Overwhelming Whirlwind of Counterpoint: Bach’s BWV 79 Cantata (Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild)

[@juhis_oksanen]

I guess Bach and other composers would have been glad to know that there will be a guy to show every single idea of theirs with coloured bars so that we future listeners will have a chance to truly understands what they have created! Thank's for your wonderful work, Richard!

[@vrixphillips]

Truly amazing. Reminds me of that joke about "not all musicians believe in god but they all believe in Bach" his counterpoint is truly a religious experience

[@Richard.Atkinson]

True! Plus, ample evidence for Bach!

[@violoncello4439]

@@Richard.Atkinson And so Bach is ample evidence for God! (Fantastic video by the way, as always)

[@necroyoli08]

@@violoncello4439 Yep, Bach is ample evidence of Bach.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

@@violoncello4439 Yeah, but that’s just the reflexive property.

[@violoncello4439]

​@@Richard.Atkinson Haha, now I get Kurtz's comment.. Does that make Mendelssohn St Paul?

[@Luboman411]

I heard this cantata for the first time when I was in my early 20s, knowing almost next to nothing of musical theory or composition. I think it was either my second or third Bach cantata I had ever heard. Damn, was I blown away! This counterpoint-fugue "soup" paired with the timpani "dum-dum-dum-dum" that happens at the beginning was like NOTHING I had ever heard before. It was so incredibly complex yet so melodious, like I had accidentally stumbled upon a musical version of one of those Hubble telescope pictures of the universe. That is why I love Bach--he gets to the eternal so quickly, so effortlessly, with these counterpoint-fugue "soups." And then the breaking of the chorus with a totally different harmony--marvelous! Like the Sun had literally arisen from behind the Earth. That's when I realized I had stumbled upon a unique musical genius. And I've been hooked to Bach ever since.

[@PMS1950]

Magnificent Cantata. There's a very fine performance given by the Swiss group Bachstiftung conducted by Rudolf Lutz. The opening chorus is sensational and the natural horns played to perfection. Good soloists especially the tenor who has a perfect, light timbre Bach would have loved.

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

I hope this channel hasn't died :(

[@lymanmj]

That Bach cantata is a gorgeous piece beautifully explained. Thank you, Richard!

[@thethikboy]

"Soup of contrapuntal fragments" The unbridled beauty of Bach's counterpoint always makes me cry - but your analysis does the impossible - it increases my appreciation of the sublime.

[@qwaqwa1960]

I was a member of the Bach Society for a while years ago (odd, since I don't speak German). One of the annual "gifts" was an LP of BWV 79 & 80 out of East Germany. So this has a special resonance :-)

[@oldbird4601]

Which Bach society?

[@qwaqwa1960]

@@oldbird4601 Neuen Bachgesellschaft

[@oldbird4601]

@@qwaqwa1960 wow that’s amazing

[@RichardASalisbury1]

Every time I listen to and watch one of your videos I understand better both the complexity and ubiquity of counterpoint, and not just in the music of my hero J.S. Bach. Thanks!

[@willemmusik2010]

Overwhelming in Bach’s world = *AMAZING*

[@Nooticus]

As a huge Bach Cantata nerd, you clearly know your choral Bach very very well! Also I'm very happy to hear a shout out for Pachelbels other music which is always stunning!

[@jeandoten1510]

Thank you for this! I have had the good fortune to sing this with chorus with a professional orchestra in a church with great acoustics--and those horns are absolutely thrilling every time they come in!

[@CarlitosDessay]

A delightful end for a hell of a week. Thank you Richard!

[@johnpax1122]

re: ~9:46 - also Orlando Gibbons' Fantasia in C, work 14 in the Britannica collection of his keyboard works (the one that Gould recorded)

[@jaysonfrankwitbooi216]

Thank you for thus very Good presentation. You done it so well to dive in the tremendous storm of the mind of Johann Bach. Even trying to explain it takes some words and illustrations of great mind to make sense to those that are not as gifted. Being a counterpoint composer myself, may I say that this comes from the Holy Spirit, He with Jesus and God the Father have this deep wisdom and power in knowledge in everything they do. As Masterfully complex as galaxies, planets or marine world under the sea, playfully interwoven, so is the miracles of saving a sinner to the love of Jesus and his eternal Kingdom. JS Bach was one of the greatest instruments in the Lord's hands like apostle Paul because Bach possessed the childlike conviction and humbleness required, to become a little servant of the most High, that's why we discover such hights and depths in the works manifest by faith through the hands of Bach. When we became nothing and God everything, God can manifest, channeling anything through the portals of out Talents!

[@katbullar]

I love your videos!

