WL500037

Realizing Thoroughbass Chorales

in the Circle of J. S. Bach

Edited and Translated by

Derek Remes
In Collaboration with
Robin A. Leaver

Volume One

Sources by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, and

D. Kellner, with a Tutor by D. Remes
Realizing Thoroughbass Chorales
in the Circle of J. S. Bach

Edited and Translated by

Derek Remes
In Collaboration with
Robin A. Leaver

Volume One

Sources by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, and

D. Kellner, with a Tutor by D. Remes
 Computer engraving and graphic layout by Derek Remeš.

© 2019 by Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. for all countries

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 Contents
List of Illustrations......................................................................................................................................v

Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................................vii

How to Use This Series.............................................................................................................................ix

1. Introduction to the Series............................................................................................................................1

2. Thoroughbass Primer for Beginners by Derek Remeš...............................................................................5

• A brief introduction to the basics of thoroughbass and chorale harmonization

3. “Some Rules of Thoroughbass” by J. S. Bach.........................................................................................28

• A new translation of J. S. Bach’s short list of rules on signatures and doubling

4. “The Principles of Playing in Four Parts” and “The Most Common Cadences” (Anonymous, 1738)....30
• T  ypical sequences and cadences in thoroughbass, likely originating from
J. S. Bach’s circle

5. New Melodies to Some Songs in the New Hamburg Chorale Book by C. P. E. Bach (1787)...................51
• Fourteen figured-bass chorales once published as an appendix to David
Kellner’s treatise

6. True Instruction in Thoroughbass by David Kellner (2nd ed., 1737)......................................................76

• The most popular eighteenth-century thoroughbass treatise, which has ties to
J. S. Bach’s circle
Illustration 1: Title page and chorale No. 38 (Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod) from the Sibley Chorale Book (Anonymous, c.1735).
Robin A. Leaver has recently attributed this source to J. S. Bach’s circle of pupils in Dresden.
The upper staff is in soprano clef.

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 List of Illustrations v

1. Title page and chorale No. 38 (Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod) from the Sibley Chorale Book (Anonymous, c.1735).......iv

2. Engraving of C. P. E. Bach from the Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek, vol. 34 (1778)...................................................vi

3. Title page of Johann David Heinichen’s Der General-Bass in der Composition (1728)..............................................viii

4. The beginning of the thoroughbass part for a motet by Floriano Canale (before 1575–after 1612), published
in Promptuarii Musici (Straßburg, 1611–17, 3:50), ed. Caspar Vincentius............................................................... 5

5. Chorale No. 1 in the Sibley Chorale Book (Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland)............................................................... 23

6. Chorale No. 32 in the Sibley Chorale Book (Christe, du Lamm Gottes)....................................................................... 23

7. The chorale, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern with Zwischenspiele, from G. F. Kauffmann, Harmonische
Seelenlust (1733, 27)................................................................................................................................................ 26

8. The first page of “Some Rules of Thoroughbass” by J. S. Bach (1725)......................................................................... 29

9. The first page of “The Principles of Playing in Four Parts” from the Vorschriften und Grundsätze,
B-Bc ms. 27.224 (Anonymous, 1738)..................................................................................................................... 31

10. “The Most Common Cadences” from the Vorschriften und Grundsätze, B-Bc ms. 27.224 (Anonymous, 1738)......... 36

11. Exercise No. 3 from “The Principles of Playing in Four Parts” from the Vorschriften und Grundsätze,
B-Bc ms. 27.224 (Anonymous, 1738)..................................................................................................................... 39

12. Exercise No. 8 from “The Principles of Playing in Four Parts” from the Vorschriften und Grundsätze,
B-Bc ms. 27.224 (Anonymous, 1738)..................................................................................................................... 45

13. Title page of C. P. E. Bach’s New Melodies (Hamburg: Herold, 1787).......................................................................... 52

14. Chorale No. 3 from C. P. E. Bach’s Neue Melodien (1787)........................................................................................... 66

15. Chorale No. 12 from C. P. E. Bach’s Neue Melodien (1787)......................................................................................... 74

16. Title page of the second edition of David Kellner’s True Instruction in Thoroughbass (1737)..................................... 75

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 Illustration 2: Engraving of C. P. E. Bach from the Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek, vol. 34
(Berlin and Stettin: Nicolai, 1778)

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 Acknowledgements vii

The editors extend their heartfelt thanks to the following individuals:

