Theories

Tactics

Methods and Techniques

A Specific Method

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, and RECOMMENDATIONS

Results for the Same

Examples of Voices Singing a Canon

The Project Life Cycle

Project Management Puzzle Parts

Map of More and Less Developed Countries

Criteria for LDCs

Selected Economic and Social Indicators for LDCs (2005)

“GREAT” MINDS in MUSIC

“Great music is in a sense serene; it is certain of the values it asserts.”

-Rebecca West (Simpson)

Contrary to the consensus some students purport, a thesis does not constitute a torture tactic designed by professors to traumatize students. In fact, according to Teitelbaum (1), “The thesis paper, when carefully assigned and conscientiously done, has definite value.” Professors usually assign the thesis paper as a major component of a course requirement. The researched thesis paper generally requires that a student invest original thinking or evaluation of accessed information and “ideally” contributes to the student ultimately qualifying as an authority on one particular area of an overall topic. Along with the research subject appealing to the student’s interest, the research effort needs to explore an exhaustive amount of previously published information.

A thesis proves invaluable as it:

Provides students the opportunity to obtain knowledge of different aspects of a particular subject;

Empowers students to travel into divergent areas;

Sharpens students’ insights;

Facilitates students making new discoveries. (Teitelbaum 1- 2)

The value of the researched thesis supersedes college classrooms, as they constitute a vital part of “humanity’s continuing desire to gain insight into and an understanding of the world. If the true purpose of higher education is to make one a better and more understanding person, and students must be given the tools with which they can continue to reached for this ideal.… Research is only one of the important tools of an educated person. (Teitelbaum 2)

During the course of completing research for this thesis, this researcher also made a point to search for what West notes in the introductory quote of this study, the value great music asserts. (Simpson)

History notes the evolution of music evolved from the simple Gregorian Chant to jazz and a myriad of contemporary classical styles. Culture and events of particular time periods, which served to propel forces behind changes in music, influenced composers and great minds of each era. This thesis discusses how culture and history have also affected students’ learning experiences in the high school music classroom.

Factors outside of high school, as well as outside of music have initiated changes in music throughout time. These factors ranged from particular events occurring during a designated time, to specific people who may have influenced the great minds that composed some of the music that continues to “live” today. d1.2: Study Area

Relevant Thesis Questions

The following research questions proved relevant when researching information for this thesis as they also serve to help keep this researcher’s focus in line with the purposes previously proposed.

1. Who were some of the great leaders/composers in music history; during Renaissance, and Baroque eras?

2. What are some of their contributions which continue to be relevant? Why?

3. What leadership strategies from research can be utilized to empower the high school music student body?

Hypothesis

Securing answers to this study’s proposed thesis questions, this researcher contends, will contribute to the ultimate determination of the following hypothesis:

When some of the prominent, positive ideas contributed by leaders of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, integrated into the great music of these prominent time frames, are extracted and taught in the high school music class, then this practice will contribute to better helping affected youth to become better educated, better-rounded students.

In the past, as well as, in today’s times, culture and history have affected the students’ learning experiences in the high school music classroom, Incorporating various cultural events in history that influenced the music greats of the specified eras into the classroom constitutes a great teaching strategy. Ways to comprehend music in the high school classroom constantly change. Each unit taught, albeit, enerally includes different genres of music, such as classical and jazz.

Each single genre of music has its own composers and great minds which contributed to the development of different music styles. Other people back in time and/or certain events of their time, however, also influenced the astute minds behind the brilliant works and ideas in music. In this thesis, this researcher discuses great leaders throughout the history of music, as well as, a number of events which influenced them. In turn, their novel ideas impacted music as a whole, transforming concepts taught in the high school music room.

1.2: Study Area

Thesis Description:

In developing this paper, using the internet, journals, along with Questia, reportedly the world’s largest online library and, virtual nearby libraries, this researcher extensively explored the following disciplines:

Multiculturalism;

Leadership (leaders);

Music history;

World history;

Human sciences, e.g. psychology and biology.

Leadership Qualities

Learning gleaned from this researcher’s tier two classes enabled this researcher to delve deeply into the science of learning in the classroom and implement a number of ideas of the great composers and great minds during the Renaissance, and Baroque eras. From the retrieved leaderships’ ideas, this researcher utilized particular leadership qualities and strategies to reflect ways to empower today’s high school music student body.

The following classes, completed by this researcher, contributed vital considerations to the creation of this researched thesis.

MLS 661: Cultural Perspectives: Interpretive Strategies / / 3.0 credits

In the Cultural Perspectives: Interpretive Strategies class, this researcher explored numerous other cultures, along with particular ways these individuals’ interoperability with other world events. One pertinent theory this researcher grasped from this class purports that more than one way exists to perceive and solve a problem. One must also take what occurs all around them and utilize the influencing factors to help reach a goal.

Knowledge gained from this course enabled me to dig for ideas from other cultures and search for ways great composers from the past may have adopted new ideas from these cultures and personified them. During the Renaissance, composers retrieved many relevant ideas from great thinkers and scholars of their time and transformed these mental “nuggets” into new ideas and integrated them into their manuscripts.

MLS 660: The Art of Leadership / / 3.0 credits

In the class entitled, the Art of Leadership, this researcher discovered that in their philosophical writings, Plato and Aristotle made a point record what they believed, which for their time, proved to be extremely profound. Their writings, consequently, affected more than the thoughts of individual who lived during their time. With the leadership Plato and Aristotle demonstrated, complemented by their advanced thinking process they purported, composers during that particular time, in turn, implemented what they believed right for music of that era into the music they created.

In this thesis, this researcher utilized this class’ knowledge to foster descriptions of how the actions of great leaders of different eras influenced the ideas of the composers during their time frame. Leadership qualities displayed during these times also proved to be like “key” to unlocking understanding and empowering the student body of a classroom to concentrate and learn more readily. This researcher shows how ideas of great thinkers can be conveyed in the music classroom.

MLS 633: Darwinism and its influence / / 3.0 credits

Lessons learned from the study of blank slate theory (John Locke) to the survival of the fittest (Charles Darwin) in the course, Darwinism and its influence, proved helpful when this researcher examined the world of education. Ideas, along with question, help when reflecting on and/or discussing education and its history. One pertinent question this researcher reflected upon also aptly stimulated this researched thesis: Are children born already with everything they need to know?

As an educator, this researcher argues that a child is, in fact, born with a “blank slate,” and further discusses learning regarding children in this researcher’s high school class. Students in high school music groups, as well as, individually can make links to the music they play. They can also readily link to what has happened in history during particular time periods to make music evolve into its current compositions, points this researcher discusses in this thesis.

ENY 714: Brain Compatible Learning / / 3.0 credits

During the course of Brain Compatible Learning, this researcher and other students explored the answer to the question, “How does the brain function when someone is learning a new idea?” Studies in this class related a number of ideas on how to teach new ideas to children by connecting new information with the old information currently stored in their brains.

Studies in this class also portrayed the fact the human brain functions in ways most individuals may seldom consider. Until approximately twenty years ago, a common conception purported that the brain basically stored ideas and did not complete many more functions. Now, research confirms that the human brain actively links from one part to another. This researcher presents ways this linkage phenomenon is used in the classroom by showing that students can make connections between what happened in history, and how past occurrences tie in with why the music became what it is today.

EDSE 600: History and Philosophy of Education / / 3.0 credits

The class entitled, History and Philosophy of Education, focused on the origin of education and the “philosophical influences of modern educational theory and practice. Study of: philosophical developments in the Renaissance, Reformation, and revolutionary periods; social, cultural and ideological forces which have shaped educational policies in the United States; current debates on meeting the wide range of educational and social-emotional needs of students from diverse cultures.” (need to add reference here)

This course precisely presented numerous, pertinent ideas for this researcher to use while writing this thesis. Due to this study, this researcher is now capable of discussing great thinkers during the time frames of the Renaissance and Reformation, as well as, ways current events of this time influenced leading thinker to accomplish what they did. Along with this understanding, this research can competently incorporate how some of the actions of the educational thinkers of these times, in time impacted today’s music classroom.

1.3: Thesis Structure

Researcher’s Considerations Regarding this Study

The focus of this study, by its design, constitutes a natural extension of this researcher’s previously noted, prior studies. This study embraces the basic spectrum of great thinkers in music history and their link to learning in contemporary high school music.

Significance of this Study

This researcher purports this thesis proves valuable as it presents relevant thoughts, related to music and education, linking past historical to contemporary times. In time to come, this researcher predicts, this thesis could also prove to be a valuable contribution for future students to consider. No specific location has been designated for this thesis, although specific eras in time are denoted.

Chapter Components

The chapters following this study’s introduction will include the following categories:

Terms, Theories and Tactics

Literature Review

Approach, Discussion and Conclusion

During the second chapter of this thesis, entitled Terms, Theories and Methods, this researcher explains important terms, theories and methods related to this study’s focus.

The third chapter in this study, the literature review, examines previously published work, considered important and relevant to this thesis, including primary and secondary works. In turn, the researched information is analyzed to determine whether the hypothesis for this thesis will stand the test of research.

Chapter four, titled Approach, Discussion and Conclusion, relates considerations from the findings retrieved from the approach effort invested in this study, discuss determinations this researcher reached and presents concluding thoughts.

1.4 Aim and Objectives TC “Aims and Objectives” f C l “2”

Aim

To utilize the literature research method to explore and examine components relating to some of the prominent, positive ideas contributed by leaders of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, and consequent affects linking to the contemporary high school music class.

Objective One:

To thoroughly research and investigate some of the great leaders/composers in music history; during Renaissance, and Baroque eras.

To complete research for this thesis, this researcher proposed to access and examine approximately 25 sources to secure information relevant to contributions from great thinkers in music history, and in turn, link these to the contemporary high school music class. Before completing all of the research for this study, this researcher determined to create a mind map, using a template, to help keep the study’s focus in line with proposed purpose of the study. Plans for this researched thesis also included scheduling particular times and adhering to specific time frames, not only in regard to the study’s focus, but also in lining up the schedule to complete the work needed for this study.

Objective Two:

Identify and analyze some of the great thinkers’ contributions and expand on the reason(s) for their ongoing relevance.

For objective two, this researcher planned to allocate specific times to examine researched information with the intent to retrieve relevant revelations. This particular component of the project promised to be intriguing, while simultaneously challenging this researcher to confirm the validity of this thesis’ hypothesis.

Objective Three:

Present relevant conclusions regarding past great composers’ leadership strategies in music history and how they may empower the high school music student body.

During the upcoming chapter, this researcher plans to carefully and conscientiously contribute components of Terms, Theories and Tactics, to in tune with West’s introductory claim, confirm a semblance of the value great music asserts.

CHAPTER 2

TERMS, THEROIES and TACTICS

Music conveys moods and images.

Even in opera, where plots deal with the structure of destiny, it’s music, not words, that provides power.

-Marcel Marceau (Simpson)

2.1: Introduction

During this chapter, this researcher explores terms, theories and tactics attributed to music in history, and/or in contemporary times. This researcher purports, albeit, that terms, theories and tactics convey moods and images, similar to Marceau’s contention regarding music in the introductory quote, also provide power to help high school music groups increase their understanding of past music components, as well as current ones.

2.2: Terms

Classical Music: “The term classical music originates from the Latin term classicus, meaning taxpayer of the highest class. Slowly after making its way through the French, German, and English languages, one of the earliest definitions of the word meant “classical, formall, orderlie, in due or fit ranke; also, approved, authenticall, chiefe, principall.] Today, one of the ways Merriam-Webster defines classical is ‘of, relating to, or being music in the educated European tradition that includes such forms as art song, chamber music, opera, and symphony as distinguished from folk or popular music or jazz.'” (Green)

Gregorian Chant: “. . . A simple addition in the history of polyphonic music but not the only one, and numerous works survive that are based on very different melodies. Settings of tropes to, sequences and conduct is are known from the eleventh century onwards, and though they are certainly chance, they are not in any sense to Gregorian.” (Knighton and Fallows)

Multiculturalism denotes “the state or condition of being multicultural . . . The preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation.” (Multiculturalism)

Musique Dansant: “the correlation between music and dance movements in ballet; Sergei Prokofiev; music and dance of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; …”(MELOS)

2.3: THEROIES

Music historiographers reportedly classify six distinct periods of music by their stylistic characteristics. The following depict these categories:

Before 1400 — Medieval — characterized by Gregorian chant, mostly religious

1400-1600 — Renaissance — increase of secular music, madrigals, and art song

1600-1750 — Baroque — known for its intricate ornamentation

1750-1820 — Classical — balance and structure

1820-1900 — Romantic — emotional, large, programmatic

Beyond 1900 — 20th Century — limitless. (Green)

In regard to music, White purports the “Subjective or Relative Aesthetics View” which contends, “There can be no final, or definitive judgment….One person’s subjective opinion is just as valid as another – and that it’s only a matter of personal preference. Some individuals believe a person enjoys music from their perspective as an individual mind is programmed or geared to perceive a particular composition as good. He presents the following table (1), created to help teach children, reflecting this theory:

Fruity Chord Fun

Here’s a completely unscientific but fun way of describing the quality of all those chords =) Note that ‘chord change’ can refer to a static chord, but generally refers to 2 or 3 chords ( / changes). Sometimes though, if the chord ‘grows’ or ‘develops’ over a technical 5 or even 10 ‘chords’, with generally the same notes (but not quite) – this can be said to be part of the ‘same’ chord/c.change (if that makes sense =)

Something like:

Orange is a ‘nice’ normal chord/change. ‘ “Deep” orange’ is the same kind of ‘ordinary’ chord change – but well implemented.

‘Shallow’ orange is the same chord/change but not done so well.

You can probably guess what I’m going to say…

‘Deep’ and ‘Pale’ apply to the other ‘fruit’ chords:

‘Strawberry’ – this is more unusual than orange and more fun to listen to.

‘Lemon’ – a ‘sour’ chord/change – great for ‘tense’ climatic moments in tunes.

‘Apple’ – for the chord changes which don’t need to sound good in themselves, but are necessary to blend well with the rest. Tunes generally have lots of these.

‘Lime’ – a cross between the ‘tense’ mysterious-ness of Lemon, and the cool Strawberry chord.

