STANDARDIZED CONTRAPUNTAL TECHNIQUE AND BACHS RIDDLE CANONS FROM THE MUSICAL OFFERING

Kyle Vanderburg The Baroque Era - MUSC 5543 November 22, 2012

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Introduction
Throughout history, composers have often worked to hide messages in their music, or to combine music and logic which would force the performer to realize unnotated music. Such notational subterfuge was often employed in the Ars subtilior of the late fourteenth century, but this tradition certainly carries over to the baroque era. While the terms puzzle canon, riddle canon, crab canon, and mirror canon were not invented by Johann Sebastian Bach, they are usually used in reference to his later work The Musical Offering (BWV 1079). This work, consisting of several canons and fugues on a theme of Frederick the Great, is an interesting composition that is only fully appreciated when the background of the piece is evaluated in tandem with the score. The genesis of The Musical Offering came as a result of Johann Sebastian Bachs visit to Berlin to see his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who was employed by Frederick II, the king of Prussia.1 The king was an avid student of music, playing the flute and studying composition with J. J. Quantz. Johann Sebastians reputation as an organist and master of counterpoint was well known, and the king requested his presence. When the elder Bach had arrived, Frederick welcomed him, and requested he try out the kings collection of Silbermann pianofortes. In the course of this exchange, Bach requested a fugue subject from the king, which he improvised on, and promised the king a copperplate of the same. The king then requested Bach improvise a six-voice fugue, which he declined, opting rather to choose a theme himself, though promising to work out this right royal theme more perfectly, and then to make it known to the world2. Two months after this meeting, Bach delivered the collection of two ricercars, a four-movement trio sonata, and ten canons that make up The Musical Offering.3 The riddle canons from The Musical Offering, including canon perpetuus, canon diversi nos 1, 3, 4, 5, canon a2 Quaerendo invenietis, and canon a4, when realized, produce canons that are larger works than their notated versions would suggest. However, are they compositionally accurate? The purpose of inspecting these riddle canons is to determine if they completely follow the established rules for
Later, Frederick the Great. Hans T. David, "Bachs Musical Offering," The Musical Quarterly 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1937): 315. 3 The history of The Musical Offering is synthesized from a variety of sources, including Humphrey F. Sassoon JS Bachs Musical Offering and the Source of Its Theme: Royal Peculiar, Hans T. Davids Bachs Musical Offering, and Christoph Wolffs New Research on Bachs Musical Offering, which may be found in the bibliography of this paper.
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Vanderburg 3 counterpoint that exist in the 21st century, and if so, investigate how Bach achieved this, and discuss how study of Bachs riddle canons may be used in compositional study.

Challenges and Techniques of Realization

The act of realization is made simpler by the existence of a general solution to each riddle canon printed in later editions of The Musical Offering.4 These solutions were used only as a verification method in the process of writing this paper, and the examples in this paper may not exactly match the generally accepted solutions. The first hurdle in deciphering the riddle canons lies in the explanatory text of each canon is printed in Latin. This is easily overcome due to the large number of articles on the riddle canons, or by using an online translation application. For example, the first canon is titled Canon perpetuus super thema regium or Perpetual canon on the royal theme, which suggests that the canon has no adequate ending, but instead repeats indefinitely. Bachs Latin dedications often add to the explanation of the work, such as Canones diversi super thema regium no. 4, which includes the note Notulis crescentibus crescat Fortuna Regis or May the fortune of the King grow with the length of the notes.5 In fact, the acrostic Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta or According to the order of the King the tune and the remainder are resolved with canonic art.6 The primary method in which Bach notates his riddle canons is through seemingly traditional music notation, with alterations in clef and key signature placements representing different treatments of the same material. For example, the use of multiple clefs as seen in Figure 1 is interpreted as the top voice (in alto clef) starting at the beginning, as does the bottom voice in bass clef. After one measure, the middle voice (notated as the bottom line and read using the tenor clef) comes in, creating a canon between the bottom and middle voices. This
Figure 1

dependence on clefs is evident by the use of the moveable C clef, however Bach

The Dover edition includes solutions by J.P. Kirnberger from Die Kunst des reinen Satzes, and non-attributed solutions from Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung. 5 Johann Sebastian Bach, The Art of the Fugue & A Musical Offering (New York: Dover, 1992), 7. 6 Ibid.
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Figure 3

Figure 2

Vanderburg 4 also treated the treble clef as a moveable clef as seen in Figure 2.Inversions in Bachs notational shorthand were shown by the use of inverted clefs and key signatures, as seen in Figure 3. Further, the sparsely-used retrograde technique (which is only used in The Musical Offerings single crab canon, Canones diversi No. 1), is notated using a backwards soprano clef and key signature, as seen in Figure 4. In addition, the musical segno symbol () is used to indicate where the next voice is to enter. This notational method allowed Bach to compress a wealth of music into a shortened notated space, allowing it to be published on less paper.7 This compressed notation also requires the act of notational decoding in order to properly analyze or perform each of the encoded canons.
Figure 4

