1. The "Continuo: pro Bassono e Violoncello" Part for In allen meinen Taten BWV 97.
- Author
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MELAMED, DANIEL R.
- Subjects
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CELLO , *MUSICIANS , *INSTRUMENTALISTS , *TRIOS , *MUSICALS , *CANTATAS - Abstract
The original performing part for Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata In allen meinen Taten BWV 97 headed "Continuo: pro Bassono e Violoncello" has long been interpreted as intended for two players simultaneously. This has suggested that the continuo complement for this work included both cello and bassoon in addition to organ and violone, and (more broadly) that sometimes a bassoonist participated in cantata performances while sharing a part labeled for another bass instrument. This appears to be a misreading. The appearance of two musical lines in some passages in the first movement does not mean that the part was intended for two instrumentalists. Rather, this unusual notation was the result of a confused copying process that Bach himself corrected in a way that left the part open to modern misinterpretation. have been to prepare a distinct Bach's regular practice appears to bassoon part when he wanted to add that instrument to a work's ensemble, and to all evidence he expected each performing part to be used by one performer, except in a very few special circumstances. The best explanation in In allen meinen Taten is that the "Bassono e Violoncello" part was designed for a musician who played bassoon in the first movement (an ouverture with characteristic wind trio pas- sages) and cello in the rest of the cantata. Two other bassoon/cello parts survive among Bach's original materials; these may well have been used in the same way. It is also possible that several other original cantata parts labeled for bassoon may have been intended for that instrument in the first movement only, and for cello in the remainder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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