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Cantata Keys
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Cantata Keys |
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Richard Brudick wrote (March 26, 2003):
Is there a list of the primary keys of each Cantata somewhere on the web. Or further is there a list of the keys of each movement? |
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Bradley Lehman wrote (March 27, 2003):
[To Richard Burdick] One could flip through all the incipits in the BWV: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/bwv-review.htm pretty quickly, movement by movement. But, there are also the various transposing situations of the venues to deal with (differing pitch levels, and especially the transposing organ-continuo parts...), and the occasions where Bach re-presented the compositions several different times in different keys. |
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Julian Mincham wrote (March 27, 2003):
[To Bradley Lehman]
There is also the problem of matching recordings to the written keys. Many of the recordings today are at a higher or lower pitch than own would reasonably assume from the printed notes.
A further complication comes from the fact thatthe written cantatas may simply not have a clearly designated key, using a range of keys for the different movements (BWV 4 is an exception with all movements in E minor). If they open with a chorus or sinfonia it may be convenient to list it by the key of that movement, although I have my doubts. Some cantatas use the same key for opening chorus and closing chorale, thus giving a degree of overall tonal coherence. However, and just by accident because I am looking through the score at the moment and have it open in front of me, I see that BWV 108 works thus:
chorus A+
aria F sharp -
recit no one clearly determined key
chorus D+
aria B-
chorale B-
What is the overall key of the work?
For this reason it is not very helpful to catagorise the cantatas by key as one might a Bachian Brandenburg or keyboard concerto. It is, however, very interesting to observe the choice of keys within any given cantata as this is often revealing of Bach's structural thinking and textual responses. |
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