The Average Piano Collection is the pinnacle of Bach's great work. This collection of pieces fully reflects the musical characteristics and style of the Baroque period, is an encyclopedia that integrates musical images, and is also a compulsory course for every player.
Through the analysis of "Bach Prelude and Fugue - Lesson 15 of The First Volume", how to improve piano skills and musical literacy is discussed from the aspects of his creative background, work analysis, and playing skills, and summarizes and summarizes the playing skills that should be paid attention to when playing works, so as to have a deeper understanding of baroque music, so as to have a deeper understanding and grasp of the characteristics of Bach's music.
The Bach Twelve Average Rhythms collection is a priceless treasure in piano polyphonic music works, it consists of 48 preludes and fugues in 24 major and minor keys, and has an indelible and important position in the history of piano music, known as the "Old Testament" in piano music, and also represents the highest artistic achievement of the Baroque period. This collection of works is not only unparalleled in terms of technology, but also has a rich spiritual connotation.
This article provides an in-depth analysis of the touch keys of the playing technique, the grasp of musical emotion, and the thematic ideas of the whole song.
First, the background of the creation of Bach's law of averages
Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685 – 28 July 1750), born in Eisenach, Germany, was a great musician and composer of the Baroque period, known as the "father of European music" and the "master of polyphony", and an important representative of the Baroque period.
Bach's creative field was extensive, especially keyboard music, the most representative of which is the "Average Rhythm Piano Song Collection".
The birth of this collection not only confirmed the feasibility of the free-tuning law, but also enabled free transposition between the various tonalities, and was unfettered and colorful in form and style.
In the musical works of the Baroque period, polyphonic musical works are the source of all musical works, and the average law created by Bach is undoubtedly the best material for training in this area.
Bach is a pioneer of epoch-making significance by integrating the different national musical styles of Western Europe, so his "Average Rhythm Piano Song Collection" undoubtedly has a profound impact on the development of music in any era, and has benefited future performers, musicians and composers to grasp and learn the musical style of the Baroque period.
2. Analysis of works
(1) Analysis of the composition of the prelude
The Prelude in G major is a single-piece prelude in which the right hand is continuously broken down and composed in the form of a column chord triplet. When Bach dealt with chord problems, he treated the notes in each chord as an independent layer, so that the lines of the front and back middle rhythms could be connected to each other.
The prelude can be divided into two parts, the first of which begins two phrases with two low-pitch octaves of continuous tone. As can be seen from subsections 4 and 5, it is composed of two layers of parallel ten-degree melodies to form forward and reverse lines, and two layers of inner vocal continuity. The above two forms alternate twice, forming the first part of the whole prelude.
The second part of the prelude consists of a continuous seven-chord that continues to be molded until the end of the whole piece. This typical seven-chord four-degree continuous pattern was widely used in 19th-century European music. The harmony of bars 13-19 is presented as follows. As in Spectral Example 1:
(2) Formula analysis of fugues
Fugue in G major is also presented in Bach's average fugue with obvious structure, concise content, and three-dimensional intervals. A theme and a definite musical idea developed, it appears in the main phrase of a certain part and is imitated by the other two parts. In the process of development, the theme of music is constantly changing, through the form of mode, tonality and rhythm, so that the overall musical image becomes richer and more complete. The composition of this fugue is as follows:
1. Presentation section
This fugue consists of two thematic presentation segments, both related and varied.
Bar 1-4 the theme is presented in the main key of the soprano part (G major);
Bar 5-8 the theme is presented in the mezzo-soprano part of the genus (D major). There are two more interstitials in the two subject rendering segments, the first interstitial:
The 9-10 bars, of which the 9-10 bars build a bridge for the second and third themes, and the role played by this "bridge" is the basis for all changes in the future development of the music.
The second theme presentation segment is re-presented in the order of mezzo-soprano, soprano, and bass in the order of mezzo-soprano, soprano, and baritone in the tonal pattern of "master-genus-master". The reflection theme technique is used to retain the themes of the previous two times (subsections 20-23 and 24-27) in its entirety, while also maintaining the integrity of the modulus and the two themes. As in Spectra Example 2:
2. Expand the section
This section is a dynamic, longer, varied paragraph. The development of the whole passage begins and appears in the theme's homophonic e minor. In this important unfolding process, Bach uses the same musical materials, expressive techniques, and thematic elements to "reorganize", using the same things to intertwine and constantly derive and create new structures, and this ingenious combination makes the existing materials evolve into new ways of combining.
