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Clavier-Übung II
''Clavier-Übung II'' is a collection of harpsichord compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was published in 1735. Written for performance on a two- manual harpsichord, it contrasts the Italian style of that time with the French style. While the Italian style is represented by the '' Italian Concerto'', BWV 971, the French style is represented by the suite '' Overture in the French style'', BWV 831. History The ''French Overture'' had previously been written down in C minor; for the publication of 1735 Bach transposed it to B minor 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, which is the most distant modulation Signal modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic wave ...
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Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one or more strings. The strings are under tension on a Sound board (music), soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. Like a pipe organ, a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard Manual (music), manual and even a #Pedal harpsichord, pedal board. Harpsichords may also have Organ stop, stop levers which add or remove additional octaves. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute. The term denotes the whole family of similar plucked-keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, virginals#Muselars, m ...
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, [ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ]) ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral ''Brandenburg Concertos''; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites (Bach), cello suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (Bach), sonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as the ''Goldberg Variations'' and ''The Well-Tempered Clavier''; organ works such as the ' and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the ''St Matthew Passion'' and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Reception of Johann Sebastian Bach's music, Bach Revival, he has been widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. The Bach family had already produced several composers when Joh ...
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List Of Compositions By Johann Sebastian Bach Printed During His Lifetime
Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime (1685–1750) include works for keyboard instruments, such as his ''Clavier-Übung'' volumes for harpsichord and for organ, and to a lesser extent ensemble music, such as the trio sonata of ''The Musical Offering'', and vocal music, such as a cantata published early in his career. Other works, such as several canons, were printed without an indication by which instruments they were to be performed. No more than a few works by Johann Sebastian Bach were printed during his lifetime. Extended works for choir and instrumentalists were not printed very often in his day. Bach selected mostly keyboard compositions for publication, which conformed to such contemporary practices, and was instrumental in establishing him as a keyboard composer. His works not only circulated in print: also manuscripts were copied and transmitted. Whether or not a work was selected for print was independent of the quality of the music. Cont ...
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Manual (music)
The word "manual" is used instead of the word "keyboard" when referring to any hand-operated keyboard on a keyboard instrument that has a Pedal keyboard, pedalboard (a keyboard on which notes are played with the feet), such as an organ; or when referring to one of the keyboards on an instrument that has more than one hand-operated keyboard, such as a two- or three-manual harpsichord. (On instruments that have neither a pedalboard nor more than one hand-operated keyboard, the word "manual" is ''not'' a synonym for "keyboard".) Music written to be played only on the manuals (and not using the pedals) can be designated by the word manualiter (first attested in 1511, but particularly common in the 17th and 18th centuries). Overview Organs and synthesizers can, and usually do, have more than one manual; most home instruments have two manuals, while most larger organs have two or three. Elaborate pipe organs and theater organs can have four or more manuals. The manuals are set into th ...
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Italian Concerto, BWV 971
The ''Italian Concerto'', BWV 971, originally titled ''Concerto nach Italiænischen Gusto'' (''Concerto in the Italian taste''), is a three-movement concerto for two- manual harpsichord solo composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and published in 1735 as the first half of Clavier-Übung II (the second half being the ''French Overture''). The ''Italian Concerto'' has become popular among Bach's keyboard works, and has been widely recorded both on the harpsichord and piano. Context An Italian concerto relies upon the contrasting roles of different groups of instruments in an ensemble; Bach imitates this effect by creating contrasts using the ''forte'' and ''piano'' manuals of a two-manual harpsichord throughout the piece. Related works Along with the ''French Overture'' and some of the ''Goldberg Variations'', this is one of the few works by Bach which specifically require a 2-manual harpsichord. However, it is not unusual in being a solo keyboard work based on Italian concertos. Lo ...
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Suite (music)
A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to five dances, sometimes with a Prelude (music), prelude. The separate Movement (music), movements were often thematically and tonally linked. The term can also be used to refer to similar forms in other musical traditions, such as the Ottoman Classical Music, Turkish fasıl and the Arab music, Arab nuubaat. In the Baroque music, Baroque era, the suite was an important musical form, also known as ''Suite de danses'', ''Ordre'' (the term favored by François Couperin), ''Partita'', or ''Ouverture'' (after the theatrical "overture" which often included a series of dances) as with the orchestral suites of Christoph Graupner, Georg Philipp Telemann, Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach, J.S. Bach. During the 18th century, the suite fell out of fav ...