[@fantage_lukeh2o]

These analyses brought me to hold Bach as my favorite composer. I interpret music with so much more depth and enjoy it infinitely more as a contrapuntal art thanks to this channel! It would be fantastic to have an analysis on one of (or however many of) Bach's ingenious Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066-1069. In my humble opinion, the fugue of No. 1 in C major is the most contrapuntally complex and difficult to understand, while No. 2 is the most fun to deconstruct.

[@sameash3153]

A really good fugue with repeating note motifs, Telemann's TWV 30:18, Little Fugue in F Major. This little ditty has been stuck in my head for years, I can't get it out.

[@caterscarrots3407]

I heard you mentioning the repeated note subject in Bach as it relates to Mozart and when you mentioned The Magic Flute, I was like "Yes, that repeated note subject is my favorite part of the fugato that is the fast section of the overture of that opera." And when I heard the Bach cantata, it was just as I expected out of Bach, amazing and ingenious.

[@trevjr]

Terrific video. As one that understands everything you talk about instantly it is such a great pleasure. I love the examples from other pieces and composers. Oh how we forget that Pachelbel was a great composer. Everytime I hear a piece of his I think I really ought to study him more. About repeated notes section I thought right away, g minor book 2, and there it was!! You know this counterpoint reminds me alot of the motets, there are some fierce whirlwinds in there too. I have heard and played so much Bach but I have not touched the cantatas at all. This video really makes me want to get into them. There is so much there, just wow. I just heard the Mass in F for the first time today, it was as if another universe opened, except with Bach whatever I am listening to is familiar and like the first time all at once, hard to describe.

[@Nooticus]

All of Pachelbel's sacred music, organ music and instrumental music, is all stunningly incredible!!!

[@monicacall7532]

I wish that you’d been my instructor for form and analysis classes in college! You actually make sense. My professors would leave me scratching my head and thinking that I must be the stupidest person in class. (Later on I discovered that nearly everyone else in those classes felt the same way.) The music of JS Bach always sends me to another sphere. As the great cellist and Bach specialist Pablo Casals often said Bach’s music is in a category all by itself. And yet, for so much of his life, he considered himself to be a hired hack composing and conducting music for specific occasions. I wish that there was a way so that he would be able to see the love and respect that his music engenders wherever it’s heard.

[@777rogerf]

Historians say that Bach was famous throughout Europe and held very high positions that paid well at a time when fine music was an extremely important function of both religious and court culture. That said, it must have been a highly demanding life, with little or not time off for rest and recreation.

[@stereotyp9991]

I thank you so much for these in-depth analyses! Please keep em coming!

[@clintow]

A truly magnificent Richard Atkinson Style Tangent. Thank you sir!

[@WoutDC]

It indeed does overwhelm the senses... Thanks for this great video!

[@anthonytheodosiadis581]

Great work - You really did a great job of breaking down Bach's genius compositional skills in this work - really like your channel :)

[@neosannyasin8022]

Thanks so much for your great videos, Richard Atkinson!

[@thegolgatha5337]

O man, I often spend the nights with your analysis, I simply love them. Although I think I know a lot about Bach and his composing style YOU always reveal further details and, if we try to learn from this, we‘re able to listen totally differently to such mind blowing music, be it Bach or other composers. Therefore a HUGE „Thank you“ to you !!!

[@rillloudmother]

I really need to start listening to more Bach again.

[@neosannyasin8022]

Bravo, Richard Atkinson! Great videos, really great! So inspiring! Hope to meet you in person some day.

[@lr1594]

I love that you mentioned the opening of BWV 8, one of Bach's most unique movements. The second recitative (alto) of BWV 198 also comes to mind, which similarly evokes death bells (which are also literally in the text there).

[@samuelpazicky3672]

“Yes, he actually composed other things”. Hahahahahaha thank you I laughed.

[@ironmaz1]

A friend once told me bach makes him dizzy... he doesn't know what he's missing ! Maybe I should show him one of your videos :) edit: Watching this video with my Saturday breakfast has brought me tintinnabulations of joy !!

[@AJBlueJay]

13:24 The Haydn fugue from his 70th symphony really reminds me of A Vivaldi fugue. Especially a few bars before the pedal point in both pieces have similar things happening, including a chain of suspensions. The Vivaldi fugue in Op 3, No. 11, third movement, Allegro. I don't think Haydn was copying Vivaldi but the similarly is interesting!

[@AJBlueJay]

And also part of it sounds almost exactly like Vivaldi Op 4, No. 4, i 😂

[@SebLP97]

Great video as always. I immediately thought of that Händel Concerto Grosso when you were speaking of repeated notes in contrapuntal subjects. Another passage that comes to mind is "Es ist keine Sprache noch Rede" from the opening chorus of BWV 76 "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes".

