Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's ''Clavier-Übung II'' was published in 1735, containing two works written for performance on a two- manual

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

. In the publication, Bach contrasted a work in Italian style – a '' Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto'' (''Concerto after the Italian taste'', now known as the ''Italian Concerto''), BWV 971, with a work in French style, a suite which he called '' Ouvertüre nach franzosischer Art'' (''Overture in the French style'', also known as the ''French Overture''), BWV 831.

History

The ''French Overture'' had previously been written down in

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

; for the publication of 1735 Bach transposed it to

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes neede ...

and made slight changes to the musical text, for example in the rhythms of the first movement. The reason for the transposition is not known: one speculation is that the aim was to increase the contrast between the two works. F major is a "flat" key and B minor is a "sharp" key, and the keynotes are related by a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

, which is the most distant

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

. Another possible motivation is that out of the eight German note names A, B ( B), C, D, E, F, G, H ( B), six had already been used as keynotes in the Partitas, thus only F and H remained. The keys of the Partitas (B-flat major, C minor, A minor, D major, G major, E minor) may seem like an irregular sequence, but in fact they form a sequence of intervals going up and then down by increasing amounts: a second up (B-flat to C), a third down (C to A), a fourth up (A to D), a fifth down (D to G), and finally a sixth up (G to E). The sequence continues into ''

Clavier-Übung Clavier-Übung, in more modern spelling Klavierübung, is German for "keyboard exercise". In the late 17th and early 18th centuries this was a common title for keyboard music collections: first adopted by Johann Kuhnau in 1689,Wollf (1991) p.189Bo ...

II'' with the Italian Concerto, a seventh down (E to F), and the French Ouverture, an augmented fourth up (F to B-natural). Thus the sequence of customary tonalities for 18th-century keyboard compositions is complete, extending from the first letter of his name (Bach's "home" key, B, in German is B) to the last letter of his name (B in German is H).

''Italian Concerto'', BWV 971

''French Overture'', BWV 831

Reception

References

{{classical-composition-stub Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach 1735 compositions Compositions for harpsichord