11441534 Bach Mather Overture Suite

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Tis flute and keyboard edition of Bach’s Overture-Suite inB minor for flute, strings, and continuo (BWV 1067) aimsto help players of both early and modern instruments per-form the music as closely as possible to Bach’s conception. o that end, the score and separate flute part are annotated with structural labels. Te Preface gives information neededto understand the score and flute part. A facsimile of Bach’sautograph flute part begins the flute book. Detailed Perfor-mance Notes conclude it.

Tis Preface considers the origin and chief manuscriptsource of BWV 1067. It explains the choice of voices, edi-torial practices, and map-like structural labels in our scoreand flute part. For comparison with our edition it offers afull orchestral score of the opening measures constructedfrom Bach’s manuscript parts. It closes with a list of the ab-breviated forms used in the structural labels.

Although variously called Suite 2 in B minor , Ouverture II

for flute and strings , and Orchestral Suite 2, the work includesboth an overture and a suite of airs, and of Bach’s four surviving works in this form, this one is chronologically thelast (not the second!) he composed. We therefore call it theOverture-Suite in B minor — or, more simply, BWV 1067.

ORIGIN ANDM ANUSCRIPTSOURCE

Te only copy of BWV 1067 surviving from Bach’s lifetimeis a set of manuscript parts1 (no score) now dated around1739. Te set includes six separate parts: traverso, violin1, violin 2, viola, [figured] continuo, and [unfigured] bass.Bach himself copied the traverso part. A recent study ofcopying mistakes and revisions reveals the set to be a trans-position up a whole step from a presumed lost version in A minor, probably composed in the early 1730s with pos-sibly violin as the solo instrument.2 Perhaps Bach includedthe Polonaise in the suite of dances because he was aroundthat time petitioning the Polish King in Dresden for anappointment as Royal Court Composer, which he receivedin 1736.

For which performer or occasion either the A minor or Bminor version of this Overture-Suite was written is notknown. Some have suggested the B minor version was

meant for Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin, renowned flute virtu-oso at the Dresden Court. After May 1738, however, Bachno longer visited Dresden. On the other hand, Bach di-rected the Leipzig Collegium Musicum from 1729 to 1737and again from 1739 to 1741 so he may have written both versions for that group. A remote possibility is that Buf-fardin performed the flute part in Leipzig, for he did once visit Bach there.

Movement titles and affect labels. Mouvement is theFrench term for movement, tempo, rhythm, and affect (styl-ized emotional state).3 A slow movement moves slowly.

A dance movement supports the physical movements ofdancers. A bourrée movement displays the typical bour-

Preface

rée rhythm. Te various musical affects , also called passionsin French, are movements of the soul that transport listenersto joyful, sorrowful, and other states. In addition, the termmouvement sometimes signifies meter (Fr., mesure ). For thesereasons we consider BWV 1067 to have nine movements— the three sections of the Overture and the six airs of the

Suite. Characteristic tempos, dance motions, rhythms, affects , and meters distinguish the nine. Te first repeated sec-tion of the Overture is a slow opening movement of majes-tic dotted figures in C meter. Te second repeated section,rarely repeated today, includes two movements—the firsta dance-like concerto fugue in 2 meter; the second a slowclosing movement of majestic dotted figures in I meter. Inthe set of six airs, the two Bourrées form a single da capomovement, and the Polonaise and its Double (variation ofthe Polonaise melody) form another.

Bach’s title at the beginning of each instrumental part of

BWV 1067 is simply Ouverture . Tis use for both the three-section opener and the complete overture-suite is typicallyGerman (despite the French spelling). Because Bach givesa title only for the third section of the Overture — Lente-ment (slowly) — we supply common French titles for thefirst two — Grave (serious, slow) and Vite (lively, quick).Bach’s titles for the six airs (here in italics) differ somewhat from those used today (here in parentheses): Ron-deaux (Rondeau); Sarabande (Sarabande); Bourrée I [and II ]alternativement (Bourrées I & II); Polonoise [and] Double (Polonaise & Double); Menuet (Menuet); and Battinerie (Badinerie).