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Yes, that’s another great chorus! I didn’t even think of it for that tangent, even though I know it very well!

[@francisfournier3177]

Marvellous video ! !

[@Tizohip]

Another Fantastic video. I remember bach fugue bwv 949 starts with 4 notes

[@marcogusy6870]

When I see that unreachable mastering of composition technique i always try to figure out what Bach felt knowing (because surely he was aware) he was and would be the greatest composer of all times. He challenged all the upcoming musicians and still make us speechless by showing off what his incredible brain could do. I ask myself what did he feel knowing his musical intelligence was dozens times bigger than any other living musician. Remember that at his times listeners didn't get the real value of his compositions, he often has been seen has a overcomplicated confusionary composer. Nonetheless he kept on writing with higer and higer and higer level of musical genius like he was sure that his work would go through time and live on like it did and still does. Now his genius is all over the world, entered in the heart of every music student. A giant everyone knows would never reach.

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Richard, thank you so much for constantly BLOWING my mind! ❤ ❤ ❤

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I think Bach should get most of the credit for that!

[@enriquesanchez2001]

@@Richard.Atkinson Well he does, but your insight elevates my appreciation and for that I am most grateful. ♥

[@tamed4171]

My favorite part of Richard Atkinson videos is forgetting what the video was originally about due to a tangent

[@Brandon55638]

This chorus actually is based on the chorale tune "Now Thank We All Our God" because parts of the melody is buried in the orchestral counterpoint and the horns' theme alludes to it, since it is restated in the third movement.

[@leonhardeuler6811]

The parrelel major fugue to g minor book 2: b-flat major from book 1, has a similar reapted note configuration in the countersubject.

[@olivermanley24]

So cool keep the videos coming!!! :)

[@CivicPiano1]

Will you ever do an analysis of the art of fugue? or selections from it? i'd love to see a video on the 14th unfinished contrapunctus, i think i'd learn so much :)

[@russbartoli6596]

This movement was also used as the Gloria of the G Major ('parody') mass (BWV 236) . It certainly fits those words as well. I was blown away by it and have arranged it for strings (quintet and quartet versions) on IMSLP.

[@Ivan_1791]

Man, if I didn't need to go to sleep now I would watch this video right away. Anyways, I guess I will watch it tomorrow. But I admit tonight I will have trouble sleeping because of the hype.

[@leonhardeuler6811]

Me as well!

[@karmelicanke]

...and I'm listening at 2:51 am.......loving it.

[@Bertarido]

I actually cried 🥲 out of joy while listening to this one…

[@patrckhh20]

I love how the colors are that of sherbet rainbow icecream.

[@oldbird4601]

Yay a video now we just need ashish xiangyi kumar to upload

[@AGAG789]

Huh. I always thought that the flute in BWV8 represented the 24 hours of the day because it is exactly 24 notes every time. And because the title is "When will I die?" So I like to imagine that he is pondering about what time of the day will we actually die at.

[@ericfern8869]

This fugue theme greatly resembles a theme in the Magic Flute overture by Mozart, though Bach's beat is on the back foot, while Mozart's is on the more urgent front foot, as befits an opera composer.

[@Georgeth-kb6rg]

Bach is so impressive and overwhelming.... but Handel always touches me emotionally...

[@harrisipock9112]

One example of a fugue subject with repeated pitches from pop culture: "Going the distance" and "Rocky's Reward" by Bill Conti from the Rocky OST. Not a strict fugue but worth mentioning.

[@chrisanderson6353]

Can you please give me a refresher course in Form-Analysis. This is the 1st time that I've watched any of your videos and they are by far the most comprehensive, fluid and understandable videos on analyzing form I've ever seen. Thank you!! Do you have a video on Mozart's Jupiter Symphony K 551.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Yes. Scroll through my videos and you’ll find it.

[@lyricsronen]

Hey Richard, As always very fine content. I really enjoy watching your videos and I learn a lot from them. I would love to see a video analysis about Mozart's C minor Mass, and the incredible harmonic journeys and counterpuntel ideas that flourish throughout that piece, particularly in the opening Kyrie, the short Gratias movement, and of course the inverted fugal lines in Jesu Christe - Cum Sancto Spiritu.

[@Zimzamzoom95]

Could you do an analysis on the incredible counterpoint of the Adagio from Mozart’s 23rd concerto?

[@clintow]

I don't know what happened to the 2nd horn in Heidelberg on his way to work but holy cow dude

[@Richard.Atkinson]

It's an aggressive performance!

