Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte
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Musical questions and answers thread
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Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostOh yes, sorry about that - (I don't have German and was going on failing memory) - thanks Bryn for the correction.
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Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View PostNot nearly as easy as I'd presumed - composers tend to play with conventions rather than provide clear examples of them! (So inconsiderate! ) But the famous Chorale setting of "Erkenne mich, mein huter" ("O Sacred Head Sore Wounded") from the St Matthew Passion gives some examples.
With Chorales, the ends of phrases are shown by fermatas ("pause marks" as they became, but weren't intended as such in this context during Bach's time). Here, the first Cadence occurs in the second bar, at the word "huter". It's a Perfect cadence, Dominant to Tonic (B major to E major).
There's another Perfect cadence two bars later, at "mich an" - but this time in a different key (G# major to C#minor).
The next four bars (up to "Guts getan") are a literal repeat of the first four bars of Music (with different words) so the next Cadence is in Bar 10, at "gelabet": this is a Plagal Cadence (Subdominant to Tonic): A major to E major.
In bar 12 (the second bar of the last system/line) at "susser Kost", the cadence ends on C# major - which sounds "incomplete", because it's the Dominant chord of F# (as if he's starting to modulate to that key, but doesn't get there). A Cadence that ends on a Dominant chord is an Imperfect Cadence.
Instead of modulating to F#, Bach immediately turns the expected chord of F# into an F#7 chord (F# A# C# E) which he sustains throughout the next phrase which ends (at "begabet") on a Perfect Cadence (F# major - B major) in B major. This B major chord is itself the Dominant of the Home Key of E major, with which the chorale ends with a perfect cadence.
[The only Cadence not used in this Chorale is the Interrupted Cadence, which is when a Dominant Chord - which we expect to move back to the Tonic chord - moves instead to a different chord, almost always the submediant. In E major, a simple Interrupted Cadence would be B major to C# minor - which doesn't happen here. BUT in bar 4, the cadence does end on a C# minor chord. What Bach is doing is enhancing what otherwise would have been a straightforward Interrupted Cadence - if he'd used a simple Dominant to submediant chord progression in E major - by replacing the more ordinary B major chord (on the word "mich") with G# major. Even in "simple" harmonizations of hymn tunes, Bach uncovers a rich seam of harmonic and tonal possibilities.]
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Originally posted by jean View PostShouldn't that be "cummings ist der Dichter ..." ?
... but you're right to point out that the secretary's letter (as quoted in the Boulez/Deliege book) used a capital letter on "Dichter".[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
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Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostI understand that German nouns require a capital letter: in this instance that wouldn't necessarily apply to a poet or anyone else who preferred not to have their name capitalised; but it's a funny old world, innit![FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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Worth bearing in mind - and this I know from looking at their better, more advanced harmony texts - America has different terminology for cadences, e.g. a perfect cadence is called an authentic cadence, which itself is either perfect or imperfect according whether the top voice rises from 7 to 1.
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I've probably asked this before.
With our tradional, Western division of the octave into twelve semitones comes a difficulty in tuning the smaller intervals.
If we had chosen instead a larger number of stopping points on our way to the upper octave, could we have avoided uncomfotable compromises like equal temperament?
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Originally posted by jean View PostI've probably asked this before.
With our tradional, Western division of the octave into twelve semitones comes a difficulty in tuning the smaller intervals.
If we had chosen instead a larger number of stopping points on our way to the upper octave, could we have avoided uncomfotable compromises like equal temperament?
I think (and i'm no expert) it's only "uncomfortable" in relation to expectations?
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