I made scrolling score analysis animations of Bach's Ricercar a 3 and his Ricercar a 6. The keen observer/listener will notice I highlighted patterns which recur in both pieces with the same color.
I once used to think there was little point in writing music beyond four parts. Bach shatters this idea in introducing overlapping contrapuntal patterns in six voices that adds additional compositional value.
Backstory on this collection of pieces can be found in the youtube description in the Ricercar a 6. Hope you all enjoy it. I've made plenty of other analyis animations there too for those who are interested, including some with harmonic analysis as well as contrapuntal analysis of his liturgical works.
Hi guys I am currently living miles away from a library, I wanted to know if anyone could share this manuscript ? thank you!
https://www.meantone.org/2021/01/bach-ricercar-6-tuned-into-vicentino.html We present Bach's Ricercar a 6, from the Musical Offering, tuned into Vicentino 3rd-Comma adaptive just intonation. This tuning is implemented here as 19-equal division of the octave, but fifths and major thirds are raised by 7.22 cents, which equals 19-edo approximation of a third comma (i.e. 1200*(log_2 (3/2) - 11/19)). In this setting, fifths are just, and major thirds are tuned at 386.17 cents (-0.15 cents from just). Minor thirds are tuned at 315.79 cents (+0.15 cents from just).
https://www.meantone.org/2021/03/1-hour-bach-ricercar-6-in-multiple.html We present Bach's Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering, in 11 tunings: 01 Golden Meantone 02 Peppermint 03 17 Well Temperament 04_31&46_Well Temperament 05 -1/9-Schisma_Pythagorean_(12 notes) 06 19edo 07 Rameau_Schulter 3&9 a 08 Rameau_Schulter 3&9 b 09 2x(5&7)-Well-Temperament 10 Rameau ordinaire 11 Semi-Just Intonation
These pieces are so fun to play.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ymuuw2j2kw3invw/Guami%20Ricercar%206.mov?dl=0
Please enjoy this animation of the patterns within the Ricercar a 6 Fugue from The Musical Offering, written in the last three years of Johann Sebastian Bach's life. The patterns are made easy to appreciate by their coloring and the scrolling score which is synchronized to the music. Patterns which may present themselves as fragments, augmented, diminished, flipped horizontally, flipped vertically, or flipped both horizontally and vertically, are represented in the same color as they first presented.
It is the greatest contrapuntal work (and musical work in general) I have ever heard. I had never appreciated this astonishing piece for what it truly was until I made this animation. It truly pains me to know I have lived so long to have just recently discovered the genius behind this divine masterpiece. I hope it will give you a deeper appreciation of this piece as well.
The collection of The Musical Offering has its roots in a meeting between Bach and Frederick II on May 7, 1747. The meeting, taking place at the King's residence in Potsdam, came about because Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel was employed there as court musician. During his anticipated visit to Frederick's palace in Potsdam, Bach, who was well known for his skill at improvising, received from Frederick a long and complex musical theme on which to improvise a three-voice fugue. He did so, but Frederick then challenged him to improvise a six-voice fugue on the same theme. Bach answered that he would need to work the score and send it to the King afterwards. He then returned to Leipzig to write out the Thema Regium ("theme of the king"):[3]
Two months after the meeting, Bach published a set of pieces based on this theme which we now know as The Musical Offering. Bach inscribed the piece "Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta" (the theme given by the king, with additions, resolved in the canonic style), the first letters of which spell out the word RICERCAR.
Additional notes:
The last theme to be introduced, the orange one, is a horizontal reflection of the last few notes of the main countersubject. The orange theme also bears striking resemblance to the subject of the Fugue 17 in A-flat major from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
I made scrolling score analysis animations of Bach's Ricercar a 3 and his Ricercar a 6. The keen observer/listener will notice I highlighted patterns which recur in both pieces with the same color.
I once used to think there was little point in writing music beyond four parts. Bach shatters this idea in introducing overlapping contrapuntal patterns in six voices that adds additional compositional value.
Backstory on this collection of pieces can be found in the youtube description in the Ricercar a 6. Hope you all enjoy it.
Please enjoy my animation analysis of Bach's Ricercar a 3.
In the Ricercar a 3, we see the development of many of the themes which are used in the Ricercar a 6. I have color coded the themes, and utilized the same color for themes used both in the Ricercar a 3 and in the Ricercar a 6. You can find my Ricercar a 6 analysis here
I made scrolling score analysis animations of Bach's Ricercar a 3 and his Ricercar a 6. The keen observer/listener will notice I highlighted patterns which recur in both pieces with the same color.
I once used to think there was little point in writing music beyond four parts. Bach shatters this idea in introducing overlapping contrapuntal patterns in six voices that adds additional compositional value.
Backstory on this collection of pieces can be found in the youtube description in the Ricercar a 6. Hope you all enjoy it. I've made plenty of other analyis animations there too for those who are interested, including some with harmonic analysis as well as contrapuntal analysis of his liturgical works.