‘Blackberry’ – a bitter / sweet chord change … ummm… similar to lemon but… erm nevermind: )

(by the way, these terms are not at all arbitrary; -D

The best tunes utilise all these ‘types’ of chord changes (and perhaps use them in a hierarchical structure (i.e. mostly apple (fill in), a lot of orange, some strawberry / lime and a couple of lemon / blackcurrant twists put in for good measure; )

(All of these would be the ‘Deep’ (as opposed to Shallow) versions for the best tunes by the way).

So for example, “Shallow Lemon” is a ‘tense’ chord change that’s more of a whimper. But ‘Rich’ (even stronger than ‘Deep’!) Strawberry is something to really look forward to!

Oh, the treasured ‘Rich Kiwifruit’ chord array has possibly the best chords of all! (even better than the Strawberry chords!!!)

Table 1: Fun Educational Music Tool (White)

2.4: TACTICS

Canon

“Canon’ comes from the Greek word for rule or law. Musically, it designates the strictest form of counterpoint in which one voice is bound to imitate the rhythm, and interval content of another voice.” The following presents a basic explanation of the term, canon.

“In music a canon is a form in which two (or more) voices sing the same melodic line but start at different times. A familiar example is the canon ‘Row, row, row your boat.'” (What is…)

Text for this canon:

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.

In one kind of performance, the second voice starts at the beginning of the third measure, when the first voice reaches “Gently,” so one hears:

(Voice 1) Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

(Voice 2) Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

The two voices continue;

Voice 1 starts over when it gets to the end.

(Voice 1) Life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat

(Voice 2) Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.

and so on. The canon naturally recycles. (What is…)

When the two voices harmonize, a canon constitutes an appealing musical form, as it provides a basically simple introduction to part-singing. Even though singers only learn and sing one melody, the ensuing harmonies can be uniquely pleasant. “Mathematically speaking, the operation that produces Voice 2 from Voice 1 is a translation in time. If the pitch sequence that describes the melody for Voice 1 is represented by a function, f (t), and if we let t represent the number of measures, then Voice 2 would be represented by the function g (t) = f (t-2). So, for example, at the beginning of the third measure (time t = 2), the pitch of Voice 2 would be g (2) = f (0), the pitch of Voice 1 at the beginning (time t = 0).

“The translation operation that makes g out of f is studied in an elementary functions course, because it is one of the important ways of making new functions out of old or of tailoring a given function to fit a new situation.” (What is…)

The following figure (1) presents a typical example:

The red graph represents a function f (t); the blue graph is g (t) = f (t-2).

The blue graph is a copy of the red graph, displaced 2 units to the right.

The analogue of the voices recycling through the material after eight measure beats is to make the functions periodic of period 8:

The red graph represents a periodic function f (t) of period 8; the blue graph is g (t) = f (t-2).

18 (What is…)

Requirements of a Canon

The following information presents more detailed information regarding a canon.

To qualify as a canon three conditions must be met:

1. The 2nd voice must be an exact repetition or a contrapuntal derivation of the 1st.

2. The 2nd voice must enter later than the 1st (cancrizans and proportional canon excepted)

3. The 2nd voice may not deviate from the 1st voice or its contrapuntal variations. Thus, the 2nd voice is thought to be strictly generated by the 1st. The two voices of a canon have been called dux/comes, antecedens/consequens, or proposta / risposta; but this study uses the terms “leader” and “follower.”

If all of the above conditions are met, the canon is said to be “strict.” If liberties are taken with one or more of the above conditions, the canon is said to be “free.” Canons of the 18th and 20th centuries tend to be strict, while canons of the 19th century may be free.

Canons are based, in theory, upon the principle of contrapuntal inversion…two melodic lines that can be performed simultaneously with either line functioning as the bass.

Categories of Canonic Imitation

The second voice of a canon may imitate the first voice exactly, at a different pitch level, in contrary motion, with change of rhythmic proportions, backward, or any combination thereof.

Canon at the Unison or Octave: In a unison canon the follower performs precisely the same melody as the leader. As the name implies, canon at the octave involves repetition of the leader an octave higher or lower. Var. 3 and Var. 24 of the Goldberg Variations are at the unison and octave respectively. If the end of the canon returns smoothly to the beginning it might be called a round, circular canon, or perpetual canon like Canon 7 of the Musical Offering and Bach’s Canon a 2 Perpetuus (BWV 1075).

Canon at Intervals Other than the Octave or Unison:

Many canons are contrived so that the follower begins on a pitch other than the starting pitch of the leader. The canons of the Goldberg Variations, for example, are ordered systematically so that each successive canon employs a larger interval between leader and follower. The follower may be a tonal imitation of the leader, that is, it may alter the interval qualities somewhat so as to stay in the same key as the leader, or it may be an exact transposition to a new key. Var. 18 of the Goldberg Variations is a canon at the sixth, but the interval may be a major or minor sixth depending upon the scale degrees that are involved. By contrast, the follower of the Fuga Canonica in Epidiapente from the Musical Offering is a strict transposition of the leader up a perfect fifth (each note of the follower reposing a perfect fifth above its counterpart in the leader). A third type of interval canon is exemplified in the second of the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, where Bach inflects the pitches of the follower quite freely in order that the canon might conform to the tonality of the cantus firmus which it accompanies.

Retrograde Canon (Cancrizans, or “crab” canon): One of the more exotic forms, retrograde canon involves the playing of a melody forward and backward at the same time. It is the custom, with canons of this sort, for each player to read the music once from left to right (forward) and then to return from right to left (backward). Thus, retrograde canons are sometimes called “crab” or cancrizans (after the sideways manner of that creature). Because both parts begin simultaneously, the terms “leader” and “follower” hardly apply to crab canons, examples of which include: the Cancrizans from the Musical Offering, and the First and second canons from the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground.

Canon in Contrary Motion: When the canon leader and follower progress by the same melodic intervals, but move in the opposite direction, the canon is said to be in contrary motion. In the context of canons, the term “inverted canon” is synonymous with “canon in contrary motion.” Canons in contrary motion exemplify the technique of “melodic inversion,” and should not be confused with contrapuntal inversion (also known as “double counterpoint”) in which two contrapuntal lines exchange registers…the low becoming the high and visa versa. The fourth canon of Die Kunst employs both techniques: its follower is in contrary motion to its leader, and its second half involves an exchange of registers (double counterpoint) between leader and follower. Of the Bach’s canons extant, many involve contrary motion, including the following: the Trias Harmonica, Canon Concordia Discors, most of the Fourteen Canons on the Goldberg Ground, Goldberg #12, Goldberg #15, Vom Himmel hoch #3, and Musical Offering No. 3. Notice that canons in contrary motion are normally constructed so that if the leader begins on the tonic pitch the follower will begin on the dominant, and visa versa.

Mirror Canon: Ordinarily, canons in contrary motion freely inflect interval qualities in order to stay within the key. Composers with exceptional skill have constructed a rigorous sub-category, called “mirror” canon, in which followers mimic the precise quality of intervals stated by leaders (albeit in the opposite direction). As the technique is difficult, mirror canons are quite rare. The rule of qualitative correspondence between intervals implies that mirror canons invoke more than the usual number of chromatic pitches as No. 6, No. 8, and No. 11 from the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground, Canon perpetuus and Canon a 2 Quaerendo invenietis from the Musical Offering demonstrate.

Proportional Canon: More commonly termed “canon in augmentation or diminution,” proportional canons re-articulate the rhythm of the leader at a ratio other than one to one. Thus, the follower might progress at half, twice, or three times, the speed of the leader. Voices in proportional canon may start at the same time or at different times. Bach’s proportional canons include: the fourth canon of the Musical Offering the final canon of the Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, the fourth canon from the Art of Fugue, and, Bach’s tour de forcein this genre, the final canon of the 14 on the Goldberg Ground.

Spiral Canon: Whereas most canons are repeatable, when a spiral canon repeats it does so at some other pitch. If the new pitch is the same scale degree (in a new key), the canon is a modulating spiral, like Bach’s canon a 2 per tonus of the Musical Offering. If the new pitch is a different scale degree (in the same key), the canon is a modal spiral. This study contains no examples of modal spiral, but the four-voice canon Bach composed for Walther puts each of the voices into a different mode with an overall effect of Dorian.

Accompanied Canon: Music that contains canonic voices to which have been added one or more voices in free counterpoint is said to be “accompanied.” In most of Bach’s accompanied canons this added voice is the bass. Obviously, when a bass part is added the requirement that the upper canonic voices be able to function as bass no longer applies. This liberates the composer to involve the canonic voices in counterpoint that might not otherwise have been possible. With the exception of the last (Var. 27), all of the canons of the Goldberg Variations are accompanied. The added voice may represent a pre-existing melody, such as the “royal theme” in the second canon of the Musical Offering, or the canonic voices themselves may be cantus firmi. All of the canonic preludes of the Orgelbuchlein, Clavier-Ubung III, most of the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, and five of the canons from the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground fall into this latter category.

Double and Triple Canon: A canon that has two leaders and two followers is a double canon…see the fifth canon of the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground. Double canons are sometimes referred to as “canon four in two.” In the thirteenth canon of that cycle Bach managed even to construct a triplex canon, or “canon six in three.”

Combining More than One Technique: After listening to the canons of this study the casual listener might come to the conclusion that they are not difficult to compose. Nothing could be further from the truth! Even the simplest types present challenges beyond the abilities of most musicians. Yet Bach imposed upon himself not only the strictures of contrary motion, augmentation, and retrograde motion, but in many instances the simultaneous adherence to more than one canonic rule! Thus, the third canon of the Musical Offering is an accompanied canon in contrary motion as are the sixth, seventh, and eighth canons from the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground. The eighth canon of the Musical Offering is an accompanied mirror, while the eleventh canon of the Fourteen on the Goldberg ground is an accompanied double mirror. Perhaps the most difficult combinations of Bach’s repertory are his three canons in augmentation and contrary motion: No. 14 from the cycle on the Goldberg ground, No. 4 from the Art of Fugue, and No. 4 from the Musical Offering.

Cryptic Notation: Before 1600 polyphonic music was normally written in parts, not score. This meant that a musician could see but one line of music and not the accompanying voices. As a consequence it was customary in the writing of canons from this era to notate only the canon leader, with some rule whereby the follower would be generated from it: a second starting point, another interval or a time proportion. Many of Josquin’s chansons, for example, contain a vocal line intended to be sung as two — in canon. Today we call this type of notation “cryptic,” meaning that it is concise not that the composer was wanting to be secretive. Canons in which the follower begins at a pitch other than that of the leader (e.g. numbers five and six from the Musical Offering) are indicated by the imposition of two or more clefs upon the staff. Bach’s canon for Walther contains four such clefs, while his canon for Hudemann contains no fewer than eight (four inverted with different key signatures).

Finally, if the musical symbolism is not enough, the composer might write clues in prose. The fourth and fifth canons of the Musical Offering are accompanied by Latin riddles indicating the nature of the canonic technique, while the Canon Fa Mi et Mi Fa contains a dedicatory acrostic spelling the composer’s name. (Anatomy)

A number of Bach’s canons consist of particular genre of canons where “the composer engages in deliberate obfuscation…. When the solution is not obvious the work is said to be a “riddle” or “enigmatic” canon.” By inserting a backward clef at the conclusion of the Musical Offering, J.S. Bach encrypted the cancrizans. He also used this technique in the Goldberg Ground’s 1st and 2nd canons. In addition for example in canons four, and nine of the Musical Offerin Bach inverted clefs, encrypting canons in contrary motion. (Anatomy)

Contrary motion is denoted by the inversion of key signatures or by the placement of accidentals on “wrong” lines and spaces, as inverting a C-clef does not affect any apparent change. “Only after the clefs have been inverted do the sharps appear correctly on F!” (Anatomy)

Need to add a lead-in to the next chapter.

CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

“No composer in history [other than Johann Sebastian Bach] & #8230;

has been so widely jazzed up, watered down, electrified and otherwise transmogrified, debated and admired as this German provincial.”

-Alan Rich (Simpson)

3.1: Introduction

Research for studies such as this thesis traditionally embrace library, at times, accompanies by field work and experimental explorations.

Great Composers

Even though this study only expands on three specific composers, William Byrd, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Igor Stravinsky, a number of other composers, this researcher purports, merit noting.

The following seven composers, along with William Byrd, reportedly

1. Thomas Tallis (1510-1585)

Thomas Tallis, an English composer, flourished as a church musician, and is considered one of the church’s best early composers. Tallis served under four English Monarchs and was treated very well. Queen Elisabeth granted him and his pupil, William Boyd, exclusive rights to use England’s printing press to publish music; a first of its time. Although Tallis composed many styles of music, the majority of it is arranged for choir as Latin motets and English anthems.

2. Josquin Des Prez (1440-1521)

Widely recognized by just his first name, Josquin Des Prez was Europe’s most sought after musician during his lifetime. His popularity, no doubt, was a result of combining many contemporary styles of music, his originality, and his ability to unveil the meaning and emotions of a text through music. Much of Josquin’s music survives today, with his masses and chansons being the most popular.

3. Pierre de La Rue (1460-1518)

Pierre de La Rue wrote many styles of music, almost as much as Josquin. La Rue’s repertoire consists entirely of vocal music. His style of voicing shows that he preferred low voices, often composing C’s and B flats below the bass clef. His most popular work, the Requiem, and one of the earliest surviving Requiem masses, emphasizes the lower voices. As well as low voicing, various rhythmic patterns and long, flowing melodies are main characteristics of La Rue’s music.

4. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Linking the Renaissance to the Baroque, Claudio Monteverdi’s revolutionary music included the first dramatic opera, Orfeo. Much of Monteverdi’s early years were spent composing madrigals; nine books in total. These books clearly mark the change in thinking and compositional style between the two periods. Book 8, Ottavo Libro, includes what many consider to be the perfected form of the madrigal, Madrigali dei guerrieri ed amorosi.

5. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1526-1594)

With over hundreds of published works, Italian composer, Palestrina was the most famous representative of the Roman School of musical composition, and greatly influenced the development of music in the Roman Catholic Church. Because its voicing is extremely well balanced and beautifully harmonized, Palestrina’s polyphonic music is smooth, pure, and transparent in sound.

6. Orlando de Lassus (1530-1594)

Orlando de Lassus was also known for his smooth polyphonic style. His beautiful motets combined the rich northern style of polyphony, the superb French style text-setting, and the expressive Italian melody. With over 2,000 written works for all styles of music, including all Latin, French, English, and German vocal genres, Lassus easily remains one of Europe’s most versatile composers.

7. Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612)

Giovanni Gabrieli also bridges the Renaissance to the Baroque and is most known for his mastery in the style of the Venetian School. Gabrieli preferred composing sacred works, and using the unusual layout of the San Marco Church, he was able to create stunning musical effects. Unlike those before him, Gabrieli meticulously created and planned the use of antiphone (a choir or group of instruments first heard on the left, followed by a response from another group of musicians on the right).

William Byrd (1543-1623), some music lovers note, ranks as “perhaps the greatest English composer of all time.” (Skinner)

Johann Sebastian Bach, McCombm purports, is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of western music.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), an international, Russian composer developed two of the major strains of contemporary music, according to Joseph (305) and Schwartz, outranks the rest of the composers in music history, as he created music components that continue to live today.

William Byrd is perhaps the greatest English composer of all time. With hundreds of individual compositions, Byrd seemingly mastered every style of music that existed during his lifetime, outshining Orlando de Lassus and Giovanni Palestrina. Apart from his choral works, Byrd is considered by many to be the first “genius” of the keyboard. Many of his piano works can be found in “My Ladye Nevells Book” and the “Parthenia.”

Most of Byrd’s music dates from the long reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), when, after more than 20 years of religious turmoil, England finally settled as a Protestant nation. While one might expect Byrd to have concentrated his artistic efforts on music for the reformed church, it is clear from his surviving output that he had a different agenda in mind when putting pen to paper. The statistics are revealing. Owing to Byrd’s long association with the Chapel Royal and powerful patrons, close to half of his industrious output is devoted to secular and courtly entertainment (keyboard music, consort songs, madrigals, sonnets, etc.), while the remainder is for the church. Byrd composed close to 200 Latin works (most of which survive in contemporary printed editions) plus three settings of the Mass Ordinary, while his music for the English church (not a note printed in the composer’s lifetime) amounts to only four services, three settings of Preces and Responses, a short Litany, and around two dozen anthems. Indeed, if one were to record Byrd’s surviving sacred music, the Latin works would fit on to around 13 or 14 CDs, while one would be pressed to fill four discs with the English material.

Ad Dominum cum tribularer, from the same manuscript source, is another work which cries from the heart of Catholic persecution, and Byrd responds to this poignant text with a suavity borne of years of subjection to religious intolerance. The opening plea is particularly fervent, with each voice introducing the subject twice before settling into calmer waters at “et exaudivit me.” Byrd then vividly illustrates the attack on those of a “deceitful tongue” with “sharp arrows of the mighty, with searing coals.” The second section is filled with despair and anger, beginning with descending chromatic figures, peppered with sharp and pungent suspensions at “Woe is me! that my sojourn is prolonged.” The repeated and rising declarations of peace seem to fall on deaf ears. Then comes the thunder at “I spake peace, and they shouted together for war.” Here Byrd gives dramatic emphasis by placing the word stress of each part so that the beginning of every beat is strongly accented, from the first appearance in the bass to the driving clamor of united song.

These themes run throughout Byrd’s Latin compositions. His next collection of sacred songs (1591) was dedicated to John, Lord Lumley, a notable Catholic, who as it happened maintained one of the most impressive musical libraries in Elizabethan England in his palace at Nonesuch. Byrd is very likely to have had access to this library, and influences from the many Continental music imprints known to have been housed at Nonesuch are seen throughout the Cantiones sacrae of 1591. Laudibus in sanctis and Haec dies (which, respectively, open and close the collection) are highly madrigalian in style, while a number of Continental texts are set to music (including, quite daringly, a Salve regina). Infelix ego (like Tribue Domine from 1575) harks back to the great votive antiphons of early sixteenth century England, not only in their monumental construction, but also in the deployment of voices. The text was also set by Rore, Willaert, Vicentino and Clemens non-Papa, but Byrd may have found the text in Lassus’s Selectissimae Cantiones (1568), which is known to have been in Lumley’s library.

Retirement, seclusion and devotion

In his later years Byrd seems to have had more involvement in the Catholic cause, and, from 1593, withdrew even further from London life, setting up his household in Stondon Massey in Essex, where, as Philip Brett points out, he would have had the “benefit of joining a well-established and reasonably secure Roman Catholic community under the aegis of his old friend and patron, Sir John Petre.” Petre’s residences at West Horndon and Ingatestone were only a few miles from Stondon Massey, and one can image the extent of interplay in religious observances between the ageing composer and great Catholic magnate. It was between 1592 and 1595 that Byrd privately published his three Masses, one each for three, four and five voices. While it is certainly true that, with regard to the Masses, Byrd was now writing in a genre that was defunct in England since the death of Mary in 1558, we are still not certain as to the extent of underground compositions of the Latin Mass for use in the English recusant community. Byrd probably once again turned to the Continent for inspiration, and acquainted himself with the Masses of Palestrina, Clemens non-Papa and others. The musical style of the three Masses certainly points more to Continental influence than English (Byrd also sets the Kyrie, which in pre-Reformation England was sung to troped plainchant); but it is not difficult to identify Byrd’s distinct “Englishness” in all of the settings: wide vocal ranges, disjunct melodic movement, adventurous harmonic progressions, and the ubiquitous “cambiata” figures at cadences. It also seems certain that Byrd modeled his Four Part Mass on John Taverner’s Meane Mass composed some 50 years earlier (most evident in the opening of the Sanctus of each Mass). The Continental influences become obvious in a different understanding of the text and how it is set. Word accentuation has become more important, but not simply in the sense of being just. Byrd highlights particular words or phrases so as to le

BAROQUE

COMPOSERS

The Baroque Period. (2006). http://www.basicrep.com/baroque.html

ALBINONI

BACH

HANDEL

LOCATELLI

PACHELBEL

PURCELL

SCARLATTI

TELEMANN

http://www.basicrep.com/baroque.html

VIVALDI

ave the listener in no doubt as to their significance.

William Byrd

(1543-1623)

Byrd, William. (2007). 30 Oct. 2007 .

Byrd was the leading English composer of his generation, and together with his continental colleagues Giovanni Palestrina (c.1525-1594) and Orlando de Lassus (1532-1594), one of the acknowledged great masters of the late Renaissance. Byrd is considered by many the greatest English composer of any age, and indeed his substantial volume of high quality compositions in every genre of the time makes it easy to consider him the greatest composer of the Renaissance — his versatility and genius outshining those of Palestrina and Lassus in a self-evident way. English music of the period was amazingly rich, dominating the music of the continent in depth and variety, in a way that was not seen before or since. Also, Byrd’s pre-eminent position at the beginning of music publication in England allowed him to leave a substantial printed legacy at the inception of many important musical forms. It would be impossible to over-estimate his subsequent influence on the music of England, the Low Countries, and Germany.

Byrd also contributed heavily to the developing genre of the English Anthem (including the newer “verse” style with organ accompaniment), composing his widely regarded “Great Service” in this format. However, it was his Latin music that he chose to publish. This was series inaugurated in 1575 with the volume of “Cantiones Sacrae,” a joint collection with Thomas Tallis. Though this publication was not especially successful, Byrd followed it up with two more: the “Cantiones Sacrae” of 1589 & 1591. These “sacred songs” would be called motets on the continent, and represent the most significant English contribution to the motet repertory. The motets are almost exclusively for five-voice vocal ensembles, with the most varied counterpoint and text selections. Though these texts are all sacred in origin, many of them have political implications, illustrating Byrd’s fringe position as a Catholic composer. Some of these motets are much more popular than others, but all are of uniformly high quality, showing Byrd’s predilection for precisely controlled counterpoint put to the service of the syllabic expression of text.

Byrd also composed three Latin Masses (for three, four, and five voices) during the period 1593-1595. These masses are unusual not only because they could no longer have a liturgical function, but also because they include settings of the “Kyrie” — something not previously done in English mass composition. The masses show Byrd in a reflective mode: it would seem that he composed these cycles as exercises, as easily performable functional music, and as historical examples. Though they are straightforward in design, the masses possess a “classical” quality of precision and balance. Their simple expression and contrapuntal concision make them unique in Renaissance music, and early examples of the classical spirit which was to dominate Europe two hundred years after Byrd’s time.

Following the three masses, Byrd produced his unparalled legacy in sacred choral composition the two huge volumes of “Gradualia” (1605 & 1607). These publications consist of many short pieces of liturgical music, set in verse sections, which can be combined in various ways to form liturgically accurate Propers cycles for every significant feast and votive mass of the Roman Catholic Rite. Technically, this achievement is immense — it involves setting every possible Propers verse with the appropriate chant melody, and then providing instructions for assembling each of the cycles from the relevant verses. Byrd’s invigoration by formal demands is clearly in evidence here, as well as his keen intellect in devising these pieces to fit together in such a manner. Though most of us cannot appreciate their liturgical design, the concision and clarity of the short pieces making up these books of Gradualia are impressive. These publications comprise one of the supreme testaments in Western music.

Byrd also published numerous smaller scale songs: “Psalmes, Sonets & Songs” (1588), “Songs of Sundrie Natures” (1589) & “Psalmes, Songs & Sonnets” (1611). As their titles indicate, these collections contain songs in a variety of genres, from sacred to English secular. These pieces were published with text underlays to each part, as was the fashion at the time, but Byrd also indicates that they can be performed with a single singer with viol consort accompaniment — a specifically English practice. Many of these songs continue to be extremely popular, straight through from the time of their inception to today. Byrd also composed a fairly substantial volume of consort music: viol fantasias, variations and dances of three to six parts, five-part “In Nomines,” as well as having some of his works arranged by others for the lute. Though not as singularly impressive and influential as many of his other compositional endeavors, these works are of high quality, in keeping with Byrd’s versatile genius. The finest examples are the six-part consorts, including a late pavan & galliard.

The final — and perhaps most impressive — examples of Byrd’s immense legacy of compositions are his keyboard pieces. Most of these were unpublished during his lifetime (due to the technical demands of keyboard engraving), but Byrd saw fit to compile a collection of some of his best music to date in 1591: “My Ladye Nevells Book.” In addition, a few of Byrd’s keyboard compositions were published along with some of John Bull’s and Orlando Gibbons’ in the first English publication of keyboard music, “Parthenia” in 1612/13. Though precise instruments were seldom specified at the time, most of Byrd’s keyboard music sounds most idiomatic on the virginal/harpsichord, a lesser volume on the organ (his own instrument). This music apparently had a lively tradition of home performance, as witnessed by Byrd’s compilation for his patron/pupil Lady Nevell as well as evidence that such a high figure as Queen Mary learned to play the virginal. Byrd’s compositions include all the major genres of the time: the austere fantasia, the rhythmically advanced pavan & galliard pair, and the virtuosic variation set.

Byrd’s keyboard music is the earliest substantial legacy in Western music, making him the first genius of the keyboard. These pieces show a substantial development of style, from the more polyphonically oriented counterpoint of the earlier works to the demanding and idiomatic keyboard writing of the later works. The early music begins as an impressive example of melodically engaging keyboard writing, and slowly develops into the later music of involved formal investigation, rhythmic ingenuity, and — ultimately — transfiguration. In the later years of his life, Byrd increasingly took up writing pieces in the paired dance forms of Pavan & Galliard; his series of works in this genre bear witness to his compositional virtuosity as convincingly as the comparable keyboard cycles of J.S. Bach’s Preludes & Fugues and Beethoven’s Sonatas. His most impressive pieces in this form include the “Passing Measures Pavan & Galliard” and the “Quadran Pavan & Galliard,” each superimposing a strict variation structure on these serious dance forms. The formal demands Byrd sets for himself in these works are enormous, and the verve and depth with which he carries them off is as incredible as any piece of Western instrumental writing.

Taken together, Byrd’s huge legacy of music — several hundred individual compositions — makes him one of the most brilliant composers in Western history. His vocal music has retained its popularity from his own time directly into ours, and his other music is now growing in appreciation as it is rediscovered. In particular, Byrd’s position in the history of keyboard music is once again assured, and his contribution to the development of the North German virtuoso style is now firmly established. ~ Todd McComb (6/94)

Byrd in the 21st Century

The Old Cheque Book of the Chapel Royal records the death of William Byrd “a ffather of Musick” on 4 July 1623, and today all of his surviving music is published in a number of reliable editions. Following the Tudor Church Music series (1923-29), Edmund H. Fellowes was the first to edit and publish the complete corpus of Byrd’s music in practical performing editions (some of which were later revised by Thurston Dart). The most recent collection is the Byrd Edition (Stainer & Bell; edited by Philip Brett and others), begun in 1973 to mark the 350th anniversary of Byrd’s death. Apart from Purcell, more books have been published on Byrd and his music than any other early English composer. Recordings are also available in abundance: some of the best choral anthologies are by such choirs as the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen, Christ Church and New College, Oxford, and King’s College, Cambridge; for instrumental music, it is hard to beat recordings by the viol consorts Fretwork, Concordia and Phantasm; and all of Byrd’s keyboard music has recently been released on Hyperion Records, with exemplary performances by Davitt Moroney. Still it is surprising to find that much of Byrd’s vocal music remains unrecorded and unheard, largely owing to a concentration on the Masses and a handful of motets. This is about to change.

Perhaps one of the most exciting early music ventures taking place at the moment is a recorded series of the complete works of Byrd by the Cardinall’s Musick, directed by Andrew Carwood on ASV Gaudeamus. Already met with great critical acclaim, the sixth CD in the series (Music for Holy Week and Easter) has just been released. It is to be hoped that on the completion of this unique enterprise that William Byrd can assume his rightful position as one of the most original, imaginative, versatile and passionate musical minds of all time.

Figure Compilation: Bach at Various Life Stages and with Family Members

When Bach was 9-years-old, his mother died at the age of 50. His father died at the age of 49. Bach was 10 at the time. Bach lived with his brother, Johann Christoph (24) until he was 15.

Figure:

Timeline

Year

Age

Events in Bach’s Life

Contemporary Musicians

Johann Sebastian Bach born, 21 March, at Eisenach. Youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, town and court musician, and his wife Maria Elisabetha, nee Lammerhirt. Baptised, 23 March.

Handel born, 23 Feb

D. Scarlatti born, 26 Oct

9

Mother (50) dies, 1 May.