• Wayne Leupold, for his unfailing commitment to this project and to the very highest publication standards;
• Lenora McCroskey, for her generosity in offering multiple rounds of detailed feedback;
• Daniel Zager, for his support in the early stages of this project;
• David Peter Coppen of the Sibley Music Library Special Collections;
• Jennifer Frazier, Graphic Designer at Wayne Leupold Editions;
• To all our reviewers:
Poundie Burstein (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Vasili Byros (Northwestern Bienen School of Music)
Thomas Christensen (University of Chicago)
Edward Klorman (McGill University)
Thomas Spacht (Towson University)
Michael Unger (University of Cincinnati)

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 Illustration 3: Title page of Johann David Heinichen’s Der General-Bass in der Composition (Dresden: author, 1728),
a thousand-page thoroughbass treatise for which J. S. Bach acted as agent, selling it out of his home.

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 How to Use this Series ix

This two-volume series is intended to serve two functions: as scholarly reference and as practical workbook. The
contents of each volume are as follows.

Volume One: Sources by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, and D. Kellner, with a Tutor by D. Remeš
• Introduction to the Series
• Thoroughbass Primer for Beginners by Derek Remeš
• “Some Rules on Thoroughbass” by J. S. Bach
• “Principles of Playing in Four Parts” and “The Most Common Cadences” (Anonymous, 1738)
• Appendix 1: Editorial Realizations
• New Melodies for Some Chorales in the New Hamburg Chorale Book by C. P. E. Bach (1787)
• Appendix 2: Editorial Realizations in Close Position
• Appendix 3: Editorial Realizations in Open Position
• David Kellner’s True Instruction in Thoroughbass (2nd ed., 1737)

Volume Two: The Sibley Chorale Book (Anonymous, c.1735)

• Introduction to the Series
• Remarks on the Sibley Chorale Book
• The Sibley Chorale Book (Anonymous, c.1735)
• Index of Chorales

On the one hand, the translation of David Kellner’s True Instruction in Thoroughbass (2nd ed., 1737) and the
Sibley Chorale Book (Anonymous, c.1735) will be of particular interest to scholars and professional musicians,
as this is the first English translation of Kellner treatise and the first publication of the Sibley Chorale Book, both
of which have significant ties to J. S. Bach’s circle. On the other hand, the other documents will be of particular
interest to teachers of keyboard and music theory, as well as to a variety of students, including composers,
organists, harpsichordists, pianists, and theorists. Teachers and students should view these volumes as workbooks
containing both historically grounded instruction and exercises in practical application.

The reader need not proceed from beginning to end in any volume. Instead, one’s interests and level of
experience should dictate how each volume is used. For instance, the Thoroughbass Primer for Beginners, the
“Principles of Playing in Four Parts,” and “The Most Common Cadences” are all suitable for readers with little
prior experience with thoroughbass. The intermediate student could browse these sections and then proceed to
C. P. E. Bach’s New Melodies, Kellner’s treatise, and the Sibley Chorale Book. The advanced student might skip
directly to the New Melodies and to Kellner’s treatise, returning later to other sections as desired. Each individual
section contains additional, more detailed instruction regarding its background and suggested use.

In this series, pitches are indicated according to the following system.

œ œ
& œ œ
œ

{ ?
œ
C...B
œ œ
c...b
œ c1...b1 c2...b2 c3...

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 Introduction to the Series !1

