Figures of Musica Poetica

in the Passacaglias
of Dieterich Buxtehude and J.S. Bach

A Document Submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research
of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts
in the Division of Keyboard Studies
of the College-Conservatory of Music
2012

by

SE RA SON

B.M, Yon-Sei University, Korea, 2002

A.C, Southern Methodist University, 2005
M.M., Southern Methodist University, 2007

Committee Members: Roberta Gary, D.M.A (Chair)

John Deaver, D.M.A
Michael Chertock, Professor

Abstract

As the importance of instrumental music grew in the seventeenth century, theorists

and composers developed rhetorical devices to establish a link to words. Joachim Burmeister,
Christoph Bernhard, and Johann Mattheson all codified musical-rhetorical figures into a
practice known as Musica Poetica. Also in the seventeenth century, theorists, such as
Athanasius Kircher, developed theories on musical figures and emotional expression which
became what we now commonly refer to as the Doctrine of Affections. Major composers of
the day were highly influenced by Musica Poetica and the Doctrine of Affections. This
document will examine these issues in the Passacaglias of Dieterich Buxtehude and J. S.
Bach. An understanding of the figures of Musica Poetica and affections will help illustrate
similarities and differences between these pieces within their musical styles. The overall goal
of this undertaking is to provide greater resources for performers to interpret these composers
organ compositions.

S. D. G.

ii

Acknowledgment

D.M.A study at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati

was a magnificent as well as a challenging experience to me. I would like to express my
gratitude to all those who help me to complete my document.

At first, I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Dr. Roberta Gary. I have learned a lot
from her during my study. Her guidance, encouragement, and excitement helped me to keep
my pace toward D.M.A degree. I will never forget the moments I have spent with her. Also, I
would like to express grateful thanks to my committee members, Dr. John Deaver and
Professor Michael Chertock for their suggestions and guidance over the years.

My special thanks also extend to my parents, husband and loveable son. Their
unconditional love, prayer and encouragements supported me during my study.

I love you all.

SE RA SON

iii

CONTENTS
ABSTRACT i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
CONTENTS iv
INDEX OF TABLES... v
INDEX OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES . vi
CHAPTERS
I. Introduction.. 1
II. Literature Review 4
III. Development of Musica Poetica .. 6
IV. Buxtehudes Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)13
V. Bachs Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582)... 23
CONCLUSION .. 43
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . 47

iv

INDEX OF TABLES
Table 1: Seven liberal arts... 7
Table 2: Categories of Joachim Burmeisters Figures and Christoph Bernhards Figures. 11
Table 3: Rhetorical stages by Johann Mattheson ... 11
Table 4: The six steps of the Dispositio ..... 11
Table 5: Sections by Key.... 13
Table 6: Twelve thematic entries 33

