In a comprehensive study published in the catalogue for the 1985 exhibition "300 Jahre Johann Sebastian Bach" ("300 years of Johann Sebastian Bach") in
Stuttgart, Germany, Ulrich Prinz lists 409 works by 330 composers from the 17th to the 20th century using the BACH motif. A similar list is available in Malcolm Boyd's volume on Bach: it also contains some 400 works.
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach used the motif in a number of works, most famously as a
fugue subject in the last
Contrapunctus of
The Art of Fugue. The motif also appears in other pieces. Later commentators wrote: "The figure occurs so often in Bach's bass lines that it cannot have been accidental." Instances of B–A–C–H appearing in Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions and arrangements: • Sarabande from his
Cello Suite in C major, BWV 1009 (Beat 1 & 2 of bars 21 & 22) • Fugue from his BWV 898 •
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 (the continuo part at bar 109) • Gigue from his
English Suite No. 6 for keyboard • The subject of the
Sinfonia in F minor BWV 795 "incorporates" a version of the motif. This five-note version appears transposed: a'–g' (rest) g'–b'–a'. Eventually, in measure 17, the piece makes its way to a passage in which the five-note version of the motif starts on B: as B–A–(rest)–A–C–H. •
His arrangement of a motet for
SSATB singers (
F minor) arrangement of the same passage: B–A–C–H appears in the alto voice • Near the end of the
Augmentation Canon of Bach's
Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769: through his use of the motif rather than a standard
changing tone figure (B–A–C–B) in the final measures of the fourth fugue of
The Art of Fugue.
Other composers Note that C and H are transposed down, leaving the spelling unaffected but changing the melodic
contour. The motif may be used in different ways: here it is only the beginning of an extended melody. ,
3-Page Sonata (1905), first mvt., first fugal complexThe BACH motif from
The Art of Fugue Contrapunctus XIXc is the "1st Theme'/fugue subject" of Ives' combined sonata-allegro and fugal procedures. {{Image frame|content= { • (set-global-staff-size 17.5) \override Score.TimeSignature • 'stencil = ##f \override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 3/1) \relative c'' { \time 4/1 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 1 = 60 bes1 a c b! dis e cis d ges, f aes g } } |width=390|caption=Webern's String Quartet, Op. 28, tone row, composed of three
tetrachords: P I RI, with P = the BACH motif, I = it inverted, and RI = it inverted and backwards.|max-width=}} The motif was used as a fugue subject by Bach's son
Johann Christian, and by his pupil
Johann Ludwig Krebs. It also appears in a work by
Georg Philipp Telemann. The motif's wide popularity came only after the start of the
Bach Revival in the first half of the 19th century. • 1855 –
Franz Liszt:
Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, for organ (later revised, 1870, and arranged, 1871, for piano) • 1856 –
Johannes Brahms:
Fugue in A-flat minor for organ, WoO 8 • 1937–38 –
Anton Webern:
String Quartet (the
tone row is based on the BACH motif) • 1942 – Charles Koechlin: Offrande musicale sur le nom de Bach, Op.187 • 1951–55 –
Luigi Dallapiccola: • 1951–55: "Canti di liberazione" • 1952:
Quaderno musicale di Annalibera for piano •
Quasi Una Sonata (repeated motif borrowed from
The Glass Harmonica, one reviewer, "noting that B–A–C–H is the victor of the composition") • 1981:
Symphony No. 3 – used alongside the monograms of several other composers. • 1971–2000 –
Bertold Hummel: • 1971:
Metamorphoses on B-A-C-H for Organ and winds op. 40 • 2000:
Aphorisms on B-A-C-H for Percussion solo and Strings, op. 105 • 1974 –
Jon Lord and
Eberhard Schoener:
Continuo On B.A.C.H. on the album
Windows • 1992 –
Ron Nelson:
Passacaglia (Homage on B–A–C–H) for wind ensemble In the 21st century, composers continue writing works using the motif, frequently in homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. , among others : • 2014 -
Santiago Lanchares:
Sobre BACH for piano solo • 2015 -
Ananda Sukarlan:
Fantasy & Fugue on B.A.C.H for piano solo (commissioned by Fundacion Juan March, Madrid) ==References==