Introduction to the Series

Thoroughbass was an integral part of music-making in eighteenth-century Germany. Among the most important
thoroughbass treatises of this period are those by Johann David Heinichen (1683–1729): the Neu erfundene und
Gründliche Anweisung (Hamburg, 1711), which was significantly expanded into his magnum opus, Der General-
Bass in der Composition (Dresden, 1728).1 The latter work is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and comprehensive
thoroughbass treatise ever published. 2 J. S. Bach may have recognized the significance of Heinichen's 1728 treatise,
because he agreed to act as the publisher’s agent, selling Heinichen's work (likely on commission) out of his home in
Leipzig.3 Assuming Bach’s motivations were not completely financial, this would imply a degree of endorsement of
Heinichen’s approach, or at least a willingness to be publicly associated with it. The sophistication and length of
Heinichen’s 1728 treatise resulted in it being most suitable for advanced musicians preparing for top music posts,
such as Kapellmeister of influential courts, directors of opera, directors of music in large cities, cantors and organists
of significant churches, and the like. These positions represented the peak of the profession and were only accessible
to a privileged few. More numerous were positions as teacher in schools and organist in towns and larger villages,
positions that still required competence, but were not at the standard required by the leading positions. In his many
decades as a teacher, Bach had pupils who encompassed a wide range of ability levels. If one looks at the dozens of
pupils recorded in The New Bach Reader,4 a few went on to distinguish themselves in important musical positions in
Germany, including Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnickol, and
people like Johann Friedrich Doles, Gottfried August Homilius, Johann Christian Kittel, Johann Ludwig Krebs, and
Johann Philipp Kirnberger (if indeed he studied with Bach at all). But there were also many Bach pupils who went
on to have careers in smaller churches and schools throughout Germany, where the opportunities may have been
more limited, but where a capable level of musicianship was still required. The question therefore arises: What
materials did Bach use to instruct beginning pupils or those of only modest ability level? Surely, Heinichen's treatise
was too advanced for beginners. Where, then, might Bach have turned for teaching material (besides his own
pedagogical compositions)?5

There is reason to think that the instruction found in David Kellner’s treatise, True Instruction in Thoroughbass
(1732), 6 the second edition of which is presented here for the first time in English translation, may approximate the
methods and materials Bach used at some point in his teaching. 7 One reason for this is that Kellner’s work is
essentially a digest of Heinichen’s 1728 treatise, which, as mentioned already, Bach seems to have indirectly
endorsed. In this regard, Kellner showed himself to be a consummate pedagogue with a talent for extracting and
condensing the most essential points from other authors’ works. For instance, the tables that conclude Kellner’s
treatise (Examples 7.39a and 7.39b in Volume One) represent an impressive synopsis of key aspects of Heinichen’s

1See Johann David Heinichen’s Gründliche Anweisung (1711), trans. Benedikt Brillmayer and Casey Mongoven (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press,
2012) and George J. Buelow, Thorough Bass Accompaniment according to Johann David Heinichen, rev. ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1986). Buelow’s work only translates select portions of Heinichen’s 1728 treatise.
2Jacob Adlung writes of Heinichen’s 1728 treatise that, “This is one of the best books that we have on thoroughbass.” Jacob Adlung, Anleitung zu
der musikalischen Gelahrtheit (Erfurt: Jungnicol, 1758), 633.

3 Bach-Dokumente, Supplement zu NBA, ed. Bach-Archiv Leipzig (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1963–2017) [hereafter BDok] 2: 191 (No. 260).

4The New Bach Reader, 2nd ed., ed. Christoph Wolff (New York: Norton, 1998), 316-317. See also Hans Löffler, “Die Schüler Joh. Seb. Bachs”
Bach-Jahrbuch (1953) 40: 5–28.
5 These include the Inventions and Sinfonias, the Orgelbüchlein, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the two Notenbüchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach, and
the Klavierbüchlein for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. The so-called “Langloz Manuscript,” a collection of thoroughbass preludes and fugues, may also
stem from Bach’s circle. See William Renwick, The Langloz Manuscript: Fugal Improvisation through Figured Bass (New York: Rosen Publishing
Group, 2001).

6David Kellner, Treulicher Unterricht im General-Bass (Hamburg: Kissner, 1732; 2nd Edition, Hamburg: Herold, 1737, with preface by G. P.
Telemann; facsimile of 2nd Edition by Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1979).
7 There is a brief summary of Kellner’s work in F. T. Arnold, The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-Bass as Practised in the XVIIth and
XVIIIth Centuries (London: Oxford University Press, 1931; reprint, New York: Dover, 1965), 1: 269–270. One reason Kellner’s treatise has not yet
been translated is that Kellner is essentially a “derivative” author who provides little original material of his own. Johann Mattheson criticized this
point in an anonymous review published in Nieder-Sachsische Nachrichten von Gelehrten neuen Sachen in the issue of June 26, 1732. Kellner
responds directly to Mattheson’s criticism on the last page of the second edition of True Instruction (see “Yet a Word” on p. 138 of Volume One).

