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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
5 pages in length. Examining the significance of Bach's canonic variations of Vom Himmel hoch finds that this particular piece was the composer's personal favorite. More than that, however, is the manner by which these variations have long reflected the legacy of Bach's musical prowess, an unbridled talent that is instrumental in maintaining the composer's contributions as nothing short of magnificent. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCBachVom.rtf
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by which these variations have long reflected the legacy of Bachs musical prowess, an unbridled talent that is instrumental in maintaining the composers contributions as nothing short of magnificent. Published
in "cryptic notation" (Smith, 1996) that left it to the reader to decipher the voices inherent to the canon, this version of Vom Himmel hoch was a condensed adaptation without
"complete realizations of the canonic voices" (Smith, 1996). What music historians surmise from this abstract departure from what ultimate came to reflect Vom Himmel hoch as it is known
today is that Bach may have originally envisaged his canonical variations as more of a didactic or theoretical slant rather than a performance (Smith, 1996). All five variations utilize the
same Advent melody that serves to signal the combined presence of melodic cantus firmus and canonic augmentation, a reality Smith (1996) notes as being "energized by the canon and does
not come off as academic." The second variation mirrors that of the first whereby canonic voices are infused by cantus firmus in the pedals, however, that common denominator gives
way when the canon follower adheres to the fifth leader instead of the octave, a counterpoint that reflected somewhat of an outdated approach for the era in which Bach had
produced these variations (Smith, 1996). The Advent melody is represented in four canonic statements in the third variation, with each of the four working in "contrary motion and each employing
a different pitch interval between canon leader and follower: alla Sesta (at the sixth), alla Terza (at the third), alla Seconda (at the second) and alla Nona (at the ninth)"
(Smith, 1996). The first statement finds the follower upholding a minor sixth lower than that of the leader. By comparison, the follower of the second statement starts a
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