INDEX OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1. Ostinato theme in the bass ....................................................................... 13
Example 2. Cadence, mm. 13-14. ............................................................................... 14
Example 3. Transitus (dissonance) in BuxWV 161, mm. 1-7 and anaphora
(repetition of pitches in at least one voice, often a ground bass) ......................... 14
Example 4. Antithesis, the two opposing figures: anabasis (ascending) and catabasis
(descending). ........................................................................................................ 15
Example 5. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 26-29. ........................... 15
Example 6. Suspiratio, a musical expression of a sigh through a rest, mm. 18-20. ... 16
Example 7. Accentus, The figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation, mm. 3132.......................................................................................................................... 16
Example 8. Polyptoton, melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 37-38. ................ 17
Example 9. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 57-60. ........................... 17
Example 10. Abruptio (Rest) ...................................................................................... 18
Example 11. Homoioptoton (a general pause), pathopoeia (a passionate affection
through chromaticism)and catabasis (descending passage) in BuxWV 161, mm.
92-94. ................................................................................................................... 19
Example 12. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest and accentus, mm. 29-32. .................. 19
Example 13. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest, mm. 61-63......................................... 20
Example 14. Salto semplice, simple leaps, mm.111-112. ........................................... 20
Example 15. Polyptoton, repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches, mm.
115-116. ............................................................................................................... 21
Example 16. Tirata, a rapid scalar passage, m. 105. .................................................. 21
Example 17. Theme for the Passacaglia in the pedal, mm. 1-8 .................................. 24
Example 18. Abruptio (figure of interruption and silence: a sudden and unexpected
break), mm. 9-17. ................................................................................................. 24
Example 19. Tremolo or Trillo (figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation), mm.
23-24. ................................................................................................................... 25
Example 20. Retardatio (figure of a suspension by rising) and Syncopatio (figure of a
suspension by descending), mm. 25-32. .............................................................. 25
Example 21. Gradatio (two voices moving in ascending or descending), mm. 32-39.
.............................................................................................................................. 26
Example 22. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) and salto semplice (a
consonant leap). mm. 40-42. ................................................................................ 26
Example 23. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) by salti composti (a fournote figuration with consonant leaps of thirds), mm. 73-76. ............................... 26
Example 24. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea), mm.105-108..................... 27
Example 25. Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion), . 27
Example 26. Suspiratio in antithesis (contrary motion) with anabasis and catabasis,
.............................................................................................................................. 28
Example 27. Passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of
embellishments). .................................................................................................. 29
Example 28. Suspiratio (A musical expression of a sigh through a rest) and
Contrapositum (A musical expression of opposing affection), mm. 113-114. .... 30
Example 29. Suspirans (a figure beginning off the beat) and extensio (a prolongation
of a dissonance), mm. 129-130. ........................................................................... 30
Example 30. Distributio (a musical-rhetorical process in which individual motifs or
phrases of a theme or section of composition are developed before proceeding to
vi

the following material), mm.137-138. ................................................................. 31

Example 31. Corta (three-notes figure in which one notes duration equals the sum of
the other two), mm.145-147................................................................................. 31
Example 32. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) with circulatio and gradatio.
.............................................................................................................................. 32
Example 33. The figures of epizeuxis, abruptio and tremolo in the countersubject .. 34
Example 34. Trillo (a trill), m. 190............................................................................. 34
Example 35. R.H (Epizeuxis by Circulatio) and L.H (Polysynseton), mm. 204 to 207.
.............................................................................................................................. 35
Example 36. Tmesis (sectio), the figure of a sudden interruption or fragmentation,
mm. 216-217. ....................................................................................................... 36
Example 37. Accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neighboring note),
mm. 224-227. ....................................................................................................... 36
Example 38. Anabasis (ascending passage), mm. 241-242. ....................................... 37
Example 39. Circulatio (A sine wave formation), mm. 269-270. .............................. 37
Example 40. Transitus (a figure of a dissonant or passing note), mm. 277-279. ....... 38
Example 41. Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285 and Tmesis (a
sudden interruption of the melody through rests), mm. 287-288. ....................... 38
Example 42. Epiphora (a figure of the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at
the end of subsequent passages), mm. 287-289, and paragoge (pedal point), m.
287 to the end. ...................................................................................................... 39

vii

Chapter I. Introduction
The relationship between rhetorical figures and music reached a high point in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Since the Middle Ages, both rhetoric and music were
components of a liberal arts education. The seven fields of study were divided into the
trivium, linguistic concerns that included logic, grammar, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium,
made up essentially of mathematical disciplines, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music.
This basic academic configuration continued well into the eighteenth century. While music
was originally in the category of mathematics, through the centuries, theorists, composers,
and educators related it increasingly to ideas associated with poetry. In the Renaissance, the
artistic ideal in texted music was that the music should participate in the declamation and
expression of the text. Religious figures also saw the advantage in this arrangement. Martin
Luther argued that music has the power and ability as an instrument of God to communicate
the Gospel to the spirit of the listener.1 These viewpoints influenced music education in
Germany for a very long time.
In the seventeenth century, particular ways in which the music should respond
rhetorically to text were codified into a system known as Musica Poetica. Musica Poetica can
be understood as a phenomenon of Lutheran Germany from the sixteenth century through the
end of the Baroque period: a product of the study of mathematics, rhetoric, as well as
educational intentions. In the beginning, the discipline of Musica Poetica focused on vocal
music, considering the relationship between the text and music, and how an application of
rhetorical figures could manipulate an emotional response from the listener. Certain musical
figures were deemed analogous to particular rhetorical figures. As a compositional discipline
in the Baroque period, Musica Poetica holds extra-musical stimulus as an indispensable
1

