This is probably one of my favorite Baroque pieces. Bach was just returned from out of town when he found that his wife, Maria Barbara had died and was already been buried. Bach then composed Chaconne right after this tragic event. Not just composing as an epitaph for his wife's death, he also composed Chaconne for the memorial of his tragic life. His mother died when he was 9, followed by his dad's death a year later. He then continued a tough life under his brother's care. Bach's life was a life of tragedy, discovery, joy, redemption and also triumph. These components can be clearly seen throughout the Chaconne. For me, Chaconne is an extremely direct music and carries clear word paintings. Meaning, its musical elements bring deep emotions and direct messages that laymen can understand. More like music of the Romantic Era to be exact. The theme and harmony of the Chaconne was also found to be an exact copy of a famous death chorale, which once again supports the motive of this composition. In this piece, Maria's name was also encrypted in the musical notations. This method of assigning numerical values to letters of the alphabet is called Gematria. And the method of carving words in musical notations is known as Sogetto Cavato which literally means Words Carving. Many musicians in the past and present have been using Sogetto Cavato (through Gematria) to honor important people with musical pieces (can be for other musicians, spouse or even students). An example would be Schumann's "Nordisches Lied", No. 41. He used the G,A,D,E to present this piece for Niels Gade.
Bach's Chaconne based on Joshua Bell
B Minor Mass
B Minor Mass is a piece that brings the story of Christ's crucifixion. The title might be a little bit misleading, for it was never meant to be performed during church mass at all. In fact, it was uncommon for a Lutheran like Bach to compose Catholic masses. Therefore, the purpose B Minor Mass composition remains a mystery until today. During the Baroque period, musicians believed that musical keys represent specific emotions. For example, F minor represents depression and grave, A major represents an innocent love and hope of being loved again, and so on. Bach uses the key B minor which represents darkness with a hint of hope. The piece was written in 2 sharps (##). And in German, the word sharp and the word cross are the same. This makes a lot sense, because the B Minor Mass was telling a story about Christ's cross. In the piece, Bach also added a descending chromatic scale (lowering notes by half a pitch) exactly 13 times. First, a chromatic scale has always been used to represent death in music. And talking about numerology, 13 has always been believed to be the number of death, even during the Baroque period. Some researchers also believe that the number 13 represents Christ and His 12 disciples. Lastly, Bach ended the B Minor Mass with a major chord, foreshadowing Christ's resurrection in 3 days.
A page from Bach's B Minor Mass with his very own handwriting
The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue remain unfinished due to Bach's and death. Just like the B Minor Mass, Bach's motive in composing The Art of Fugue remains unknown. Also, mysteriously, he did not specify any instruments for the piece. The Art of Fugue is known as one of the most genius compositions in music history, due to its incredible complexity. The Art of Fugue is so complicated, that its arrangements can only be played perfectly with a modern computer. But Bach did not just stop there. In the midst of the triple fugue (ContrapunctusXIX), he used the term that we've known, Sogetto Cavato. In the Art of Fugue, musicians and researchers discovered that Bach had spelled his own name in musical notations (B-A-H-S (B-flat, A, B-natural, E-flat)) as a counter subject. It was believed as an autograph to end his musical career. Perhaps he could sense the end of his life is coming soon?
Researchers and musicians have stated that Western musicians in the past used numerology in their pieces on purpose. I'm a skeptical type of person, but I believe that Bach had encrypted these hidden meanings purposely just like other musicians did. I have known a friend who composed a sonata based on a person's name as a birthday present. He also used a specific musical key to represent the emotion of the piece. So Western composers encrypted these hidden messages for a reason. Perhaps they are waiting for their messages to be discovered? Perhaps they have an untold story to tell?
No comments:
Post a Comment