19.11.2012 Views

J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Elector didn’t recognise. Most likely it is now lost; but it is interesting to note that<br />

Beethoven appears to have been already experimenting with fugal writing even before<br />

his formal studies had reached this point.<br />

When Haydn left for England in 1794, Albrechtsberger took on his pupil and<br />

saw Beethoven’s education through with admirable thoroughness and attention to<br />

detail. He based the course of instruction upon his recently published Gründliche<br />

Anweisung zur Composition (1790), starting again virtually at the beginning with<br />

simple counterpoint in two parts, then three and four; strict (vocal/Renaissance) and<br />

free (instrumental/Baroque); then imitative writing, fugues, chorale fugues, double<br />

counterpoint at the octave, tenth, and twelfth, double fugue, and canon. 35 This series<br />

was concluded with a group of three prelude/fugue pairs, very much in the Viennese<br />

fugal sonata da chiesa tradition (to which Albrechtsberger himself contributed so<br />

many). Two, in F and C major (Hess 30 and 31), are for string quartet; the other, in E<br />

minor (Hess 29), for string trio. Like all the other fugal and contrapuntal exercises he<br />

produced at this time, the two quartet fugues are built on subjects supplied by<br />

Albrechtsberger. All derive unmistakably from Baroque instrumental writing.<br />

The subject to the fugue in F has a strong subdominant bias (Ex.5.4a),<br />

interesting in view of the fact that much of Albrechtsberger’s correction of<br />

Beethoven’s work involved preventing the exposition from drifting too far flatward.<br />

The C major subject, with its angular metrically displaced octave leaps, exemplifies a<br />

certain rather barren kind of experimentalism which can sometimes be found in<br />

Albrechtsberger’s fugues (Ex.5.4b). The E minor fugue appears to use a subject of<br />

Beethoven’s own (Ex.5.4c), but this makes little difference as it too is equally a<br />

product of the Viennese fugal tradition. Kirkendale compares it to a very similar<br />

subject by Wenzel Birck (1718-1763) which uses almost the same notes (Ex.5.5),<br />

35 See Kirkendale, Fugue and fugato, pp.203-6, 224-8; Thayer-Forbes, Beethoven, pp.138-150;<br />

Cooper, Beethoven, pp.49-52.<br />

323

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!