Bach: Wachet Auf

Cards (8)

  • Movement 1, chorale:
    -Ritornello form: built on two motives: a repeated dotted note figure, with antiphony between the oboes and strings, with syncopation
    -Cantus firmus: sopranos enter with verse 1 of the chorale singing in dotted minims, while the other parts weave their music around this
    -Lower voice parts with a polyphonic texture: tenors and basses sing music that fits with, but isn't related to the cantus firmus or the orchestral music
    -Imitation: in bar 29 sopranos enter first, with the other voices later
  • Movement 1, chorale:
    -Fugato on 'Alleluja': Looks like the start of a real fugue, but because the voices don't enter at the traditional intervals, it isn't
    -Emphasis on 'make yourselves ready':  Lower parts are singing homophonically here, instead of in imitation, and along with modulating to the subdominant, creates emphasis on this phrase
  • Movement 2, Recitative:
    -Tenor soloist acts as the narrator
    -Typical of Baroque recitative: Words are sung quickly, with no repetition and with rhythms reflecting the pattern of speech
    -Disjunct melody, with wide leaps
    -Use of rapid modulation, going from C minor to G minor to Bb major
    -Dissonant chords, namely diminished chord VII at the start
  • Movement 3, Aria:
    -Love duet between Jesus (bass) as the bridegroom and the soul (soprano) as his bride
    -Obligato part for the violino piccolo: flowing virtuosic melody with continuo accompaniment
    -Not a da capo aria
  • Movement 4, Chorale:
    -Sung by tenors, in the chorale rhythm- accompanied by a countermelody played by the violins and violas and the continuo
    -Motifs that are played are played over the chorale melody in a seemingly random order
  • Movement 5, Recitative:
    -Bass describes the unity of Jesus as the bridegroom with his bride, the soul
    -Frequent diminished 7th chords and secondary dominants
  • Movement 6, Aria:
    -Another duet between Christ and the soul
    -Obbligato: solo oboe with continuo accompaniment
    -Da capo aria: in ternary form as the A section is repeated at the end
    -Added ornamentation in the repeat of A
  • Movement 7, Chorale:
    -Instruments double the vocal parts-Unknown whether the congregation would have joined in
    -Irregular phrasing: phrases vary between two and five bars in length