3. Conclusion
As the end of the song, the main continuing note of the last 4 bars is also a complement to the climax of this fugue, resulting in the addition of the minus seven chords common in the final part of the Bach average law. The tonal organization of this fugue shows a strict structural logic, and the organization of the tonality and the organization of the structure are interlocked and closely integrated.
3. Performance Analysis of Lesson 15
(1) The way the touch keys are played
The touch keys are an important factor in playing Bach's Average Piano Pieces.
Because this set of songs is created for keyboard instruments, the main keyboard instruments in the creation period are harpsichord and stringed ancient piano, these two instruments are the predecessors of our modern piano, so when playing Bach's works, it is required that the player relax his wrist in the process of playing, the sound played should be grainy, the timbre requires cleanliness and elasticity, the fingertip touch area should be small, the movement of lifting the finger should be small, the finger should not be too close to the keyboard, and the action of the next key should be light and vertical. It is important that the fingertips and palm joints can be supported after the lower button, and do not slacken off, so as not to cause a shortage of sound.
Pay attention to using your fingers to control the intensity of the sound, and avoid using brute force.
The right hand of this lesson prelude is dominated by triplets and continues, and the left hand also has a large number of triplets, which requires that the key should be in a "non-connected" state when touching the key, and the fingertip should leave quickly when touching the key to the end. The fugue part is three-part, which belongs to the brisk dance style work, when playing the rhythm of the dance music style, the player should pay attention to the relatively heavy first beat played in each bar to highlight the corresponding sense of rhythm, so that the strict and regular musical style characteristics of the Baroque period can be reflected to the extreme.
In the performance, the right hand of the player needs to play two or more parts of the melody at the same time, in order to achieve the best performance effect, the player should stick the key to play when playing, so that the connection between the tone and the tone is natural and average, and the rhythm and speed are unified.
(2) The way the voice is played
In the usual performance, it is necessary not only to form the memory on the fingertips, but also to form the auditory memory.
Players must not only have flexible fingers, but also cultivate a sensitive sense of hearing, and use their ears to distinguish the levels of each part, so that each part can be played perfectly.
While playing Bach's works, the most important point is to study the internal structure of Bach's works, first of all, to experience the paragraphs and layers in them, and to find out the presentation part, the middle of the expansion and the termination, after the clear paragraphs are divided, we need to pay attention to how the paragraphs continue to develop.
When practicing Bach's multi-voice works, it is necessary to emphasize personality, but also to make them harmonious and unified, and leave enough space for other voices, so that they can play a stereo sound effect, so it is not right to emphasize only the theme part and abandon other parts, and it is not right to use the "two two" parts of the voice practice, such as: one and two voices combined training, one and three voice parts combined practice, and so on.
Use different playing methods and different rhythmic dynamics to distinguish, and carefully control the melodic direction of each part, while playing different melodies, the voice counterpoint and the relationship between harmony in the work are clearly expressed.
(3) Decorative sounds
Ornamental sound in the Baroque period is an inseparable and extremely important part of composers and musicians in the creation of music, but also an important musical feature of this period, many Baroque musicians such as Bach, Scarlatti, Kupran, etc. have a special emphasis on the use of decorative sound, which has a great relationship with the structure of instruments and musical styles at that time.
During the Baroque period, the harpsichord produced a shorter sound, so to compensate for this shortcoming, composers usually used a large number of vibrato to extend the normal time value of the notes.
In Bach's work, most of the vibrato is played from the upper adjacent sound of the main tone with a positive beat, and its ornamental sounds are complex and varied, and the decorative notes he created not only overcome the limitations of the baroque instruments, but also expanded the expressiveness of the music.
Therefore, in order to play Bach's works correctly, it is necessary to carefully study and practice the decorative sounds of the time.
Conclusion
In summary, through the analysis of the composition and performance analysis of the work "Bach Prelude and Fugue - The Fifteenth Song of the First Volume", it can be seen that the real charm of Bach's work lies in the natural and unscientified sense of all the rhythmic changes and the coordination of the position, which has formed his unique musical beauty.
When playing Bach's works of average law, it is necessary to use modern piano playing techniques to restore the acoustic effects and playing style of the baroque period of stringed ancient piano, only by using correct and targeted training, learning to use the ear to listen to the level of the voice, can we learn to use the correct playing method to master the skills of playing Bach's works. Although this is a long-term and systematic training, as long as you master these training essentials, you will be able to play Bach's works in the future.