The Transmission of Proportional Ordering and its Aestheic and Emotional Significance

• Using a technique that I have termed proportional parallelism (Tatlow, Bach’s Numbers: Compositional Ordering and Significance. Cambridge, 2015, 2016). J. S. Bach created parallel layers of 1:1 and 1:2 proportion across the structures of his compositions as he prepared them for publication. Bach and his Lutheran contemporaries believed that it was with these perfect musical intervals (1:1 the unison, 1:2 the octave, 2:3 the fifth, and 3:4, the fourth) that God created the Universe and everything in it, including man. These proportions were considered to be the epitome of beauty and perfection. Bach used them in imitation of the Creator God, because of their perfection and beauty, and because they contributed to a pure and positive emotional response in the listener and performer. Some of Bach’s predecessors and contemporaries used proportional parallelism, as did several of his sons and students. The technique is also found in works by later composers who imitated Bach’s structures, including Frédéric Chopin.In this paper I will illustrate the theory, practice and changing significance of proportional parallelism in two works composed one hundred years apart: Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2, and Chopin’s 24 Preludes. Using a selection of primary sources, I will ask what motivated the composers to choose a symmetrical or well-proportioned structure, what aesthetic and emotional significance can be attributed to their compositional choices, and I will ask if the proportions create or contribute to the compositional unity of a work.  

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Musikvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Musicology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Estetik

Aesthetics

Musikvetenskap

Musicology

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