MuseData: Johann Sebastian Bach

Sacred Vocal Works

Motets

Bach's six motets are well known to choirs and choral groups. Each one was composed and performed for a funeral or memorial service. Each reflects on the personal relationship between the recently deceased and God by proclaiming joy at the imminent reunion with Him in Heaven. Nos. 4 and 6 are thought to have been composed during Bach's Weimar period (1708-1717), the remainder subsequently. The others were composed between 1723 and 1732, during Bach's long tenure in Leipzig. Opinions vary on the question of two additions motets ("Ich lasse dich nicht," BWV Anh. 159, and "Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt, BWV 160) are partly by Bach or entirely by other members of his family. Although some motets were composed for funeral services, others may have been performed at festive celebrations.

Work No.	Title	Catalogue No.	Genre/voices	Score
No. 1	Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied	BWV 225	Motet/SATB, SATB	BWV 225
No. 2	Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf	BWV 226	Motet/SATB, SATB	BWV 226
No. 3	Jesu, meine Freude	BWV 227	Motet/SSATB	Example
No. 4	Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir	BWV 228	Motet/SATB, SATB, insts.	BWV 228
No. 5	Komm, Jesu, komm	BWV 229	Motet/SATB	BWV 229
No. 6	Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden	BWV 230	Motet/SATB, BC	BWV 230

Orchestral Works

Brandenburg Concertos

Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos are demonstrations par excellence of both virtuosity and interplay between most of instruments available to Bach's time in Thuringia, where Bach was raised and held all his posts prior to moving to Leipzig in 1723. He composed them while living in Cöthen, which offered few of the resources required here but may have prompted Bach to show how many different combinations of sounds could be found in the broader palette of sonorities in use within a day's travel from the court.

Work No.	Catalogue No.	Genre / Instruments ?	Key	Score (PDF)	Concordances
No. 1	BWV 1046	Concerto / 2 Hn, Ob, Bn; VPiccolo, 2V, Va, Vc, Vne Gr, Cem	F Major		BWV 1046/3 = BWV 207a/1. BWV 1046/7 = BWV 207a/5a.
No. 1a	BWV 1046a	Concerto / 2 Hn, 3 Ob, Bn; 2V, Va, Vc, Cem	F Major	BWV 1046a	BWV 1046a/1 = BWV 52/1
No. 2	BWV 1047	Concerto / Tr, Rec, Ob, Vn; 2V, Va, Vc, Vne, Cem	F Major	BWV 1047
No. 3	BWV 1048	Concerto / 3V, 3Va, 3Vc, Vne, Cem	G Major	BWV 1048	BWV 1048/1 = BWV 174/1
No. 4	BWV 1049	Concerto / VPr, Rec, 2Vn, Va, Vc, Vne, Cem	G Major	BWV 1049	BWV 1049 = BWV 1057
No. 5	BWV 1050	Concerto / Fl, VPr, Cem concertato; V, Va, Vc, Vne, Cem	D Major
No. 5a	BWV 1050a	Concerto / Fl, VPr, Cem concertato; V, Va, Vne	D Major	BWV 1050a
No. 6	BWV 1051	Concerto / 2Va, 2Va da gamba, Vc, Vne, Cem	B♭ Major	BWV 1051

Miscellaneous Concertos

Copies from around 1730 survive for four miscellaneous concertos by Bach. Two or more of them may have been composed earlier, during Bach's Cöthen period. They follow three-movement plans, but relatively little is known about the circumstances for which they were intended. The sinfonia, judged to come from 1743-46, is believed to be detached from a lost cantata.

BWV 1043, for two violins and strings, is one of Bach's best known and most widely played works.

Title	Catalogue No.	Genre/instrumentation	Key	Notes	Score
No. 1	BWV 1041	Concerto/	A Minor		EBWV 1041, 1st movement
No. 2	BWV 1042	Concerto/	E Major		Example
No. 3	BWV 1043	Concerto/2VPr; VV Va BC	D Minor		BWV 1043
No. 4	BWV 1044	Concerto/	A Minor		Example
No. 5	BWV 1045	Sinfonia/3TrTm2Ob;VVVaBC	D Major		Example

Orchestral Suites

Bach's orchestral suites come down to our time in editions based on third-party manuscripts. Surviving parts date from c.1730-1745. Some argue that lost originals may have come from Cöthen years (1717-1723), with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen being the intended recipient. Yet unlike the Brandenburgs, the orchestral suites were not envisaged as a set. (The attribution of a putative fifth orchestra suite, BWV 1070, is widely discredited. BWV 1071, which is effectively a suite, corresponds to BWV 1046a, the alternative version of the first Brandenburg Concerto.)

