|
|
|
A Musical Offering
by Silvia Francesca Maglione
Frederick the Great - King of Prussia - was not only a remarkable military genius, but a great Music Enthusiast as well. He appreciated all Arts and intellectual activities. For several years he hosted in his court la Mettrie and Voltaire, as well as the distinguished mathematician Leonhard Euler. His passion for music was not bounded within the sphere of “audience”, for he was an accomplished flutist. He enjoyed composing as well, and some of his compositions are still performed nowadays. The musician Frederick the Great most admired was unquestionably J.S. Bach.
Twenty-seven years his senior, Bach represented for the King of Prussia the undeniable master of extemporization on the organ, and the most accomplished fuguist ever alive. The King waited with great enthusiasm Bach’s visit, in order to improvise with him and let him try his original new Silbermann “forte-pianos”. He foresaw correctly that these instruments (and their subsequent improvements) would have been the main component constituting a new musical trend, the Classical Period.
Bach was welcomed to the court as a true hero, and when he improvised for the King, he played on the moment a three-part fugue built on the Royal Theme. After returning to Leipzig, Bach dedicated to King Frederick the first “Musikalisches Opfer” (Musical Offering). This offering consisted of a three part fugue on the Royal Theme (most probably the refined version of the one improvised for the King), one six-part fugue, ten canons, and a trio sonata.
The six part fugue is one of the most complex fugues ever written. This fugue was based on the King’s Royal Theme which is highly chromatic, making extremely difficult to transform it in a six-part fugue. It took Bach merely two weeks to compose this Musical Offering. In the first page preceding the sheet music, Bach inscribed in Latin: “Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta” (At the King’s Command, the Song and the Remainder Resolved with Canonic Art). Bach’s inscription is actually an acrostic for R I C E R- C A R, an Italian word for “to seek again”. There is indeed a lot to seek in his six-part fugue. The term Ricercar is actually an archaic term for “fugue”, and Bach utilized it as a brilliant double meaning. The Canonica is as well a punning term since it means with canons as well as in the best possible way.
Bach’s Musikalisches Opfer is among one of his masterpieces of the Leipzig Period. His genius and fame preceded him in courts, to the point that it was rumoured for him to have improvised an eight-part fugue on the organ!
To the present day, his name is echoed with utter respect and admiration. His talent has made him, and will continue making him immortal throughout the centuries.
*Here is a link to the Royal theme on which Bach based his fugues.
The views and opinions in this blog post are those of its author.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