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!2 Introduction to the Series

theories. Kellner’s motivation in remaining concise was that, unlike Heinichen, he was writing for a more general
audience. The introductory nature of Kellner’s work, along with its more modest price, increased its sales
dramatically compared to Heinichen. 8 In fact, Kellner’s work was the best-selling thoroughbass treatise in
eighteenth-century Germany.9 That Kellner is appropriate for beginners, whereas Heinichen is not, is confirmed by
Bach’s pupil, Lorenz Christoph Mizler. Mizler noted that, after beginning with Kellner’s work, the student should
proceed to the treatises of Johann Mattheson and Heinichen. 10 Another link between Kellner’s treatise and J. S. Bach
—besides that Kellner summarizes Heinichen—is that Georg Philipp Telemann (C. P. E. Bach’s godfather) wrote the
preface to the second edition. (This is the reason we chose to translate the second edition, rather than the first.) C. P.
E. Bach wrote that his father was often with Telemann in his younger years, suggesting that the two may have been
of a similar mind regarding theoretical and pedagogical matters.11 Another reason for associating Kellner’s treatise
with Bach’s pedagogy is that, in taking Heinichen as his model, Kellner preserved a central tenet of Bach’s teaching
philosophy—the idea that thoroughbass is not merely accompaniment, but also a type of composition.

We know Bach held thoroughbass and composition to be closely linked because of a testimonial Bach wrote for his
student, Friedrich Gottlieb Wild. In it, Bach attests that Wild “has taken special instruction from me in the clavier,
thoroughbass, and the fundamental principles of composition derived from them.”12 The significance of this
statement cannot be overstated, for it provides unmistakable proof of the centrality of thoroughbass to Bach’s
compositional pedagogy, at least in the years around 1727, the date of the testimonial for Wild. Another reliable
account of Bach’s teaching comes from his son, C. P. E. Bach, who writes:

His [J. S. Bach’s] pupils had to begin their studies by learning pure four-part thorough bass. From this
he went to chorales; first he added the basses to them himself, and they had to invent the alto and
tenor. Then he taught them to devise the basses themselves. He particularly insisted in the writing out
of the thoroughbass in parts. In teaching fugues, he began with two-part ones and so on. The
realization of a thoroughbass and the introduction to chorales are without doubt the best method of
studying composition, as far as harmony is concerned.13

Thus, according to Carl Philipp, J. S. Bach’s pedagogy involved the following stages: (1) four-part, written-out
thoroughbass; (2) composition of inner voices to a given thoroughbass chorale; (3) composition of original basses
and middle voices to chorales; and (4) progressively more difficult fugues. The present two-volume series addresses
stages one and two—(1) figured bass practice in general and (2) the realization of thoroughbass chorales. Our hope
is that a third volume may treat the composition of original basses. 14 The impetus for this project grew out of two
recent archival discoveries pertaining to Bach’s circle.

The first of these archival findings provides the most definitive piece of evidence for associating Kellner’s treatise
with Bach’s pedagogy. We recently discovered that C. P. E. Bach's New Melodies for Some Chorales in the New

8 In the last decade of Bach’s life a Leipzig printer-publisher issued a comprehensive book-list of all major subjects in several volumes that also gave
the current prices of individual imprints: Heinichen’s 1728 treatise is listed at 2 thaler 8 groschen, compared with just 6 groschen for the 1732 first
edition of Kellner’s, that is, costing approaching ten times more than Kellner’s, which was the equivalent at the time of a quart of good wine; see
Theophili Georgi, Buchhändler in Leipzig, Allgemeines Europäisches Bücher-Lexicon... (Leipzig: Georgi, 1742-1750), 2: 228 and 337 respectively.
9There were at least eight German editions between 1732 and 1796, the first of which sold 2,000 copies (according to the preface of the second
edition), plus issues in Swedish (Stockholm, 1739), Dutch (Amsterdam, 1741 and 1751) and Russian (Moscow, 1791). If we assume each of the other
eleven issues sold around 1,000 copies, then there were well over 10,000 copies of Kellner’s treatise circulating in Europe in the eighteenth-century.

10Lorenz Mizler, Musicalische Bibliothek oder Gründliche Nachricht, nebst unpartheyischen Urtheil von Musikalischen Schrifften und Büchern,
Erster Theil... (Leipzig: Mizler, 1736), 25-27, here 27: “...so daß es vor einen Anfänger wohl zu gebrauchen ist. Nach diesen, können Herrn
Matthesons Organisten-Probe, dessen General-Bass-Schule, und Heinichens General-Bass mit vielen Nutzen gebrauchet werden.”

11 BDok, 3: 289 (No. 803). “In seinen jungen Jahren war er [J. S.] oft mit Telemannen zusammen, welcher auch mich aus der Taufe gehoben hat.”
12 BDok, 1: 127 (No. 57).

