SCHEDULE

Tuesdays, 2.30-5.30 PM, M271

10 January    1. Introduction

17 January    2. Liturgical context
24 January    3. Analytical and musical overview

31 January    4. Original sources: Autograph score

  7 February  5. Original sources: Performing parts

14 February  6.

21 February  7.

28 February  8.

  6 March      9.  Guest: Prof. Stephen A. Crist

[SPRING BREAK]

20 March    10.

27 March    11.

  3 April      12.

10 April      13. [Hiatus]

17 April      14. Presentations    1.                                        2.

24 April      15. Presentations    3.                                        4.                                     5.

TOPIC

J. S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 as a starting point for the study of early 18th-century music.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Prof. Daniel R. Melamed    M325C, dmelamed (AT) indiana.edu
Office hours: TBA. E-mail questions are welcome at any time and are the fastest way to get an answer.

Course information, assignments, reserve lists and this schedule can be found at http://mypage.iu.edu/~dmelamed/M602-BWV248-2012.htm, also reachable through  http://M602.melamed.org.

REQUIREMENTS

• Class attendance/participation. Seminar members are expected to attend every meeting; please do not schedule conflicting activities. Religious commitments and serious illness are ordinarily the only acceptable reasons for missing a meeting; please let the instructor know beforehand by e-mail. Members of the seminar are expected to participate actively in discussions and to be fully prepared to do so every time.
   
• Assignments for each meeting. Most meetings will be led (in shorter or longer segments) by members of the seminar based on assignments carried out beforehand in consultation with the instructor.
   
• Final paper and presentation. The last meetings will be devoted to presentations by members of the seminar. At the first meeting we will establish dates for the presentations, which will be based on research papers circulated in advance. Completed papers will be due in electronic form for circulation one week before the date of  presentations.

GRADING

The course grade will be based on presentations, participation and the final paper. There will be no examinations.

SEMINAR MEMBERS

David Rugger

Matthew Leone

Carolyn McClimon

Daniel Rogers

Ryan Young   

D. Melamed

RESOURCES

Sources

Autograph score (D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 32)

    On Bach-Digital    Facsimile [ML96.5.B118 W3]

 

Original performing parts (D-B Mus. ms. Bach St 112)

    On Bach-Digital (St 112I, 112II, etc., fascicle 1)

 

Original printed text

    PDF on Oncourse

Editions

Bach-Gesellschaft score (BG 5 ed. Wilhelm Rust, 1856)

   On IMSLP        PDF on Oncourse

 

Neue Bach-Ausgabe score (NBA II/6 ed. Walter Blankenburg and Alfred Dürr, 1960)    [M3 .B119 Ser. 2 v. 6]

 

    Critical Commentary (1962)    PDF on Oncourse:   1   2   3

Text and English translation

        Text+translation--Marissen    Text in compact form

Recordings

Suzuki    Herreweghe or Herreweghe   Harnoncourt    Richter or Richter    Rilling        Fasolis

Survey literature

Alfred Dürr. Johann Sebastian Bach, Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248. Munich: W. Fink, 1967. [MT115.B2 D75]

Walter Blankenburg. Das Weihnachts-Oratorium von Johann Sebastian Bach. Cassel: Bärenreiter, 1982. [MT115.B2 B65]

Ignace Bossuyt. Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248).  Transl. Stratton Bull. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2004. [MT115.B2 B6813]

Walter Meinrad. Johann Sebastian Bach : Weihnachtsoratorium. Cassel: Bärenreiter, 2006. [MT115.B2 W35]

On chorales

EKG                      Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch. [Frontlog - Scores 5798104]

Zahn                      Johannes Zahn. Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder. 6 vols. Gütersloh, 1889; reprint Hildesheim, 1997. [Ref ML3129.Z22 M5] [Volumes I   II   III   IV   V   VI]

Wackernagel          Philipp Wackernagel. Das deutsche Kirchenlied von der ältesten Zeit bis zu Anfang des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 5 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1864-1877. [BV355.G3 W12] [Volumes I   II   III   IV   V]

Fischer-Tümpel      Albert Fischer and Wilhelm Tümpel. Das deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des 17. Jahrhunderts.  6 vols. Gütersloh, 1904-1916 reprint Hildesheim, 1964. [BV480 .F53] [Volumes I   II  III  IV   V  VI]

Reference tool

 Basic questions about research materials on Bach are answered in

Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen. An introduction to Bach studies. New York, 1998. [Ref ML134.B1 M45]

ASSIGNMENTS

Liturgical context

The liturgical calendar

    Overall principles of organization

    Rhythm of the liturgical year

    Major feasts

    Points of variation from year to year

    The tempus clausum

    The Christmas season

    The liturgical year 1734-35

    Later years    [NB: In 1744, Leipzig observed Easter on March 29, not April 5]

    Questions: How was the year organized, particularly around Christmas; how did BWV 248 fit in 1734-5; how might it have fit in other years?

    Starting resources

An Introduction to Bach Studies

Hermann Grotefend. Handbuch der historischen Chronologie des deutschen Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Hannover, 1872.

The liturgy

    Feast/Sunday liturgy in the principal Leipzig churches

    Role of music

    Place of BWV 248 in service

    Questions: How was the liturgy organized, particularly from a musical standpoint, and how did BWV 248 fit?