Analysis and Synthesis of Puzzle Canons Canon perpetuus

After the opening Ricercar, which was likely the three-voice fugue that Bach played for Frederick the Great,8 the first puzzle canon is presented, labeled canon perpetuus or perpetual canon, so named because it never reaches a convincing conclusion. The encoding for this canon is fairly simple, with the upper voice (notated on the lower staff in treble clef) and the middle voice (notated on the upper staff) beginning the work at the first measure. The bass voice enters in measure two, as noted by its offset sub-bass clef. The nature of the repeat signs makes it difficult to determine the placement in a final realization, which is a recurring problem throughout the synthesis process. When decoded, this

The exact proper order of The Musical Offering is a subject of great debate. For more information, consult Hans T. David, "Bachs Musical Offering," The Musical Quarterly 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1937), Gregory Butler, "The Printing History of J.S. Bachs Musical Offering: New Interpretations," The Journal of Musicology 19, No. 2 (Spring, 2002), and Christian Wolff, "New Research on Bachs Musical Offering," The Musical Quarterly 57, No. 3 (Jul., 1971). 8 Hans T. David, "Bachs Musical Offering," The Musical Quarterly 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1937): 318.
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Vanderburg 5 canons counterpoint appears to follow the rules of counterpoint,9 with the only questionable moment being on beat two of measure three, which includes a b-natural sixteenth in the bass and an f-natural in the middle line. As this tritone sits on a weak beat, and is part of a descending chromatic line in the middle voice, it still conforms to the contrapuntal rules.

Canon diversi nos 1

The canon diversi number 1 is likely the most straightforwardly coded canons in The Musical Offering. The reversed clef at the end indicates that the line should be performed backwards, as accompaniment to the line being performed forward. While clef position alone may also suggest inverted baritone clef, the mirrored key signature does not. The inverted rather than mirrored common time designation as seen in the original (and above) is likely an engravers error.10 As seen with the previous canon, this canon has an issue with tritones, which is likely inherent in the royal theme. Tritones in this canon occur in beat two of measures four and five (C-F# and Bb-E), and on beat two of measures thirteen (Db-G), fourteen (E-Bb), and fifteen (F#-C). These tritones, as seen in the previous canon, are on weak beats and are usually prepared correctly and often serve as passing tones, especially in the half-note descending pattern (later, ascending) that produce these dissonances. In addition to these tritones, further dissonances are located in measure six (beat three, a fourth is used on a strong beat (Ab-Db)), and measure seven (a second (F-G) on beat two, which is not prepared correctly). However, the most egregious error occurs in measure sixteen, beat three, where a

The rules of counterpoint were synthesized from the following sources: Kent Kennan, Counterpoint 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999), Johann Joseph Fux, The Study of Counterpoint from Johann Joseph Fuxs Gradus Ad Parnassum ed. Alfred Mann (New York: Norton, 1971), and Marjorie Merryman, The Music Theory Handbook (Belmont, CA: Schirmer, 1997). 10 Bachs The Musical Offering was printed quickly, which left room for engraving mistakes such as this one. For more information, consult Gregory Butler, "The Printing History of Bachs Musical Offering: New Interpretations," The Journal of Musicology 19, No. 2 (Spring, 2002).
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Vanderburg 6 B-F tritone sits on a strong beat. Additionally, this B (and the corresponding consonant version that occurs in the mirrored form in measure two) is neighbored by an Ab, which is a leap of a seventh.

Canon diversi no. 3

This canon is encoded similarly to the Canon perpetuus, with two simultaneous clefs and one offset clef, however this offset clef is understood to be in inversion due to the flipped key signature. Unlike the first canon, the offset clef does not indicate the lower line coming in a measure later, but rather a half-measure later in accordance with the segno symbol located above beat three in the first measure. Despite the complications inherent in using inverted counterpoint, there do not appear to be any significant errors, excepting the outlined seventh in measure four, beginning on the last sixteenth note of beat one in the upper voice (G-C-F), and the tritone jump from B to F in measure four, the last sixteenth note of beat one moving to the first seen sixteenth note of beat two in the middle voice (and the corresponding Ab-D construction in the lower voice).

Canon diversi no. 4

Canon diversi number four appears to have the same encoding as canon diversi number three, but the Latin inscription Per augmentationem contrario motu or through augmented contrary

Vanderburg 7 motion indicates that one of the voices must be realized in augmented form. As it is noted a2, or a two-voice canon, it is not likely that the theme would be augmented, and it stands to reason that the second voice that enters will be the voice to be augmented. The analysis of this canon is complicated by the addition of ficta accidentals in the edited solutions which do not correspond with the solutions generated in the process of generating this paper. These conflicting answers make objective analysis difficult, but the use of editorial ficta accidentals which exist solely in the augmented voice suggests that even the decoded rendition of the canon requires further decoding and interpretation. In this canon, the notes that are encoded in the compressed version do not technically conform to the established rules for counterpoint, but the proper manner of interpretation would undoubtedly be understood by an organist of Bachs time.

