, Bach dispenses with the orchestra, limiting himself to the voice and obbligato organ, supported only by the continuo.

Enjoy this recording featuring counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, organist Markus Märkl  and the Orchestre du Collegium Vocale directed by Philippe Herreweghe.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
"Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can play weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity."

(Charles Mingus, 20th century American virtuoso bass player, bandleader and composer)

by Rebecca Cochran
 
The Italian pianist and composer, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), is credited with transcribing many of Bach’s keyboard and violin works for solo piano. In what would become his lifelong passion, Busoni dedicated more than thirty years to this pursuit.
 
The transcription of Bach’s organ works for modern piano must have presented him with particular challenges. Nonetheless, Busoni’s well-crafted transcription of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) is considered the most definitive version for piano today.
 
Busoni’s arrangement of the Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004) is another example of his ability to make the most of the capabilities of the modern piano. Enjoy this video of a live performance of the Chaconne by pianist, Hélène Grimaud.

The lautenwerck, or lute-harpsichord, is believed to have been one of Bach’s favorite instruments. Nearly forgotten to this day, the lute-harpsichord was strung with gut rather than metal string. This and other physical differences mean that lute-harpsichords were often smaller than other keyboard instruments of Bach’s day. Bach, most likely, had a lute-harpsichord designed to his own specifications.
 
Enjoy this modern-day performance of Prelude BWV 997 by lute-harpsichordist Gergely Sárközy.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Bach never specified the instrumentation for The Art of Fugue. Performers and arrangers continue to take advantage of this happy fact. The Emerson String Quartet recorded its own interpretation of this work.
 
The Emersons also played a role in Michael Lawrence Films’ Bach & friends. In it, members of the quartet share their innermost views on the intellectual and spiritual aspects of Bach’s final work.
 
Read and hear more here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Cantata 107, composed in 1724 in Leipzig, is one of my favorites. Based on the unchanged words of a hymn in seven stanzas by Johann Heermann, scholars surmise that Bach was challenging himself by choosing to adhere to the exact text of each of the seven stanzas in the seven movements of this cantata.
 
In spite of (or because of?) his self-imposed limitations, Bach creates an exquisitely beautiful work with great depth and variety. I particularly love the 6th movement which features a solo tenor and two unison flutes.
 
Enjoy this recording by the Bach Collegium Japan conducted by Masaki Suzuki with Makoto Sakurada, tenor.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
The 1941 historical drama, Friedemann Bach is a film based on a novel of the same name by Albert Emil Braghvogel. The story depicts the life of J.S. Bach’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann and the gifted son’s struggle to escape his father’s shadow.
 
Although there are some inaccuracies in the story, the film is still worth a look. It gives us a taste of Friedemann Bach’s musical genius. View an excerpt of the film here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
The annual Leipzig Bach Festival opened last Friday. With a long tradition dating back to 1908, the first festival took place to celebrate the unveiling of the new Bach monument on St Thomas' Square.
 
In the year 2000, the festival gained strength. That year marked the 250th memorial of Bach’s death with more than 70,000 visitors in attendance. The festival has continued to grow ever since.
 
The theme of the 2016 Leipzig Bach Festival is Secrets of Harmony. Bachfest runs through June 19 with performances taking place at more than 30 different venues in and around Leipzig.
 
Learn more about Bachfest Leipzig here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
I love Bach’s Ascension Day cantata (BWV 43), composed in 1726, his third year in Leipzig. Festively scored for four vocal soloists, four-part choir, trumpets, timpani, oboe and strings, each of its 11 movements is brief, making it no longer than most of the other cantatas.
 
I’m particularly fond of the tenor aria, Ja tausend mal tausend begleiten den Wagen (Indeed thousand upon thousands accompany the chariots) with its lilting rhythms. Enjoy this recording by Concentus Musicus Wien, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
This video makes me smile. Combining tap and ballet movement, Sam Weber created this solo to the third movement (Presto) of Bach's Italian Concerto, played by pianist Doug Walter. This is elegance at its best!
 
Enjoy the video here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Scottish guitarist, Paul Galbraith is known for his unique style of playing. His custom-designed guitar is supported by a metal endpin that rests on a wooden resonance box. The instrument has two extra strings in addition to those of a normal six-string guitar, one high (A string) and one low (A string).
 
Galbraith’s recordings of the Bach Lute Suites, as well as his transcriptions of the complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin constitute a great portion of his work. Enjoy his recording of the Fugue from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 2 (BWV 1003) here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) was an Argentine tango composer, virtuoso bandoneon player and arranger. Although born in Argentina, his move to New York at a young age exposed him to jazz and classical music, including Bach. As a young boy, he studied with Hungarian classical pianist Bela Wilda, who taught him to play Bach on the bandoneon.

​In his memoirs, Piazzolla recounts his ‘discovery’ of Bach: “One summer evening I was hanging out without much to do, and I heard a piano playing Bach. At that age I didn't know who Bach was, but I felt as if I had been hypnotized. It is one of the great mysteries of my life.”

by Rebecca Cochran
 
Twentieth-century composer, Igor Stravinsky, was greatly influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach. By way of his unique neoclassical style, Stravinsky paid frequent homage to Bach and other Baroque and classical masters.
 
A strikingly beautiful example of this is Stravinsky’s Chorale Variations on Bach’s Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her, arranged for choir and orchestra. Listen to excerpts featuring the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Vladimir Jurowski here.

by Rebecca Cochran
 
I recently heard a live performance of the Passacaglia from one of the Rosenkrantz Sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704). The fifteen Rosenkrantz Sonatas are scored for violin and basso continuo. However, each sonata closes with a Passacaglia for unaccompanied violin.
 
The systematic imaginative use of the patterned variations in Biber’s Passacaglia are thought to have inspired Bach to compose his solo Violin Sonatas.
 
Enjoy this recording of Biber's Passacaglia in G minor performed by violinist, Reinhard Goebel.