Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint (New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism, Series Number 10)

In Bach's Germany musical counterpoint was an art involving much more than the sophisticated use of advanced compositional techniques. A range of theological, cultural, social and political meanings attached themselves to the use of complex procedures such as canon and double counterpoint. This book explores the significance of Bach's counterpoint in a range of interrelated contexts: its use as a means of reflecting on death; its parallels to alchemy; its vexed status in the galant music culture of the first half of the eighteenth century; its value as a representation of political power; and its central importance in the creation of Bach's image in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Touching on a wide array of contemporary literary, philosophical, critical, and musical texts, the book includes new readings of many of Bach's late works in order to re-evaluate the status and meaning of counterpoint in Bach's work and legacy. "In Bach's Germany musical counterpoint was an art involving much more than the sophisticated use of advanced compositional technique. A range of theological, cultural, social and political meanings attached themselves to the use of complex procedures such as canon and double counterpoint. This book explores the significance of Bach's counterpoint in a range of interrelated contexts: its use as a means of reflecting on death; its parallels with alchemy; its vexed status in the galant music culture of the first half of the eighteenth century; its value as a representation of political power; and its central importance in the creation of Bach's image in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Touching on a wide array of contemporary literary, philosophical, critical and musical texts, the book includes new readings of many of Bach's late works in order to reevaluate the status and meaning of counterpoint in Bach's music and legacy."--Jacket. This book offers new interpretations of many of Bach's late compositions which include complex musical techniques such as canon. These techniques held great significance for Bach and his contemporaries not only on account of the great skill they demanded but because of the meanings attached to them. Intricate musical devices were crucial to the Lutheran rituals of death and dying, to alchemy, to Enlightenment philosophies of stylistic change and musical progress, to musical representations of political power, and to the legacy of Bach into our own time. ¿7FIn Bach's Germany musical counterpoint involved much more than the sophisticated use of advanced compositional techniques. A range of theological, cultural, social and political meanings were attached to the use of complex procedures such as canon and double counterpoint."

Interpretations of Bach's late compositions which include complex musical techniques such as canon.

We begin at the end, in July of 1750, with Bach on his deathbed.