New Sources and Old Methods. Reconstructing and Applying the Music-Theoretical Paratext of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Compositional Pedagogy

Abstract

In attempting to determine how Johann Sebastian Bach taught composition, this article draws on recent archival discoveries to claim that it was not the ornamented, vocal Choralgesänge, but the simpler, thoroughbass-centered Choralbuch style that played a central role in Bach's pedagogy. Fascinatingly, many newly-rediscovered chorale books from Bach's milieu contain multiple basses under each melody, suggesting that Bach too may have employed this technique. What theoretical perspectives shall we bring to bear on this long-lost multiple-bass chorale tradition? This article asserts that it is a fallacy to assume that any pattern-yielding methodology offers a valid window into Bach's teaching. Rather, an attempt is made to recover modes of music-theoretical understanding that existed contemporaneously with Bach. Such a coterminous theoretical "paratext" potentially offers more insight into Bach's pedagogy because it establishes a horizon of possibilities from which we can draw when examining multiple-bass composition. Foremost within this paratextual horizon is the centrality of thoroughbass for Bach's understanding of composition. In particular, Bach was immersed in the pre-Rameau thoroughbass tradition as represented by the writings of Johann David Heinichen. In contrast to many modern harmonic perspectives, chordal roots and root progressions played little to no role in the pre-Rameau thoroughbass tradition. Dissonance was understood not harmonically, but dyadically in terms of syncopatio (suspension) and transitus (passing and neighbor) figures. Drawing from a variety of sources from Bach's circle, particularly those of his pupil, Johann Christian Kittel, this article posits that Bach may have understood multiple-bass chorale harmonization in terms of interlocking clausulae -that is, as a series of overlapping cadential modules. In sum, this article contributes to an ongoing revisionist project of recent years that aims to elevate early eighteenth-century thoroughbass from mere "pre-theoretical" accompaniment practice to its true place as the theoretical and practical basis of compositional understanding in Bach's day.

Embedded Dissonance in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Harmonic Theory and Practice

“…While the basic distinction between them seems relatively unproblematic for most instances of dissonance (which fall neatly into one of the two categories), certain cases shown previously problematize it; specifically, in the dissonance chains depicted in Examples 1-3, the bass moves simultaneously with the suspension resolution, blurring Kirnberger's categories. Remeš (2019) raises a similar ambiguity with Kirnberger's types when considering eighteenth-century cadences: does the essential dissonance require a bass cadence or can it also be supported by a tenor cadence with diminution (Example 7)? In other words, recognizing a close relationship between configurations related by contrapuntal strands (rather than root motion) begins to complicate Kirnberger's distinction and suggests that we might think of this ambiguity more accurately as two sides of the same coin, or a theoretical double meaning that models a singular but complex practice.…”

“…[4.2] First, however, we should consider the cadential suspension figure as a simple yet pervasive case for the embedding process that occurs with the other configurations, a model that proves useful because its presence in eighteenth-century theory and practice is already well known. Recent studies (e.g., Diergarten 2015, Remeš 2019 have established important connections between thoroughbass concepts and practices between various regions of Europe and have offered a standard set of cadence types that were commonly recognized and used. Of these, the "composta" or compound cadence-typically defined as --bass support for a cadential suspension ( --) -appeared in treatises from Bonocini, Muffat, Niedt, Gasparini, and Walther, and was understood to have a degree of closure somewhere between the "long" cadence ( ---), which was reserved for final, decisive cadences, and the simple one (dominant-tonic), which could appear throughout as local punctuation.…”