10

Father (49) dies, 20 Feb. Bach leaves Eisenach to live with brother, Johann Christoph (24), in Ohrdruf. Enters lyceum there.

Locatelii born, 3 Sept.

Purcell (36) dies, 21 Nov.

15

Leaves Ohrdruf for Luneburg. Enrols in Michaelisschule there.

B.G. Sammartini born (or 1701)

17

Applies unsuccessfully for organist’s post at Jakobirche, Sangerhausen

18

Court musician at Weimar, March-Sept. Appointed organist at Neuekirche, Arnstadt, 9 Aug.

C.H. Graun born (or 1704)

Harrer born, 8 May

20

Granted 4 weeks leave of absence to visit Lubeck in ?Oct, but stays away longer.

21

Returns to Arnstadt, Jan/Feb. Appears before the consistory to answer for length of absence.

Martini born, 24 April

Pachelbel (52) buried, 9 March

22

Appointed organist at Blasiuskirche, Muhlhausen, 15 June. Marries Marie Barbara Bach (23) at Dornheim, 17 Oct.

Buxtehude (c.70) dies, 1 Oct.

28

Visits Weissenfels, Feb. Third and fourth children (twins), Johann Christoph and Maria Sophia, born 23 Feb, and die, 23 Feb and c.13 March. Bach competes for organist’s post at Halle, Dec.

Corelli (59) dies, 8 Jan

J.L. Krebs bapt., 12 Oct.

29

Declines offer of Halle post, Feb, and is promoted to Konzertmeister at Weimar, 2 March. Fifth child, Carl Philipp Emanuel, born, 8 March.

Gluck born, 2 July

Jommelli born, 10 Sept.

32

Appointed Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold at Cothen, 5 Aug., but is at first prevented by Duke Wilhelm Ernst from taking up the post. Visits Dresden and accepts invitation to take part in contest with Marchand. Is imprisoned by Wilhelm Ernst, 6 Nov., but then allowed to leave Weimar, 2 Dec. Examines organ in Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, 16 Dec.

J. Stamitz bapt., 19 June.

44

Bach visits Weissenfels, Feb. Visits Cothen to perform funeral music for Prince Leopld, 23-4 March. St. Matthew Passion performed (for second? time) in Thomaskirche, 15 April. Disputes with council over admission of unmusical pupils to Thomasschule. Bach assumes direction of collegium musicum. Illness prevents his visiting Handel in Halle, June. Rektor of Thomasschule, J.H. Ernesti (77) dies, 16 Oct.

Heinichen (46) dies, 16 July.

45

Fourteenth child, Christiana Benedicta Louise, baptised, 1 Jan.; dies, 4 Jan.; Bach addresses memorandum on church music to town council, 23 Aug., and letter to Erdmann seeking possible employment in Gdansk, 28 Oct.. J.M. Gesner appointed Rektor of the Thomasschule, 8 Sept..

46

Clavier-Ubung I (BWV825-30) published. Fifteenth child, Christiana Dorothea, baptised, 18 March. St. Mark Passion performed in Thomaskirche, 23 March. Bach gives organ recitals in Dresden, 14-21 Sept. Examines organ at Stontzsch, 12 Nov.

Cannabich bapt., 28 Dec.

49

J.A. Ernesti (27) appointed Rektor of the Thomasschule. Christmas Oratorio, parts I-III performed 25, 26, 27 Dec.

Gossec born, 17 Jan.

50

Christmas Oratoria, parts IV-VI performed, 1, 2, 6 Jan. Clavier-Ubung II (BWV971, 831) published, May. Bach examines organ in Marienkirche, Mulhausen, June, where his son Gottfried Bernhard (20) is appointed organist, 16 June. Bach’s eighteenth child, Johann Christian, born, 5 Sept.

51

‘Battle of the prefects’ with Ernesti begins, July. Appointed Hofcompositeur to the Elector of Saxony, 19 Nov. Gives organ recital in Frauenkirche, Dresden, 1 Dec.

Caldar (c.66) dies, 28 Dec; Pergolesi (26) dies, 16 March.

52

…, 4 April. Bach temporarily relinquishes directorship of the collegium musicum, Spring. J.A. Schiebe publishes adverse criticism of Bach’s music. Johann Elias Bach joins Bach’s household as tutor and secretary, ? Oct. Nineteenth child, Johanna Carolina, bap t., 30 Oct.

Myslivecek born, 9 March.

54

Son, Johann Gottfried Bernhard (24), dies, 27 May. Bach gives organ recital in the Schlosskirche, Altenburg. Clavier-Ubung III published, Sept. Resumes as director of the collegium musicum, 2 Oct. Visits Weissenfels with Anna Magdalena, 7-14 Nov.

Dittersdorf born, 2 Nov.; Keiser (65) dies, 12 Sept; B. Marcello (52/53) dies, 24/25 July; Vanhal born, 12 May.

56

Clavier-Ubung IV published (or 1742).

Fux (c.80) dies, 13 Feb.; Gretry born, 8 Feb.; Vivaldi (63) dies, 28 July.

57

Twentieth child, Regina Susanna, bapt., 22 Feb. Johann Elias Bach leaves Leipzig, 31 Oct.

62

Visits court of Frederick the Great at Potsdam, 7-8 May, and gives organ recital in the Heiliggeistkirche there, 8 May. Composes and published (Sept.) the Musical Offering. Joins Mizler’s Society of Musical Sciences, June, for which he composes the Canonic Variations (BWV869).

Bononcini (76) dies, 9 July.

64

…Jan. Harrer performs Probe in Leipzig, with a view to succeeding Bach as Thomas Kantor, 8 June.

Cimarosa born, 17 Dec.

65

, March-April. Takes final communion, 22 July, and dies, 28 July. Buried in graveyard of the Johanniskirche, 31 July.

A. Marcello (66) dies

Source: “Bach” by Malcolm Boyd (Schirmer 1983, 199, cited by )

More than a Game: Bach may have composed canons for the same reason that we solve crossword puzzles; they were entertainment…a game. Perhaps he composed canons because he found in them a challenge of the first order. Or Bach may have written canons in order to stimulate his muse; composers often generate new ideas by employing canonic techniques. There is reason to suspect, however, that the Baroque taste for canon was more than a game, challenge, or method for generating ideas.

Window into the laws of music: Bach and his contemporaries were of the notion that music was a science…”sounding mathematics” in Mizler’s words…therefore reducible to theorem and law. Bach’s concurrence with the notion was demonstrated by his membership in Mizler’s Society for Musical Sciences…joined in 1747 while composing the Musical Offering…for which he not only submitted the thirteenth canon of the Fourteen on the Goldberg Ground but also composed the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch. If Bach believed that music was a science, he may have conceived of canon as a window through which it might be possible to glimpse its laws. Given as we are to understand the eighteenth-century compositional ideal of elaboratio…the development of ideas from a single theme (inventio)…Bach’s fascination with canon was more than entertainment.

Mystery of Musical Creation: There remains a third possible explanation why Bach and his contemporaries practiced the art of writing canons. The technique may have stood for them as a symbol of all that was NOT understood…that which was transcendent, therefore symbolic of themselves as creators and the processes of musical creation. Thus, while Bach may have composed canons in an effort to understand these processes, he could just as well have composed them as an expression of the very mystery of musical creation itself. We know by their enigmatical notations that Baroque composers viewed canon as something to be figured out, if not mediated by that select few (namely, composers) who understood it.

Genitum non-factum: The theological implications of the canon, while speculative to be sure, invite contemplation no less. Just as a well-composed leader had the potential to animate itself in multifarious followers, so, too, according to Christian cosmogony, the Creator animates all things, including music. And just as the canon follower was not created, but begotten (so to speak), it is conceivable that the process of canonic generation represented, to the Lutheran way of thinking, the second person of the Trinity: genitum non-factum…per quem omnia facta sunt (“begotten, not created…by whom all things were created”).

It is revealing that when Bach set the foregoing words to music in the Creed of his Mass in B Minor, he utilized canonic processes. While not technically a canon, the movement is very canon-like, but with pitch and time intervals continuously mutating. These mutations bring to mind the Trinitarian doctrine…three in one and one in three…in much the same manner as the third canon of the Variations on Vom Himmel hoch portrays heaven and earth by its mutating consonant and dissonant intervals separating leader and follower. Underlying both movements is the Christian doctrine of the dual nature of Christ incarnate, one with God, yet fully human. As sign of this duality, Bach does not allow the canonic followers to engage in unthinking mimicry but gives them independence. Yet, in its independence of time and pitch interval, the follower (Christ) is audibly generated by the leader (the Father), and always doing the Father’s will.

About the Nature of Meaning: In “Tonal Allegory in the Vocal Music of J.S. Bach,” Chafe suggests that Bach’s use of the term Symbolum in association with at least one of his canons suggests a metaphoric dimension “permitting us to take the canons as statements about the nature of meaning and the relationship between art and theology.” He writes: “Artists of the baroque period had means of expressing basic relationships between art and transcendent meaning.” One means was the poetic epigram wherein the author used antithesis, conceit and paradox to “instruct and familiarize the reader with basic concepts of faith in highly condensed form” (p. 14). Also called paradoxa, a typical epigram included juxtapositions of passages such as “God wills all men should be saved” with “Few are chosen” (I Timothy 2:4 and Matthew 22:14).

Chafe likens the allegorical canons of Bach’s oeuvre with Lutheran paradoxa noting that they, too, are rooted in antithesis (p. 15). Bach’s use of inversion, contrary motion, retrograde, major/minor and sharp/flat contrasts represented a microcosm of musical devices. But Bach’s canons are more than compressed tonal materials. With enigmatical notations such as mi contra fa, concordia discors, cross/crown, and beginning/ending, Bach associates his canons with a peculiarly Lutheran dialectic in which antithesis (what Augustine called “antinomy”) is a symbol for the cross of Christ. Thus Bach’s canons may have stood for the affirmation of Lutheran precept as much, or more, than commentary on Baroque art.

In the Final Analysis: We may never know why Bach wrote canons, nor is this necessary. Beauty in any form has reason enough to exist. But to continue to wonder at their creation can only add mystery to beauty, making the canons of J.S. Bach the most beautiful of all!

“The death of J.S. Bach in 1750 is generally regarded as an important turning point in music history.” (Smith 14) Stylistically, the Baroque era from 1600 — 1750, with music composers such as Bach and Handel noted as dense, polyphonic, and highly ornate musical shifted to the classical era. Haydn and Mozart composed the lighter, more elegant music, noted to be the musical language of composers such as Haydn and Mozart.

During his life, Bach had high ideals for the church music of Germany, and to start with, he began organizing the rather poor facilities of Muhlhausen; he began by making a large collection of the best German music available, including some of his own, and set about training the choir and a newly created orchestra to play the music.

The first result of these efforts was his cantata ‘Gott ist mein Konig’ (BWV 71), given in hitherto unknown splendor in the spacious Marienkirche to celebrate the inauguration of the Town Council in February 1708. This success gave Bach the courage to put in a long and detailed report, proposing a complete renovation and improvement of the organ in the St. Blasiuskirche. The Council agreed to carry out the renovation and improvements, and Bach was given the task of supervising the work, for not only was he now a brilliant player, he had also become an expert on the construction of organs.

However, before the organ was completed, a religious controversy arose in Muhlhausen between the orthodox Lutherans, who were lovers of music, and the Pietists, who were strict puritans and distrusted art and music. Bach was apprehensive of the latter’s growing influence, in addition to the fact that his immediate superior was a Pietist. Music in Muhlhausen seemed to be in a state of decay, and so once more he looked around for more promising possibilities.

Former contacts made in Weimar were now useful; the Duke of Weimar offered him a post among his Court chamber musicians, and on June 25, 1708, Bach sent in his letter of resignation to the authorities at Muhlhausen, stating very diplomatically that not only was he finding it difficult to keep a wife on the small salary agreed to on his arrival, but that he could see no chance of realizing his final aim, namely the establishment of a proper church music ‘to the glory of God’. The Council had little option but to allow his departure. However, the situation was concluded quite amicably and Bach was asked that he should continue to supervise the rebuilding of the St. Blasiuskirche organ. This he did, and some time in 1709 he came over to inaugurate its first performance.

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WEIMAR (second term): 1708-1717

Weimar was quite a small town with only 5000 inhabitants; yet Bach was to meet some very cultured people here. Not least was his employer, the Duke of Sachsen-Weimar, one of the most distinguished and cultured nobles of his time.

Bach’s two-fold position as member of the chamber orchestra and as Organist to the Court offered him many opportunities for improvement.

The Court Orchestra consisted of about 22 players: a compact string ensemble, a bassoon player, 6 or 7 trumpeters and a timpanist. Bach’s function in the orchestra was mainly as a violinist, however he also played the harpsichord and occasionally wrote or arranged some of the music. As was the custom in most 18th century Courts, the musicians also spent some of their time employed in household and domestic duties.

In 1714 Bach became the leader of the orchestra, and was now second only to the old and frail Capellmeister Johann Samuel Drese, whose duties he was gradually taking over.

As Court Organist, Bach had succeeded Johann Effler, a musician of some standing. The organ was new and not quite as large as the one at Arnstadt. After a few years, Bach declared that it was inadequate and should be rebuilt. It was in fact rebuilt at great expense according to his plans: proof of the high regard the Court had for his capabilities as organist and expert on organ construction.

During this period he wrote profusely for the organ, and he was rapidly becoming known throughout the country as one of the greatest German organists. Organ pupils came to him from far and wide, and he was asked to test or dedicate many organs in various towns. His tests were extremely thorough and critical. He used to say for fun ‘Above all I must know whether the organ has a good lung’, and, pulling out all the stops he produced the largest sound possible, often making the organ builders go pale with fright. He would usually complete his trial by improvising a prelude and fugue: the prelude to test the organ’s power, the fugue to test its clarity for counterpoint. Constantin Bellermann describes his playing (during a visit to Kassel) in these words; ‘His feet seemed to fly across the pedals as if they were winged, and mighty sounds filled the church’. Mizler’s ‘Nekrolog’ states: ‘His fingers were all of equal strength, all equally able to play with the finest precision. He had invented so comfortable a fingering that he could master the most difficult parts with perfect ease (using 5 fingers instead of the then normal 3). He was able to accomplish passages on the pedals with his feet which would have given trouble to the fingers of many a clever player on the keyboard’.