At the start of each movement, we supply affect words ingray from one or more German writers of Bach’s day. Weplace these words above the time signature in the keyboardright hand of our score and below the time signature in ourseparate flute part.

THEF LUTEAND K EYBOARD A RRANGEMENT

Our several goals for this arrangement have been to stayas close as possible to the original parts; to edit these partsclearly and consistently; to name the chief rhetorical sec-tions, poetic units, and melodic ideas in the orations of thetop voice; to point out the chief modulations and cadences

according to late Baroque concepts; and to identify the con-certo structure and fugue processes in the Overture Vite.

Our main guide for accuracy has been the NBA full score4

entitled II / Ouvertüre / Orchestersuite h-Moll / BWV 1067 , which is based chiefly on Bach’s manuscript parts describedabove. As needed for clarification we have consulted pho-tocopies of the manuscript parts (see Bach’s autograph flutepart at the start of our separate flute book).

Choice of voices. o clearly present the linear characterand main protagonists in Bach’s Overture-Suite we re-

tain the two outer voices in all movements, the chief inner voices wherever possible, and the main contrapuntal entries

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More transitory reposes not discussed by writers in Bach’s

circle might be called quasi or qualified cadences (QC ). Tese are perfect cadences weakened by deviations fromthe requisite initial and/or arrival pitches. Most belong toone of three types: initial pitch of lowest voice on the sev-enth degree (leading tone) of the tonal area, or on the sec-ond or fourth degree; arrival pitch of highest voice on thethird or fifth degree; and one or more pitches extendingthe arrival past the downbeat. For a qualified half cadence(QHC ) the bass arrives on a pitch other than the fifth de-gree (Overture, mm. 139, 167; Double, m. 8; Badinerie, m.36); or another voice arrives on the fourth degree (Ron-deau, mm. 4, 24). Te circled pitches in the examples below

are typical deviations.

All cadences of a given type are not equally conclusive. Tose in the home key are more final than those in relatedkeys, and more elaborated approaches and longer arrivalnotes are more final than others.

Concerto and fugue labels. In the Overture Vite of BWV1067, an Italian Baroque concerto structure encompasses

the fugue processes.

Te concerto structure alternates ritornello (R: returningtutti ) sections and concertino (C: contrasting solo) sections.Unusual in this Vite is a hybrid episode (R/C) that sepa-rates the first three alternations (R1-R3 and C1-C3) fromthe last three (R4-R6 and C4-C6). Also unusual are thesubsections a and b that divide sections R1, C1, C6, andR6.

In quite another way, the fugue processes in this movementdivide the concerto sections into fugue and concertino ex-positions; extra, middle, and final entries; transitions; reex-

positions; and a coda. Labels in small caps below the musicidentify the fugue processes.

ENDNOTES

1Held as Mus. ms. Bach St. 154 (1–6) in the Deutsche Staatsbib-liothek zu Berlin. 2 Joshua Rifkin, “Te ‘B minor Flute Suite’ Deconstructed: NewLight on Bach’s Ouverture BWV 1067,” in Bach Perspectives 6 (Ur-bana: University of Illinois Press, 2005), 43–46. 3Patricia Ranum, Te Harmonic Orator: Te Phrasing and Rhetoricof the Melody in French Baroque Airs (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press,2001), 309–12. 4 Johann Sebastian Bach. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke , VII/1

(Kassel and Leipzig: Bärenreiter, 1967), 27–46.

French Baroque and by German writers in Bach’s circle. We begin each abbreviation directly below the first effec-tive pitch.

o these French and German writers, a pitch foreign to theprevailing key, e.g. (to e), introduces most modulations. Up-per- and lower-case letters represent major and minor tonalareas. Where two foreign pitches introduce a new area si-multaneously only the leading tone is labeled.

