Bach

Bach — Era & Dates

1685–1750; Baroque Era

Bach — Primary Posts

Weimar (Court Organist), Cöthen (Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold), Leipzig (Cantor at St. Thomas)

Bach — Style Synthesis

Combined German counterpoint, Italian concerto style, and French dance rhythms

Bach — Key Genre Excluded

opera

The Well-Tempered Clavier — Significance

Demonstrated practical benefits of equal temperament tuning in all 24 major and minor keys

Prelude in Bb Major (Key, Time signature, Style)

B flat major, 3/8, virtuosic, improvisatory, perpetual motion with 16th note chords

Fugue in B♭ Major — Structure

3 voices, 3/4 time, tonal answer, 2 countersubjects, features stretto

Equal Temperament

System of tuning where an octave is divided into twelve equal semitones

Clavier

German word for any keyboard instrument other than the organ

Prelude

A short introductory keyboard piece, often improvisatory in style

Fugue

A highly structured polyphonic composition based on a central theme

Counterpoint

The combination of two or more independent melodic lines

Subject

The main theme or melody of a fugue

Answer

The second statement of the main subject in a fugue

Tonal Answer

An answer in a fugue where intervals are slightly altered to remain within the main key

Real Answer

An exact transposition of the fugue subject to the dominant key

Countersubject

A recurring counter-melody that accompanies statements of the subject in a fugue

Exposition

The opening section of a fugue where each voice states the subject or answer

Middle Section

The central part of a fugue featuring thematic development and modulation through various keys

Episode

A passage in a fugue where neither the complete subject nor answer is present

Stretto

Overlapping statements of the fugue subject in close succession