[@keithhill9901]

In the BWV 8, it is pretty clear to me that the repeated notes in the flutes express perfectly the affect of ecstasy.

[@peterelliott5720]

A fascinating analysis as usual Richard! It would be great if you could do the BWV 849 fugue in C# minor at some point... or maybe the Contrapunctus 8 or 11. That would be incredible! Many thanks!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I already have a video on BWV 849, but I haven't yet tackled the Art of Fugue.

[@peterelliott5720]

@@Richard.Atkinson Wow, thanks for such a fast response! I don't know how I missed it but look forward to giving it a watch later :)

[@djbabymode]

I love the way you notice motifs in the language of classical music, such as the repeated notes fugal subject motif and the Mozart "calling card" motif. I'm guilty of using both!

[@davidecarlassara8525]

Great video! I am really looking forward to some b minor mass... Btw Haydn's 70th symphony is easily my favourite of that period

[@johnchessant3012]

To me this has a similar spirit to the first Brandenburg concerto (the third movement of which also has a repeated-note theme but isn't as fugal)

[@FlorianGombert-uj7dn]

Hello Richard, first of all I wish you a happy and healthy new year. I really love your channel and your contrapuntal analyzes, but keep asking myself when one actually speaks of contrapuntal. I've read and found out so much about counterpoint, but somehow nothing is clear. When is a passage contrapuntal and when is it not yet? That confuses me a bit and is somehow not that clearly defined. Is something also contrapuntal if only individual motifs are set against a melody, but the motifs themselves do not represent a melodic flow? And does imitation have to take place within the different voices? These may be strange questions, but they are kind of unclear to me.

[@eliasmerki3845]

Will there be Videos for Brahms Symphony No. 4? I would love it

[@Richard.Atkinson]

It’s next!

[@planetsoccer99]

wow, what is the tuning on that piece 8:30? sounds funky!

[@late8641]

Also the pedal line in _Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ_ is said to represent God knocking on the heart, if I remember correctly, and the 16th notes represent the wandering soul.

[@gradwhan]

Thanks for mentioning Haydn almost every Haydn video. I went to the opening concert of the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt. Maybe it's worth a visit? Great work btw!

[@carsonwall2400]

What do you think is the most eargasmic moment of counterpoint in all of Bach's output?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Probably something from the B minor Mass?

[@memeculture3506]

@@Richard.Atkinson The B Minor Mass is up there. What about the Art of Fugue?

[@community-fusionnetwork4131]

@@Richard.Atkinson oh wow Richard that's what I said. Have you ever analyzed the Cum Sancto Spiritu?

[@community-fusionnetwork4131]

@@memeculture3506 Art of Fugue is up there. There's one Fugue in that work that is simply Demonic, it's hard to explain, but it sounds evil. Scared me so bad when I first heard it. Truly terrifying

[@Richard.Atkinson]

@@starless5668 I love that chromatic subject!

[@johnchessant3012]

How fortunate we are to live in the era of the "back 5 seconds" button :D

[@Áçaucoihe]

Cool to see Handel use that rhythmic diminution trope so prevalent in modern EDM. I’d like to see more living musicians sample classical music. J Dilla did a good job of it, but we don’t have him anymore 😭

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Yes, I think "Too Many Zooz" must have been inspired by that Handel moment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH7IZ4xufKmJe6s

[@TheHunterGracchus]

Pachelbel also taught J. S. Bach's oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach.

[@Joe_Yacketori]

On the topic of repeated, percussive themes in counterpoint........ the Diabelli Variations fugue! God I love that fugue. Arguably Beethoven's second best fugue (we all know what the best one is). That would make for a great video!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Definitely the topic for a future video!

[@patrickrealdeal]

Hi Richard, do you have a book recommendation to learn counterpoint from?

[@trevjr]

The c# minor is a triple fugue right? That's the 3rd subject, came much later than the cantata? Bach had to reuse it? Just amazing.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

The cantata was from 1725. Book I of the WTC was published in 1722.

[@leonhardeuler6811]

Well he uses that subject all the time: BWV 21/ii, BWV 1064/iv, BWV 1001/fuga

[@willsherlock9544]

I think I remember hearing something about how the number of repeated notes in BWV8 (there are 24) was the same as the number of bell tolls that would happen after a death in Leipzig. That may not be totally accurate though.

[@sameash3153]

I always thought the rhythm of both the plucked strings and the repeated flute notes in BWV 8 sound like a clock ticking, the flute perhaps being some type of bell for a primitive alarm. The clock symbolism serving as a memento mori in a text about dying.

