Analyzing Prelude in C# Major BWV 848
Hi all,
Started to tackle this piece recently, and I am having trouble with analyzing this passage, what chord progression and key it's moving through.
There is so much dissonance between the left and right hand. Any help is really appreciated.
Thanks!
-
Hi there! I see an harmonic sequence every two bars, because of the key some chords might have awkward names. I believe the chords are:
B#7 | E#m | A# | D#m |
E# | A# | D# | G#m |
A# | D#m | G# | C# |
D# | G#m ||
I even see a diagonal outline once you put them every four bars! Quite beautiful-
Santiago Alvarez you might find it easier to see the patterns, and to play it, if instead of the base key being C# minor, think of it as its enharmonic D-flat minor. In that case the chords become more familar...depending on where the reader is in the practice of reading chords.
Anyway, if that was done, the chord progression would be written as:
C7 | f minor | B-flat | e-flat minor
F | B-flat | E-flat | a-flat minor
B-flat | e-flat minor | A-flat | D-flat
E-flat | a-flat minoor ||
At least, for me, it's easier to analyze the chord progressions, as I am a lot more at home with these chords than the chords as written. I realize I should just improve my chord fluency with these distant keys, but until I do, this provides some expedience. It's a headache to go back to the printed score, but at least you can get your head around it. I should say, at least I can get my head around it.
Hope this helps.
Steve
-
-
In the passage right before your clip you are coming from A# minor. It then moves to tonicizing E# minor (the dominant of A#) which is why you see the C and D double sharp (melodic minor) at the start of your clip. It then sequences through A# to D# to G# to C# on its way to F# major (all circle of fifths motion) shortly after your clip.
It seems so complex because of the many sharps. If it were in C instead of C#, it would likely be more obvious at a glance that the common circle of fifths pattern is being employed. Two consecutive raised notes, like the two double sharps often hints at your new key area because those are your raised scale degree 6 and 7 for melodic minor.
I should add that it should not sound particularly dissonant between the hands since it is pretty standard harmonic writing, just in a key that results in many accidentals. If you feel it sounds harsh, my suggestion would be to double check that you are applying all accidentals accurately (I have had students comment similarly when learning this one and it often turns out that there is a misread note in there somewhere).
Hope that helps! =)
-
Hi
I apologise if my answer may appear a bit rude or offensant.
As there is nothing especially dissonant in this prelude, do you correctly read and play the double sharps (symbol x).
Best and kind regards.
Thierry -
Some of the challenge is that Bach is using polyphony and the principles of counterpoint to guide this composition. Tonality as we know it started here but is not as clear cut in counterpoint. I highly recommend looking at some of the basic rules of counterpoint which are likely to clarify things much more than a more traditional chord based analysis. Much of the dissonance in Bach are passing or neighbor tones and will resolve quickly.
-
Jessica Pizano I certainly agree with the important point that contrapuntal music such as Bach's preludes and fugues was conceived of more 'horizontally' than we tend to think today, with melodic lines having a greater priority. However, harmonic structure was pretty clearly established with J.S.Bach and harmony and melody informed one another. The analysis practices that are regularly learned for the "common practice period" (1600-1900) are built specifically on the practices of J.S. Bach who was very consistent with his application of voice leading and harmony.
This is all to say, it is very appropriate to apply traditional common practice analysis to Bach since the theory is based on Bach! After all, It is important to understand the expressive implications of certain chords and keys. For instance, this prelude moves from C# major to A# minor because A# minor is the relative minor. It later moves to F# major which is the subdominant of C#; a close-key relationship which is how modulation typically operated in this period due to tuning methods being unequal and making modulation to distant keys too bizarre (one reason at least). Often, the relative minor is a 'darkening' of the tonic key while the sub-dominant is 'tranquil' as it is more subdued than a shift the active sounding dominant.
Now if one were applying contemporary chord analysis that is more in line with pop / jazz practices then I would agree that it is a bit out of place. For instance, contemporary approaches like to include non-chord tones in the chord name so you see a lot of extended chords like Cmin7(add9) etc. Chord extensions like these are very uncommon in Bach since the tones that 'create' these harmonies are virtually always non-chord tones and were not conceived of as part of the underlying harmony. It is not inherently 'wrong' to view the harmonies this way, but it is perhaps overwrought and from a perspective that was not the practice at the time. =)
-
Dustin Anderson I agree that you can find chords here and tonal progressions. Certainly, Bach is the father of music theory. However, the initial post emphasized the confusion on the amount of dissonance. To understand this and clear it out of the way to see the harmonic progression you have to acknowledge the strict contrapuntal style of the work. It isn't so much that you ignore harmony, but it can be confusing to see it without understanding at least some counterpoint. Once you understand the imposed parameters counterpoint places on the composer, then you can quite literally disregard all of the passing tones, neighbors, etc. and this allows one to see the basic harmonic progression left behind.
-
-
Thank you to everybody who chimed in. One of the challenge is as, I started learning by playing slowly, the Aug 4th due to passing note. My brain tells me I played it wrong and that's part of the struggle. It is more than 30 years ago that I did my counterpoint during high school, which I admit took it because I was forced to. So I don't even remember having such tool.
I think seeing the chord progression, and seeing the dominant fifth allows me to figure out the key I am moving through, which helps me figure out why a note is at a certain place. And playing in Db certainly helps as well.
