Music 230

Project #1

Professor Richard Freedman

Accompanied by MCD 560 V.20

In our study of Bach, we have seen how he was able to take traditional, sacred texts and write accompaniments for them that capture the meaning of those texts in a very unique way. Bach had the power to write music that was so expressive that it could actually make the listener feel what the text was saying. This power of Bach's music is often overlooked in our society, because the modern human culture it quick to judge the beauty of music. By doing this, we fail to hear the truths Bach wrote. The following is a close study of how Bach was able to combine text and harmonies in one specific movement of his Cantata No. 78 to express certain messages.

Bach's tenor aria (movement 4) in Cantata No. 78 is a good example of how Bach uses the expressive power of text, harmonies, and instrumentation to speak to his audiences and really say things through his music. This way, he was able to make music not only more powerful, but more accessible.

One way Bach uses Movement 4 to speak to the audience is through the form and tonal structure of the piece. Movement 4 is a binary aria with the text split evenly into a three-line A section and a three-line B section. The opening ritornello is in g minor, and the piece stays in g minor until the last cadence of the A section. The second ritornello is in Bb major followed by the B section, which moves from Bb major through many other keys and eventually ends up back in g minor. Then the final ritornello is also played in g minor.

The form Bach has chosen seems, from the conventions mentioned by Crist, to be an irregular form for the text given. It is a very short text that could easily be repeated in the da capo form, but Bach must have chosen this form for another reason. Perhaps he was trying to accentuate more on the meaning of the words rather than portray its poetic sound. The actual meaning of the words do not really seem to fit well with a da capo form. The first three lines talk of how Jesus makes the heart light and the spirit free. Thus, a freer style makes sense. Also, the last three lines talk of how Jesus brings victory over the "Lord of Hell", so ending the song after that last line can somehow be paralleled to the victory. To then return back to the text about the free spirit might weaken the victory.

An aria of binary form usually modulates in the A section, but this one stays in the tonic. However, it does modulate back to the tonic at the end of the B section. In fact, starting in m. 53, the voice part holds the dominant of the tonic (d) for three measures which is a huge set up for the modulation back into g minor. This is a big effect for the victory that is sung in the text here. It creates a kind of "tonal victory". This particular cadence also ties in well with the seventh movement of this same cantata where the chorale text speaks how "after the battle" we "look upon you, Lord Jesus, in sweet eternity." Here, there is a modulation to major and a tonal resolution. This a direct reference to the tonal victory in Movement 4. In this way, Bach makes a clear connection between the two movements through their relationships between text and harmonies. Thus, a coherent message is portrayed throughout the entire cantata instead of from movement to movement.

Another distinguishing characteristic of this aria, that Bach uses to express meanings in the text, is the flute. The flute plays many roles in the piece. It combines with the bass to establish the structure of the piece, and it also plays a symbolic role. The aria opens with a ritornello, and the flute serves as the primary melody of the ritornello. This is true for all the ritornello's in the piece. Yet, what makes the flute part interesting is how Bach takes its structural function to another level and gives it a symbolic meaning.

The flute can be related to the text in many ways. Most prominently, it represents the Lord, Jesus, and the Lord of Hell. Immediately following the opening ritornello, we have the voice part interrupted by the flute. As soon as the singer begins to sing, he is cut off by the flute (measure 15). As we discussed in class, this can be perceived as a direct reference to the text sung at precisely that point, "Das Blut so meine Schuld durchstreicht" which means, "(Your) blood so cancels put my guilt." In this way, the flute is playing the role of Jesus as the "canceler" of guilt.

Later in the piece, measures 35 and 36, there is a struggle between the flute and the voice part for the melody. It is hard for the listener to distinguish which part to listen to. Here the text reads "If the Lord of Hell summons me to battle". So, the text combined with the struggle in the voice and flute parts is creating a battle we can hear. The next line of text reads, "Then Jesus stands at my side", and the flute part begins to serve as more of an accompaniment. Thus, the flute changes from representing the Lord of Hell to representing the Lord, Jesus.

Finally, the last line of text reads, "So I may take courage and be victorious." As the voice sings this line, the flute is overcome by the voice part and drops out completely. This explicitly displays victory. This same progression is repeated starting in measure 49 until measure 53 where the dominant d, as spoken of above, is held to the tonal victory of the last cadence. At the close of this long held dominant note, the flute part diminuendos as the voice crescendos until the flute finally drops out again for a moment and reenters as "Jesus standing by my side" once more. This, too, shows the flute as the Lord of Hell which is defeated by the voice and then shifts into an accompaniment as the Lord, Jesus.

The flute seems to be, in the simplest interpretation, a mirror of the text. However, it plays a more complex role because it also serves a function in the form of the piece as well as symbolic expression of the text. This is an example of how Bach was able to take the widely-used musical forms of his time, and manipulate the traditional structure and harmonies into music that expresses the truth of the text. He wrote the flute part not only as an upper ritornello melody line, but also as a direct portrayal of the text. Bach had the power to take music and mold it like clay into something accessible to the listener that gets a message across.

In his article, "Facing Up, Finally, to Bach's Dark Vision", Richard Taruskin describes Bach as a truth-teller in that he is able to capture sounds that can express specific feelings and concepts and can define those feelings and concepts in a way no other medium can. This leads to another aspect of this aria, the use of a wooden flute. This period instrument is somewhat inferior to our modern flute in its tone quality and range. It can have an airy and unfocused sound to it, and it is easy to tell just by listening to this recording how hard it is for the musician to play what Bach has written. In measure 7, the flautist has trouble reaching the second space Ab which is well within the range of the modern flute.

Taruskin makes and argument that we are quick to appreciate music that we find pleasing to the ear or that we think is beautiful. In doing so, we fail to hear the message that music can send us. In this particular aria, the tone of the wooden flute adds a certain natural sound, and perhaps Bach wrote the piece slightly out of the range of this flute to show the weakness of man without Jesus. The airy tone quality of the flute adds to the meaning of the text, reinforces it, and creates a unique mood in a way that a modern flute might not be able to do.

In these ways, Bach has been able to use the expressive power of text, harmonies and instrumentation to make this movement a piece that speaks not only through the text, but also through musical expression. He saw the traditional form as a pallet and the harmonies as the paint and created a work accessible to the congregational audiences of his time. Yet, in doing this, he was also able to provide us with a work that can teach us a lot.

Works Cited

1. Crist, Stephen. "Aria Forms in the Cantatas from Bach's first Leipzig Jahgrang." Bach Studies. ed. Don Franklin. (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 36-53.

2. Taruskin, Richard. "Facing Up, Finally, to Bach's Dark Vision." Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. pp. 308-315.