The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the
German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for
organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36
and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most
significant and extensive work for organ, containing
some of his musically most complex and technically most
demanding compositions for that instrument.
In its use of modal forms, motet-style and canons, it
looks back to the religious music of masters of the
stile antico, such ...(+)
The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the
German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for
organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36
and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most
significant and extensive work for organ, containing
some of his musically most complex and technically most
demanding compositions for that instrument.
In its use of modal forms, motet-style and canons, it
looks back to the religious music of masters of the
stile antico, such as Frescobaldi, Palestrina, Lotti
and Caldara. At the same time, Bach was
forward-looking, incorporating and distilling modern
baroque musical forms, such as the French-style
chorale.
The work has the form of an Organ Mass: between its
opening and closing movements—the prelude and "St
Anne" fugue in E-flat, BWV 552—are 21 chorale
preludes, BWV 669–689, setting parts of the Lutheran
mass and catechisms, followed by four duets, BWV
802–805. The chorale preludes range from compositions
for single keyboard to a six-part fugal prelude with
two parts in the pedal.
The purpose of the collection was fourfold: an
idealized organ programme, taking as its starting point
the organ recitals given by Bach himself in Leipzig; a
practical translation of Lutheran doctrine into musical
terms for devotional use in the church or the home; a
compendium of organ music in all possible styles and
idioms, both ancient and modern, and properly
internationalised; and as a didactic work presenting
examples of all possible forms of contrapuntal
composition, going far beyond previous treatises on
musical theory.
BWV 675, 66 bars long, is a two-part invention for the
upper and lower voices with the cantus firmus in the
alto part. The two outer parts are intricate and
rhythmically complex with wide leaps, contrasting with
the cantus firmus which moves smoothly by steps in
minims and crotchets. The 3/4 time signature has been
taken to be one of the references in this movement to
the Trinity. Like the two preceding chorale preludes,
there is no explicit manualiter marking, only an
ambiguous "a 3": performers are left with the choice of
playing on a single keyboard or on 2 keyboards with a
4' pedal, the only difficulty arising from the triplets
in the 28th bar. The movement is in bar form (AAB) with
bar lengths of sections divisible by 3: the 18 bar
stollen has 9 bars with and without the cantus firmus
and the 30 bar abgesang has 12 bars with the cantus
firmus and 18 without it. The invention theme provides
a fore-imitation of the cantus firmus, subsuming the
same notes and bar lengths as each corresponding phase.
The additional motifs in the theme are ingeniously
developed throughout the piece: the three rising
starting notes; the three falling triplets in bar 2;
the leaping octaves at the beginning of bar 3; and the
quaver figure in bar 4. These are playfully combined in
ever-changing ways with the two motifs from the counter
subject—the triplet figure at the end of bar 5 and
the semiquaver scale at the beginning of bar 6—and
their inversions. At the end of each stollen and the
abgesang, the complexity of the outer parts lessens,
with simple triplet descending scale passages in the
soprano and quavers in the bass. The harmonisation is
similar to that in Bach's Leipzig cantatas, with the
keys shifting between major and minor.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavier-%C3%9Cbung_III).
Although originally created for Organ, I created this
Interpretation of the Trio (BWV 675) "Allein Gott in
der Höh'" (All glory be to God on high) for Oboe &
Concert (Pedal) Harp.