On a visit to Halle in 1713, during which he gave a trial cantata (probably BWV 21), he was invited to become organist in succession to Zachau, a composer well-known, and celebrated as Handel’s early teacher. However, the conditions and salary were not sufficient for his growing family, so he was obliged to refuse the post.

On a visit to Dresden, Bach was invited to compete in a contest with the visiting French organist, Louis Marchand, considered to be one of the best in Europe. but, on the day appointed for the contest, Marchand decided to withdraw discreetly by taking the fastest coach available back to France. And so Bach gave an impressive solo performance before the assembled audience and referees, establishing himself as the finest organist of the day.

Bach made some very good friends at Weimar, among whom was the eminent philologist and scholar Johann Matthias Gesner, who expressed with great eloquence his admiration for the composer’s genius. Bach was also a frequent visitor to the nearby ‘Rote Schloss’, the home of the former Duke’s widow and her two music-loving sons. Here the interest was in the new Italian style of music which was then becoming the rage of Europe, one of the chief exponents being the Venetian composer Vivaldi. Bach and his cousin Johann Georg Walther transcribed some of the Italian instrumental concertos for keyboard instruments.

During 1717 a feud broke out between the Duke of Weimar at the ‘Wilhelmsburg’ household and his nephew Ernst August at the ‘Rote Schloss’. Consequently musicians of the first household were forbidden to fraternize with those of the second. Bach did his best to ignore what was, after all, merely an extension of a private quarrel. But the atmosphere was no longer so pleasant. Added to this, the ancient Capellmeister then died, and Bach was passed over for the post in favor of the late Capellmeister’s mediocre son. At this, Bach was bitterly disappointed, for he had lately been doing most of the Capellmeister’s work, and had confidently expected to be given the post.

Through the help of Duke Ernst August, Bach was introduced to the Court of Anhalt-Cothen, and as a result he was offered the post of Capellmeister, which he accepted. This infuriated the Duke of Weimar, so that when Bach put in a polite request for his release, he was arrested and put in the local jail. However, after a month, he was released and given reluctant permission to resign his office. During this enforced rest, Bach typically used his time productively, and prepared a cycle of organ chorale preludes for the whole year, published later as the ‘Orgelbuchlein’.

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COTHEN: 1717-1723

Bach arrived at the small Court of Anhalt-Cothen to hold the position of Capellmeister, the highest rank given to a musician during the baroque age. His master was the young prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, barely twenty-five years old, the son of a Calvinist. As the Calvinists were antagonistic to the splendors of the Lutheran liturgy, there was no church music at Cothen; however, the young Prince’s religious beliefs did not bar him from enjoying a cheerful and cultivated style of living complete with secular cantatas and instrumental music featuring the latest styles and fashions. Prince Leopold had already spent three years (1710-13) doing the Grand Tour of Europe, first to Holland and England, through Germany to Italy, returning by way of Vienna. So he would have been thoroughly familiar with the latest European fashions in music.

The young Prince stretched the limited budget of his miniature Court to provide an orchestra of eighteen players, all chosen for their high musical standards from all over the country, some from as far afield as Berlin. In fact it was during the Prince’s Grand Tour in 1713 that news came to him of a golden opportunity: when Wilhelm I of Prussia came to power, he dismissed his father’s Court Capelle, and Prince Leopold was able to tempt many of the best musicians from Berlin to Cothen. He had well-developed musical tastes, having traveled widely, particularly to Italy, where he studied Italian secular music with great interest; he returned from Italy determined to raise the standard of German secular music to an equally high level.

Unlike most Princes of his time, he was a player of considerable proficiency on the harpsichord, the violin and the viola da gamba, and contrary to current Court etiquette he played quite freely and informally with his Court musicians, treating them entirely as his equals. He soon became very friendly with his new Capellmeister, having a high regard for him, and would often ask his advice on various matters.

Life at Cothen was informal and easy-going; in this happy atmosphere Bach’s days were completely devoted to music. During this period he wrote much of his chamber music; violin concertos, sonatas, keyboard music, etc.

When the Prince traveled, Bach and some of the Court musicians (together with instruments, including an ingenious folding-harpsichord) would accompany him on his extensive journeys. Twice they visited Carlsbad, the meeting place of the European aristocracy, in 1718 and in the summer of 1720. It was on returning from this second visit that Bach received a serious shock; his wife, Maria Barbara, whom he had left in perfect health three months earlier, had died and been buried in his absence, leaving four motherless children.

Two months later he visited Hamburg and expressed an interest in the newly vacant post of organist in the Jakobskirche. This church contained the famous Arp Schnitger organ with four manuals and sixty stops. However, Bach left Hamburg for Cothen before the audition, presumably because the conditions there did not suit him.

Bach continued with his work at Cothen. He was asked to compose and perform cantatas for the Prince’s birthday and the New Year; two each time, one sacred and one secular. To perform these works there were singers under contract from nearby Courts, and one of these, Anna Magdalena, daughter of J.C. Wilcke, Court and Field-Trumpeter at Weissenfels, attracted Bach’s attention with her fine soprano voice. In December 1721, Anna Magdalena and Bach married, she at the age of 20, and he 36.

Anna Magdalena was very kind to Bach’s children, a good housekeeper, and she took a lively interest in his work, often helping him by neatly copying out his manuscripts. In the twenty-eight years of happy marriage that followed, thirteen children were born to the Bach family (though few of them survived through childhood).

A week after Bach’s wedding, the Prince also married. But for Bach this was to be an unfortunate event, as the new Princess was not in favor of her husband’s musical activities and managed, by exerting constant pressure (as Bach wrote in a letter), to ‘Make the musical inclination of the said Prince somewhat luke-warm’. Bach also wrote to his old school-friend, Erdmann, ‘There I had a gracious Prince as master, who knew music as well as he loved it, and I hoped to remain in his service until the end of my life’.

But in any case, Bach was now having to consider his growing sons; he wished to give them a good education, and there was no university at Cothen, nor the cultured atmosphere and facilities of a larger city.

So once more, Bach decided to look around for somewhere new. It may perhaps have been these circumstances which led Bach to revive an old invitation to produce what are now known as the Brandenburg Concertos. We know from the opening of this dedication, dated March 24th 1721, that Bach had already met the Margrave of Brandenburg, at which time Bach had been invited to provide some orchestral music.

“Your Royal Highness; as I had a couple of years ago the pleasure of appearing before Your Royal Highness, by virtue of Your Highness’ commands, and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the small talents which Heaven has given me for Music, and as in taking leave of Your Royal Highness, Your Highness deigned to honor me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my Composition: I have then in accordance with Your Highness’ most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present Concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments…. For the rest, Sire, I beg Your Royal Highness very humbly to have the goodness to continue Your Highness’ gracious favor toward me, and to be assured that nothing is so close to my heart as the wish that I may be employed on occasions more worthy of Your Royal Highness and of Your Highness’ service…..”

There is some internal evidence in the music itself that Bach was intending to visit Berlin in person for the first performance of these works. There are for example some musicological errors in the scores – hardly something Bach would permit were he seriously dedicating music to a dignitary, particularly with the hope of prospective employment. The most noteworthy indication however is the missing middle movement of the third concerto. Bach, so his contemporaries frequently noted, would not even permit his performers to put in their own trills and elaborations; he would certainly not have left an entire movement to the whim of some distant performer about whose capabilities Bach knew nothing.

History shows no record of Bach’s having subsequently visited the Margrave at his Brandenburg Court. There could be many reasons for this. The Margrave was not easily accessible as he was more frequently to be found in residence at his estates at Malchow than in Berlin. Moreover the death of Johann Kuhnau, Cantor of the Thomasschule at Leipzig in June 1722 opened the possibility of an appointment for Bach at Leipzig, perhaps more attractive to him than Berlin. Leipzig was situated in familiar territory where he already had many musical and courtly connections; in addition it had a famous university, and the three-times-yearly Trade Fair gave the city a distinctly cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The merits of various candidates to succeed Kuhnau were considered, and the Council eventually nominated Georg Philipp Telemann. However, the authorities at Hamburg would not release Telemann, and so the candidature was left pending. This position of Cantor at Leipzig had been favorably described to Bach, and as the town offered the necessary educational facilities for his sons, he applied for the post. The Council, after trying unsuccessfully to get a certain Christoph Graupner, old boy of the Thomasschule and Capellmeister at Darmstadt, eventually settled for Bach as a reasonable alternative.

Bach applied for his dismissal at Cothen, and the Prince, regretting his departure but not wishing to stand in his way, quickly consented.

And so Bach left with his family and belongings for Leipzig, where he was to remain for the rest of his life.

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LEIPZIG 1: 1723-1729 – Cantor and Director of Music

Leipzig, with a population of 30.000, was the second city of Saxony, the center of the German printing and publishing industries, an important European trading center, and site of a progressive and famous university. It was also one of the foremost centers of German cultural life, with magnificent private dwellings, streets well paved and illuminated at night, a recently opened municipal library, a majestic town hall, and a vibrant social life. Outside its massive town walls were elegant tree-lined promenades and extensive formal gardens. The old-established university drew scholars and men of distinction from far and wide, and the famous book trade contributed much to the cultural life of the city. One of Leipzig’s most important features was its international commerce. When the Leipzig Trade Fair was in progress, the respectable town was transformed into a show-ground mixing business with pleasure, and was popular with members of the Royal Court of Dresden. Many connections were established between nations on these occasions, and this in turn had a beneficial effect on the civic economy and culture as well as the international variety of its music.

Bach moved to Leipzig on May 22, 1723, where for the remaining 27 years of his life he was to live and work as Cantor, or Directore Chori Musici Lipsiensis – Director of Choir and Music in Leipzig. He would have known the town from previous visits, as he had come, for instance, in December 1717 to test the large new organ (53 stops) in the University Church, the Paulinerkirche, just completed by the Leipzig organ builder Johann Scheibe. Despite the Leipzig Council’s almost disrespectful reticence in appointing him, Bach’s arrival was clearly a major event in the musical and social world, and one North German newspaper described it in great detail: “Last Saturday at noon, four carts laden with goods and chattels belonging to the former Capellmeister to the Court of Cothen arrived in Leipzig and at two in the afternoon, he and his family arrived in two coaches and moved into their newly decorated lodgings in the school building.” The Bach family at that time comprised his wife and four children, of eight, nine, twelve and fourteen years of age. May 31, 1723, marked the inaugural ceremony for the new Capellmeister with the customary speeches and anthems, putting an end to six unsettled months for the city in filling the post.

The school of St. Thomas was situated on the western wall of the town, not far from the imposing Pleissenburg fortress with its large tower on the south-western corner of the town wall. The school had around 60 boarders, aged between 11 and early 20s, and provided the choirs for at least four city churches. These boarders were mainly from deprived backgrounds and were maintained at the school on a charitable basis, and they also occasionally had to sing outdoors at funerals and in the city streets for alms.

Bach’s apartment in the school was divided between the ground floor and the next two floors. From the window of his study (Componierstube) on the first upper floor of the Thomasschule, Bach would look out west over the town wall, to a magnificent view of the surrounding gardens, fields and meadows, a view about which Goethe later wrote “When I first saw it, I believed I had come to the Elysian Fields.” Adjacent to the Thomas Schule was the narrow St. Thomas gate (Thomaspfortchen) set in the town wall with a small bridge over the town’s moat leading to a popular walk bordered with lime trees which followed the town wall between the moat and the Pleisse river. Along here were some of the eight Leipzig garden Coffee-houses situated outside the town, where much of the musical life of the city took place during the summer. Indeed the city was nicknamed ‘Athens on the Pleisse’, and offered many attractions for the summer holiday-makers in its well cared-for parks and pleasure gardens beside the river Pleisse and its idyllic surrounding countryside.

Though contemporary newspaper reports stated that the incoming Cantor’s apartments were “newly renovated,” the building itself, dating from 1553, was however, in a somewhat dilapidated condition; discipline was practically non-existent, the staff quarreled among themselves, and the living conditions were unhealthy. Parents were unwilling to send their children to a school where illness amongst the pupils was so prevalent, and consequently, there were only 54 scholars out of a possible 120.

The Cantor’s duties were to organize the music in the four principal churches of Leipzig, and to form choirs for these churches from the pupils of the Thomasschule. He was also to instruct the more musically talented scholars in instrument playing so that they might be available for the church orchestra, and to teach the pupils Latin (which Bach quickly delegated to a junior colleague).

Out of the 54 boys at Bach’s disposal for use in the different choirs, he stated, ’17 are competent, 20 not yet fully, and 17 incapable’. The best singers were selected to form the choir which sang the Sunday cantata; one week at the Thomaskirche, the other week at the Nikolaikirche. A ‘second’ choir, of the same size but less ability, would sing at the church without the cantata. The ‘third’ choir of even less ability at the Petrikirche, the ‘fourth’ at the Neuekirche.

The orchestra used for the cantatas consisted of up to 20 players. The city had, for a century or more, maintained a Town Band (stadtisches Orchester) consisting of four wind players and four string players. It may be assumed by the presence of the near-legendary Gottfried Reicha among them both as wind and string player, and after 1719 their “senior,” that they were players of a high standard. Surprisingly perhaps to present-day readers, they were expected to be proficient in the violin, reed, flute and brass families. They were under the control of the Thomaskantor.

Bach would certainly have taken steps early on to ensure that the instruments used wee in top condition. We know that the stringed instruments used were maintained during the 1730s, and several of them built, by the celebrated Leipzig instrument maker (and Court Lute-maker) JC Hoffmann (Hoffmann’s instruments are still in possession of and played in the Thomaskirche today). Hoffmann incidentally also built a viola pomposa, a tenor of the violin family, to Bach’s orders.

Music-making was a popular pastime, and the regular concerts at Zimmerman’s Coffee House and other musical venues would indicate that there were no doubt musicians in the town who could be invited to attend in the gallery for church performances. Thus it may be assumed that Bach could count on a fairly professional orchestra. Bach’s many arias featuring oboe obbligato attest to the presence of a good oboist among the town’s wind players (possibly Reicha himself?). Viola and violin obbligati Bach would normally play himself. It is highly unlikely that there was either a chamber organ or a harpsichord in the gallery – the main organ being used exclusively. The wealth and complexity of instrumentation in Bach’s cantatas is evidence itself that musicianship of a high standard was not hard for him to obtain. His sons and pupils would also have participated, together with visiting musicians happy no doubt to have the honor of performing under the direction of the now famous Herr Bach.

