Bach’s treatment of harmony and modulation powerfully influenced his
melody. The strands of his harmony are really concurrent melodies. They
flow easily and expressively, never engross the hearer’s attention, but
divide his interest, as now one now the other becomes prominent. Even when
they are noticeable they seem obscured by the melodic parts that accompany
them—I say “seem obscured,” for if the hearer is sufficiently instructed
to distinguish the several melodies in the ensemble he will discover them
to be more clearly defined by their accompaniment.
The combination of several melodic lines obliges the composer to use
devices which are unnecessary in homophonic music. A single melody can
develop as it pleases. But when two or more are combined each must be so
delicately and cleverly fashioned that it can be interwoven with the
others in this direction and in that. And here we detect one at least of
the reasons why Bach’s melodies are so strangely original, and his tunes
so clearly distinguishable from those of other composers. Provided that
novelty does not degenerate into eccentricity or extravagance, and that
clearness and facility of expression march with agreeableness, a
composer’s meritoriousness is proclaimed in his originality.(150) The one
drawback is that the ordinary hearer cannot appreciate melodic beauties
which are patent only to the expert.
But Bach’s melodies are not invariably so handicapped. They are always
original, it is true. But in his free compositions the melodies are so
natural and spontaneous that, while they sound differently from those of
other composers, their naturalness, and the sincerity of feeling that
inspires them, make them intelligible to every listener. Most of the
Preludes in the _Well-tempered Clavier_ as well as a number of movements
in the Suites are of this character.
Bach’s melody, then, bears the unmistakable stamp of originality. And so
does his passage work, as it is called. Such novelty, originality, and
brilliancy are not found in any other composer. Examples are to be found
in all Bach’s Clavier works. But the most striking and original are in the
_Great Variations,_(151) in the first Part of the _Clavierübung,_(152) in
the _English Suites,_(153) and the _Chromatic Fantasia._(154) In the last
particularly Bach’s fertility impresses us. The greater part of its
passage work is in the form of harmonic arpeggios whose richness and
originality match the chords they represent.
In order to realise the care and skill Bach expended on his melody and
harmony, and how he put the very best of his genius into his work, I need
only instance his efforts to construct a composition incapable of being
harmonised with another melodic part. In his day it was regarded as
imperative to perfect the harmonic structure of part-writing.
Consequently the composer was careful to complete his chords and leave no
door open for another part. So far the rule had been followed more or
less closely in music for two, three, and four parts, and Bach observed it
in such cases. But he applied it also to compositions consisting of a
single part, and to a deliberate experiment in this form we owe the six
Violin and the six Violoncello Solo Suites,(155) which have no
accompaniment and do not require one. So remarkable is Bach’s skill that
the solo instrument actually produces all the notes required for complete
harmony, rendering a second part unnecessary and even impossible.
Bach’s melody never palls on us, because of the presence in it of those
qualities to which I have referred. It remains “ever fair and young,”
like Nature herself. In his earlier works, in which we find him still in
bondage to the prevailing mode, there is a good deal that to-day seems
antiquated. But when, as in his later works, he draws his melody from the
living wells of inspiration and cuts himself adrift from convention, all
is as fresh and new as if it had been written yesterday. Of how many
compositions of that period can the same be said? Even the works of
ingenious composers like Reinhard Keiser(156) and Handel have become
old-fashioned sooner than we or their composers might have supposed. Like
other caterers for the public, they were obliged to pander to its taste,
and such music endures no longer than the standard which produced it.
Nothing is more inconstant and fickle than popular caprice and, in
general, what is called fashion. It must be admitted, however, that
Handel’s Fugues are not yet out of date, though there are probably few of
his Arias that we now find agreeable.(157)
Bach’s melody and harmony are rendered still more distinctive by their
inexhaustible rhythmic variety. Hitherto we have discussed his music
merely subjectively as harmony and melody. But to display vivacity and
variety music needs to be uttered with rhythmic point and vigour. More
than those of any other period composers of Bach’s time found no
difficulty in this, for they acquired facility in the management of rhythm
in the “Suite,” which held the place of our “Sonata.” Between the initial
Prelude and closing Gigue the Suite includes a number of characteristic
French dance measures, whose rhythm is their distinguishing
characteristic. Composers of Bach’s day, therefore, were familiar with
measures and rhythms which are now obsolete. Moreover skilful treatment
was necessary in order that each dance might exhibit its own distinctive
character and swing. Herein Bach exceeded his predecessors and
contemporaries. He experimented with every kind of key and rhythm in
order to give variety and colour to each movement. Out of his experience
he acquired such facility that, even in Fugue, with its complex
interweaving of several parts, he was able to employ a rhythm as easy as
it was striking, as characteristic as it was sustained from beginning to
end, as natural as a simple Minuet.
The source of Bach’s astonishing pre-eminence is to be sought in his
facile and constant application of the methods we have discussed. In
whatever form he chose to express himself, easy or difficult, he was
successful and seemingly effortless.(158) There is not a note in his music
that does not suggest consummate ease of workmanship. What he sets out to
do he concludes triumphantly. The result is complete and perfect; no one
could wish for a single note to be other than it is. Some illustrations
will make my point clearer.
Carl Philipp Emmanuel, in the preface to his father’s _Vierstimmige
Choralgesänge_ (“Four-part Hymn-tunes”), which he edited,(159) says that
the world was accustomed to look for nothing but masterpieces from Bach.