Most tonal areas come to repose in some kind of harmoniccadence at the final bar line of the poetic unit. Te last twomain pitches of the highest and lowest voices frame thecadence — the initial pitch before the bar line, the arrivalpitch after. We begin each cadence label directly below theinitial pitch in the lowest voice. Both French and Germanauthors mention chiefly three types of cadence: perfect,evaded (or deceptive), and half .

Te perfect cadence (PC ) is the only true cadence. All voicesarrive together on the final downbeat of the unit with thehighest and lowest voices on the first degree of the tonalarea. Te lowest voice moves from the fifth degree, the high-est voice often f rom the second degree. Middle voices movefrom the fifth, seventh (leading tone), second, or sometimesfourth degree to the first, third, or fifth degree. Our cadenceexamples outline the skeletal movement of the soprano andbass voices.

An evaded cadence (PC evaded ) begins with the initial

pitches of a PC but at least one voice sidesteps the expectedrepose. Te only evaded cadence in BWV 1067 leads to thefugue coda (mm. 185–86). Tis cadence begins like the PC in b that sets up the first entrance of the solo flute (mm.54–55). Te expected resolutions are to b in the bass, d' inthe tenor, f#' in the alto and b' in the soprano (a B minortriad). Instead the bass sidesteps to a , the tenor leaps upan octave to f#", the alto sidesteps down to d#' while thesoprano makes its expected resolution to b' .

A half cadence (HC ) is so called because it constitutes onlythe first half of a PC —that is, it ends on the initial pitchesof a PC , with the lowest voice on the fifth degree, the high-est often on the second degree and the leading tone in amiddle voice. (ypically these are the only arrival pitchespresent in a half cadence. Te fourth degree, being disso-nant to both the fifth degree and the leading tone, only oc-casionally participates as an arrival pitch.) No initial pitchesare prescribed, except that the lowest voice of a phrygianhalf cadence (HC phry ) moves from the sixth to the fifth

degree. Te three elaborated phrygian half cadences in theBWV 1067 Grave and Lentement vary considerably in


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refrain tercet

contrasting couplet

contrasting tercet

refrain tercet varied


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Bach’s autograph manuscript. Courtesy of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin.


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Te King’s Grand Ball, foldout page of Pierre Rameau’s Le Maître à danser (Paris 1725, reprint 1748).Courtesy of the Library of Congress’ online collection of dance instruction manuals.


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La Bourée d’Achille , plate 1 of Louis-Guillaume Pécour’s Receuil de danses (Paris, 1700). Our added labels relate the musicand dance measures, identify the poetic lines of the first musical couplet, show the starting positions and facing directionsof the dancers, and indicate Te Presence (the king at his grand ball) to whom the dancers offer their performance.Courtesy of the Library of Congress’ online collection of dance instruction manuals.

start here

couplet 1line 1 line 2

repeat of couplet 1


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Louis XIV reigned personally as King of France from1661 to 1715. A great patron of the arts, he established theFrench academies of dance, opera, and architecture; backedthe Italian-born dancer and composer Jean-Baptiste Lully;practiced daily with the dancing master Pierre Beauchamp;and chose subjects for the court’s musical entertainments.

French balls of the time featured couple dances (danses àdeux ) in the belle danse style developed by Beauchamp thatled to modern ballet. Court ballets and operas (tragedies enmusique ) featured virtuosic choreographies in the belle danse style performed by professional dancers, sometimes in earlydays including the king and Lully. Chamber concerts fea-tured chiefly dance music.

In 1700, with permission from Louis XIV, Raoul-AugerFeuillet published the dance notation evolved under Beau-champ for belles danses .1 Alongside his tutorial, or incorpo-rated with it, was a collection of Feuillet’s own choreogra-phies using this notation and a collection by the eminentdancer Louis Pécour. Pécour’s collection includes La Bourée(sic) d’Achille , soon to be danced in all European courts (seeplate 1 on p. 18).