In Leipzig there was none of the aristocratic ease of the Court of Cothen, where Bach could make music as and when he liked; here he had to keep strictly to his duties within the organized life of church and school. Singing classes were held from 9 to 12 am on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays the Cantor was free, on Friday he taught in the morning. Rehearsals for the Sunday Cantatas took place on Saturday afternoons.

The Sunday services began at 7a.m, with a motet, hymns, and an organ voluntary. The cantata, usually lasting about 20 minutes, preceded the hour-long sermon, or if the cantata was in two parts, it came before and after the sermon. The main service finished at about mid-day, after which there followed a communion service.

There were also week-day services for Bach to superintend at the four churches, also in one of the ancient hospitals and in a ‘house of correction’. Although these services were simple and required only a few hymns, the Cantor had to organize a group of about nine singers to work on a rota system. Apart from this, he had to attend and compose music for funerals and various other occasions. Bach also took a lively interest in the divine services at the University church, the Paulinerkirche. It was only after he had conducted eleven services up till Christmas 1725, that he discovered that the Cantor of Leipzig was no longer officially director of music in the University church, this position being given to the moderately talented organist of the Nikolaikirche. A long dispute between Bach and the authorities arose over this, and it was only after he had appealed to the Elector of Saxony at Dresden that a compromise was reached.

Bach nonetheless performed his duties as required, pursuing during these early years his long-held objective of providing a complete set of cantatas for every Sunday corresponding to the liturgical year. This self-imposed task was largely completed during his first 5 years, after which he produced cantatas with less regularity.

It may sometimes appear to listeners enjoying Bach’s cantatas today, that some of the arias are – well – perhaps a little less imaginative than might be expected from such a great master. That this is in fact the case may be explained by recalling the educational customs of Bach’s time. Much stress was placed on “learning by doing” – by copying or transcribing works of the masters, by copying part-scores for performances, by working out continuo parts… And by composing simpler recitatives and arias for performance. It should also be recalled that any duties enumerated as part of a titular position were to be fulfilled, but not necessarily by the incumbent personally. Bach’s position for example required him to provide instruction in Latin, which he did by delegation. Delegation was an accepted means of fulfilling obligations, and was also seen as means of instructing the more gifted pupils. While Bach did in fact delegate the composition of some recitatives and arias to his pupils, he would always set the tone by composing an opening chorus reflecting the scriptural theme of the week. In the case of more important occasions he would compose the entire cantata himself. The listener can usually be sure of Bach’s personal authorship of a particular aria or recitative when it bears Bach’s “signature” – accompaniment scored for strings, rather than simple figured bass.

One particularly special performance of a work by Bach was recorded in some detail: the cantata known as the Trauerode, BWV 198.

In 1697, the Elector Augustus of Saxony assumed the Polish crown, a step that obliged him to adopt the Roman Catholic faith. His wife, Christiane Eberhardine, preferred her Lutheranism to her husband, however, so she renounced the throne and lived apart from him until her death on September 6th, 1727, an event which was deeply mourned in strongly Lutheran Saxony. Two weeks later, one Hans von Kirchbach, a nobleman student at the University of Leipzig, proposed to organize a memorial service in the Paulinerkirche during which he would deliver a valedictory address. Von Kirchbach commissioned a sometime librettist of Bach’s, Johann Christoph Gottsched, to write verses for a mourning ode, and Bach to set these verses to music. A difficulty arose, however, because of the fact that Von Kirchbach’s choice of composer ignored the director of music at the University Church, Herr Gorner, who as Bach’s protocol senior would ordinarily have supplied the music for a University function of this sort. Gorner protested, and Kirchbach was required to pay him twelve thalers in compensation. Bach was then granted permission to compose the Ode, albeit with a reprimand that he was not thereafter “to assume the right to compose music for academic festivals.” The permission came on October 12th, but Bach must have had Gottsched’s text a few days before. In any case, the score was finished on the15th, just two days before the performance. A great catafalque bearing the Queen’s emblems stood in the center of the crowded church, and the service began with the ringing of all the bells of the city. Kirchbach delivered his oration after the second chorus. According to the program, the Ode was “set by Herr Bach in the Italian style.” Herr Bach conducted the performance from a harpsichord, among the musicians in the gallery.

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LEIPZIG 2: 1729-1740 – the Collegium Musicum

Much is often made in current biographical notes, of Bach’s disputes with the Council. When fuller, more detailed and more recent research is taken into account these records may perhaps give an unbalanced picture of Bach’s life there at that time. There is no doubt whatsoever that he was widely respected as a composer, musician, teacher, organist, and specialist in organ construction. This respect was to grow steadily, as Bach’s reputation widened, and as he gained the official title of Court Composer to the Dresden Court – the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. This comfortable security of position combined with the fact that Bach had established, during his first six or seven years’ tenure, a more than sufficient repertoire of cantatas (it has been suggested that he composed in total some 300), allowed him to widen his musical scope of activity.

Bach would now begin to devote more time to activities outside Leipzig; to examine for musical appointments, to advise on organ building, to lend support from time to such private establishments as at Cothen and Weissenfels, where he was honorary Capellmeister from 1729-1736. In particular, Bach had become famous, not only as an organist and improvisator, but as an expert in organ construction. As a result he was frequently asked to advise on new organ specifications and to test newly completed instruments with a thorough and detailed examination and report, as was the custom of the time.

Bach developed a close working relationship with his contemporary, the celebrated Saxon organ-builder Gottfried Silbermann, who was also a personal friend of the Bach family and godfather to Carl Philipp Emmanuel. Bach may well have played any number of Silbermann’s instruments, almost all of which were located in Saxony. In 1733 Bach petitioned the Elector of Saxony in Dresden for an official title, enclosing copies of the Kyrie and Gloria from the b-minor Mass; though unsuccessful, Bach tried again this time with the backing of his Dresden patron Count von Keyserlingk. Thereafter he received the title, and signed himself as Dresden Hofcompositeur. By way of acknowledgment Bach presented a two-hour recital on the new Silbermann organ in the Frauenkirche (tragically destroyed in the Second World War and now being actively rebuilt).

It is on record that the Council reprimanded Bach in August 1730 for leaving his teaching duties in the overworked hands of his junior colleague, Petzold; for not properly disciplining his choirs, and for his frequent unauthorized journeys away from Leipzig. Bach did not try to justify himself, which further annoyed the Council, and so they attempted to diminish his income. This drove Bach to write to his school-friend Erdmann in Danzig, asking him to find him a ‘convenient post’ where he could escape the ‘trouble, envy and persecution’ which he had perpetually to face in Leipzig.

The city would have lost Bach if his friend Gesner had not intervened on his behalf. Gesner had just taken over the post of headmaster at the Thomasschule after the death in 1729 of the former headmaster, and he used his influence to settle the situation between Bach and the authorities, and to secure him better working conditions. The 1730s was a great period of new building and urban improvement in Leipzig and between May 1730 and June 1732 alterations and improvements were made to the Thomasschule buildings, including the addition of two upper floors and some exterior “restyling.” Bach’s own accommodations were much improved in the process. The choral forces were much diminished during this period and so Bach produced a number of solo cantatas. The school buildings were reopened on June 5, 1732 with a dedicatory cantata BWV Anhang 18. At the opening speech, Gesner stressed the need for music within the foundation – which must have given Bach some hope for a brighter future in the school.

Unfortunately however, Gesner left Leipzig in 1733 to take up an appointment as professor at the University of Gottingen. His successor was Johann August Ernesti, 29 years old, a former senior member of the Thomasschule staff. Ernesti had entirely new ideas on education: Classics and Theology were out of date, and there must be more stress on subjects that would be useful in secular life. This led to disputes with Bach who particularly wanted more time to train his choirs and musicians.

This renewal of the old disputes with the school and church authorities must have been a considerable discouragement for Bach; in any case it is apparent that from then on he appeared less and less eager to provide the Council with church music. Salvation came however in the form of the Collegium Musicum; when Bach became its permanent director in 1729 he began to receive official recognition of the high regard in which he was generally held. It is worth examining the activities of this musical group in some detail as it gives a closeup view of everyday cultural life in the Leipzig of the 1730s.

In Bach’s time, the city of Leipzig already had an established tradition of Collegia Musica – secular musical organizations, run mainly by the students of the city’s famed university – dating back at least to the middle of the preceding century, if not its beginning. Many of Leipzig’s most famous musicians were connected with the students’ musical activities (among them several Thomaskantors) and contributed music of the highest quality. Various such groups came and went. At the beginning of the1700s, two new ones – which were to enjoy a comparatively long existence – were founded by two young men at the University who were eventually to number among the most celebrated composers of their time. One was established in 1702 by the redoubtable Georg Philipp Telemann; the other was begun six years later, by Johann Friedrich Fasch. Fasch’s group ultimately fell to the direction of Johann Gottlieb Gorner, the director of music at the University and a constant musical rival of Bach’s. After Telemann left Leipzig the leadership of his Collegium was taken by Balthasar Schott, the Neukirche organist.

In the spring of 1729, Schott moved to a new position in Gotha, and Bach took over directorship of the Collegium.

The story of Bach’s Collegium Musicum is closely bound to a Leipzig coffeeshop-proprietor named Gottfried Zimmermann. The concerts were given on Zimmermann’s premises, probably under his auspices. During the winter, the group played every Friday night, from 6 to 8pm, in Zimmermann’s coffee house on the Catherine Strasse, centrally placed close to the Marktplatz. In the warmer months, the music was moved outdoors, to Zimmermann’s coffee garden “in front of the Grimma gate, on the Grimma stone road” – so the address is given in contemporary reports, with summer performances on Wednesdays, from 4 to 6pm.

That Gottfried Zimmerman was not only a restaurateur and impresario, but also a music-lover and quite possibly a competent musician, is indicated by the fact, as confirmed by several contemporary newspaper reports, that he frequently re-equipped his establishment with the latest musical instruments for use by the Collegium and other musical guests. One of his prize possessions in the late 1720s was “a clavcymbel of large size and range of expressivity” which was a Leipzig attraction in itself. It was replaced by an ‘even finer instrument’ in 1733. German harpsichords were larger and fuller in tone than their Italian and French contemporaries, offering a much wider range of sound. The new instrument would certainly have had two, possibly three manuals, and may have been the work of the famous Hamburg builder Hass similar to his 1740 instrument with three manuals and five choirs of strings (2′, 4′, 8′, 8′ and 16′). There may well have been a separate organ-type pedalboard.

Two types of concerts were given: ordinaire and extraordinaire. The former were the standard performances; the latter were for special celebrations (king’s birthdays and the like), and were usually marked by elaborate festive cantatas, with trumpets and drums in full splendor. (Bach adapted many of these works into church pieces; the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, for example, is made up largely of such adaptations). About the regular concerts we know less; the Leipzig newspapers, in general, only announced the extraordinaire events. Presumably, instrumental music was heard, ranging from clavier solos through sonatas to orchestral works. It was doubtless here that Bach’s concerti for one or several harpsichords received their performances, many of these having been adapted from earlier (eg violin) concertos, or from concertos by other composers (eg Vivaldi). Occasionally, too, vocal music might be given; such an example is the Coffee Cantata, BWV 211, first presented in 1732. It is also on record that works of Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Locatelli, Albinoni and others were performed.

Admission was charged for the extraordinaire concerts, and also for those occasional “special concerts” (Sonder-konzerte) which featured distinguished visiting artists. The regular concerts were probably free.

These concerts were serious events, given outside of the regular coffee shop hours, and were thus not merely an ornament to the usual culinary attractions. The performances of the Collegium were, in fact, hardly different from what we consider to be normal concert procedure today. Indeed, the word “concert” began to be used expressly in connection with the Collegium during its later years.

The schedule of weekly performances, the composition of new works, rehearsing them, arranging programs, etc., reveals that the Collegium Musicum was no mere diversion for Bach. The fact is that this was, for much of his later life, his central artistic activity, the church becoming almost peripheral. In the years with the Collegium Bach satisfied a side of himself that certainly must have lain dormant since the happy and fruitful period at Cothen. He remained its director from 1729 until the death of Gottfried Zimmermann in 1741.

Bach also enjoyed visits, often with his son Wilhelm Friedemann, to Dresden, where he would meet with friends in the Court Orchestra and perhaps visit the Opera. On one occasion he called upon his patron Count von Keyserlingk, whom he presented with the set of variations now known as the Goldberg variations after the count’s harpsichordist.

LEIPZIG 3: 1744-1750 – the Introspective Years

During the latter years of his life Bach gradually withdrew inwards, producing some of the most profound statements of baroque musical form.

In his own much improved apartments of the newly rebuilt Thomasschule Bach would welcome visiting musicians from all over Germany and many other countries. His son Carl-Phillip Emanuel was to write that “no musician of any consequence passing through Leipzig would fail to call upon my father.” No doubt they and some of his sons would enjoy a private concert in Bach’s large music-room, perhaps featuring concertos for 2, 3 or 4 harpsichords, for Bach kept six claviers and many other instruments.

In 1747, on his way to visit his daughter-in-law in Berlin who was expecting her second child to his son Carl Phillip Emmanuel, Bach stopped at Potsdam after two weary days of traveling. Here he had been invited to attend at the Royal Palace of King Frederick the Great of Prussia, where his son Carl Phillip Emmanuel was also employed as Court Harpsichordist.

On Bach’s arrival, Frederick was about to begin his evening concert, in which he himself played the flute with the orchestra, when he was given the list of people who had arrived at Court. Laying down his flute, he said to his orchestra, ‘Gentlemen, old Bach is here’. He cancelled his evening concert and invited Bach straight up to try his new fortepianos built by Bach’s organ-builder colleague and friend Gottfried Silbermann. The King owned several of these instruments, located in different rooms. After Bach had played on all the different instruments, moving with the King and musicians from room to room, Bach invited the King to give him a theme on which to improvise; Bach of course rose to the occasion, improvising at length and with amazing skill. On his return to Leipzig, to show his gratitude for the excellent reception he had received at Potsdam, Bach developed the King’s theme into a sequence of complex contrapuntal movements, added a sonata for violin and flute (Frederick being a flute-player), entitled the whole ‘A Musical Offering’ and sent it to the Court with a letter of dedication.

