Purchase Solution

the use of polyphony in Bach Cantata 80 - chorale fugue

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

Describe the use of polyphony in this piece. Also what techniques are used?

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

The use of polyphony in Bach Cantata 80 - chorale fugue is rationalized. The techniques that are used are described.

Solution Preview

See the attached file.

Bach Cantata 80 - chorale fugue~

Describe the use of polyphony in this piece.

According to the following present day scholar, Alexandra Amati-Camperi, Ph.D~
Cantata 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our God), for the Festival of the Reformation (31 October), is a revision of a Lenten cantata written in Weimar in 1715 for which the music is almost all lost (BWV 80a Alles, was von Gott geboren). The date of the later Cantata 80 is still doubtful. We only know that it originated in Leipzig and that it was performed in 1740. Cantata 80 is a chorale cantata, i.e. a cantata that incorporates in some of its movements the chorale tune "Ein feste Burg" by Martin Luther, which the congregation knew well. The text of the cantata, besides the four verses of Luther's chorale, was written by Salomo Franck (who paraphrased I John 5:4 for movement 2).

The Reformation Cantata has always claimed a special place in Bach's cantata oeuvre. This is partly because it was printed in score by Breitkopf and Härtel (Leipzig, 1821) before any other of his cantatas and even before the Passion settings and the B Minor Mass. Throughout the 19th century the repertoire of Bach cantatas continued to be so relatively small that Ein feste Burg acquired not only the character of prototype of his church cantata but also that of paragon of Protestant chorale composition. What doubtless contributed to this situation was the fact that the hymn which served as its basis had become the musical emblem of ...

Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Art of the Roman Republic

This quiz will test your basic knowledge of the art of the Roman Republic.

Baroque Art

Test your smarts on the art of the Baroque period.

Italian Renaissance

This quiz tests students' knowledge of the Italian Renaissance on an introductory level.

Neoclassicism

Brief quiz about the context and artists of the Neoclassical style.

Ancient Greek Art - Identification

Sharpen your knowledge of ancient Greek art with this identification quiz.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • What is a c choral?

    German titles of the chorales are sometimes the first line of the stanza Bach used in the cantata, and sometimes the title of the modern melody of the chorale. This makes any decision about naming the melodies very difficult and arbitrary.

  • Bach: Fugue in G Minor

    270018 Bach: Fugue in G Minor 1) What makes it easy to hear the fugue theme enter throughout the piece? 2) What makes it difficult to hear the fugue theme enter throughout the piece? 3) How many entrances of the fugue subject can you hear?

  • examples of musical pieces

    With the rise of humanism, sacred music began for the first time to break free of the confines of the Church, and a school of composers trained in the Netherlands mastered the art of polyphony in their settings of sacred music."

  • Where to begin when researching about JS Bach

    As with all music research, you should begin by reading the Bach article in the Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The article is extensive and will help to focus your study.

  • Evolution of music

    of polyphony," (P.23).

  • Johann Sebastian Bach's music

    Bach was famous for a series of keyboard pieces called "Prelude and Fugue" as well as Keyboard Inventions (these are easier-level piano works than the "Prelude and Fugue"); he wrote a number of them.

  • "When I am Laid in Earth"

    Listen to the difference when the singer breathes or holds a note in the Bach cantata link I suggested; compare that to what happens among the instruments when Dido is singing.

  • Repetition, Contrast and Form: All Keys to Structure in Music

    The episode is similar to the development in Sonata Form. This is the fugue in its SIMPLEST form. J.S. Bach wrote many fugues in both the Well Tempered Clavier as well as The Art of the Fugue.

  • Martin Luther Hymn - Information

    This is the type of chorale common in the 18th century and which is now associated with the harmonizations of J. S. Bach and others. The Rhythmic Chorale usually has irregular rhythms which are often syncopated.

View More Related Solutions