Each suite has a distinctly different character, each calls for an ensemble of a different composition, and each consists of a different number and sequence of movements. The treble wind instrument in No. 2 (originally in A Minor) is variously claimed to have been an oboe or a violin, although the flute and viola parts for it are in Bach's hand on one manuscript set in Berlin. We know that Bach sometimes modified one of another aspect (e.g. key) of individual works in his instrumental collections to meld the whole into a coherent entity. This may not have been the case with the ouvertures (as the orchestral suites were originally named), but the latitude to make changes is ever-present.

Earlier full or partial versions exist for two of the works, giving latitude to arguments for alternative instrumental choices. In the case of No. 2 (possibly the latest of the group), partisan perspectives on the principal part variously favor the violin (Joshua Rifkin), the flute (Steven Zohn), or the oboe (Gonsalo Ruiz). (Copy dates in the table below do not establish date of composition.)

No. 1 (BWV 1066

Collection, Work No.	Cat. No.	Genre / Instruments	Key	Earliest copy date	Score
Orchestral Suite, No. 1	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Full score
Ouverture	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Ouverture
Courante	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Courante
Gavottes 1, 2	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Gavottes 1, 2
Forlane	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Forlane
Minuets 1, 2	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Minuets 1, 2
Bourrées 1, 2	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Bourrées 1, 2
Passepieds 1, 2	BWV 1066	Suite / 2Ob, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	C Major	Leipzig, 1724-1725	BWV 1066: Passepieds 1, 2
Orchestral Suite, No. 2	BWV 1067	Suite / Fl, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	B Minor	Leipzig, 1738-1739
Orchestral Suite, No. 3	BWV 1068	Suite / 3Tr, Timp, 2Ob, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	D Major	Leipzig, 1730	Example
orchestral Suite, No. 4	BWV 1069	Suite / 3Tr, Timp, 3Pb, Bn, 2V, Va, Vc, Cb, Continuo	D Major	Leipzig, 1730	Example

No. 2 (BWV 1067)

Catalogue No.	Movement name	Instruments	Key	Earliest copy date	Score
Example	Ouverture	Fl; V1 V2 Va BC	Example	Example	BWV 1067: Ouverture
Example	Rondeau	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Sarabande	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Bourrées I, II	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Polonaise	Example	Example	Example	Based on Polish song "Wezmę ja kontusz"
Example	Menuet	Example	Example	Example	Example
Example	Badinerie	Example	Example	Example	Example

Works for Organ

Preludes and Fugues for Organ (BWV 531-535)

These two-movement sets for organ, despite their outward resemblance to the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions, share with the orchestral suites that they span quite a stretch of Bach's lifetime. They share the two-movement arrangement but were undoubtedly composed for varied circumstances. Despite the span of years they cover, these works are set apart by the brilliance of the preludes. As assembled, they begin on consecutive tones of a pentatonic cycle--C Major (c1703-c1707), D Major (1708-1712), E Minor (1703), F Minor (c1712-1717), and G Minor (post-1717). (N.B. Subscripts in the table below distinguish preludes and fugues sharing a BWV number. They do not refer to other versions of the work.)

The first, third, and fifth of these pairs are thought to come from Bach's Arnstadt period (1703-1707), when he was serving as organist was at the Neue Kirche. Some of Bach's best-known chorale settings are considered to come from this period.

Work Number	Catalogue Number	Genre/instrumentation	Key	Score
No. 1a	BWV 531a	Prelude/Organ	C Major	BWV 531a
No. 1b	BWV 531b	Fugue/Organ	C Major	BWV 531b
No. 2a	BWV 532a	Prelude/Organ	D Major	BWV 532
No. 2b	BWV 532b	Fugue/Organ	D Major	BWV 532
No. 3a	BWV 533a	Prelude/Organ	E Minor	BWV 533a
No. 3b	BWV 533b	Fugue/Organ	E Minor	BWV 533b
No. 4a	BWV 534a	Prelude/Organ	F Minor	BWV 534a
No. 4b	BWV 534b	Fugue/Organ	F Minor	BWV 534b
No. 5a	BWV 535a	Prelude/Organ	G Minor	BWV 535a
No. 5b	BWV 535b	Fugue/Organ	G Minor	BWV 535b

Preludes and Fugues for Organ (BWV 549-551)

In this group of three sets of organ preludes and fugues the first and third seem to come from near the start of Bach's tenure in Arnstadt. The middle set is slightly later (up to 1708) but is still likely to come from Bach's first professional position. Considering that they were composed when the composer was between 18 and 20 years of age, they show his enormous promise.