Martin Luther, Preface to Georg Rhaus Symphoniae Iucundae, Vol. 53, Luther's Works, Liturgy
and Hymns (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1965): 320.
1

element, which is distinct from the customs of other regions. For example, while Italian
composers pursued stirring the affections through aesthetic and dramatic gestures, in contrast,
German musicians tried to achieve a textual exegesis by investigating the text and using
appropriate rhetorical devices.
Other concerns were present as well. Simultaneously in the seventeenth century, the
Doctrine of the Affections revealed a different motivation for composition than just
communicating the meaning of text; now treatment of emotive states through music was
made a valid concern and instrumental music could also benefit from the application of
rhetorical devices. Theorists like Athanasius Kircher, among others, organized the connection
and relationship between affections and musical elements and provided distinct rhetorical
figures that would move the listener in this regard. German-trained composers applied these
theoretical conclusions to their music to a large degree. Among these, the Danish composer,
Dieterich Buxtehude (16371707), has long been recognized as the most significant
composer for organ between Samuel Scheidt and J. S. Bach. As the organist and Werkmeister
at the Marienkirche in Lbeck, he initiated evening concerts known as Abendmusiken which
spread his fame around Europe. These concerts attracted the attention of many younger
composers and Buxtehude is best remembered today for influencing later composers,
especially J. S. Bach, who sojourned in Lbeck for a while. For a series of Abendmusiken,
Buxtehude assembled a large ensemble to perform his own music as well as that of others in
the Italian-German style, and the collection of music for these concerts forms one of the
largest bodies of vocal, organ and other instrumental music of seventeenth-century composers.
Buxtehude, himself, contributed music in all mediums showcased in these concerts, but his
organ music is the best known today. He wrote pieces in many genres for the organ including
canzone, ostinato works, praeludia, chorale settings, chorale fantasias, chorale preludes,
chorale variations, suites, and secular variations. This document will focus on rhetorical
2

figures in a piece by Buxtehude, his Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and in a similar
work of a composer he influenced, J. S. Bachs Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582).
In other words, the purpose of this document is to examine two similar organ pieces,
Buxtehudes Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and Bachs Passacaglia in C minor
(BWV 582) for their use of rhetorical devices. This document will demonstrate the
tremendous influence that Musica Poetica as espoused by its theorists had on German
Baroque composers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. I am convinced
that even a little understanding of these seventeenth-century ideas will be beneficial to the
performer by leading to an increased expressive palette and to the listener by giving some
tangible expressive techniques for which to listen.

Chapter II. Literature Review

The subject matter of this document has received much serious scholarly attention.
The interest in rhetorical devices in Baroque music can be seen in the many modern editions
and translations which have been made of some of the major theorists, including Christoph
Bernhard, Joachim Burmeister, and Johann Mattheson. Scholars like Patrick McCreless, who
wrote several articles on Baroque musical rhetoric, and George Buelow, who has explored
and categorized Johann Matthesons discussion of rhetoric, have done much to explain this
important topic.2 Perhaps the most important scholarly work on this topic is Dietrich Bartels
Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music.3 Bartel provides a
detailed examination of musical-rhetorical figures (Figurenlehre) such as melodic
repetition, harmonic repetition, fugal figures, representation and depiction, dissonance and
displacement, interruption and silence, melodic and harmonic ornamentation, and others,
placed in the context of the development of Baroque musical thought. His categories and
explanations are the basis for my exploration of the passacaglias of Buxtehude and Bach.
When it comes to Buxtehude scholarship, no study would be complete without mention of
Kerala Snyders seminal Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lbeck, which serves as a chief
reference for the composers life and music.4 Recently, several scholars have analyzed
Buxtehudes music in terms of Baroque rhetoric. Leon Couch, in both his doctoral thesis and
his article, Musical rhetoric in three praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude, has focused on the

