DATASHEET N°5
CONTEXT OF THE SEARCH
NAME OF THE PIECE OF MUSIC: BWV 8, CANTATA N° 8, I, CORO (= CHORUS)
NAME OF THE COMPOSER: BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
SEARCH
IN YMUSIC, (I) INSERT BWV 8. The six parts of the Cantata are displayed. Double click on the Coro.
Information related to the piece of music appears in YMusic (directly reported here in sections 1, 3 and 4 and completed by information related to the composer in section 2 and an appreciation of the listener in section 6), helping to introduce the following elementary analysis.
1. ID CARD
IN YMUSIC, (I) DOUBLE CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THE PIECE OF MUSIC; THE FOLLOWING VALUES APPEAR.
* TEMPO: THAT PIECE OF MUSIC PRESENTS VARIATIONS AT THE LEVEL OF TEMPO
Start tempo value (beats/minute) = 92
Mean tempo value (beats/minute) = 91
Standard tempo deviation (beats/minute) = 2
Lower tempo value (beats/minute) = 80
Higher tempo value (beats/minute) = 92
Tempo unchanged (%) = 97
Comment: these variations, within the piece, are not very significant and thus the velocity of the instruments is very regular.
* DURATION: 269.5 SECONDS
Comment: in other words, around 4 minutes.
* TIME SIGNATURE: 6/4 (100%)
Comment: YMusic displays 6/4, which is proportional to the 12/8 found in the sheet music of the piece. That time signature is considered popular in the sense that it makes the music accessible to everyone, as well as the numerous arpeggios present from the beginning of the piece.
2. THE COMPOSER
* THE COMPOSER WROTE FOR: SOLO INSTRUMENTS AS WELL AS ORCHESTRAS, SMALL ENSEMBLES AND CHOIRS
* FORM OF THE PIECE OF MUSIC PRESENTED IN THIS DATASHEET: CORO (= CHORUS, FOR VOICES AND A SMALL ORCHESTRA)
Comment: voices (which are the main elements of a cantata) appear after around one minute of introduction. The soprano voices sing the melody and the other voices accompany them as counterpoint parts, simply supporting the tune.
* MUSICAL ANECDOTE:
Even if the cantata is generally centered on voices, the part of the orchestra may be noticed here, notably because the oboes are echoing each other into an oscillating movement.
3. AWARENESS
* YMUSIC DISPLAYS (A LIST OF) INSTRUMENT(S) CONTAINED IN THE PIECE OF MUSIC: 6 CHROMATIC INSTRUMENTS (ORGAN, OBOE, STRINGS, FLUTE, CHOIR AND HORN).
* RELATED REMARKS:
The piece contains 6657 notes (organ = 11%, oboe = 29%, strings = 37%, flute = 14%, choir = 6%, horn = 2%).
Actually, the instruments chosen by Bach were : flauto traverso, oboe d’amore 1, oboe d’amore 2, violino , violino 2, viola, soprano, alto, tenore, basso (= the 4 voices of the choir) and continuo.
The instruments written by Bach in the sheet music are: oboe d’amore, tenore and continuo. The list displayed by YMusic actually gives a correct idea of the content of the piece, strings being a generic term designing the continuo. About the strings, we may notice the presence of pizzicati (groups of notes produced by unplucked strings).
4. SEARCH
* IN YMUSIC, I NAVIGATE THE 'VIEW YMUSIC DATABASE' TAB.
* I ACTIVATE THE FIRST CHECKBOX AND SCROLL THROUGH THE ASSOCIATED MENU TO SELECT ‘NUMBER OF PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS’.
YMUSIC DISPLAYS A DOUBLE ENTRY TABLE: OTHER PIECES OF MUSIC WRITTEN BY THE COMPOSER APPEAR.
I NOTICE HOW THEY RELATE:
Around 150 pieces of music written by Bach appear around the search ‘BWV 8’, at the moment. All have a point in common: they contain no percussion. That is why one unique point is displayed within the double entry table.
The percussion family contains very ancient instruments that were always considered very respectable and used in religious ceremonies, mainly in Asia.
Bach wrote most of his music for the very European Lutheran Church during the 18th century. The main instruments promoted by that Church were voices and organ. In such a cultural context, using instruments of the percussion family would not have been appreciated.
However, Bach was indeed an innovative composer who introduced various new musical techniques, including in his cantatas; and his contemporaries talked about his ‘creative methods’.
5. SEED
I WANT TO SHARE THE MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE PROVIDED BY YMUSIC WITH RELEVANT PEOPLE, THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH AND SOCIAL MEDIA OR, AT LEAST, THE URL LINKING TO YMUSIC’S HOMEPAGE:
http://www.music-search-engine.info
6. SEARCHING INSIDE MYSELF
IT IS TIME TO SAY WHAT I FEEL AND THINK ABOUT THAT PIECE OF MUSIC! I MAY FIND THE FOLLOWING TEN WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT: