On the genre and performance peculiarities of J. S. Bach’s choral fugue (on the example of comparative analysis of BWV 131 and BWV 131a)
Authors: Kharakoz Hаnna 
Published: March 2021

Background. Despite the vast musical material associated with the embodiment in the choral texture of the highest polyphonic form – the fugue, there is lack of the literature that would outline the specificity of this arrangement, its fundamental principles. Many researchers have addressed choral polyphony on the material of the works of various composers. However, the problem of identifying the specificity of the choral fugue hasn’t been highlighted yet as a major issue in domestic musicology. Among the most recent works, which include the consideration of the issue of choral fugue, we should mention the capital study by N. Simakova (2007). The author offers a classification of choral fugue, depending on the accompaniment presence or absence. N. Simakova points out the importance of the timbre content of the theme for emphasizing the figurative content of the words, since the most striking in the process of the deployment of the fugue is the register-timbre modus, and the timbre coloring of soprano, alto, tenor and bass gives a relief figurative representation. Objectives. The article’s subject is to reveal genre and performance peculiarities of the choral fugue “Und er wird Israel” from the cantata BWV 131 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The comparative analysis of two editions of the cantata – choral and instrumental (organ fugue BWV 131a) – reveals the determinants of the choral fugue connected with the peculiarities of its performance. Methods. The study is based on systematic-analytical, comparative and semantic musicological approaches. Results. Two factors play a particularly important role in a choral fugue – the verbal text and the timbre coloring of the voices. This way, both themes of the fugue sound vivid and recognizable even to the unaccustomed listener, since they have different text assigned to the theme and each theme is placed in the voice that corresponds to it tonally. The first theme – light and full of hope – is assigned to the timbral voice that corresponds to it, such as the soprano, while the second theme is assigned to the timbral rich, “heavy” bass part. In any section of the cantata fugue, unlike in the organ version, the themes will be well recognizable thanks to the verbal text and the timbre coloring of the various voices, whereas the timbre of the organ, in comparison with the sound of the choral parts, is monolithic, and the sound “attack” is viscous, leading to a lack of separation in the melodic line. Thus, the presence of a verbal text, fixed to a particular theme (or part of it) and the timbral dramaturgy determine particularly the specificity of the choral fugue. However, the potential of the human voice is known to be limited by its tessitura depending the physical capabilities , which in turn affects the structure of the theme and the form in general. For the two-voice fugue theme, in which the author seeks to emphasize contrast, the timbre and tessitura peculiarities is the most convenient solution. It is important to compare the musical material of the two versions, to search for the differences and their causes, which are connected with the possibilities of the instrumental presentation of the fugue. So, in order to adapt it for twohand performance, in the organ work we occasionally observe simplification, “removal”, of the texture, as well as the addition of the musical text in order to “outplay” with the different functions using the manual keyboards and the pedal on the organ. An important feature of the choral fugue is the orchestra presence, its peculiar instrumental double, which gives it a special stability. As a rule, this or that instrument is attached to a particular timbre that is associated with specific parts of the chorus. In most cases, the orchestral part in a given cantata duplicates all of the theme material in the chorus. The orchestra also provides a solid harmonic foundation for the choral parts, especially where tonality could be interpreted in two ways. The alto part plays a passive role throughout the entire fugue, and a thematic lead is assigned to it only twice, and this is not accidental, since the alto part is “hidden” within the texture, and for a varied two-theme fugue, the comparison of different themes and their registers becomes important in the first place. In the cantata, the fugue is the culmination, the emotional climax of the entire cycle, it sounds rich and dense, and the bright timbre richness of the orchestra complements the general majestic character of the sound. In the organ fugue, however, it is vice versa: here one can sense the borders of the sections of the generally accepted fugue form much more clearly, and simplicity and elegance predominate. The presence of episodic moments of the redistribution of the thematic material in one part between two different voices (belonging to one voice in the original choral source) testifies to the secondary nature of the timbre factor in the instrumental fugue; the main thing here is the presence of the thematic voice-conducting itself. Therefore, in the clavier (organ) arrangement, one theme can be observed in different voices. All these examples make it possible to consider the choral fugue as a unique, independent form enriched with its own specific features. Conclusions. Despite the abundance of literature devoted to the fugue theory in general, the phenomenon of the choral fugue has so far received insufficient research attention. In order to understand the nature of the choral fugue, it is necessary to consider the influence that such specifically “choral” factors as timbre, register, tessitura, verbal text, ensemble, and others have on its structure. The comparative analysis of the musical scores of “Und er wird Israel” from Bach’s cantata BWV 131 and the organ fugue BWV 131a revealed differences between the choral primary source and its organ version, which makes it possible to consider them as factors contributing to a better understanding of the choral fugue peculiarities.