    Starting resources

An Introduction to Bach Studies

Robin A. Leaver. “The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical context.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bach, edited by John Butt, 86-122. Cambridge, 1997. [ML410.B12 C24]

Charles Sanford Terry. Joh. Seb. Bach Cantata texts, sacred and secular, with a reconstruction of the Leipzig liturgy of his period. London: Constable, 1926. [ML49.B2 T3]

Gunther Stiller.  Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig. Transl. Herbert J.A. Bouman, Daniel F. Poellot, and Hilton C. Oswald; ed. Robin A. Leaver. St. Louis: Concordia, 1984. [ML410.B12 S853]

Leipziger Kirchen-Staat. Leipzig, 1710.  Part 1    Part 2

Text

    Scriptural text in relaion to Gospel readings

    Chorale texts (origins, liturgical designations)

    Questions: How do the scriptural texts and chorale stanzas in BWV 248 relate to the Gospel readings and to seasonal hymnody?

    Starting resources

An Introduction to Bach Studies [for Gospel, Epistle]

EKG, Zahn, Wackernagel, Fischer-Tumpel [see above]

Werner Neumann, ed. Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach vertonte Texte. Leipzig : VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1974. [ML49.B2 N4]

Vopelius, Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch [1682 version not online, but 1729 edition here]

 

Original printed text

       Scope, layout, typographical distinctions

       Degree of dependence on musical setting

       Comparison to other Leipzig text prints/reprings (cantatas, BWV 244, 247, Stölzel passion oratorio 1734)

       Questions: What is the relation of the original printed text to other Leipzig libretto prints and to the musical setting?

       Starting resources

Werner Neumann, ed. Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach vertonte Texte. Leipzig : VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1974. [ML49.B2 N4] (incl. reprinted texts of BWV 244, 247, some cantatas)

Bach-Jahrbuch 2008, p. 92ff. [1727 cantata texts] [ML410.B12 A6]

Bach-Jahrbuch 2008, p. 96ff [Stölzel passion oratorio 1734]

Bach-Jahrbuch 2009, p. 37ff [1724 cantata texts]

Bach-Jahrbuch 2009, p. 41ff [1728 cantata texts]

Bach-Jahrbuch 2009, p. 45ff [1734 passion text BWV 247]

 

Other JSB repertory for Christmas feasts/Sundays

        Overview of cantata repertory for relevant days

        Organization/relation to Gospel & Epistle

        Performing forces (instrumentarium)

        Dates/performance history

        Questions: What other concerted music did Bach perform in other years in the spots occupied by BWV 248 in 1734/5?

        Starting resources

An Introduction to Bach Studies

BC, BWV

Analytical and musical overview

We'll spend this week getting a musical overview of the Christmas Oratorio.

Gospel narrative--Evangelist

Relation to (poetic) recitative and to scriptural recitation

Melodic/harmonic syntax and conventions

Performance matters (particularly basso continuo)

Gospel narrative--other interlocutors

Vocal scoring (in context; in relation to other oratorios)

Musical style and types of movements

Chorales

Style of 1734/5 4-part harmonizations

Other kinds of chorale settings in BWV 248--analytical issues

Colla parte scoring in Parts I-VI

Solo/duet/terzet arias

Analytical model for ritornello analysis

Analytical model for ritornello arias

Overview of BWV 248 arias; sample analysis

A very brief guide to ritornello analysis

Wilhelm Fischer. "Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Wiener klassischen Stils." Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 3 (1915), 24–84.

Sample: BWV 61/3        Score    Diagram    Recordings: Suzuki   Koopman   Harnoncourt      Rilling   

Sample: BWV 245/9      Score    Diagram    Recordings: Slowik      Suzuki      S. Kuijken       Rilling    

Tutti arias

[As above]

Original sources: Autograph score

This week we will study BWV 248 from the perspective of Bach's autograph score.

Using the published facsimile, online images, and description in the NBA KB, carefully study the autograph score of BWV 248. Everyone should work on Part I; each of you should also study a subsequent part and prepare a presentation on it. Things to consider:

• The physical structure of the score and implications for the piece

• Bach's numbering and labeling of sections and implications for the status of the work as a unified piece

• The paper used in the score and its implications [see the NBA paper/watermark volumes]

• Layout of pages and implications for planning and composition

• Evidence of Bach's compositional process, including the order of composition of movements and steps and stages in the writing of movements [please read relevant sections of Marshall's book, cited below]

• The character of Bach's handwriting [calligraphic fair copies vs. working script] and implications for the origin of movements

• Individual corrections and changes [not an exhaustive catalogue but representative significant changes]

• Direct evidence of the adaptation of older music (corrections of text, transposition errors, changes to layout, etc.)

The foundational study for "compositional process":

Robert L. Marshall.  The Compositional Process of J. S. Bach: A Study of the Autograph Scores of the Vocal Works. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972. [ML410.B12 M369]

Parallel studies of the score of the Mass in B Minor BWV 232 that can serve as models on some points:

Robert L. Marshall. "The Mass in B Minor: the autograph scores and the compositional process." In The music of Johann Sebastian Bach: the sources, the style, the significance, 175-89. New York, 1989.

John Butt. Mass in B Minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. [ML410.B12 B972]

Autograph score [D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 180]:    On Bach-Digital    Facsimile: ML96.5.B118 M2

A good introduction to paper (for the later 18th century, but relevant):

Alan Tyson. Mozart. Studies of the autograph scores. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987. Chapter 1. [ML410.M9 T95]