French balls of the late French Baroque (about 1680 to1720 in France) opened with provincial round dances, con-tinued with danses à deux , and concluded with contredanses(French versions of English country dances—usually long-

ways dances—with French dance steps). In 1725 Pierre Ra-meau pictures a couple preparing to perform a danse à deux before the king and their peers (see p. 6). Te couple firstbows to the king (numbers 1 and 2)and then moves back to

await the musicians’ downbeat (numbers 3 and 4). As a choral scholarship student at St Michael’s School inLüneburg (1700-1702), Bach became acquainted first hand

with the fashionable French court dances. From the boys atLüneburg’s aristocratic Riders’ Academy where the Frenchstyle prevailed, he learned French and perhaps some Frenchdance steps. Te academy’s French dancing master alsoserved the Lüneburg Castle with its orchestra of Frenchmusicians. From the library of the Lüneburg organist andcomposer George Böhm, Bach copied several French harp-sichord suites, some with information on their performancepractices.2

Te nine “movements” of Bach’s B minor Overture-SuiteBWV 1067 include the three sections of a French overture,five French dance airs much in vogue in the 1730s, anda polonaise. Te Overture Grave and Lentement, and thePolonaise, feature the majestic dotted rhythms that accom-pany festive processions. Te Rondeau, Sarabande, Bour-rées, and Menuet present the characteristic rhythms andaffects of French ballroom and theatrical dances. Te light-hearted, exuberant Badinerie projects the downright fun ofthe French contredanses, capturing the timeless joy of folkdancing.

Dancers, musicians, and audiences in Bach’s day were well acquainted with the movement types in BWV 1067

through dancing them, playing them on instruments, andhearing and seeing them performed repeatedly. o givemodern musical performers a taste of these combinedphysical experiences we offer the basic essentials of dancingeach movement type, cite early 18th-century German writ-ers on the sentiment, character or affect expressed, explore

the poetic orations declaimed by the top voice in Frenchovertures and French dance songs, compare the flute andstring articulations taught at the time, and offer guidelinesfor realizing the ornament signs. o conclude, we considerthe remarkably unified structure of BWV 1067.

D ANCER HYTHMS

Te movements in BWV 1067 make listeners want tomarch or dance. Te declamatory dotted rhythms in theOverture Grave and Lentement and the Polonaise suggesta festive march. Tose in the Overture go back to the con-certed instrumental openings of 17th-century ballets de cour during which performers walked on stage and promenadedin halting steps while musicians repeated at least the quicksecond section of the music.3 Te Polonaise, a march ofcouples in ç meter, is still today the first of the nationaldances of Poland. Te remaining movements might bedanced to the elegant belle danse choreographies developedat the French court or to the folk-like contredanses broughtfrom England. Each style has its own floor patterns anddance steps. In all three styles, dancers and musicians markmusical meter in related ways.

Floor patterns. Would-be marchers to the Grave and

Lentement of BWV 1067 would naturally move in theforward direction. A polonaise dance starts in the forwarddirection but other folk dance figures may follow.

Te danse à deux choreographies — such as the Bouréed’Achille plate opposite — show the floor patterns as figuresand the step units as groups of stylized musical notes linkedtogether by a sometimes curved beam. At the bottom of theplate, a half circle topped by a straight line represents thegentleman, a half circle within the first half circle representsthe lady. Te dancers travel chiefly toward “Te Presence”(position of highest honor) in either parallel or symmetricaltracts (paths). In front of each dancer, two small circles with

outgoing diagonal stems represent the starting position ofthe feet. A dot in front of the rear foot shows that toe to restlightly on the floor, the body’s weight on the front foot. Halfmoons with outgoing horizontal strokes show the dancersholding hands. At vertical strokes through the outgoingones the dancers release hands. Small bar lines cutting thetract end dance measures. Te stylized musical notes showthe dancers’ individual steps. A note’s black head designatesthe foot’s starting position, the stem its line of travel, andthe flag its arrival where the body’s weight change is com-pleted. Heading the Achille plate is the repeated first binarystrain of the choreographed tune, notated in French violin

clef with g' on the bottom staff line. Te figure “1” above thefinal bar line gives the plate number.