Work No.	Catalogue No.	Genre/Instrumentation	Key	Score
No. 1	BWV 549	Prelude & Fugue/Organ	C Minor	BWV 549
No. 2	BWV 550	Prelude & Fugue/Organ	G Major	BWV 550
No. 3	BWV 551	Prelude & Fugue/Organ	A Minor	BWV 551

Miscellaneous Works for Organ

• Prelude in G Major (BWV 568)

Very little is known about the Prelude in G Major.

• Prelude in A Minor (BWV 569)

Similarly little-known, this work was composed before 1717.

Works for Harpsichord

The Well-tempered Clavier

Bach composed two books of 24 pairs of works in each key (major and minor) of the "well-tempered" keyboard. Each pair consists of a prelude and fugue. Equal temperament, the practical virtue of which was the ability to play in any key without retuning the instrument, was emerging when Bach compiled the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Equal temperament, in which each named tone set equidistant (in cents) from adjacent keys, was not instantly adopted everywhere. Organs were generally tuned to meantone temperament. Much of the music of Asia employs just intonation, which requires an instrument to be retuned for the next piece, unless it is in the same key as the preceding one. Bach demonstrated the use of equal temperament by compiling this cycle of short pieces. The preludes could show off the effect of equal temperament in scale passages, while the fugues imitative processes required consonance in certain places to fulfill the work's satisfaction of the genre's requirements.

WTC: Book I (1722)

Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier was published towards the end of Bach's tenure at the Cöthen court.

Work No.	Catalogue No.	Genre/instrument	Key	Score
No. 1a	BWV 846a	Prelude/keyboard	C Major	BWV 846a
No. 1b	BWV 846b	Fugue/keyboard	C Major	BWV 846b
No. 2a	BWV 847a	Prelude/keyboard	C Minor	BWV 847a
No. 2b	BWV 847b	Fugue/keyboard	C Minor	BWV 847b
No. 3a	BWV 848a	Prelude/keyboard	C# Major	BWV 848a
No. 3b	BWV 848b	Fugue/keyboard	C# Major	BWV 848b
No. 4a	BWV 849a	Prelude/keyboard	C# Minor	BWV 849a
No. 4b	BWV 849b	Fugue/keyboard	C# Minor	BWV 849b
No. 5a	BWV 850a	Prelude/keyboard	D Major	BWV 850a
No. 5b	BWV 850b	Fugue/keyboard	D Minor	BWV 850b
No. 6a	BWV 851a	Prelude/keyboard	D Minor	BWV 851a
No. 6b	BWV 851b	Fugue/keyboard	D Minor	BWV 851b
No. 7a	BWV 852a	Prelude/keyboard	Eb Major	BWV 852a
No. 7b	BWV 852b	Fugue/keyboard	Eb Major	BWV 852b
No. 8a	BWV 853a	Prelude/keyboard	Eb Minor	BWV 853a
No. 8b	BWV 853b	Fugue/keyboard	D# Minor	BWV 853b
No. 9a	BWV 854a	Example	Example	Example
No. 9b	BWV 854b	Example	Example	Example
No. 10a	BWV 855a	Example	Example	Example
No. 10b	BWV 855b	Example	Example	Example
No. 11a	BWV 856a	Example	Example	Example
No. 11b	BWV 856b	Example	Example	Example
No. 12a	BWV 857a	Example	Example	Example
No. 12b	BWV 857b	Example	Example	Example
No. 13a	BWV 858a	Example	Example	Example
No. 13b	BWV 858b	Example	Example	Example
No. 14a	BWV 859a	Example	Example	Example
No. 14b	BWV 859b	Example	Example	Example
No. 15a	BWV 860a	Example	Example	Example
No. 15b	BWV 860b	Example	Example	Example
No. 16a	BWV 861a	Example	Example	Example
No. 16b	BWV 861b	Example	Example	Example
No. 17a	BWV 862a	Example	Example	Example
No. 17b	BWV 862b	Example	Example	Example
No. 18a	BWV 863a	Example	Example	Example
No. 18b	BWV 863b	Example	Example	Example
No. 19a	BWV 864a	Example	Example	Example
No. 19b	BWV 864b	Example	Example	Example
No. 20a	BWV 865a	Example	Example	Example
No. 20b	BWV 865b	Example	Example	Example
No. 21a	BWV 866a	Example	Example	Example
No. 21b	BWV 866b	Example	Example	Example
No. 22a	BWV 867a	Example	Example	Example
No. 22b	BWV 867b	Example	Example	Example
No. 23a	BWV 868a	Example	Example	Example
No. 23b	BWV 868b	Example	Example	Example
No. 24a	BWV 869a	Example	Example	Example
No. 24b	BWV 869b	Example	Example	Example

Two-part Inventions

J. S. Bach: Invention No. 4 [BWV 775] from the holograph manuscript, Mus.ms. Bach P 610, Berlin, Deutsche Staatsbibliothek.

