In its finished form,
The Musical Offering comprises: • Two
Ricercars, the second one written down on as many
staves as there are voices: • a Ricercar a 3 (a three-voice fugue) • a Ricercar a 6 (a six-voice fugue) • Ten
Canons: • Canones diversi super Thema Regium: • 2 Canons a 2 (the first representing a notable example of a
crab canon or
canon cancrizans) • Canon a 2, per motum contrarium • Canon a 2, per augmentationem, contrario motu • Canon a 2, per tonos • Canon perpetuus • Fuga canonica in
Epidiapente • Canon a 2 "Quaerendo invenietis" • Canon a 4 • Canon perpetuus, contrario motu {{Listen|type=music|header=Trio Sonata • A
Sonata sopr'il Soggetto Reale – a
trio sonata featuring the
flute, an instrument which Frederick played, consisting of four movements: •
Largo •
Allegro •
Andante •
Allegro Apart from the trio sonata, which is written for flute,
violin and
basso continuo, the pieces have no indications of which instruments are meant to play them. The ricercars and canons have been realised in various ways. The ricercars are more frequently performed on keyboard than the canons, which are often played by an ensemble of
chamber musicians, with instrumentation comparable to that of the trio sonata. As the printed version gives the impression of being organised for convenient page turning when sight-playing the score, the order of the pieces intended by Bach (
if there was an intended order) remains uncertain, although it is customary to open the collection with the
Ricercar a 3, and play the trio sonata toward the end. The
Canones super Thema Regium are also usually played together.
Musical riddles Some of the canons of
The Musical Offering are represented in the original score by no more than a short monodic melody of a few measures, with a more or less enigmatic inscription in
Latin above the melody. These compositions are called the
riddle fugues (or sometimes, more appropriately, the
riddle canons). The performers are supposed to interpret the music as a piece with multiple intertwining melodies. Some of these riddles have been explained to have more than one possible "solution", although nowadays most printed editions of the score give a single, standard solution of the riddle. One of these
riddle canons, "in augmentationem" (i.e.
augmentation, the length of the notes gets longer), is inscribed "Notulis crescentibus crescat Fortuna Regis" (may the fortunes of the king increase like the length of the notes), while a
modulating canon which ends a tone higher than it starts is inscribed "Ascendenteque Modulatione ascendat Gloria Regis" (as the modulation rises, so may the king's glory).
Canon per tonos (endlessly rising canon) The canon per tonos (endlessly rising canon) pits a variant of the king's theme against a two-voice canon at the fifth. However, it modulates and finishes one whole tone higher than it started out at. It thus has no final cadence. ==Theological character==