Performance Notes


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Bach’s first biographer calls Bach the “greatest musical poetand the greatest musical orator that ever existed.”18 Indeedthe melodies in the top voice of the nine movements ofBWV 1067 confirm Bach’s poetic and oratorical prowesseven in French-inspired musical settings.

Overture slow sections. If English words were spoken tothe majestic dotted figures of French overtures they might

proclaim: “Hear this!” “See now!” “It’s the King!” “Praise theKing!” Te Prologue to Lully’s opera Atys (1676, revised1689) opens with such an overture. In the brief orationin dotted figures that follows, the God of ime promiseseternal fame to the reigning King Louis XIV, “greatest ofheroes.”

In this, as in most musical imitations of French poetic ora-tions, each spoken syllable is set to a single note of mu-sic. In addition, the atonic e of a French feminine rhyme,though not counted as a separate syllable in speech, is setto its own musical note.

Te first poetic line of this oration has the 12 syllables andmajestic affect of a Classical alexandrine, the longest andmost serious of Classical poetic lines. Te second line has

the eight syllables of the longest and most serious of shortlines. Te first rhyme is feminine, the second masculine. Te stress of both rhymes falls on the final musical down-beat of the line (boldface upper case in the example).

One to six syllables form a French poetic foot (/ in the ex-ample). Te last syllable, the longest but not necessarily theloudest, normally falls on a musical beat. One or two poeticfeet make up either a poetic half line (//) or a short poeticline of eight or fewer syllables (///). Te final syllable of ashort or long French poetic line (both ///) usually falls on amusical downbeat.

For dramatic effect and to ensure being heard by the audi-

ence, French actors emphasize the last two or sometimesthree syllables of each poetic foot, called the relay (uppercase in the example). As much as possible within the al-lotted time, they lengthen the last syllable of the relay for a

grammatical accent , and lengthen and/or intensify the nextto last syllable for an oratorical accent .19 Te grammaticalaccent falls on the last downbeat good note of a poetic lineand the oratorical accent on the prior upbeat bad note.

Even without lyrics, the dotted rhythms of the BWV 1067Grave and Lentement can be parsed more or less like theGod of ime oration. Because all rhymes in these two sec-

tions are masculine, all poetic lines start after the note or

rest on a downbeat and close on either the next downbeator the one after it. Although Grave lines 1 and 2 and Lente-ment line 1 have the same number of syllables (11) the twoGrave lines are most naturally parsed as four almost identi-cal poetic feet grouped into almost equal half lines, whereasthe Lentement line is most naturally parsed as four assortedfeet grouped into very unequal half lines. Poetic half linesin the $-meter Grave seem to end on beats 1 or 3, those

in the I Lentement on beat 1, and poetic feet in both on abeat.

o experience this music as declaimed poetry, English syl-lables can be fitted to the French scansion and majestic af-

fect of the music and all unusual notes set to words thatthe music might represent. In our BWV 1067 examplesbelow, we set the first rising good note to the word rise , theexclamatory upward leap to praise , the long tied notes tolong fame , and ornamented notes to the moving or powerful words rise, King (twice) and glides . Modern performers canpractice speaking such parodies histrionically, using pitchesroughly approximate to those of the music and declaiming

the final two syllables of each poetic foot with as much ex-aggeration as the notated rhythm and good taste allow.

Lullian dance songs. Unlike the majestic orations inLully’s prologues, the dance songs in his operas are shortorations sung to a particular dance rhythm and affect . Ingavotte, bourrée, and sarabande songs the oratorical andgrammatical accents of actor singers’ relays embrace barlines, as would the bend-rise movements of dancers.

In duple meter dance songs, most poetic lines are short, cov-ering eight steady values over two musical measures. Bour-rée lines have basically six syllables starting with the fourth

steady value of a measure (1 | 2/ 3 4 5 | 6///). Gavotte lineshave basically seven, starting with the third steady value (12 | 3/ 4 5 6 | 7///). Te lines in the first couplet of the gavotte song Serons-nous from Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione aretypical.


