Thematic Analysis and Considerations on J.S. Bach's Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I & II: A Synthesis of Rhetoric from the 17th through the 21st Centuries
type: CreativeWork
description: ABSTRACT This dissertation aims to study and analyze the fugal themes (subjects) of Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I (1722) and II (1744). Many scholars have examined and studied the set through numerous ways (Engels, 2006; Groocock, 2003; Ledbetter 2002; Bruhn, 1993; Brook, 1907), however, no single work exists as a guide that has analyzed its themes in such an intricate manner using rhetoric and hermeneutics from different music theorists throughout the centuries. Both volumes are historical landmarks organized in a system that allowed one to play in twelve major and minor keys. Manuscripts show different stages of composition; some were composed much earlier than the whole set, and some were even later transposed to fit the key scheme. Its pedagogical use was perhaps the driving force for its coming together as a set, but ultimately bound as a culmination of an art that has defined baroque polyphony.For this paper, thematic analysis of Bach's fugues are done through the analysis and identification of the heads and tails, as proposed by Harrison (2008); the identification of the figurae as proposed by authors: Printz (1673), Praetorius (1619), Beyer (1703), Walther (1703), and Kürzinger (1763); the analysis and identification of rhythmic feet as explained by Williams (1892), while paying careful attention to Bach's mensural notation according to Kilgore (1973) as evidence of Bach's congruence to the Greek ideals of rhythm. Particularly, analysis of the subjects used in the fugues of the first and second volume include: identification of the motive; identification of the tails and heads of the subject; identification of subject figurae such as, groppo, suspirans, messanza, corta, accentus, tirata and circolo. Furthermore, analysis of rhythmic feet, namely, the trochee, dactyl, paeon, and the ionicus, as well as the identification of the placement of the anacrusis - which according to Aristoxenus (360 B.C.), gives it (subject) streng…
abstract: ABSTRACT This dissertation aims to study and analyze the fugal themes (subjects) of Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I (1722) and II (1744). Many scholars have examined and studied the set through numerous ways (Engels, 2006; Groocock, 2003; Ledbetter 2002; Bruhn, 1993; Brook, 1907), however, no single work exists as a guide that has analyzed its themes in such an intricate manner using rhetoric and hermeneutics from different music theorists throughout the centuries. Both volumes are historical landmarks organized in a system that allowed one to play in twelve major and minor keys. Manuscripts show different stages of composition; some were composed much earlier than the whole set, and some were even later transposed to fit the key scheme. Its pedagogical use was perhaps the driving force for its coming together as a set, but ultimately bound as a culmination of an art that has defined baroque polyphony.For this paper, thematic analysis of Bach's fugues are done through the analysis and identification of the heads and tails, as proposed by Harrison (2008); the identification of the figurae as proposed by authors: Printz (1673), Praetorius (1619), Beyer (1703), Walther (1703), and Kürzinger (1763); the analysis and identification of rhythmic feet as explained by Williams (1892), while paying careful attention to Bach's mensural notation according to Kilgore (1973) as evidence of Bach's congruence to the Greek ideals of rhythm. Particularly, analysis of the subjects used in the fugues of the first and second volume include: identification of the motive; identification of the tails and heads of the subject; identification of subject figurae such as, groppo, suspirans, messanza, corta, accentus, tirata and circolo. Furthermore, analysis of rhythmic feet, namely, the trochee, dactyl, paeon, and the ionicus, as well as the identification of the placement of the anacrusis - which according to Aristoxenus (360 B.C.), gives it (subject) streng…
author: Gonzales, Dominique
keywords: Bach, Fugues, Music, Rhetoric, Thematic Analysis, Theory
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:45:57Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11714/10855