Some reviewers thought this praise exaggerated. But if the term
“masterpiece” is restricted to works written during the years of Bach’s
maturity(160) it is nothing less than the truth. Others have produced
masterpieces in various forms which may be placed honourably by the side
of his. For instance, certain Allemandes, Courantes, etc., by Handel and
others are not less beautiful, though less richly wrought, than Bach’s.
But in Fugue, Counterpoint, and Canon he stands alone, in a grandeur so
isolated that all around him seems desert and void. No one ever wrote
Fugues to compare with his; indeed, persons unacquainted with them cannot
imagine what a Fugue is and ought to be. The ordinary Fugue follows a
rule of thumb development. It takes a theme, puts another beside it,
passes them into related keys, and writes other parts round them over a
Continuo. Certainly this is Fugue: but of what merit? Persons who know
no other not unnaturally hold the whole species in little esteem, and the
player who hopes to make such commonplace material convincing will need
all his skill and imagination.
Bach’s Fugue is of quite another kind. It presents all the
characteristics we are accustomed to in freer musical forms: a flowing and
distinctive melody, ease, clarity, and facility in the progression of the
parts, inexhaustible variety of modulation, purest harmony, the exclusion
of every jarring or unnecessary note, unity of form and variety of style,
rhythm, and measure, and such superabundant animation that the hearer may
well ask himself whether every note is not actually alive. Such are the
properties of Bach’s Fugues, properties which excite the admiration and
astonishment of all who can appreciate the intellectual calibre their
composition demands. How great a tribute of homage is due to work of this
kind, which exhibits all the qualities which lend distinction to
compositions in other musical forms! Moreover, while all Bach’s Fugues of
his mature period have the foregoing properties in common, each is endowed
with peculiar excellencies of its own, has its own distinctive
individuality, and displays a melodic and harmonic scheme in keeping with
it. The man who can play one of Bach’s Fugues is familiar with, and can
play, one only; whereas knowing one, we can perform portfolios of Fugues
by other performers of Bach’s period.
To what a height was the art of Counterpoint carried by Bach’s genius! It
enabled him to develop out of a given subject a whole family of related
and contrasted themes, of every form and design. It taught him to develop
an idea logically from the beginning to the end. It gave him such a
command of harmony and its infinite combinations that he could invert
whole themes, note by note, in every part, without impairing in the least
the flow of melody or purity of his harmony. It taught him to write in
canon at all intervals and in movements of all kinds so easily and
naturally that the workmanship is not perceptible and the composition
sounds as smoothly as though it were in the free style. Lastly, it has
given to posterity a legacy of works immensely various, which are, and
will remain, models of contrapuntal form as long as music endures.(161)
I have written exclusively so far of Bach’s Clavier and Organ work. But
in its expression music has two branches, instrumental and vocal, and as
Bach excels in both of them, the reader will desire to hear somewhat
respecting his vocal writings.
It was at Weimar that Bach first had occasion to write for the voice,(162)
upon his appointment to the Kapelle, which imposed on him the provision of
music for the ducal chapel. His church music, like his Organ works, is
devout and serious, and in every respect what church music ought to be. He
makes a point also of not elaborating individual words, which leads to
mere trifling, but interprets the text as a whole.(163) His choruses
invariably are magnificent and impressive, and he frequently introduces
Chorals into them,(164) making the other parts accompany their Cantus
fugally, as was the practice in a Motet. As elsewhere in his works, the
harmonic structure of his voice parts and instrumental accompaniment is
rich. The declamation of the recitatives is expressive, and the latter
have fine Continuo parts.(165) In his Arias, hardly one of which is not
beautiful and expressive, Bach seems to have been handicapped by the
inefficiency of his singers and instrumentalists, who constantly
complained of the difficulty of his music. If he had been fortunate
enough to have capable performers the merits of his church music would
have been established and, like his other works, they would still be sung
and admired; for they contain treasures which deserve immortality.(166)
Among the works composed at Leipzig I single out two Cantatas, one of
which was performed at Cöthen at the funeral of Bach’s beloved Prince
Leopold, and the other in St. Paul’s Church, Leipzig, on the occasion of
the funeral sermon in honour of Christiana Eberhardine, Queen of Poland
and Electress of Saxony.(167) The first contains double choruses of
uncommon magnificence and most affecting sentiment.(168) The second has
only four-part choruses, but they are so delightful and fresh that he who
begins the work will not pause till he has reached the end of it. It was
written in October 1727.
Bach also composed a great number of Cantatas, chiefly for the choir of
St. Thomas’ School, Leipzig.(169) The choir ordinarily numbered fifty
singers, and sometimes more, over whose musical training Bach presided
like a father. He practised them so hard in Cantatas for single and
double chorus that they became excellent singers. Among these works are
some which, in profundity of conception, magnificence, richness of harmony
and melody, and animation, surpass everything of their kind. But, like all
Bach’s works, and in common with other masterpieces, they are difficult to
perform and need a numerous orchestra to produce their full effect.
Such are Bach’s most important vocal compositions. (170) In minor forms of
the art, morceaux for social entertainments and the like, he wrote
little,(171) though he was of a most sociable disposition. For instance,
he is said never to have composed a song.(172) And why should he? They
produce themselves so spontaneously that there is little call for genius
to aid their gestation.
[Johann Sebastian Bach. From the picture discovered by Professor Fritz
Volbach]
Johann Sebastian Bach. _From the picture discovered by Professor Fritz
Volbach_