See for instance, Patrick McCreless, Music and rhetoric, in The Cambridge History of Western
Music Theory, ed. Thomas Christensen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); Music, Rhetoric, and
the Concept of the Affections: A Selective Bibliography, Notes 30 (1973): 25059; Music and Rhetoric, in
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 15, 793803 (London:
Macmillan, 2001); George Buelow, Johann Mattheson and the invention of the Affektenlehre, in New
Mattheson Studies, ed. G. Buelow and H. J. Marx: 393407 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
3

Dietrich Bartel, Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1997).
4

Kerala J Snyder, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lbeck (New York: Schirmer Books, 1987).
4

idea of rhetorical figures in Buxtehudes organ works in depth. Couch claims that most
musical-rhetorical figures consist of the combination of smaller musical materials and typical
compositional techniques such as imitation.5 Couchs contribution is also beneficial in that
he attempts to clarify and summarize the complex scholarship on the development of Musica
Poetica by scholars such as Bartel and applies their examples to his analysis of Buxtehudes
music. Lena Jacobsens article Musical Rhetoric in Buxtehudes free organ works seeks to
analyze Buxtehudes praeludia by applying Matthesons six categories of rhetorical form.6
Also important for this study is Sharon Gormans dissertation, in which she examined how a
performer can make more effective both the outer and inner voices through an understanding
of the rhetorical figures focused on the characteristics of the fugue subject.7 Timothy Edward
Albrechts dissertation Musical Rhetoric in Selected Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach
explores the figures in Bachs Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565 and Prelude in E Minor, BWV
533.8 And in his book, Bach and the Pedal Clavichord, Joel Speerstra mentions the
importance of figures in Bachs Passacaglia in C Minor as a guide for phrasing and
articulation.9 The organist, Piet Kee, provided two interesting articles on Bachs Passacaglia
in which he discusses Bachs use of number symbolism and the Bach number.10

Leon W. Couch III, The Organ Works of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Musical-Rhetorical
Analysis and Theory (DMA thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2002): 83.
6

Lena Jacobsen, Musical Rhetoric in Buxtehudes free organ works. Organ Year Book XIII (1982):

6079.
7

Sharon Lee Gorman, Rhetoric and Affect in the Organ Praeludia of Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
(PhD diss., Stanford University, 1990), 22941.
8

Timothy Edward Albrecht, Musical Rhetoric in Selected Organ Works of Johann Sebastian
Bach. (DMA diss., University of Rochester, 1978).
9

Joel Speerstra, Musica Poetica and Figural Notation. In Bach and the Pedal Clavichord: An
Organists Guide. (New York: The University of Rochester Press, 2004):11429.
10

Kee, Piet. Number and Symbolism in the Passacaglia and Ciacona: A Forgotten and Hidden
Dimension. United Kingdom: John Loosemore Center Buckfastleigh, 1988; The Secrets of Bachs Passacaglia.
The Diapason 74 (September 1983): 1012.
5

Chapter III. Development of Musica Poetica

Musica poetica was understood as the discipline of composing music based on
rhetoric in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century German music. The term musica poetica is
found for the first time in Raffaele Brandolonis De musica et poetica opusculum (ca.
1510).11 Rhetoric has its roots in the oratory of ancient times. Oratory originates with the
ancient Greeks as public speech; the orators were trained and studied the technique of how to
deliver emotion and thought effectively. The position of music in oratory was significant and
remained important throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The literal meaning of rhetoric is the art of effective speaking and writing, and
comes from the Greek word for speech. In other words, rhetoric can refer to pedagogical
tools for better delivery of speech, persuasion, and expression in the arts, including music.
The basis of rhetorical principles has a long and varied history. Rhetoric was one of
the main components of the seven liberal arts in the medieval education system, which was
divided into two groups by theorists such as Boethius and Martianus Capella. These two
groups were the quadrivium (which included the study of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry,
and music) and the trivium (which included logic, grammar, and rhetoric). Furthermore,
music was divided into two groups as musica theorica and musica practica. While the linking
of members of the trivium with music goes back well into the Medieval period, it gained
momentum in the Renaissance.
Most theorists and philosophers, including Boethius, acknowledged that music was
a cosmological conception. Boethius divided music into three areas: musica mundana (music
of the spheres), musica humana (music of the human body and spirit), and musica