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cation during the decade or so before his 1752 publication.In Bach’s manuscript parts for BWV 1067, the flute andfirst violins declaim the poetic oration together in all pas-sages marked tutti for the flute and forte for the strings.Presumably the flute and first violins would aim for similareffects. Here we consider the articulations probably used byBach’s flute and string players for the steady values, quick

values, mixed values, and slurred and staccato notes in the

movements of BWV 1067.

Steady values. Both flute and violin tutors of the early1700s use separate strokes for the steady values that guidedancing.

Hotteterre uses the single crisp but short syllable tu for allsteady values. For the t the tip of the tongue comes to thepalate to block the pent-up air for at least a moment be-fore releasing it quickly in a stream through the lips. Temomentary silence before the release may be long or short.

When the tongue returns earlier to the palate, the silenceis longer, when later the silence is shorter. In both cases the

intensity of the note is retained until the silence.

French violin tutors of the late Baroque alternate strongand weak bow strokes as much as possible, in general usinga down-bow for the good notes of the measure and an up-bow for the bad ones. For continuous steady values in triplemeter, they retake a down-bow at bar lines, hook an up-bow, or continually alternate the bow strokes. Although allsteady values in dance pieces tend to be separated, a silenceautomatically separates a retaken downbow and a hookedup-bow.

o what extent Bach’s players imitated French declamationin performing BWV 1067 no one can know, but modernplayers can experiment with it. In the following modelbourrée line we show declamatory flute relays (U TU)at bar lines to match those in bourrée songs, which in turnmatch the bend-rise movements of dancers.

v

v

Quantz discusses the length and weight of bow strokes inthree of the four dance types used in BWV 1067. In bour-rées, the strokes are short and light. In sarabandes, quarternotes are separated whether dotted or not — though lessassertively than in overtures. In menuets, quarter notes aremarked with short but rather heavy bow strokes.27

Quick values. A long chain of quick values requires adifferent treatment. Hotteterre usually moves from a badquick note to a good one (one that coincides with a steady

value): tu-ru. Because the tu begins quickly it can be slight-ly delayed. Te ru is pronounced a little more slowly intothe flowing air stream like one flip of a frontally trilled r .

(Tose unable to trill a frontal r may substitute the flippedd of the English phrase “I have lots t’do.”) On the otherhand, French violinists of the period used a down-bow formost good quick notes and an up-bow for most bad ones.By touching the bow only lightly to the strings, the up-bowon a bad quick note can readily be made shorter, lighter, anda little later than the down-bow on a good note.

Where two or four quick notes stand between two steady values, the usual syllables may be reversed: tu-ru. In theunison flute and violin passages of BWV 1067, the trochaictu-ru may better match the violin bowing.

In the solo passages of the Vite, however, the iambic tu-ru

would better contrast with the tu-ru of the tutti passages.

When a breath is needed among continuous quick values,the rhythmic inequality can be increased to offer enoughtime.Where the next poetic line starts with a good note, asdoes line 3 of the BWV 1067 Rondeau, the previous badquick note can be played a little early and short.

But where the next poetic line starts with a bad quick note,as does line 3 of the Vite, the bad note can be played late.

(For the most inconspicuous inhalation, the lips are heldin position, the tongue tip raised to the palate to block theoutgoing air, and incoming air is quickly sniffed throughthe nose.)

Mixed values. French flutists would normally relate thequick note of a dotted rhythm to the following note what-

ever that value: tu-ru. French violinists would use a down-bow for the dotted value and an up-bow for the quick one.

However, the eighth note that follows a dotted quarter notein the % meter of bourrées and gavottes, and the I meterof sarabandes and courantes, is not to be performed exactly

with its notated value. Rather, Quantz specifies that thedotted note is played with emphasis, the bow lifted fromthe string during the dot, and the eighth note executedquickly in a sharp (crisp) manner. Where time allows, alldotted figures are treated this way.28 Line 1 of the BWV1067 Sarabande might be executed somewhat as follows.