13 The New Bach Reader, 399.

14See Derek Remeš, “J. S. Bach’s Chorales: Reconstructing Eighteenth-Century German Figured-Bass Pedagogy in Light of a New Source,” Theory
and Practice 42 (2017): 29–53.

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 Introduction to the Series !3
Hamburg Chorale Book15 were appended to the seventh edition of Kellner’s treatise sometime after 1789.16 An
anonymous preface to this publication states that, “It is the opinion of experts that chorales represent the best
practice-pieces for beginners of thorough-bass.”17 The author of this preface was very likely Johann Heinrich Herold,
who had personal and professional ties with C. P. E. This suggests that C. P. E. is the “expert” to whom Herold
referred. As we argue, this means that it was actually C. P. E. who suggested the pairing of the thoroughbass chorales
in his New Melodies with Kellner’s treatise. In doing so, he may have been passing on aspects of his father’s
teaching. Indeed, C. P. E. writes in his autobiography that, “In composition and clavier playing I never had any other
teacher except my father.”18 Thus, following C. P. E., Volume One of this series also combines the New Melodies
with Kellner’s treatise.

The second recent archival discovery is Robin A. Leaver’s attribution of an anonymous source known as the Sibley
Chorale Book (henceforth: SCB) to J. S. Bach’s circle of pupils in Dresden (ca. 1730–40). The students were C. H.
Gräbner (1705?–1769), W. F. Bach (1710–1784), and G. A. Homilius (1714–1785). Because the details of this
finding are described elsewhere, only the most important points are summarized here.19 Breitkopf’s 1764 catalogue
lists a Choralbuch for sale with the description “Complete Choral Book with notes set with figured bass comprising
240 melodies in use in Leipzig.” Contrary to Philipp Spitta and Hans-Joachim Schulze’s earlier appraisals, Leaver
has shown that the manuscript titled “4 stimmiges Choralbuch” located in Sibley Library Special Collections at the
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY) is very likely the lost chorale book from Breitkopf’s catalogue.
Significantly—and like C. P. E.’s New Melodies—the chorale settings in the SCB closely align with C. P. E.’s above
description of his father’s pedagogy. That is, they include only chorale melodies with figured basslines and no inner
voices. Thus, the SCB provides valuable pedagogical models that both stem from Bach’s circle of pupils and align
with C. P. E.’s description of his father’s teaching.20 A modern edition of the SCB can be found in Volume Two.

It is crucial to emphasize that the thoroughbass chorale settings in the SCB differ greatly from Bach’s vocal chorales
(Choralgesänge), which stem largely from his cantatas and passions and have formed the core of Bach-centered
pedagogy ever since the late eighteenth-century. But in truth, there is little evidence that Bach used such vocal
chorale settings in his teaching. Rather, the Choralgesänge first took on a pedagogical role after Bach’s death,
primarily through the work of C. P. E. and Johann Philipp Kirnberger.21 Unlike the highly ornamented vocal settings,
which are already in four voices, the chorales in the SCB are incomplete and must be realized at the keyboard. Such
Choralbuch settings are usually in a much simpler style than Bach’s Choralgesänge, a fact recognized by some of

15 Neue Melodien zu einigen Liedern des neuen Hamburgischen Gesangbuchs (Hamburg: Herold, 1787)
16Robin A. Leaver and Derek Remeš. “J. S. Bach’s Chorale-Based Pedagogy: Origins and Continuity,” BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach
Institute 49/2 and 49/1 (2018), 116–150.

17“Da nach dem Urtheil der Kenner Chorale die besten Uebungsstücke für die Anänger im General-Baß-Spielen sind, so hat der Verleger diese 7ten
Auflage die vom seel. Capellmeister C. P. E. Bach verfertigten 14 Melodien zu einigen Liedern des neuen Hamburgischen Gesangbuchs hinzugefügt
[…].”

18“In der Komposition und im Clavierspielen habe ich nie einen andern Lehrmeister gehabt, als meinen Vater.” C. P. E. Bach, Selbstbiographie, in
Carl Burney’s der Musik Doctors Tagebuch seiner musikalischen Reisen [Bd. 3]: Durch Böhmen, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Hamburg und Holland,
199–209 (Hamburg: Bode, 1773), 199–209, here 199
19Robin A. Leaver. “Bach’s Choral-Buch? The Significance of a Manuscript in the Sibley Library,” in Bach Perspectives 10, edited by Matthew Dirst
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016), 16–38.