On the day following the musical evening, a royal procession made its way around Potsdam, as Bach was invited to play on all the city’s organs.

Bach then became a member of the Mitzler society, a learned society devoted to the promotion of musical science, whose members were expected on joining to display some token of their learning. Bach’s opening contribution was a set of canonic variations on the Christmas hymn, ‘Vom Himmel hoch’.

In these last years of his life, Bach’s creative energy was conserved for the highest flights of musical expression: the Mass in b minor, the Canonic Variations, the Goldberg Variations, and of course the Musical Offering displaying the art of canon. His last great work is the complete summary of all his skill in counterpoint and fugue; methods which he perfected, and beyond which no composer has ever been able to pass. This work is known to us as ‘Die Kunst der Fuge’ (‘the Art of the Fugue’, BWV 1080).

Bach had overworked in poor light throughout his life, and his eyesight now began to fail him. The Leipzig Council started looking around as early as June 1749 for a successor. On the advice of friends, Bach put himself in the hands of a visiting celebrated English ophthalmic specialist, John Taylor (who also operated on Handel) and who happened to be passing through Leipzig. Two cataract operations were performed on his eyes, in March and Apri1 1750, and their weakening effect was aggravated by a following infection which seriously undermined his health.

He spent the last months of his life in a darkened room, revising his great chorale fantasias (BWV 651-668) with the aid of Altnikol, his pupil and son-in-law. It was in these circumstances that he composed his last chorale fantasia, based fittingly on the chorale “Before Thy Throne O. Lord I Stand.” He was also working on a fugue featuring the subject B-a-C-H (B in German notation is B flat, while H. In German notation = B natural). He had often been asked why he had not exploited this theme before, and had indicated that, despite its thematic possibilities, he would consider it arrogant to do so. Appropriately, perhaps intentionally, it was left unfinished at his death. (This incomplete fugue, normally appended to the Art of the Fugue in performances, has no discernible connection with the Art of the Fugue, though the Art of Fugue theme can be made to fit, as Gustav Nottebohm pointed out in 1880.) the last great Triple Fugue of the Art (Contrapunctus XI) may also have been written during his final days. BAROQUE COMPOSERSAND

McCombm

Bach is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of western music. Bach’s main achievement lies in his synthesis and advanced development of the primary contrapuntal idiom of the late Baroque, and in the basic tunefullness of his thematic material. He was able to successfully integrate and expand upon the harmonic and formal frameworks of the national schools of the time: German, French, Italian & English, while retaining a personal identity and spirit in his large output. Bach is also known for the numerical symbolism and mathematical exactitude which many people have found in his music — for this, he is often regarded as one of the pinnacle geniuses of western civilization, even by those who are not normally involved with music.

Bach spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as both organist and music director. Much of his music is overtly religious, while many of his secular works admit religious interpretations on some levels. His large output of organ music is considered to be the greatest legacy of compositions for the instrument, and is the measure by which all later efforts are judged. His other solo keyboard music is held in equally high esteem, especially for its exploration of the strictly contrapuntal fugue; his 48 Preludes & Fugues (the Well-Tempered Clavier) are still the primary means by which these forms are taught. His other chamber music is similarly lofty, the sets for solo violin & solo cello being the summits of their respective genres. Bach’s large-scale sacred choral music is also unique in its scope and development, the Passions and B Minor Mass having led to the rediscovery of his music in the 19th century. His huge output of cantatas for all occasions is equally impressive. Finally, his large output of concerti includes some of the finest examples of the period, including the ubiquitous Branden

The oldest American Bach Choir, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem gave the first complete American performances of the Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio.

Since its founding in 1898, the now-famous Choir has been attracting thousands of national and international visitors every May to its annual Bethlehem Bach Festival.

Under Greg Funfgeld’s passionate direction, 95 volunteer members sing not only with traditional Bach Choir dedication and enthusiasm, but also with a new level of musicianship and understanding of Bach’s choral universe. Today’s performances feature the finely-honed vocal ensemble, a fully professional orchestra, and world-renowned soloists. The repertoire includes 133 cantatas, all of the motets, and 15 of Bach’s larger works.

During the past decade the Choir has received critical acclaim for performances at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the Herkulessaal at Munich’s Royal Residence, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as for its recordings on the Dorian label. The Choir will tour the United Kingdom in July, 2003, including a performance for the prestigious BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The Choir has presented its outstanding “Bach to School” program to nearly 50,000 children. Other educational programs include the annual Family Concert, a Choral Scholars program for gifted high-school seniors who sing with the Choir for one year, and a Philadelphia High School Bach Weekend.

berg Concertos. ~

This is where you might give a brief introduction to the specific nature of your intended research — what data you intend you use and what your overall methods and techniques will be

The following research questions

4. Who were some of the great leaders/composers in music history; during Renaissance, Romantic and Baroque eras? e.g. Bach; Monteverdi; Liszt

5. What are some of their contributions which continue to be relevant? Why?

6. What leadership strategies from research can be utilized to empower the high school music student body?

.g. Bach; Monteverdi; Liszt

1. 1- Introduction including why thesis is important for the disciplines it incorporates.

2. 2-key terms and concepts explains important terms, theories and methods

3. 3- Literature review explore previously published work that is important and relevant to the thesis including primary and secondary works

4. 4- detailed explanation of approach to the research problem or quesion and your

3.2: The role individuals “play: in history. . . (thought to use in Template)

The following figure () presents a photo of Igor Stravinsky at work.

Figure: Igor Stravinsky (Schwartz)

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), an international, Russian composer developed two of the major strains of contemporary music, according to Joseph (305) and Schwartz, outranks the rest of the composers in music history, as he created music components that continue to live today. Stravinsky “is responsible for anything we use in music…. He was like Einstein — nobody like him. He made musique dansante. There have only been three who could do it. Delibes, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky.” Russian/international composer who began two of the major strains of contemporary music.

Stravinsky, Joseph (305) contends, created time that works with the small parts of the human body. “Probably dance would stop if we did not have Stravinsky.” Some of his early works, e.g. The Symphony No. 1 in E Flat reflects the style he learned from Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of his music teachers. Joseph (305. An example of Stravinsk’s “bright” instrumentation and his emphasis on stamping, irregular rhythms, Schwartz notes, are especially heard in the Firebird’s “Infernal Dance of the King Katschei.”

Firebird’s success led to two more ballets for Diaghilev’s Ballets russes: Petrouchka and Le Sacre du Printemps, both landmarks of twentieth-century music. The Russian element becomes less Romantic and more “objectified.” By Le Sacre, the “infernal” element of Firebird had erupted into a previously-unheard, epic “barbarism,” so much so that some of the audience rioted at the Paris premiere. The score became an icon of musical modernism and influenced many other modern giants, including Sergei Prokofieff (Symphony Nos. 2 and 3, Scythian Suite, and They Are Seven), Bela Bartok (Allegro barbaro, the Miraculous Mandarin, the piano sonata, and Cantata profana), Darius Milhaud (Les Choephores), Arthur Honegger (Mouvements symphoniques), and the young Aaron Copland (Grohg). Stravinsky felt uncomfortable with the direction and almost immediately turned again, searching for a sparer music. Works in this transitional period include Symphonies for Wind Instruments and part of the opera Le Rossignol.

The end of World War I moved Stravinsky’s music even further in this direction with L’Histoire du Soldat, Tango, and Ragtime. In all these scores, he introduces a pared-down aesthetic and what at first seems like an element of parody but which turns out to be an element of “objectification,” like a Cubist collage with everyday objects. At the same time, he becomes interested in classical procedures and updates them for an expanded harmonic language. Masterpieces include the octet, the “ballet with song” Pulcinella, and Oedipus Rex, which takes off from the Handelian oratorio. The new style, termed neoclassicism, again captures the allegiance of most composers. Stravinsky, as Leonard Bernstein remarked, had called the tune again. Between the two wars, he was probably the most influential modern composer, especially in the United States and France. His masterpieces include the Concerto for two solo pianofortes, the piano and the violin concerti, the ballets Apollo and Jeu de Cartes, Concerto in D. For strings, Danses Concertantes, Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, Symphony of Psalms, Symphony in Three Movements, Symphony in C, Ebony Concerto, Mass, climaxing in the full-length opera the Rake’s Progress (libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman), a twentieth-century classic.

After the Rake’s Progress, Stravinsky felt he had reached a creative impasse with the neoclassic style. He turned to serialism and became strongly influenced by the manner of Anton Webern, although he never lost his personal musical imprint. Major works include Movements for piano and orchestra, the Dove Descending Breaks the Air for chorus, Cantata, in Memoriam Dylan Thomas, Three Shakespeare Songs, Threni, Introit, and Requiem Canticles.

Stravinsky wrote music with the craft of a fine jeweler. Almost everything he wrote is of very high quality, and much of it has entered the standard repertory. (Schwartz)

Baily, and Collyer relate concepts concerning music as an easily created a form “cultural production.”

Blasi, and Foley point out that the fact that “all cultures have music suggests that children are inherently musical, [and] . . . Music education, particularly learning to play an instrument, has been found to have many benefits for cognitive development.” They stress that music benefits brain development and also enhances thinking and reasoning capabilities.

Much of music history, retrieved by the contemporary world, has “holes in it.” Bullard contends. Consequently, individuals today do not know how most instruments sounded in the past. The retrieved instruments have been damaged and/or altered, which in turn compromises potential authenticity.

Blakemore reports on research regarding the brain during physical activity and notes that movement is essential to learning. “To ‘pin down’ a thought, there must be movement…. Movement anchors thought…. Learning involves the building of skills, and skills of every manner are built through the movement of muscles…. Medicine, art, music, science: competence in these and other professions develop through an intricate internal net-working among thought, muscles, and emotions.”

Bloechl covers the subject of violence as it relates to music: “Because we cannot ultimately speak of ‘ancestors’ in abstraction we must speak instead of particular women and men in whose past lives or works we are often driven to see (or hear) ourselves. (6) Our recognition of the violence faced by an Isabella MediciOrsini or our appreciation of the deferral of violence in the music and self-stylings of a Madalena Casulana can, as Cusick writes, ‘free” us ‘to imagine and embrace new ways of organizing’ our own worlds while honoring the ways shown us by our teachers and ancestors (284).”

Carlson, Hoffman, Gray, and Thompson present the questions with music noted in answers: “What about students who do not find reading an enjoyable experience? More significant, what can we do for students who have learning or behavioral needs that make reading a challenging, if not arduous, experience?”

Edelson, and Johnson discuss music and math connection. “Brain researcher Eric Jensen, when asked about the arts and education, stated that ‘music is a part of all of us, and it’s critical to us as learners to develop pattern-making,’ adding that math skills tend to be stronger in students who have a music background (D’Arcangelo, 1998, p. 25).”

Ford’s work includes Homer during the French Renaissance. He considers “the sixteenth century in three main periods, each with its own emblematic figure. The first period, from the beginning of the century until 1540, will be characterized by the work of Guillaume Bude; the second, from 1541 to 1570, by Jean Dorat (1508-88); and the third, from 1571 till the end of the century, by J.C. Scaliger, whose influence — even though he died in 1558 — only really became established in the closing decades of the century.”

Hann suggests: “If we may judge by his name, the Semitic king who bore the name of Cinyras was, like King David, a harper; for the name of Cinyras is clearly connected with the Greek cinyra, ‘a lyre’, which in its turn comes from the Semitic kinnor, ‘a lyre’, the very word applied to the instrument on which David played before Saul. We shall probably not err in assuming that at Paphos as at Jerusalem the music of the lyre or harp was not a mere pastime designed to while away an idle hour, but formed part of the service of religion, the moving influence of its melodies being perhaps set down, like the effect of wine, to the direct inspiration of a deity.”

Heaggans discusses contemporary hip-hop music and how it evolved “from the violence of gangsta rap. Many hip-hop artists profess in their lyrics and videos to be simply speaking the truth about their realities; however these lyrics and images do not empower African-Americans in these situations to get out. Instead the cycle of homicide, drugs, poverty, domestic violence, and AIDS continues to manifest itself in the black community. Some hip-hop artists have taken on the tools of oppression and become the oppressor by perpetuating historically negative images and messages that many whites and others still hold true about black people. Part of these tools of oppression may have been invented as early as 1712. This article addresses how Willie Lynch’s infamous 1712 letter (1) is authenticated through the negative images and messages presented in hip-hop music and its effects on youth culture. The Difference between Rap and Hip-Hop Music.”

Holmes purports that individuals possess: “power to enhance our minds by three very different approaches: by education, by computers, and by the techniques of neurobiology. While education dates back to prehistoric times, computers are a modern invention barely a half century old. Neurobiology is only now beginning to realize its potential for expanding our minds.”

Kim contends that teachers: “must not neglect the importance of helping students develop the positive attitudes and skills needed for collaboration, leadership and peer acceptance. It all can help reduce prejudices and promote each student’s sense of personal value. (1)”

Kreeft (182) states that “authors prove that music can improve students’ listening, learning, and standardized test results. The program described in the book was created by Peter Perret, a music director and conductor who also teaches graduate level neuroscience and music.”

Litterst reports: “As a record of the past, our musical history can be found in many places, including information passed on through oral tradition, print, historical artifacts, pictures, recordings and even musical interpretations. Indeed, there is no single place”

Lowry ponders: “What are some of these emerging trends [in music]? Culture: The Visual ?”

Love relates thoughts regarding “ways in which private persons learned how to communicate with each other in a public way during the Enlightenment, or the creation of institutional foundations, independent of the state…. [and how] different national cultures had very different notions of the public/private distinction and that they acquired these along very different timelines.”

Mans (7) proposes that: “In many ways, music and its attendant identities are a powerful force that can be utilized by and against the State. Indeed, music 1 is more than just expression. It creates unity, or sows the seeds of divisiveness. Sadly, diversity is often seen to be the precursor of divisiveness, rather than being celebrated as a product of human creativity and ingenuity. In this essay, reference to the diversity of cultures and music does not imply the reinscription (sic) of racism in the negative sense, but implies a positive process of identity formation and community self assertion.”

Nidel (1) reviews a major publication of a volume of books related to music history and states: “This Basics survey is organized by continent, with each country on a particular continent listed in alphabetical order. We have endeavored to include as many countries as possible (a total of 130), omitting only those where the available music is either wholly derivative of a neighboring country or de minimis. Virtually every entry in the survey includes a brief statement about the history of the country, a discussion of the major genres and styles, a list and description of instruments found in that country, and references to the most important artists and innovators.”

