bach volume 5 issue 2 1974 [doi 10.2307%2f41639919] randolph n. currie -- a neglected guide to...

8/10/2019 Bach Volume 5 Issue 2 1974 [Doi 10.2307%2F41639919] Randolph N. Currie -- A Neglected Guide to Bach's Use o

1/15

A Neglected Guide to Bach's Use of Number Symbolism Part IIAuthor(s): Randolph N. CurrieSource: Bach, Vol. 5, No. 2 (APRIL, 1974), pp. 36-49Published by: Riemenschneider Bach InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41639919 .Accessed: 24/06/2014 11:47

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Riemenschneider Bach Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Bach.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194 .29.185.227 on Tue, 24 Jun 20 14 11:47:10 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=reimbachhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41639919?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41639919?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=reimbach


2/15

Notizbuch fr Studenten

BACH's"Notebook or tudents willpublish elected tudent rticleson Baroquemusic s well as short apersof particular nterest o musicstudents. ACH welcomesueries oncerning ublication f uchmaterials.

A Neglected Guide to Bach's Use of Number

Symbolism - Part II

By Randolph N. CurrieOhio State University, Newark

Introduction:The Formal tructure f the Patrem mnipotentem, WV 232/13

In Part of this article, t was suggested hatBach, n writing henumber 84" at the end of the Patrem ection f the B-MinorMass leftan important lue to his use of number ymbolism. n the followinganalysis, he uthor will attempt o delineate ome f the variousways hecomposer as introduced hiskey number nto the musical ext nd thephysical ayout f the score. As the following iscussion ndicates, he

greatestoncentration f

symbolismeems to occur n

passagest the

beginning, hemiddle, nd the nd;20 owever, ignificant otals ppear tkeypoints hroughout hemovement. incemany f the numerical ocalpoints re related oimportant tructural eatures,t would eem beneficialto examine hebasicfeatures f the formal esign, t the outset.

The Patrem s, perhaps, est characterizeds an accompaniedhoralfugue. Although omewhat bscured y the dense ounterpoint, he sub-ject and ts answer re deployed n a straightforward anner, esulting nan almost igidly ymmetrical esign see diagram n Table IV below).The ten tatements f this

principaldea are

arrangedn two

correspond-ing groups o that he econd alf orms n almost xactmirror mage byinversion) f the first, heonly ignificant ifference eing he eparationof the final tatement rom hemaingroup f the inverted xposition."

The single nstrumental reatment f the subject ndependent f thechorus ppears n the spacebetween he two expositions, resented yTromba , which nters n measure 9 with he ubject21n the dominant.After hefirst ewnotes, hemelody s subjected o rather xtensive ltera-tions n the course f a modulation o the subdominant. xcluding hisorchestral resentation,he heme s treatedmore ike cantus irmus hanlike a typical ugue ubject,with onlyminor hanges ccurring n state-ments to 9.22

36

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/15

With reference o the primary hematic aterial, hemovement eemsto be divided nto three qual segments f 28 measures ach, hemiddlegroupbeing et off by the two modulating tatements Tromba , m. 29and bass,m. 51 .23This tripartite ivision s reinforced y an intriguingpattern nvolving he outer voices n the concluding even measures fthe first wo sections:

MEAS.22-28 MEAS.50-56Oboe 29 (S.D.G) Trombai 41 (J.S.Bach)Continuo 41 (J.S.Bach) Continuo 33 (Christ?)

By this rrangement f notes, ach is able to associate he number

meaning J. . Bach"with wo of the most mportant secondary" umbersymbols n the movement t the sametime he draws ttention o struc-tural emarcations nd reflects he nverted attern f the second xposi-tion.24 ntirely haracteristic f the omposer's se of numbers s the factthat he um 144) of all the notes nvolved 41 -f 29 + 33 + 41), islikewise, relevant umber 144 = 12 X 12); it is, also, one of the tennumbers hosefactors otal14.

The concept f a mirrored xposition s also carried ut in the sub-ordinate ontrapuntal aterial, articularly n counterpoint , which s

rigorously eveloped s a full-fledged ounter-subject ith the text fac-torem oeliet terrae. he seven-note otive llotted o the wordfactoremin the counter-subjects designed o fit symmetricallygainst he three-note etting f that wordwhich orms hecenter f the main theme seeEx. 5a). Since double counterpoint s involved, ach is able to mirrorthe relationship etween he two parts n the second xposition see Ex.5b). This relationship s represented isually n Table V, which, or hesakeof clarity, s restricted o the deployment f the key word factorem.For the same reason, hisdiagram oes not nclude hefreely reated ec-ond counter-subject visibilium mnimn) or the primarily omophonicCredo heme. Nor does t show hedistance rom ne word or group othe next. Rather, he author's ntention as been to map out the mainpathways n this xtraordinarily omplex iece of music s clearly s pos-sible. It should e emphasized, owever, hat he full core and, ideally,a facsimile f the utograph) will be necessary or omeof the referencesin the following iscussion.

Examples f the Number 84"in the PatremMovement

Perhaps he most compelling vidence f Bach'sdeliberate se ofnumber

ymbolisms to be found n the rich

rrayf items o which he

number 4 seems o refer. n relation o the movement s a whole, twasnoted n Part of this tudy hat henumeral pplies o the number

37



4/15

of measures n the Patrem, s well as to the total of the etters n thetext.25 ome of the structural eatures f the movement iscussed bovedevelop his oncept urther. t is particularlynteresting o note hat hesecond xposition m. 39) begins n the 84th measure rom he start fthe Symbolm icenum see Table IV).

Another triking attern an be seen n relation o the placement ffactorem otives see Table V). It will be noticed hat he djacent ac-toremmotives rom he ubject nd counter-subjectf the first xpositionform n upright riangular attern f 10 notes 7 + 3), which s turnedupsidedown n the second xposition m. 44-54). 6 Thus, the first alfof the movement ontains 23 (41 X 3) notes llotted o that word, 4of whichfall between heoriginal riangular rrangement nd its subse-quent inversion. Moreover, he groupings f notes within he middlesection re, ikewise, ignificant:

Statements 10-13 14-15 16-19 20Number f notes 28 (4X7) 21 (3X7) 32 (25or 8X4) 3Totals (28) 49 (72) 81 (92or 34) 84 (7X3X4)

Havingoffered n Part a detailed nalysis f the 32 note roup, heauthor will imit hediscussion ere o a few alient oints. n the first

group, henotes re placed o that here re 14 in both heupper S.A.)and ower T.B.) parts,while he 21-note roup sgenerated y (3X4)+ (3 X 3) in the woouter arts see TableV). That n elaborate layon 3,4, and 7 is involved n this assage hould e evident rom he tabu-lation above.27t should be noted, however, hat 84 is (3 X 28) or(4X21) and that he um f 28 and 21 (49) is 7/12 of the keynumber.

Turning rom he movement s a wholeto particular assages, hereaderwill find hat he composer as combined n extraordinarymag-ination with a prodigious echnical ontrol n order o utilize 84 in a

varietyf

ways.In the

openinghree

measures,ach

has devised woseparateways f hiding henumber n the musical exture. he numberfirst ppears s the result f translating he pitches n the homophonicblock m. l-3a) with which he voiceparts ommence,nto gematria.28Furthermore, his 84 is confirmed y the presence f 14 words nd 28syllables and notes) in the same passage.

Bachnow ntroduces puzzle, hecorrect olution f which rovidesa key to several ubsequent sesof the principal umber. Counting henotes n the first hree measures 28 -f- 33 + 24), one arrives t 85rather han the

expected4. Could Bach have miscalculated?

ardlyEventually ne understands hat hesignificant oint s not the bar linebut the final yllable f the keyword actorem specifically,hemoment

38



5/15


6/15

MEASURE: 29 30 31a

Tr, Ob, Stgs.:21 21 3

Voices: 17 12 2Continuo: 3 4 1

TOTALS 41 (37 + 6) = 43 + 41 = 84

Following his xample t is now possible o detect nalogous lockson either ide of the numerical enter f the Patrem?* n both cases,group of 84 notes commences ith the main theme Patrem mnipo-tentem) the first roup m. 39-42) terminates n the soprano art with

the completion f the word factorem. he six notes which fall betweenthe two groups ncrease he total notes n the entire ection o 174 (84+ 6 + 84) or 29 X 6, suggesting, nce gain, hat he omposer's ffortsare intended o glorify od, alone.

Perhaps he most ngenious eferenceso the governing umber reto be found t the end of the movement and, thus, n the page whereBach wrote he "84" whichhas made t possible o uncover ome of hiscleverly oncealed ymbolism). Quite visible are the 84 notes on themelismas llotted o o-mnium m. 76-82). 5 The composer as followed

up this fairly ransparent evicewith lessobvious signature," ince heremainder f the text -mnium t invisiblium) is set with 41 notes.36The most emarkablehing bout he 84 notes n "o" is that t seems ohave been an after- hought, inceBach had to changehis original extunderlay oproduce hedesired umber f notes see m. 78 in the holo-graph). (The change n the tenor s visible n Plate at the nd of Partof this rticle. Havingoncethought f this plan,however, hecomposerset about the task of integrating is new idea into his over-all cheme,with typically achian horoughness.

With reference oExample at the nd of this rticle, t will be seenthat line bisecting he34-notemelisma n the lto part falls n the exactcenter f measure 9 in such way that t divides he total nto groupsof 41 and 43 notes, hereby eproducing he structural ivision f theentiremovement n a miniature cale.37ollowing hrough rom he begin-ning of the melisma n eachpart, hen, o the end of the movement, hereader iscovers hefollowing attern:

Text: - mnium t nvisibiliumNotes: 4l|43 || 41

The symbolisms fairly bvious:J. S. Bach'sfaith 43 = Credo)lies at the center f his being.38

40



7/15

The line which divides he melismas marks ff a meaningful inalsegment n all the parts; the resulting otalof 270 notes ubdivides sfollows:

NOTESOrchestra: 158 ( 15in Tromba )Chorus: 84Continuo: 28

TOTAL: 270 = 10 X 33

The reader will observe hat here re 43 (15 + 28) notes etweenthe uter oices;moreover, he otal or he nstrumental arts xclusive fthe ontinuo enerates new signature umber, ince158is the gematriafor Johann ebastian ach."39

The termination f the 34-notemelisma s the clue to a final gath-ering f 84 notes. Beginning ith hesecond yllable f omnium n thealto m. 82), there s a total f 33 notes40n the horus arts ncompassedby 84 notes n the nstrumental arts. The internal roupings re summedup in the following hart:

Trpts. nd Tymp.: 42 (7 in Tromba )Oboes: 14Strings: 21Voices: 33 (11 X 3)Continuo: 7

N.B. Counting he continuo s a string nstrument, ach group ofinstruments s a 14 multiple 42, 14,28); the outer arts otal14,whilethe factors f 33 add to 14.

84 in Relation o Other arts f the MassBach'suse of 84 is not onfined othe Patrem mnipotentem' n fact,

it mightwellbe a basicorganizational actor or he ntire -MinorMass.Since great ealof the tructural anipulationnvolves he ctual ormatof the core,41t seems dvisable obegin hisdiscussion ith n examina-tion of the position nd layout f the Patrem, tself. n the autographscore, hismovement egins t the bottom f page 100and runs hroughpage 105, 2utilizing n even 100 five-line taves, rouped n 9 braces rsystems. n contrast omost f the othermovements,henumber f staves

per system s not constant;n

fact,ach seems o have exercised onsid-

erable ngenuity n tailoring he notation o that these precise figureswould esult 3That he hasdone o for efinite nd doubtlesslyymbolic)

41



8/15

purposes, an hardly e doubted. The disposition f the staves nd sys-tems s as follows:

PAGE: 100b 101 102 103 104 105(a) 10

NO.STAVESPER SYSTEM:(b) 10 11 9 10 14 14

The probable ignificance f this rrangement an be deduced romthe numerical roperties f the ums nvolved: = 32;100 = 102; nd105 is the sum of all the numbers rom to

14;furthermore, he

primefactors f 100 total 14. An interesting etail f the format s that hetwomiddle ages (whichface ach other n the core) contain 1 staves, husintroducing nother signature" t the heart f the movement.44

SinceBach has controlled henumber f notes,measures, taves, ndsystems, t should urprise o one that he, likewise, as commandeeredpage totals n working ut his numerical lan. The most emarkablevi-dence f this kind f control an be found y simply ounting henumberof pagesof musicfrom age 105 to the end of the Mass.45 Here, Bach

has included ven the page count mong hevarious eferenceso 84; atthe ametime, e has drawn ttention o the imilar rchestration, hichin bothmovements ses14staves.46

It wouldseem ikely hat he84 pagesof music preceding age 105are also involved n the ymbolic tructure. ndeed, t appears hat uch sthe case,although t is perhapsnot quite so obvious, ince the eighty-fourth age preceding he ast pageof the Patrem s not the beginning fthe Mass,but page 20 of the holograph.Nevertheless, hat page is notwithout ignificance,ince t contains he final measures f Kyrie 1andthe first 2 measures f the Gloria n excelsis. The importance f thisconjunction an be understood estwith eference opage84 itself, hichpresents hephrase n Gloria Dei patris, men. These words eem o sig-nify ach'sultimate oalof glorifying odwhile t the ame ime indingtogether hebeginning, iddle, nd end of the entire work.47 age 168(the end of the Sanctus)echoes hismeaningwith he words Vieni untcoeli et terra loria jus ("all creation s full of His glory"). Also note-worthy t this point, s the fact hat 68 is not only hepagenumber utalso the number f measures f the movement erminating n that page;

furthermore, he remaining ortion f the Mass occupies20 pages, nparallel o the Kyrie. The various ross-referencesre llustrated n TableVI below:

42



9/15

TABLEVI

Arrangement f Pages n the Holograph f the B-MinorMass(Page numbers re given outside he brackets; he numbers nside

indicate henumber f staves sed n each 20-page egment.)

1 20 105 188

4I0H0)1* 32811

M 387 |1 8U 168 69 188*Extratavest the ottomfpage0 beginningf theGloria)

Thepages re grouped s 20 -'- 84 -f- 4 from ither irection, hilethe ombination f both eadings roduces third et f twenty ages t thecenter f the entire core.This grouping eems o be confirmed y thenumber f staves n eachgroup. The numerical elationship f the stavegroups sparticularlynteresting,nce achnumber s factored: 1 X 5 X 2;41 X 23;43 X 32. The 41 -f- 3 composition f 84 is here xtended oeither nd of the ompleteMass,41 multiplied y the number f the OldCovenant 10), 43 by the number f spiritual ulfillment 9), while hecenter ection s related umerically o both the beginning nd the end.Eventhe extra" 0 staves t the bottom f page20 are relevant, ringing

the total up to 420 or (84 X 5) staves n the first wenty ages. Thedesire o set up corresponding ections t the beginning nd end of theMassmayhelp xplain heunusual rouping f Osanna, enedictus, gnusDei et Dona nobis pacemwith whichBach choseto conclude is settingof the Mass.

It should enoted hat he tave otal iven bovefor he final wentypages ncludes heblank inesat the bottom f the ast four ages. Thisis merely ne facet f a considerablemount f evidence uggesting hatBachconstructed complexwebof cross eferences ythe areful manipu-

lation of "irrelevant" etails f the notation. His overall planseemsto

encompassll of the unused taves, hevery xistence f which s evidenceof the imits owhich hecomposer aswilling ogo in working ut hisoften laborate umerical esigns.The author will offer fuller ccount-ing for Bach's "miscalculations" hich produced heseextra staves nPart II of this rticle; owever, eaderswith ccess o a facsimile f thescorewill be able to see the ignificance f the one unused age (follow-ing p. 152), the 14 staves f which no doubt xist for purely ymbolicreasons.

The number 4 alsoappears

n asignificant ay

n both f the move-ments mmediately djacent o the Patrem mnipotentem. s FriedrichSmendhasobserved, hephrase ssociated ith hewords n unum Deum

43



10/15

appears 4 times n the ourse f the Credomovement.48he Et in unumDeumpresents more mphatic elationshipo the Patrem, eiterating heassociation etween he number 1 (J. S. Bach) and divine creation sdescribed n Part of this article. n direct arallel o the isolation f/ ctor m in measure 1 of the choral ugue, he words per quem omniajactasunt re reserved ormeasure 1 of the ubsequent uet.49 hus, hissecondreference o universal reation ccurs 4 measures fter he keyword n the corresponding easure f the Patrem. Onceagain, he nu-merical attern 41 - 43 - 41) is symbolic f the centrality f Christianfaith n Bach'sthinking.

There are probablymany dditional eferences o the number 4contained ithin he structure f the Mass. To locate nd describe achallusion o the numerical eywouldposea monumental askwithout dd-ing appreciably o our understanding f the symbolismnvolved.Thereis, however, nother ayer f possiblemeaning nvolvedwhich becomesapparent f the numbers and 4 are "translated"nto pitches y means fgematria: = h (b natural); 4 = d. Not only do the digitsyield hetwo principal onics f the Mass;they lsopresent hem n the sequenceestablished y the first nd ast movements. f this nterpretation s valid,the number s truly basicconcept n the structure f the entire work.

In view of the many llusions o 84 which re built nto he very ounda-tions f the Mass, t seems articularly ppropriate hat he rchitect hoseto reveal his key lement n his plans t the center f his musical difice.

NOTEPart II of this rticlewill be published n the July 974issueof BACH.

Footnotes20AccordingoWilhelm ort, mphasis t these oints s oneof the hree asic

principlesf structure hich overn he rrangementf books f Latin oetryduring hegolden ra. (SeeDie Anordnungn GedichtbchernugusteischerZeit, hilologus1 (1926),pp.458-461.)Port's nalysisuggestshe ossibilityof classicalrecedentor ach's se f hiasticor ymmetrical)tructure. therprobablenfluencesill ediscussedater.

21 r should his tatement ecalled n "answer"? heambiguitys compoundedbyBach'sack f onsistencynmakingubtlentervallicdjustmentsseenote 2below).At ny ate, raditionalubject-answeristinctionsre bscured,ince hefirst tatements n the ominant.

22 ach f hese tatementsegins ith quarter, atherhan half-note;lso, tate-ment (m.39) commencesith nE rather han D,while he ninth resenta-tion m. 51-51) s altered hromaticallyoeffect modulationo G major. naddition,he alf-notesnterrae re hortenedoquartersn statement. In spiteof these hanges,hese developmental"tatementsetain he ppearancef anexposition,resentingregularlternationf onic nddominant.

23 n interestingorrelaryf this tructuralnterestn "28" is the fact hat hethemesabsentn 28 measures.hereaders remindedf the articularignifi-cance f 28asa perfect umberi.e., he um f ll tsdivisorss28); it s also

44



11/15


12/15

30 his/ ctorm s the hird epetitionf the word; ts final etters ccur n thethirty-thirdote n the ass art.At the ame nstant,heresa total f 86 (28

Ob.1+ 58Cont.)notes etweenhe uter arts.ot

nlyo these

igitsdd o

14 andmultiplyoproduce8 (mirror f84) but he umberactorso43 X 2,in context,resent possibleeferenceo the wo epetitionsf "Credo" S.andA.) at that moment. nother umericallay nvolvinghisword anbeseen nmeasure 6, t which oint he hree otes f the eventh epetitioneneratecumulativeotal f 29 notes n the word actoremseeTable I, Part ). Thispatterns carried step urthery he otal f 177 59 X 3) notes t the nd fthe 9th tatement59 = "GLORIA").

31 heuniquenessf hismeasureotal uggestshat ach ontrolledhenumber fnotesn each ndividual easure.urther videncef his ind f vertical" abu-lation anbeseen t the eginningnd nd f themovement:

MEASURE: 1 2 3 4 5 82 83 84NO.OF NOTES: 28 33 24 18 16 70 49 14

TOTALS: 119= (7 X 17) 133= (7 X 19)(119+ 133= 232= 84 X 3)(133- 119= 14)

Thepatternn the inal hree easuressparticularlyoteworthy:ll three um-bers redivisibley ;the actorsfboth 0and 9total 4;finally, easure2hasthegreatest umber f notes n anymeasure, easure4 the ewest. hus,thenumericalxtremesnfold 9,the quare f 7. (N.B.70-f 14= 84. Since70is "JOH. EB.BACH"n gematria,tsuse n measure 2 is hardly ccidental[82= 41X 2].)

32 he otal f 337notesn the oice arts t the age urn epresentsn averagef84 notes er art; lso, he 4th otenthe lto ccursnbeat ne fmeasure9,with 6 (43X 2) at the dge f he heet.33

he41+ 43compositionf 84is, gain, pparent. he hree ontinuo otesnm.29are urroundedy wo roupsf41notes arked ff y measurenodal"units. hepatternsrepresentedy he iagramelow:MEASURE: 22 28 29 30 42NOTESCont.) 41 3 41

N.B.Thisdesign eachesothe xact enter f the movementnd, hus, indstogetherhe tructuralnd he numerical idpoints.hepattern f "enfolding"a sacreduantity ith ersonalumbershould efamiliarynow.

34 hese abulationsrebased n the utographcore,n which he ctual otatedparts n this assagerereducedy wo Vln. = Ob. ; Vln. I = Ob. I). Ofparticularnterests the act hat he irst f these locks eginsn measure9,or84measuresromhe eginningf he ymbolm.

35 hemelismaticreatmentf the etter O"is,

nodoubt,

elatedo tsbeing

he14th etter f he Romanlphabet.36 nother eadilyccessiblexamplef 41 note ignatureanbeseen t the ndof he -minorugueromWTC (BWV847)startingnmeasure9 ( ) withthe ctave 's in the eft and. At the nd of thegreat rgan assacagliandFugue BWV,582),there re41notesn both he edal nd opranofter hefermata.

37 henumber 9isgematriaor hriste. t s,nodoubt, ignificanthat 1 (J. S.Bach) scompletednd43 (Credo)begun n either ide f the enter f meas-ure79. The econdary28 X 3) structuref themovements alsoreproducedin this emarkableassage.hese nd ther etailsre hown n Example.

38 he34notes f he ongest elisma aynvolve mirror-transformationlay nthe mportant umber 3 (seen. 27). Comparinghe lto to the other artsis also nteresting:4- 5= 29;34- 20= 14;34- 24= 9.39Interestinglynough, 58 s not ound n Bachsworks ery ften. erhapshisisbecauset s alreadyxpressedn thenumber 4by he mystical"ddition fits igits.

46



13/15

40 here s a pleasantlyomplexatternn the four ocal arts, eachingack othe ests neach ndividualhrase:33 after inalmelisman"O"(alto)to he nd f hemovement41 after erminationf ach ndividual O" to he nd84 after he enter fmeasure9

123 (41 X 3) total,ast measuresm.78= m.123from redo)215 (43X 5) total fter estsneach art

Once gain, he dea f Finemay esuggestedy he 3 notesn the inal eg-ment f he horus.41 he dea hat ach ontrols he xternal imensionsf ome f his ompositions

wasfirst oticed ythe uthor n relation otheformat f the echs horle,Schblers edition ontaining23 taves roupedn 41 systemsn 14pages seeBACHIV,No.2,p. 25).

42 hepaginationsnot n Bach's and fter age 5;however,n view f the on-gruencef the agenumbers ith ther spectsf thenumerology,here anbelittle oubt hat he ater umbers epresentach'sntentionsseenotes 4 and45 below).Theblank age t the ndof the Glorias 96 by mplicationseechart np. 12ofAlfred lirr's achwortt the nd f theBrenreiteracsimileedition f he utographcore).

43Perhapshe learest xamplef manipulationf the notations to be seen npage103of the holograph. t the opof thepage, r. has separatetaff,althought has nly nenote; urthermore,ln. andOb. arebothwritten ut,althoughhe arts re dentical. t the ottomf the age, ln. = Ob. andVln. I = Ob. I, the riginalboe taveseing llottedoTr. and I.

44t s,perhaps, oaccidenthat he um f 102 nd103 sevenly ivisibley41.The ppearancef 100 taves eginningnp. 100 s echoed y he153 tavesfthe anctusstarting n p. 153.N.B.:Thefigure 53, he um f thenumbers1 to 17, ppearsn the NewTestaments the number f fish aught ythe 7

disciplesseeJohn 1:11).Saint

ugustineContra ustum)fferedn exten-

sive xplanationf thenumberymbolismnvolved,ased n a readingf 17as"Law" emperedy he Spirit" 10 + D- Concerningach's pparentnterestin 100, bservehat henumber ight lsorepresentSEBASTIANACH"viagematria. otice hat his method f counting oesnot nvolve ither he itlepage r the nused age t the nd f he ymbolm in other ords,nly henumberedages ave een ounted.

45Notice hat hismethod f countingoesnot nvolve ither he itle age r theunused age t the nd f the ymbolm in other ords, nly henumberedpages ave een ounted.

46 hese re he nly womovementsn the Masswritten ut n 14staves. bservethat heGratias, hichsvirtuallydenticalo the ona (except or he ext), swritten ut n 15staves. nother lay n 14occursn the ast age f he uto-graph p. 188),where he oice arts ontain 4syllablesand27notes); lso,the otal f 100notes n the ast agesparallelothe se f hat umbern thePatrem.

47 hemusic f theKyriemovements,onsistingf 270measures10 X 33), snotated n 410 staves 41 X 10) groupedn 59 systems;hus, he onceptfGloria 59 in gematria)s impliedven n the number f braces f the peni-tential"ectionf theMass.Thephrase ine, S Gl at the nd f the core sevidentlyot ust routine esture ut n integral art f Bach'sonceptionftheMass;however,he easonor he ranspositionf the amiliaretterss notimmediatelylear.

48Kirchen-Kantaten,V, p. 19. Smendlsoobserveshat he ematriaor redo sreflectedn the 3presentationsf hat ordn the oice arts. evertheless,edoes ot omment nthe orty-firstepetitionf hat ord nmeasure3 (tenor),from he eginningfwhich herere 1notesn the oice arts and 14 n thecontinuo)o he nd f hemovement.

49 s n many f the nstanceslreadyited, henumber f notes ontainedn thispassagerom t n Unum eum in the utograph)endso upportts ymbolicimportance: easure1 contains7 notes, hile he assagemarked ff ythe

47



14/15

entire hrasem.40b-42a)smade pof41notes. hetheologicalmplicationsof Bach's iving personal nflectiono the words hich efer o Christ s the"God f Gods . .through

homllthings

remade" ssurely

fgreat mport-ance o our understandingf the omposer'self-image.ach eems oportrayhimselfs an nstrumentf Divine reation, isown gofinding ulfillmentn

the ubmissiono a higher urposeseenote 7 above).Note hat he wordsomnia cta re tated nly nmeasure1.

Examples

Ex.5a. J. S.Bach,B-MinorMass Patrem mnipotentemTenor nd Altoparts,meas.13-14

Ex.5b. Bach,MassPatrem, oprano nd Alto parts,meas. 5-46

Ex.6. Bach,Mass,Patrem,meas. 6-82

48



15/15

TABLEIVDivision f Primary elodieMaterials n the Patrem mnipotentem

Section f Bach'sB-MinorMass

So ,NI I

-

i001

> Iai oo r^l_ rsl I. I

49

bach volume 5 issue 2 1974 [doi 10.2307%2f41639919] randolph n. currie -- a neglected guide to...

Documents