Title: The sacred duets and terzets of Johann Sebastian Bach
Description: “The Sacred Duets and Terzets of Johann Sebastian Bach: A Study of Genre and Musical Text Interpretation”

	This is an analytical study of all the non-recitative and non-arioso sacred duets and terzets of Johann Sebastian Bach, a repertory of some 101 movements. It comprises all of the two- and three-voice settings of sacred German poetic texts—those in dialogue form as well as non-dialogue movements—and of Biblical, Latin, and chorale texts, and chorale-aria duets, movements in which one soloist sings a newly-composed setting of a poetic or Biblical text while the other sings a chorale stanza and its associated melody. Nearly ninety percent of the sacred duets and terzets appear in sacred cantatas and the remaining movements appear in Latin liturgical works, oratorios, or passions.
	In terms of both form and style Bach’s duets reflect the influence of several distinct sacred and secular literary and musical traditions with both Italian and German roots. These include the Italian aria, the dramma per musica, the German sacred dialogue, the sacred concerto, and chorale variations. In some duets, Bach seamlessly fuses together elements drawn from disparate sources, in others, he juxtaposes them.
 
	A primary goal of this study is to classify this complex repertory and to suggest nomenclature that is in keeping with the designations Bach, his librettists, and eighteenth-century theorists employed, while also conveying as much information as possible about individual movements. This study also presents a comparative survey of contemporary theoretical literature pertaining to duets. The classification scheme I propose is based upon the nature of the text of a duet; it takes into account whether it is poetic, Biblical, or a chorale stanza, or a mixture of these types, whether the two soloists sing the same or different texts, and whether or not a movement is in dialogue format.
	This study demonstrates that there is a strong correlation between the nature of a duet’s text and its vocal scoring, musical form, position within the larger context of a cantata and, above all, its vocal texture. This study also provides answers to the underlying question of why Bach chooses to set certain texts for two or three voices. Duet- and terzet format not only afforded Bach an avenue for displaying his exceptional compositional art but also offered a broad range of possibilities for illustrating certain types of verbal imagery and expressing abstract concepts, including theological tenets, through music. The musical analyses contained in this study place special emphasis on a movement’s vocal texture (how the two or three vocal lines relate to one another), for it is this, above all, that distinguishes duets and terzets from solo arias and choral movements.
Subjects: History and criticism, Sacred vocal duets, Sacred vocal trios, Vocal music
People: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)