BACH motif

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Image:B-a-c-h.svg In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural.

This four-note motif has been used by a number of composers, usually as a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. The first known example, however, is in a piece by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck—it is possible, though not certain, that he used it in homage to one of Johann Sebastian's ancestors, many of whom were themselves musicians.

The possibility of being able to spell the surname Bach in this way comes about because in German B indicates what in English is called B flat, while H indicates what in English is called B natural.

J. S. Bach himself used it as a fugue subject in the final part of Die Kunst der Fuge (BWV 1080), a work he did not complete before he died in 1750. It appears in passing in several of his other pieces, such as at the end of the fourth of the canonic variations on "Vom Himmel Hoch", BWV 769. Its appearance in the penultimate bar of the Kleines harmonisches Labyrinth, BWV 591, is not thought to be very significant and the work may even be spurious (Johann David Heinichen has been suggested as a possible composer). It shows up in the St Matthew Passion in the section where the chorus sings "This man was God's own son most truly." In many pieces, while the exact notes B-A-C-H are not played, a transposition of the motif is used (a note sequence with the same intervals: down a semitone, up a minor third, down a semitone).

A fugue for keyboard in F major by one of Bach's sons, probably either Johann Christian Bach or Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, exists using the motif, but it was not until the 19th century when interest in Bach was revived that the motif began to be used with any regularity.

Perhaps because it was used by Bach himself in a fugue, the motif is often used by other composers in fugues or other complex contrapuntal writing.

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Works featuring the motif

Works which prominently feature the BACH motif include, in chronological order:

The motif features in passing in a number of other works including Arnold Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra (1926-28) and his String Quartet No. 3 (1927), Krzysztof Penderecki's St Luke Passion, Johannes Brahms' cadenza for the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 and the fifth and final movement of Godowsky's Sonata in E Minor (1910-11) for piano.

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Other signature motifs

Note: These are possible because, in German, E-flat is "Es" sounding the same as 'S', and A-flat is "As"

Other signature motifs include:

  • B, E, B, A or B, A, B, E for Béla Bartók (Béla Bartók, the latter motif recognizing the Hungarian practice of placing the family name before the personal name, see eastern order)
  • C, A, G, E for John Cage, used by Pauline Oliveros[1] and, in the composition "CAGE DEAD", by Simon Jeffes of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
  • A, B flat, B natural, F for Alban Berg and Hanna Fuchs-Robettin (A. B. and H. F.), used in Berg's Lyric Suite
  • A, B flat, E, G, G for Meta Abegg, the inspiration for Robert Schumann's Abegg Variations, Op. 1
  • A, S, C, H and As, C, H (in English notation A-E flat-C-B and A flat-C-B), used in Schumann's Carnaval. He was romantically involved with one Ernestine von Fricken, who came from a town whose name in German was "Asch". These letters also appear in Schumann's own name. Every piece in the whole cycle is based on one or other of these motifs.ca:Motiu BACH

es:Motivo BACH fr:Motif BACH ko:바흐 음형 io:BACH-motivo is:BACH-mótífið it:Tema BACH he:מוטיב BACH hu:BACH motívum la:BACH thema nl:BACH-motief ja:BACH主題 nn:BACH-motivet scn:Mota di BACH sv:BACH-motiv zh:BACH乐旨

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