[@Forcroi]

It seems to me the flute motive in BWV8 represents, if anything, the ticking of the clock. See the recitativo ‘der glocken bebendes getoen’ from BWV198 for comparison.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Yes, part of my point is that it’s not obvious that it definitely represents anything, but fun to guess.

[@chickenflavor9880]

Can you analyze beethovens missa solemnis?

[@thereddot_]

Don't forget the Danse Macabre, by Saint-Seans, where he takes the Dies Irae and comically turns it major and valsy

[@qwaqwa1960]

Haydn was such a geek :-) How much did he know of JSB?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

He owned an autograph of the Well-tempered Clavier, so he at least knew that.

[@kneza96BG]

@@Richard.Atkinson Didn't he also own a copy of Mass in B minor?

[@oldbird4601]

did you take a break from yt? I just realised your channel has been inactive from 4 months

[@DanielFahimi]

No, he is just working his Brahms video.

[@MasonIshida]

Great video, now I’m hungry for soup…

[@markkumollari]

Thanks, wonderful - and special thanks for great comparisions with Haydn and Handel.

[@ottavva]

GOD BLESS YOU :)

[@jong-jieyin5593]

Im expecting make an analysis of Sibelius's Fifth Symphony, Its very unique…

[@matthiasm4299]

12:00 Phew, I was getting worried! 😅

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I told you already that it would be in there!

[@matthiasm4299]

@@Richard.Atkinson I know, but you kept the Haydn for the very last example! 😅 Anyway, great job with the video!

[@SquidKing]

bach writes surprisingly difficult horn music

[@usernotfound6475]

May I ask you? What is the reason why your audio sounds so good? (Music audio)

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I choose good recordings?

[@zhihuangxu6551]

Would Mr. Atkinson please do something about Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 or his Paganini Rapsody (of which variation 18 is famous)?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I don’t want to disappoint you, but I’m not a huge Rachmaninoff fan.

[@zhihuangxu6551]

@@Richard.Atkinson That's okay, one shall have the freedom to post or not to post anything at the disposal of their will

[@abrahamhallartistry]

Obviously this video is old but also Bach uses tons of symbolism in his organ chorale preludes.

[@mkd1964]

Bach re-used/re-worked this chorus as the "Gloria" of the Mass in G major (the so-called "short masses" or "Lutheran Masses" ). I actually like that version somewhat better. Maybe because I knew it first. Here it is with score: kzbin.info/www/bejne/inbbY62qmbKiY7c But this is my favorite version (a little slower): kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnTHmZ-hhdmSrbM Yes, it's a phenomenal piece of music. Great video!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I like the original better since it has horns and timpani.

[@Angel33Demon666]

Still waiting on that Missa Solemnis video…anyway, great work on this video. I have never been too much of a fan of Bach’s cantatas but these videos are really broadening my horizons.

[@user-ejsfidcknk]

what is countpoint?

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

Richard, please consider doing analyses of some of the titanic organ masterpieces by bach. i am listening right now to Fuga super Jesus Christus unser Heiland from the clavierubung III bwv 689, astounded by the spiritual weight and sonic richness flooding my consciousness. id love to get a sense of the craftsmanship at work as well.

[@soschadao]

Can you do Mozart’s Paris symphony? I found it so cool!

[@IanWagner94]

What score editor are you using to make those highlights? Mine just colors the notes and I needed one to highlight like this.

[@Richard.Atkinson]

I just use a basic drawing program: “artboard.” I think it was around $20.

[@IanWagner94]

Thanks!

[@tommot7755]

What reverb plugin did you use for your voiceover?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

None?

[@fritzw.5057]

Did anyone count the notes of the tympani representing the knocking? Maybe they are 95 ^^

[@natcharmusic]

where do you get the sheet music?

[@Richard.Atkinson]

IMSLP.com

[@CalebCarman]

Yes! Handel’s chicken coop fugue!

[@CalebCarman]

Another great example is Bach’s organ fugue in G Major BWV 541!

[@Richard.Atkinson]

@@CalebCarman Yes, another great one!

[@sdzhchannel]

No video about repeated note fugal subject is complete without Zelenka' s any Cum sancto spiritu fugue (with that of Missa Dei Filii taking it to an extreme)

[@Richard.Atkinson]

That's a great example! I also love its repetitive countersubject.

[@sdzhchannel]

@@Richard.Atkinson I feel honoured by this fast reply! :D . Anyway, Zelenka' s usually weird fugal ideas have always impressed me - from almost clumsy chromatic and even "not quite diatonic" subjects (I shall try to find that one, it was a finale of a psalm setting I think) to quite simple ones, based on arpeggios and repeated tones, they all sound distinctive and memorable.