WTF Bach

A new type of episode, Quodlibets! Quod (what) + libet (it pleases) or, ‘whatever you like,’ ‘anything at all.’ This episode centers on a beautiful chorale prelude, but first, my, Ode to the Negroni: The Meeting of Etymology and Entomology at the top, then some Bach, and finally, how Paradise Lost was written, as explained by the English scholar, John Carey.
Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721, in f-sharp minor (note the Phrygian key signature!) is an extraordinary little piece. Written around 1709, it is a profound and most elusive chord progression. Here is the first page:
The text from 1524, based on Psalm 51, was translated by the English ecclesiastical reformer Myles Coverdale. I know nothing about him but his Wiki page is fascinating!
Finally, John Milton. If, one day, you sit down to read Paradise Lost you may feel… well, lost. It was the writing of the late John Carey that led me through this beautiful poem. Spoiler alert: Milton wrote the poem between sleeping and waking, totally blind, by dictating what he was receiving from a ‘Heavenly Muse’ he thought was the same muse responsible for inspiring the Mosaic books of the bible— Wow. Reading the poem with this in mind is a completely different experience. For Milton, the poem was a purely audible experience, hence reading it aloud brings it to life. He, after all, never saw it on a page.
Got Bach?

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Concepts Covered: Bach in the Phrygian Mode, Tone III, Missing flats, missing sharps, Bach’s Key signatures, John Milton, how did Milton write Paradise Lost, Etymology and Entomology, The Origins of the Negroni Cocktail
Source quoted:Leaver, Robin A. Luther's Liturgical Music: Principles and Implications. Eerdmans, 2007.


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“It’s not that Bach writes music and then sits in an armchair and thinks about God... Bach writing music is Bach thinking about God.”
Individual keys are often loaded with personal significance to the composer. To what extent was Bach thinking of the double sense of Kreuze— both as ‘cross’ and the musical sign for a sharp?
As discussed in the episode, f# minor wasn’t necessarily the key signature with three ‘crosses,’ as Bach’s f# minor looks like this on the page:
Is it more likely that Bach saw b minor as the image of Golgotha on the page? Dare we speculate further and claim that the symmetry of the C# between the two F’s is Christus between the two thieves? Speculation adds nothing of substance… but it’s fun! Bach’s b minor on the page:
In any case, Kreuze was probably never far from Bach’s mind, and f# minor was usually a key for expressing pain and suffering in the cantatas. The fugue from Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 859 is full of blatant passion language, seen in the weeping of the countersubject:
Does The World Need More Bach?

One question I have concerning modern editions is the tenor voice in bar 36. In the earliest version, Bach has given— as a cautionary accidental— D natural:
But in the revision, he forgets the cautionary accidental (or deems it unnecessary.) Does this omission justify D#?! I don’t think so. Both Henle and Bärenreiter suggest D#:
At the end of the episode, we explore the canon from the sonata in A Major for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1015. The third movement (in f# minor) is a strict canon from beginning to end. Check this out:
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Concepts Covered:
Bach and religion, composition as theological thought, the symbolic meaning of musical keys in Bach’s works, f♯ minor & b minor, Calvary or Golgotha. Kreuze in Bach studies: the double meaning of “cross” and the sharp (♯) sign in German language. f♯ minor as a key of suffering and affliction in Bach’s cantatas and keyboard works. Passion rhetoric in BWV 859 (WTC I)
Canon analysis of BWV 1015, the Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in A major.


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The Well-Tempered Clavier …what does it actually imply?
In this episode I seek (in 18 minutes) to demonstrate mathematically pure intervals, alongside ‘tempered’ intervals. The circle of fifths is in fact a spiral of fifths— it is infinite. We seek to make it a circle for convenience, but this means that the distance between what would be mathematically pure intervals must be altered (!) in order to force the spiral into a circle.
The question remains: how do we do that? Music today is heard in equal temperament, where all keys, all tonalities sound the same. Pure intervals have been forced into identical ‘impure’ ones— convenient, but this deprives us not only of a beautiful natural simplicity, but also the individual character of each key found in unequal temperaments. From the earliest European music, numerous solutions to this immortal problem have been offered. By the time Bach arrives, his solution, laid out for us in The Well-Tempered Clavier, is certainly an elegant one…but we don’t quite know exactly what it is.
The remainder of the episode analyzes the prelude and fugue, no. 13, in F-sharp major, BWV 858. A look at the opening of the prelude in earliest version offers lovely insights into Bach’s working mind:
In revision Bach changes the repeated note — a recognizable motif of the early version— into a trill, now acting as its own motif:
Particularly fascinating is the way Bach changes the harmonic rhythm from the early version here, bar 17:
Now again from measure 17 in the revision. Bach inserts two full bars, extending the harmonic length of g# minor and C# Major:
“Thank Bach for God.”

A huge thanks to Bradly Lehman for helping preparing this episode. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what his work covers, but hopefully you’ve got some idea how deep the topic of tuning can go. Lehman has some great online resources illuminating the fascinating world of temperament. For starters, try:
www.larips.com (Spiral spelled backward)
Dig deeper with this essay here, published by the Reimenschneider Bach Institute:
And finally, more Articles and Essays by Bradley Lehman
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Concepts Covered:
Pure vs tempered intervals, ‘spiral of fifths,’ vs. the circle of fifths, equal temperament, loss of key character, Bradly Lehman temperament, historical tuning systems, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, temperament and tuning, F-sharp major Prelude and Fugue No. 13, Bach’s compositional revisions, and BWV 858


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A double canon from Bach’s Orgelbüchlein! A bit late, but Bach’s take on this Christmas tune is really wonderful. See how both melodies combine to make a double canon:
German mystic, Heinrcih Seuse, author of ‘In Dulci Jubilo’
English composer R. J. Pearsell’s setting of the melody.
Spread the Love, Doubly Canonic:

N.B. I’ve been wanting to make this rebrand for a while: The title of this podcast is no longer “The WTF Bach Podcast” but simply, “WTF Bach” — I hope this doesn’t cause any problems, if you run in to any issues as all, please alert us! Thanks!
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Supporting this show ensures its longevity. Thank you for your support!


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I had the great pleasure of speaking with Mr. Paul Jacobs. On the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, July 28th, 2000, Jacobs played Bach’s complete organ works in one giant 18 hour concert— he was 23.
Our conversation spans how to memorize, scholars vs. performers, pianists playing the organ, pop music, music for consumption, ‘social media musicians,’ music as a substitute for God, The Art of Fugue (harpsichord or organ?) and more…
Become Your Best Buxtehude:

Some links mentioned in the chat:
Organmaster Shoes
The Robertsbridge Codex
Schumann’s advice for young musicians
and of course, Paul’s website.
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