Petress contends that: “music is among the most important subjects taught in our schools; it is important physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and spiritually. Music ought not be high on anyone’s list for excising when schools are faced with financial woes. All efforts need to be taken by parents, teachers, administrators, and the public to keep music in the curriculum.”

Press stresses: “Music strengthens connections among neurons (Weinberger, 1998) as it is processed in both hemispheres of the brain, which stimulates cognitive functioning (Humpal & Wolf, 2003). There is a connection between music and mathematical thinking (Edwards, 2002) and between music and spatial temporal reasoning (Humpal & Wolf, 2003). Music is fun. It is joyful, nonjudgmental, noncompetitive, and predicable.”

Schenbeck discusses how “George Foster Peabody (1852-1938), eminent American financier and philanthropist, began to promote the idea of sending members of the Hampton Institute Choir, or possibly the entire group, to Europe for a series of performance.”

Schmicking reports about: “identified types of ineffabilities (sic) [and] ineffabilities a lead-in to the next chapter

Role individuals “play: in history. . .

Renaissance

Baroque era.

Regarded as perhaps the greatest composer of all time, Bach was known during his lifetime primarily as an outstanding organ player and technician.

composed a great many sacred works as his duties required when in the employ of the church: well over two hundred cantatas (a new one was required of him every week), several motets, five masses, three oratorios, and four settings of the Passion story, one of which, the St. Matthew Passion, is one of western music’s sublime masterpieces. Bach also wrote vast amounts of music for his chosen instrument, the organ, much of which is still regarded as the pinnacle of the repertoire. One such work is the tremendous Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.

Great Concepts

Great Contributions

A thesis, then, may be defined as the major point that an author is trying to make, and includes an argument, consisting of evidence to back it up.

Bach

Research traditionally embraces library and experimental.

The following arrangement of figures show Bach at different ages.

ISE599: Engineering Approaches to Music Perception and Cognition. (2003) http://www-classes.usc.edu/engr/ise/599muscog/2003/examples/Bach-minuet-G.jpg.

Need to add a lead-in to the next chapter.

CHAPTER 4

METODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION and CONCLUSIONS

“Every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, it’s always a portrait of himself.”

– Samuel Butler (Quote World)

4.1: Introduction

4.2: Method

Discuss the data that you will be using. Is it primary or secondary data? Will you be compiling the data your self (from questionnaires for example) or using census data from a government source?). What are the spatial and temporal characteristics of the data? Are there any known or anticipated sources of error in the data?

3.2.1: Spatial and temporal characteristics

Discuss specific data characteristics within a sub-section

4.3: Results

Leader ship Strategies Back implemented which potentially compliment the high school music group include:

Mastering musical methods and then transforming them into unique compositions.

Here you might briefly discuss the contents of the sections which follow if you have different types of data to describe. Remember to cross-reference back to the methods chapter if necessary

This section might be a useful point for reminding the reader what the originbal study aim/research question was.

Data should be shown in its synthesised form. Large tables of raw data should be put in the appendix at the back and then referenced accordingly.

4.5 Conclusions

This is a relatively short chapter. You should simply address the original research aim/research question in the context of your findings and provide some final conclusions — making use of appropriate literature references if necessary.

Points Worth Passing on

“Stravinsky wrote music with the craft of a fine jeweler. Almost everything he wrote is of very high quality, and much of it has entered the standard repertory,” Schwartz stresses. Leadership qualities this researcher particularly appreciates, that translate “magnificently” into strategies to encourage high school music students, include:

Learn to be the best personally possible, study;

Insure work qualifies as high quality;

Know how to be romantic, but grow in objectivity;

Influence others in positive ways;

When uncomfortable, search for area to excel in.

Never let go of personal “touch.”

This researcher challenges the contentions made by Joseph (305) that Igor Stavinsky “is responsible for anything we use in music…;” that he outranks the rest of the composers in music history. True, his works, like a number of other music components that continue to live today, continue to live today. The point this researcher proposes, albeit, is that a number of works by others also continues to live today.

Provides students the opportunity to obtain knowledge of different aspects of a particular subject;

Empowers students to travel into divergent areas;

Sharpens students’ insights;

Facilitates students making new discoveries. (Teitelbaum 1- 2)

From Bach,

Try again when fail to reach a goal.

Accept challenges, e.g. entering a contest.

Do whatever it takes to survive hard times. Back served time in prison.

Take breaks from work at times; travel to new places and visit friends and family.

Answer when questioned.

Enter competitions expecting to win.

Take break from tasks at time.

Don’t Quit even when criticized

The value of the researched thesis supersedes college classrooms, as they constitute a vital part of “humanity’s continuing desire to gain insight into and an understanding of the world. If the true purpose of higher education is to make one a better and more understanding person, and students must be given the tools with which they can continue to reached for this ideal.… Research is only one of the important tools of an educated person. (Teitelbaum 2)

During the course of completing research for this thesis, this researcher also made a point to search for what West notes in the introductory quote of this study, the value great music asserts. (Simpson)

History notes the evolution of music evolved from the simple Gregorian Chant to jazz and a myriad of contemporary classical styles. Culture and events of particular time periods, which served to propel forces behind changes in music, influenced composers and great minds of each era. This thesis discusses how culture and history have also affected students’ learning experiences in the high school music classroom.

Factors outside of high school, as well as outside of music have initiated changes in music throughout time. These factors ranged from particular events occurring during a designated time, to specific people who may have influenced the great minds that composed some of the music that continues to “live” today. d1.2: Study Area

Relevant Thesis Questions

The following research questions proved relevant when researching information for this thesis as they also serve to help keep this researcher’s focus in line with the purposes previously proposed.

7. Who were some of the great leaders/composers in music history; during Renaissance, and Baroque eras?

8. What are some of their contributions which continue to be relevant? Why?

9. What leadership strategies from research can be utilized to empower the high school music student body?

Hypothesis

Securing answers to this study’s proposed thesis questions, this researcher contends, will contribute to the ultimate determination of the following hypothesis:

When some of the prominent, positive ideas contributed by leaders of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, integrated into the great music of these prominent time frames, are extracted and taught in the high school music class, then this practice will contribute to better helping affected youth to become better educated, better-rounded students.

In the past, as well as, in today’s times, culture and history have affected the students’ learning experiences in the high school music classroom, Incorporating various cultural events in history that influenced the music greats of the specified eras into the classroom constitutes a great teaching strategy. Ways to comprehend music in the high school classroom constantly change. Each unit taught, albeit, enerally includes different genres of music, such as classical and jazz.

Each single genre of music has its own composers and great minds which contributed to the development of different music styles. Other people back in time and/or certain events of their time, however, also influenced the astute minds behind the brilliant works and ideas in music. In this thesis, this researcher discuses great leaders throughout the history of music, as well as, a number of events which influenced them. In turn, their novel ideas impacted music as a whole, transforming concepts taught in the high school music room.

Thesis Description:

In developing this paper, using the internet, journals, along with Questia, reportedly the world’s largest online library and, virtual nearby libraries, this researcher extensively explored the following disciplines:

Multiculturalism;

Leadership (leaders);

Music history;

World history;

Human sciences, e.g. psychology and biology.

Leadership Qualities

Learning gleaned from this researcher’s tier two classes enabled this researcher to delve deeply into the science of learning in the classroom and implement a number of ideas of the great composers and great minds during the Renaissance, and Baroque eras. From the retrieved leaderships’ ideas, this researcher utilized particular leadership qualities and strategies to reflect ways to empower today’s high school music student body.

The following classes, completed by this researcher, contributed vital considerations to the creation of this researched thesis.

MLS 661: Cultural Perspectives: Interpretive Strategies / / 3.0 credits

In the Cultural Perspectives: Interpretive Strategies class, this researcher explored numerous other cultures, along with particular ways these individuals’ interoperability with other world events. One pertinent theory this researcher grasped from this class purports that more than one way exists to perceive and solve a problem. One must also take what occurs all around them and utilize the influencing factors to help reach a goal.

Knowledge gained from this course enabled me to dig for ideas from other cultures and search for ways great composers from the past may have adopted new ideas from these cultures and personified them. During the Renaissance, composers retrieved many relevant ideas from great thinkers and scholars of their time and transformed these mental “nuggets” into new ideas and integrated them into their manuscripts.

MLS 660: The Art of Leadership / / 3.0 credits

In the class entitled, the Art of Leadership, this researcher discovered that in their philosophical writings, Plato and Aristotle made a point record what they believed, which for their time, proved to be extremely profound. Their writings, consequently, affected more than the thoughts of individual who lived during their time. With the leadership Plato and Aristotle demonstrated, complemented by their advanced thinking process they purported, composers during that particular time, in turn, implemented what they believed right for music of that era into the music they created.

In this thesis, this researcher utilized this class’ knowledge to foster descriptions of how the actions of great leaders of different eras influenced the ideas of the composers during their time frame. Leadership qualities displayed during these times also proved to be like “key” to unlocking understanding and empowering the student body of a classroom to concentrate and learn more readily. This researcher shows how ideas of great thinkers can be conveyed in the music classroom.

MLS 633: Darwinism and its influence / / 3.0 credits

Lessons learned from the study of blank slate theory (John Locke) to the survival of the fittest (Charles Darwin) in the course, Darwinism and its influence, proved helpful when this researcher examined the world of education. Ideas, along with question, help when reflecting on and/or discussing education and its history. One pertinent question this researcher reflected upon also aptly stimulated this researched thesis: Are children born already with everything they need to know?

As an educator, this researcher argues that a child is, in fact, born with a “blank slate,” and further discusses learning regarding children in this researcher’s high school class. Students in high school music groups, as well as, individually can make links to the music they play. They can also readily link to what has happened in history during particular time periods to make music evolve into its current compositions, points this researcher discusses in this thesis.

ENY 714: Brain Compatible Learning / / 3.0 credits

During the course of Brain Compatible Learning, this researcher and other students explored the answer to the question, “How does the brain function when someone is learning a new idea?” Studies in this class related a number of ideas on how to teach new ideas to children by connecting new information with the old information currently stored in their brains.

Studies in this class also portrayed the fact the human brain functions in ways most individuals may seldom consider. Until approximately twenty years ago, a common conception purported that the brain basically stored ideas and did not complete many more functions. Now, research confirms that the human brain actively links from one part to another. This researcher presents ways this linkage phenomenon is used in the classroom by showing that students can make connections between what happened in history, and how past occurrences tie in with why the music became what it is today.

EDSE 600: History and Philosophy of Education / / 3.0 credits

The class entitled, History and Philosophy of Education, focused on the origin of education and the “philosophical influences of modern educational theory and practice. Study of: philosophical developments in the Renaissance, Reformation, and revolutionary periods; social, cultural and ideological forces which have shaped educational policies in the United States; current debates on meeting the wide range of educational and social-emotional needs of students from diverse cultures.” (need to add reference here)

This course precisely presented numerous, pertinent ideas for this researcher to use while writing this thesis. Due to this study, this researcher is now capable of discussing great thinkers during the time frames of the Renaissance and Reformation, as well as, ways current events of this time influenced leading thinker to accomplish what they did. Along with this understanding, this research can competently incorporate how some of the actions of the educational thinkers of these times, in time impacted today’s music classroom.

1.3: Thesis Structure

Researcher’s Considerations Regarding this Study

The focus of this study, by its design, constitutes a natural extension of this researcher’s previously noted, prior studies. This study embraces the basic spectrum of great thinkers in music history and their link to learning in contemporary high school music.

Significance of this Study

This researcher purports this thesis proves valuable as it presents relevant thoughts, related to music and education, linking past historical to contemporary times. In time to come, this researcher predicts, this thesis could also prove to be a valuable contribution for future students to consider. No specific location has been designated for this thesis, although specific eras in time are denoted.

1.3: Study Structure

The chapters following this study’s introduction will include the following categories:

Terms, Theories and Tactics

Literature Review

Approach, Discussion and Conclusion

During the second chapter of this thesis, entitled Terms, Theories and Methods, this researcher explains important terms, theories and methods related to this study’s focus.

The third chapter in this study, the literature review, examines previously published work, considered important and relevant to this thesis, including primary and secondary works. In turn, the researched information is analyzed to determine whether the hypothesis for this thesis will stand the test of research.

Chapter four, titled Approach, Discussion and Conclusion, relates considerations from the findings retrieved from the approach effort invested in this study, discuss determinations this researcher reached and presents concluding thoughts.

Aim and Objectives TC “Aims and Objectives” f C l “2”

Aim

To utilize the literature research method to explore and examine components relating to some of the prominent, positive ideas contributed by leaders of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, and consequent affects linking to the contemporary high school music class.

Objective One:

To thoroughly research and investigate some of the great leaders/composers in music history; during Renaissance, and Baroque eras.

To complete research for this thesis, this researcher proposed to access and examine approximately 25 sources to secure information relevant to contributions from great thinkers in music history, and in turn, link these to the contemporary high school music class. Before completing all of the research for this study, this researcher determined to create a mind map, using a template, to help keep the study’s focus in line with proposed purpose of the study. Plans for this researched thesis also included scheduling particular times and adhering to specific time frames, not only in regard to the study’s focus, but also in lining up the schedule to complete the work needed for this study.

Objective Two:

Identify and analyze some of the great thinkers’ contributions and expand on the reason(s) for their ongoing relevance.

For objective two, this researcher planned to allocate specific times to examine researched information with the intent to retrieve relevant revelations. This particular component of the project promised to be intriguing, while simultaneously challenging this researcher to confirm the validity of this thesis’ hypothesis.

Objective Three:

Present relevant conclusions regarding past great composers’ leadership strategies in music history and how they may empower the high school music student body.

During the upcoming chapter, this researcher plans to carefully and conscientiously contribute components of Terms, Theories and Tactics, to in tune with West’s introductory claim, confirm a semblance of the value great music asserts.

4.6 Recommendations

Any recommendations for further study and perhaps a statement of what you might have done differently (in hindsight) can be stated here.

I saw the dance as a vision of ineffable power.

A man could, with dignity and a towering majesty, dance.

Not mince, cavort, do “fancy dancing” or “showoff” steps. No: Dance as Michelangelo’s visions dance and as the music of Bach dances.

-Jose Limon (Simpson)

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ii iii iv v

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