Canon diversi no. 5

This canon is a straightforward canon that includes no inversion, augmentation, or retrograde motion. The theme begins the work, and the accompanimental canonic lines are coded on the lower staff. Unlike earlier canons examined in this paper, this canon does not suffer primarily from tritones, but rather from seconds. The first note in all voices in measure three (F-Ab-B), which does include a tritone, also includes an augmented second. Additionally, the Bb-A construction in the lower two staves, measure five, on the and of three, though not of structural importance, is aurally jarring. The bass line in measure six (and by extension the middle line of measure seven) includes a leap of a seventh, which is unusual, but not the product of a encoded counterpoint.

Canon a2 Quaerendo invenietis

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Quaerendo invenietis (seek and ye shall find), which has at least four accepted solutions, was not entirely decoded as part of the research for this paper.11 The enigmatic inscription of the canon, paired with the lack of a segno, creates confusion, and the lack of a clef offset in previous canons indicated that the two lines were intended to start simultaneously. This is not the case in Quaerendo invenietis, and this confusion creates four permutations of the decoded score. The title of this canon suggests that Bach spent more time on it than others, so it is likely that he had a specific solution in mind, and it is unlikely that this solution would contain the same sort of errors due to encoding as seen in earlier analyses. However, in the version decoded for this paper, there are still occasional seconds (as seen in Eb-F# in measure six) and outlines of sevenths (as seen in measures nine-ten).

Canon a4

Canon a4 is a four-part canon that is written in French violin clef with an offset bass clef, which indicates that the treble line begins the canon, and the bass line comes in second, another treble line third, and a second bass line last. Without a segno to determine where the voices are to enter, it is reasonable to assume the segno would appear at roughly the one-quarter mark, and consultation with

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Due primarily to time constraints and the complexity of this canon.

Vanderburg 9 the accepted solution shows this to be the case. The counterpoint within this canon is largely without error, with the exception of an occasional second serving as a passing tone.

Applications in Composition Study

Studying Bachs The Musical Offering produces well-rounded scholarship that requires an historical understanding of the work in question in order to fully understand and evaluate the music and an adequate working knowledge of eighteenth-century counterpoint, which makes the study of these works multifaceted and remarkably difficult. While there is enormous value in studying any of Bachs works, the study of the riddle canons in the preceding manner has fascinating implications in the study of composition, especially in the study of composing counterpoint. Realizing a portion (or the entirety) of the collection of riddle canons allows the student of counterpoint and/or composition to investigate the method of notational decoding Bach uses in his canons, and a student armed with the proper knowledge of contrapuntal rules would be able to see how intervallic relations may produce errors in counterpoint once the canon is decoded (this is especially obvious in mirror or crab canons, where notes that are paired against other notes when read forward are paired against other notes when read backwards). Further, the analysis of contrapuntal writing in an error-checking fashion requires a student to have a firm grip on the rules of counterpoint, which requires a slightly different skillset implementation than that of writing counterpoint.

Conclusion
Proofreading and error-checking Bach, arguably the standard in what is contrapuntally right, in exercises of counterpoint at first may seem like a futile attempt. But as seen in the analysis of this collection of canons, questionable notes are found in Bachs writing. This is not to say that Bach is wrong in allowing tritones and seconds and leaps of a seventh in his music, but rather that sacrifices must be made when encoding these canons in riddle format. Although the various errors noted here do exist, they are not immediately discernible aurally. They do not detract from the work as a piece of art or a piece of craft, but rather show Johann Sebastian Bachs artful use of rulebreaking as required in his largely cerebral pieces.

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Bibliography Bach, Johann Sebastian. The Art of the Fugue & A Musical Offering. New York: Dover, 1992. Butler, Gregory. "The Printing History of J.S. Bachs Musical Offering: New Interpretations" The Journal of Musicology 19, No. 2 (Spring, 2002): 306-331. David, Hans T. "Bachs Musical Offering" The Musical Quarterly 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1937): 314332. Forbes, Watson. "On Performing Bachs Musical Offering" The Musical Times 89, No. 1269 (Nov., 1948): 330-334. Fux, Johann Joseph. The Study of Counterpoint: From Johann Joseph Fuxs Gradus Ad Parnassum, ed. Alfred Mann. New York: Norton, 1971. Kennan, Kent. Counterpoint. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Merryman, Marjorie. The Music Theory Handbook. Belmont, CA: Schirmer, 1997. Sassoon, Humphrey F. "JS Bachs Musical Offering and the Source of Its Theme: Royal Peculiar" The Musical Times 144, No. 1885 (Winter, 2003): 38-39. Wolff, Christoph. "New Research on Bachs Musical Offering" The Musical Quarterly 57, No. 3 (Jul., 1971): 379-408.