Score and Parts Concert
Band; Wind Orchestra
(Score & Parts) - Grade 5
SKU: HL.4008644
Wind Orchestra, Grade
5, 12:45 Score and
Parts. Composed by
Johann Sebastian Bach.
Arranged by Franco
Cesarini. Editions Franco
Cesarini. Classical,
Fugue. Softcover.
Duration 765 seconds. Hal
Leonard #EFC004-CBHA.
Published by Hal Leonard
(HL.4008644).
ISBN
9798350115024. UPC:
196288189695.
The
Passacaglia is a set of
instrumental variations
based on an ostinato
bass. Bach's Passacaglia
and Fugue in C-minor for
organ represents the
pinnacle of what had been
achieved in this
compositional form at
that time. In Franco
CesariniÂ’s
arrangement for large
wind orchestra, the
particularly careful
interpretation of the
original piece enables
him to exploit all the
sound colors at his
disposal, and in this
sumptuous guise Bach's
work also takes on a
grandiose dimension,
albeit tinged with
late-Romanticism. The
exposition of the
beautiful theme begins in
the bass part,
immediately creating a
solemn and serious
atmosphere which is
accentuated by the
intensely pathetic
character of the first
variations. Up to the
tenth variation it
remains confined to the
bass, but in subsequent
ones it also passes to
the soprano and alto
register. The integrity
of the theme is also
embellished with elegant
arpeggios, in whose lower
and higher extensions the
theme can be
distinguished. Towards
the end it returns to the
bass in an impressive
thickening of the
polyphonic texture that
swiftly re-establishes
the key of C-minor. The
“Thema
fugatum†which
follows immediately does
not constitute a Fugue in
its own right, rather it
is nothing but the
twenty-first and most
extensive variation of
the Passacaglia. This
time Bach uses only the
first half of the theme,
superimposing a rhythmic
countersubject that
considerably enlivens the
entire development of the
composition. The
polyphonic discourse
becomes increasingly
dense, until the building
tension peaks in a
powerful
“Neapolitan
sixth†chord,
followed by a sudden
pause. This culminating
moment then leads to the
coda and final cadence on
a bright C-major
chord.
Passacaglia and Fugue
