Bach's Puzzle Canons (Yes, Please.)

Jun 9, 2024

Dive into the intriguing world of Bach's puzzle canons! Discover how small musical cells transform into rich harmonies with multiple voices. Unpack the mysterious Houdemann canon and its symmetrical inversions. Explore the charm of a two-voice piece dedicated to Bach's godchildren and the creative process of composing similar canons. This episode is packed with insights into Bach's innovative techniques and clever cataloging methods, making it a delight for music enthusiasts!

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INSIGHT

Small Cells, Big Counterpoint

Bach visualized how a single short musical cell could generate complex contrapuntal textures across voices.
Evan Schenner shows these postcard-sized canons turn tiny lines into perpetual multi-voice works.

ADVICE

Compose With Foresight

Try writing canons by composing one line and imagining its delayed entries to predict future harmonies.
Use foresight to ensure the single shape creates pleasing harmonic combinations when staggered.

ANECDOTE

Bach's Ear For Possibilities

Evan recounts an anecdote of Bach in a church pew hearing an organist and instantly mapping transformations.
Bach predicted contrapuntal possibilities and judged the organist by which he used.

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Thanks for your feedback on the last few episodes. I’ve gathered my listeners enjoy piecing together musical cells in their minds, so today’s episode will bring you more of that.

The eight surviving canons, BWVs 1072-1078 (+BWV deest) were written on small pieces of paper or penned into registry books. Their compact content, usually only a few notes, is then ‘solved:’ copied and transformed to make a perpetual piece of music in several voices.

You will hear the solutions in the episode. Here is how they appear on the page:

This is the first canon discussed. From these two measures of music, eight voices are formed.

This is the second canon discussed: a four-voice canon with each voice entering a successive fifth higher than the last. It’s the four clefs at the beginning of the line that clue you in on this. The %-like symbol shows you where the next voice enters.

This is BWV 1074, the mysterious ‘Houdemann’ canon. Note the four clefs on the left of the staff, but also the four clefs to the right. They are inverted with a different key signature. Bach here was exploring the a truly symmetrical— not merely diatonic— inversion.

The final canon of the episode. The charming two-voice canon for one of his Godchildren. This canon is simple to solve and the easiest to comprehend.

Yes, the famous F-A-B-E-R, “mi fa, et fa mi est tota musica” canon will be in one of the next episodes— rest assured!

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