Orchestral Suite No.3
JS Bach
By
Lawrence V McCrobie
Orchestral
Suite No 3: Air & Gigue by JS BACH
The Orchestra Suite No 3 by JS Bach
is composed of 5 sections, of which all are in D Major and “Air” being the
second section, and “Gigue” being the fifth and final section. The Air in this composition has become
known as one of the most famous of all of the Baroque pieces, and is commonly
known as “Air on the G String”. The
Air starts out in the original Key of D major, and does so in a common time
meter. The Air is written as a
very lyrical melody, which is written in a way to slowly unfold itself as a
wordless instrumental aria, the unfolding of the melody is seen through the use
of the opening statement from the Violin I with the tied whole note over into the
eighth/sixteenth note passage. The
melody is almost solely found in the lead violin voice. The opening statement through its
written delivery creates a atmosphere of musical delivery that leads the
listener to feel an impression of something that will last for eternity, though
it is then met with a swift change in rhythmic layout as it then present a more
moving line of melody. Though it
must be noted that this melody alone does not in itself provide the forward
motion that gives the piece a sense of movement towards a final point. The walking bass line that is found in
the continuo part is what in fact gives the piece the forward sense of
motion. It does this through the
presence of the ostinato line bassline that is full of passing notes in the bass.
This bassline itself also acts as a method of uniting the piece through the
constant arpeggiation of the continuo.
The texture of this particular movement
is substantially different form that of the other sections in the Suite. Though the texture is light it does
retain the polyphonic texture of the other sections, and also provides the
opportunity for Bach to create a sense of antiphony through the call and
response type of effect that is seen through the second violin and viola part. This is accomplished through the
fragmentation of the melody into small phrases that are then scattered
throughout the piece in both the second violin and viola parts.
The Air is constructed within a
binary form with Section A: mm1-mm6 and Section B: mm7-mm18. The tonal plan allows this interest to
remain from beginning to end. Starting out in D major the piece moves to the
hinted dominant but is quickly cancelled out moving to E minor. Briefly staying in E minor for one bar,
we see the return of the tonic D major key through the use of E minor as a
pivot chord; this takes us into A major that allows the piece to fully
establish the binary form. As the
second section continues to move along, we begin to introduce new tonal areas
like G major and G major, as well as B minor. This is done mainly in mm13-mm15
to create the sequences that form the increased tension of the piece, before
finding the piece able to finally resolve in a IV – I cadence.
The piece is lyrical in nature and
is a play on the English Aria, allowing a person to sit back and simply enjoy
the music. However while you sit
back and enjoy the music the combination of the music is so rich and full of
texture that it makes it a very pleasing composition to listen to. This combination gives way to occasional
“pleasant” dissonances, of which are normally created through the act of
creating suspensions through the moving section of the harmonic and melodic
lines. Examples of those
dissonances come in measure 1 as it moves to measure 2; the F# becomes dissonant
with the new harmony located in measure 2, though it is also then resolved half
way through. While this happening
an appoggiatura shows itself as a form of ornamentation before the final
resolution of the 7-6 suspension on the E. There are other examples of this added dissonance that can
be found in other voices; ex: viola in mm3 and mm4, second violin in mm 5 and
mm6. The are also added ornaments
found throughout that are clearly defined by Bach for added texture and
dissonance, though as with the Baroque era of music other ad lib embellishments
could be added according to the players interpretation of the piece.
The melodic sequence found within
the composition helps introduce a chromatic feel spread throughout. In mm13-mm14 this sequence stands out
through contrasting of the other melodic motifs because it is a sequence that
ascends, while much of the rest of the melodic motifs found within are
descending; thus creating tension through the modulating chromaticism. This feature is enhanced in strength
through the increased harmonic change from 2 chords per bar to 4 chords per bar
in the sequence.
The bass line of the Ari is typical
of the music found within the Baroque era. It finds itself moving with a constant motion, and doing so
with the composition of simple octave and step-wise motion, as if the bass were
simply walking through a scale. This creates the constant and continuous motion
in the piece with two main exceptions, of which can be found at the two strong
cadenced; at the end of the first section (seconding ending), and then finally
at the end of the piece.
The Gigue is a purely Baroque dance,
which is set in a standard binary form.
This makes Section A consisting of mm1-mm24; and Section B mm24-mm48
(presentation of new material) and mm48-mm72 (modified return of the Section
A). Being a dance form, this piece
finds itself written in a compound meter (with two beats per measure) with a
lively affect. The piece is written with a slower tempo, but is given the
overall feel of a movement with a “fast” section; this comes from the presence
of the repeated eighth notes in the triple groupings (though slowed by the
dotted-quarter beat). The piece rhythmically is met with a great deal of disjunctive
rhythms which normal find themselves in the upper voices, most notably in the
violin section, which often has the quarter-eighth rhythm.
The melody of the gigue is light in
comparison to the other movements, having present only a few melodic motifs,
all of which are smoothly joined as the piece moves throughout, in the main 4
bar phrasing (ex: mm1-mm4) which is easily distinguished through the changes
that are seen in the orchestration (usually found passing between strings and
trumpets); with some notable changes in the standard phrasing into a 5 bar + 3
bar phrase structure which is found toward the ends of each of the sections
(ex:mm13-mm17 and mm18-mm20) before returning to the standard 4 bar phrase.
The texture of the movement is
mainly homophonic, which is typical of the Baroque genre, and is a texture that
consists of mainly melody-dominated homophony, ex: mm18-mm20 and
mm66-mm68. Even though there are
hints of imitation, the imitation is not fugal nor a true form of imitation
(simply a pattern/sequence repeated).
Again the phrase lengths are balanced at the beginning of each section
and then grow to an irregular length as the melody approaches the cadence
structure, at which time the harmony goes from that of being primarily diatonic
to having hints of chromaticism; example found in mm18-mm20 in the oboes and
the cello voice.
Sequences are also found within the
gigue, with the most interesting of them happening at mm66-mm72 which is
notably like that of mm19-mm24 with the exception of the sequence in the latter
measures lasting for one extra measure than from the first appearance allowing
the music to transition back to the tonic key of D major. It is also important to know that the
gigue makes interesting use of covering,
at some point, all of the keys that are relative and close to D major in
the circle of fifths, allowing for few cadences to happen except in the two
main end points of repose, happening at the ends of each of the sections.
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