Bach's two-part inventions (BWV 772-786) constituted one set of several that J. S. Bach composed for his gifted son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784). The term invention is traced to the solo violin pieces Op. 10 (1713) by Francesco Antonio Bonporti (1672-1749), a Trentine composer. Bach uses the Latin title Inventio, reminding us of his command of the language, which he sometimes taught (in addition to teaching, composing, and performing music). Each three-voice work [see next section] was likewise called a Sinfonia.

Work No.	Catalogue No.	Genre / Instrument	Key	Score
No. 1	BWV 772	Invention / harpsichord	C Major	BWV 772
No. 1a	BWV 772a	Invention / harpsichord	C Major
No. 2	BWV 773	Invention / harpsichord	C Minor	BWV 773
No. 3	BWV 774	Invention / harpsichord	D Major	BWV 774
No. 4	BWV 775	Invention / harpsichord	D Minor	BWV 775
No. 5	BWV 776	Invention / harpsichord	E♭ Major	BWV 776
No. 6	BWV 777	Invention / harpsichord	E Major	BWV 777
No. 7	BWV 778	Invention / harpsichord	E Minor	BWV 778
No. 8	BWV 779	Invention / harpsichord	F Major	BWV 779
No. 9	BWV 780	Invention / harpsichord	F Minor	BWV 780
No. 10	BWV 781	Invention / harpsichord	G Major	BWV 781
No. 11	BWV 782	Invention / harpsichord	G Minor	BWV 782
No. 12	BWV 783	Invention / harpsichord	A Major	BWV 783
No. 13	BWV 784	Invention / harpsichord	A Minor	BWV 784
No. 14	BWV 785	Invention / harpsichord	Bb Major	BWV 785
No. 15	BWV 786	Invention / harpsichord	B Minor	BWV 786

The harmonic cycle that Bach has constructed in the collection as a whole foreshadows the tonally more complete cycles of the two sets of paired preludes and fugues called the Well-Tempered Clavier. They appeared in 1722 and 1744. It was not enough for young Friedemann to be able to play the pieces. He was being called to understand the cyclic possibilities that inhered in tonal relationships. This was a dominant focus in music theory of the time. Johann David Heinichen's Circle of Fifths was first formalized in 1711 and has remained the dominant scheme for rationalizing harmonic relations in Western music theory.

Three-part inventions (Sinfonie)

The three-part inventions, or sinfonie, follow the same cyclical organization in the aggregate. It has been suggested that the intended relationship between the inventions and sinfonias was to be performed in pairs, like the prelude-fugue sets of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Given their shared cycle of keys, Invention 1 might be followed by Sinfonia No. 1 and so forth.

Work No.	Catalogue No.	Genre / Instrument	Key	Score
No. 1	BWV 787	Sinfonia / harpsichord	C Major	BWV 787
No. 2	BWV 788	Sinfonia / harpsichord	C Minor	BWV 788
No. 3	BWV 789	Sinfonia / harpsichord	D Major	BWV 789
No. 4	BWV 790	Sinfonia / harpsichord	D Minor	BWV 790
No. 5	BWV 791	Sinfonia / harpsichord	E♭ Major	BWV 791
No. 6	BWV 792	Sinfonia / harpsichord	E Major	BWV 792
No. 7	BWV 793	Sinfonia / harpsichord	E Minor	BWV 793
No. 8	BWV 794	Sinfonia / harpsichord	F Major	BWV 794
No. 9	BWV 795	Sinfonia / harpsichord	F Minor
No. 10	BWV 796	Sinfonia / harpsichord	G Major
No. 11	BWV 797	Sinfonia / harpsichord	G Minor	BWV 797
No. 12	BWV 798	Sinfonia / harpsichord	A Major
No. 13	BWV 799	Sinfonia / harpsichord	A Minor
No. 14	BWV 800	Sinfonia / harpsichord	Bb Major	BWV 800
No. 15	BWV 801	Sinfonia / harpsichord	B Minor