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Ouvertüre Nach Franzosischer Art
The ''Overture in the French style'', BWV 831, original title ''Ouvertüre nach Französischer Art'', also known as the ''French Overture'' and published as the second half of the ''Clavier-Übung II'' in 1735 (paired with the '' Italian Concerto''), is a suite in B minor for a two-manual harpsichord written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Terminology and structure The term ''overture'' refers to the fact that this suite starts with an overture movement, and was a common generic name for French suites (his orchestral suites were similarly named). This "overture" movement replaces the allemande found in Bach's other keyboard suites. Also, there are optional dance movements both before and after the Sarabande. In Bach's work optional movements usually occur only after the sarabande. All three of the optional dance movements are presented in pairs, with the first one repeated after the second, but without the internal repeats. Also unusual for Bach is the inclusion of an extra movemen ...
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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: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The C harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: Scale degree chords The scale degree chords of C minor are: * Tonic – C minor * Supertonic – D diminished * Mediant – E-flat major * Subdominant – F minor * Dominant – G minor * Submediant – A-flat major * Subtonic – B-flat major Notable compositions * Charles-Valentin Alkan ** Prelude Op. 31, No. 16 (Assez lentement) ** Symphony for Solo Piano, 1st movement: Allegro ** Trois grandes études, Op. 76, No. 3 "Mouvement semblable et perpetuel" * Johannes Sebastian Bach ** Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 ** Lute Suite in C minor, BWV 997 ** Cello ...
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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 needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739–1791) regarded B minor as a key expressing a quiet acceptance of fate and very gentle complaint, something commentators find to be in line with Bach's use of the key in his '' St John Passion''. By the end of the Baroque era, however, conventional academic views of B minor had shifted: Composer-theorist Francesco Galeazzi (1758–1819) opined that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste. Beethoven labelled a B-minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key". Scale degree chords The scale degree chords of B minor are: * ...
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Tritone
In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, 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 adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B. Narrowly defined, each of these whole tones must be a step in the scale (music), scale, so by this definition, within a diatonic scale there is only one tritone for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned interval F–B is the only tritone formed from the notes of the C major scale. More broadly, a tritone is also commonly defined as any interval with a width of three whole tones (spanning six semitones in the chromatic scale), regardless of scale degrees. According to this definition, a diatonic scale contains two tritones for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned C major scale contains the tritones F–B (from F to the B above it, also called augment ...
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Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is the change from one tonality ( tonic, or tonal center) to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature (a key change). Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest. Treatment of a chord as the tonic for less than a phrase is considered tonicization. Requirements *Harmonic: quasi- tonic, modulating dominant, pivot chordForte (1979), p. 267. * Melodic: recognizable segment of the scale of the quasi-tonic or strategically placed leading-tone *Metric and rhythmic: quasi-tonic and modulating dominant on metrically accented beats, prominent pivot chord The quasi-tonic is the tonic of the new key established by the modulation. The modulating dominant is the dominant of the quasi-tonic. The pivot chord is a predominant to the modulating dominant and a chord common to both the keys of the tonic and the quasi-tonic. For example, in a modulation to the dominant, ii/V–V/V–V co ...
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B♭ (musical Note)
B (B-flat), or, in some European countries, B, is the eleventh step of the Western chromatic scale (starting from C (musical note), C). It lies a diatonic semitone above A (musical note), A and a chromatic semitone below B (musical note), B, thus being enharmonic to A♯ (musical note), A, even though in some musical tunings, B will have a different sounding pitch than A. B-flat is also enharmonic to C (C-double flat). When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A (musical note), A above middle C as 440 hertz, Hz, the frequency of the B above middle C is approximately 466.164 Hz. See pitch (music), musical pitch for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. While orchestras tune to an A provided by the oboe, oboist, wind ensembles usually tune to a B-flat. In Germany, Russia, Poland, Scandinavia and Slovakia this pitch is designated B, with 'H' used to designate the B-Natural (music), natural. Since the 1990s, B-flat is often denoted Bb or "Bess" instead o ...
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