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the flow. Sometimes a one-note grace decorates a dissonantmain note on a strong beat. In this case, a quick, pre-beat,or unstressed execution is necessary for the main note to beheard as dissonant.

Ornaments in accompanying voices have special require-ments. Among dense voices, pre-beat or short executionsmay be needed to avoid rhythmic conflict, unpleasing dis-sonances, or parallels among voices. In the bass, prebeat or

short executions may be needed to preserve the continuoharmonies.

Te ornaments in the first couplet of the BWV 1067 Lente-ment are especially challenging (see example below). Tesubject in the keyboard right hand features a trill on circledbeat 3 and a one-note grace on circled beat 5 of its implied' rhythm. Te compound ornament on beat 2 of the flutedescant counters the ' rhythm and sets the majestic affect of the movement. In the third measure the three graces inthe right hand require fairly quick execution — whetherstarted before, across, or on the beat — to avoid conflict

with the long appoggiatura in the flute and the trill in thecourante-like subject now in the bass. For clarification inthat third measure, the flutist might join the quarter-noteappoggiatura e'' to the main note f#'' with a pincé (mordent)played before, across, or on the beat.

B ACH’SUNIFIED S TRUCTURE

In most overture-suites, the overture and airs are little if atall related. In BWV 1067, however, uncommon repetition,a thematic skeleton, Fibonacci mean ratios, various chias-tic structures (reversed parallelisms), and Bach’s signaturenumber 14 unify the work. Each movement has at leastthree of these five unifiers.

Uncommon repetition. All movements include some un-usual repetition. Te repetition may be exact or free, andtake the form of imitation, return, or rounding.

Each section of the Overture processes a subject for imita-tion. Trough the first half of the Grave either the top orbass voice states the subject. Trough the second half one

voice or another states f ragments of that subject. Te Vite

develops its subject as a lengthy fugue within the alternat-

ing ritornello and concertino sections of an Italian Baroqueconcerto. Te Lentement, processed as a fughetta, imitatesthe Grave in its subject, its subject fragments, and its se-quence of harmonic cadences.

Each air has its own atypical repetition. Te Rondeau isespecially rounded by the addition of varied refrains A1and A2, their developed returns as A2' and A1' , and thetransposed return of contrast B. Each repeated strain of the

Sarabande is unusually imitated by the canon between theoutside voices. Te bass voice in Bourrée I continually it-erates an arched palindrome on the pitches b c' d' c' b or atransposition. Trough most of Bourrée II the bass voicerepeats a single two-measure figure. Each tercet of the Po-lonaise develops a single opening rhythm in the first threemeasures and a single closing rhythm in the fourth measure.

Wherever motive a appears in the top voice of the Menuet,the bass voice echoes it. In the Badinerie, idea a returns re-peatedly, and ideas b, c, d, e, and f return at least once.

Tematic skeleton. A thematic skeleton fleshed out in

various ways unites five of the nine BWV 1067 movements. A mainstay of the skeleton is a scalar descent in B minorfrom the sixth degree ( g'' ) to the second degree (c#'' ). A fre-quent addition is the first degree (b' ) that may appear at thestart, in the middle, and/or at the end (see parentheticalpitches in the diagram below). At the start, the first degreeleaps up a minor sixth to the sixth degree. In the middle, itleaps up a perfect fourth to the fourth degree. At the end, itbrings the melody to repose. Sometimes the skeleton occurs

with only the bare-bones mainstay pitches.

Fleshed-out versions of the thematic skeleton open andclose the Grave (lines 1–2 and 9–13) and Lentement (lines1–2 and 5–8), shape the fugue subject of the Vite (lines1–2), and open and close the Sarabande (lines 1 and 9–10)and Menuet (lines 1 and 5–6).

In the hybrid episode of the Vite (lines 57-58), two singu-lar statements of the skeleton appear in the subdominantE minor and relative D major. At the end of the Vite, abare-bones descent of the skeleton with quick notes slurred

in pairs (line 91) moves into the Lentement. Similar bare-

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11441534 Bach Mather Overture Suite

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