20J. S. Bach also provided figured basslines for selected chorales in Georg Christian Schemelli’s Musicalisches Gesang-Buch (Leipzig: Breitkopf,
1736). These chorales are not included in the present series because their style of harmonization is in general quite advanced and because they are
readily available in other editions. See the sources for further study listed at the end of the Thoroughbass Primer for Beginners (p. 27 of Volume
One).
21 See Derek Remeš, “J. S. Bach and the Choralbuch Style of Harmonization: A New Pedagogical Paradigm,” in Rethinking Bach, ed. Bettina Varwig
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). Johann Sebastian Bachs vierstimmige Choralgesänge, 2 vols. ed. C. P. E. Bach (Berlin and Leipzig, 1765–
1769). Johann Sebastian Bachs vierstimmige Choralgesänge. 4 vols. ed. C. P. E. Bach and J. P. Kirnberger (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1784–87). For a
listing of editions, see Gerd Wachowski, “Die vierstimmigen Choräle Johann Sebastian Bachs. Untersuchungen zu den Druckausgaben von 1765 bis
1932 und zur Frage der Authentizität,” Bach-Jahrbuch (1983) 69: 51–79. On reception history of Bach’s chorales, see Christoph Wolff, “On the
Recognition of Bach and ‘the Bach Chorale’: Eighteenth-Century Perspectives,” in Bach: Essays on His Life and Music (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1991), 377–382.

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!4 Introduction to the Series

Bach’s contemporaries.22 Compared to the Choralgesänge, which were printed soon after Bach's death, less evidence
of the Choralbuch tradition has survived because such settings were often improvised in the context of organ
accompaniment for congregational singing. Hence the SCB has a special significance, not only in its connection to
Bach's pedagogy, but also in that it witnesses this improvisatory tradition. 23

Thus far we have established the rationale for associating the thoroughbass chorales in C. P. E.’s New Melodies and
the SCB with Kellner’s treatise. To aid the reader in becoming more fluent in thoroughbass, Volume One includes
some additional historical documents with ties to Bach, together with a newly created Thoroughbass Primer for
Beginners. Further detail about each of these documents can be found in their respective introductions.

• J. S. Bach’s “Some Rules on Thoroughbass” – a short list of rules about doubling and auxiliary voices

• “The Principles of Playing in Four Parts” and “The Most Common Cadences” – the last two sections of an
anonymous manuscript titled Vorschriften und Grundsätze (Precepts and Principles) that has ties to Bach

• Thoroughbass Primer for Beginners by Derek Remeš

It is our hope that these two volumes may provide historically informed materials for teachers and students who wish
to imitate the pedagogy of J. S. Bach’s circle. 24

Derek Remeš Robin A. Leaver

22 See Remeš, “J. S. Bach’s Chorales,” 34.

23Thoroughbass chorales that survive from Bach include: In dulci jubilo (BWV 729a), Gelobet seist du, Jesus Christ (BWV 722a), Vom Himmel
hoch (BWV 738a), and Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich (BWV 732a). Further indirect evidence of Bach’s chorale-based pedagogy can be found
in the writings of his students, Johann Christian Kittel and Johann Philipp Kirnberger (assuming Kirnberger actually studied with Bach). See J. P.
Kirnberger, Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (Berlin: Voss, Decker & Hartung, 1771–1779) and J. C. Kittel, Der angehende praktische
Organist, 3 vols. (Erfurt: Beyer und Maring, 1801–1808). See Remeš, “J. S. Bach’s Chorales.” Regarding Kittel, see Susan Rebecca
McCormick,“Johann Christian Kittel and the Long Overlooked Multiple Bass Chorale Tradition” (PhD diss., Queen’s University Belfast, 2015).
24See also: Derek Remeš, “Chorales in J. S. Bach’s Pedagogy: Recasting the First-Year Undergraduate Music Theory Curriculum in Light of a New
Source,” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 31 (2017): 65–92, <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SbMaVndkkxWyQYrUo1iq1y0aL7I8CZ7X/view>;
and Derek Remeš, “Teaching Figured-Bass with Keyboard Chorales and C. P. E. Bach’s Neue Melodien zu einigen Liedern des neuen
Hamburgischen Gesangbuchs (1787),” BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute 49/2 (2018): 205–226.

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