11

Blanche Gangwere, Musica Poetica: composition, Music History during the Renaissance Period,
1520-1550: A Documented Chronology (Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 177.
6

instrumentalis (sounds made by singers and instrumentalists).12

Table 1. Seven liberal arts

Later, the Romans refined and adopted this technique into an educational curriculum.
At first, Marcus Cicero (106-43 B.C.) refined rhetoric through his treatises De Inventione and
De Oratore. His successor, Marcus Quintilian (ca. 35-100 A.D.) also taught and described
rhetoric in his treatise Institutio oratoria. Ciceros treatises discuss the components of oratory:
invention (determination of topic), dispositio (arrangement), elocution (style; ideas into
sentences), memoria (memorization), and pronuntiatio (delivery).13 He also deals with the
style of the orator during the introduction of oratory to Rome. Also, Quintilian made an effort
to disseminate rhetoric from the Roman school to the rest of Europe through his Institutio
oratoria consisting of twelve volumes.
Musica poetica also developed the discipline of rhetoric in relation to the doctrine of
ethos. The affection (emotion) is a core value of the doctrine of ethos as discussed in
12

Dietrich Bartel, Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music (Lincoln,
Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997): 15-16.

13

Laurence Dreyfus, Bach and the Patterns of Invention (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press,

1996):5.
7

medieval and renaissance philosophy based on the theories of ancient philosophers such as
Aristotle and Plato. In the sixteenth century the doctrine of ethos affected the Reformation
crusader Martin Luthers musical philosophy.
Luther emphasized that music has the power and the ability as an instrument of God
to communicate the Gospel to the spirit of the listener. Luther, in terms of religious purposes,
made clear the relationships between words and music that was equally important to
humanist theorists and composers of the Renaissance seeking to apply thoughts on music
from the ancient Greeks. The late madrigal, monody, and opera were all vocal styles and
genres influenced by these notions.
Luther states in the preface to Georg Rhaus Symphoniae Iucundae:
Therefore, we have so many hymns and Psalms where message
and music join to move the listeners soul, while in other living beings
and [sounding] bodies music remains a language without words.
After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was
only given to man to let him know that he should praise God
with both word and music, namely, by proclaiming [the Word of God]
through music and by providing sweet melodies with words.14

Another influence came from Johann Gottfried Walthers treatise:

Music is a heavenly-philosophical and specifically mathematical science,
which concerns itself with tones, with the intend to produce an agreeable
and artful Harmony or consonance.15

Composers of instrumental music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries relied

on this relationship to a similar degree, but the principles were in many ways drawn from
14

Martin Luther, Preface to Georg Rhaus Symphoniae Iucundae, Vol. 53, Luther's Works, Liturgy
and Hymns. (Philadelphia: FortressPress, 1999, c1965): 320.
15

Bartel, 10.
8

those of rhetoric. Rhetorical figures, in large part meant to move the hearer rationally as well
as emotionally, were employed by composers to engage the listener and provide some
meaning to music devoid of specific text. Later, this application of rhetorical figures to music
produced several varied theories, one being the Doctrine of Affections. Here, the treatment
of emotion became one of the most important aspects of music.
From the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, the Doctrine of the Affections
(German Affektenlehre) organized and cataloged specific musical figures based on rhetorical
counterparts that could represent and move the Affections. This is presented in the work of
such theorists as Athanasius Kircher and Johann Mattheson. The concept of the Affects was
published by Descartes in his book Les passions de lme (1649).16 These devices
emotionally engage the audience in the music, by eliciting specific human feelings such as
happiness, joy, sorrow, and anger.
In the 17th century, Kirchers Musurgia universalis contributes descriptions of the
Affects in this encyclopedic work for the first time.
In Lutheran Germany, this discipline of the affections was often called by the name
Musica Poetica.
During the Baroque period, German musicians tried to achieve a textual exegesis by
investigating the text and using appropriate rhetorical devices as a compositional discipline.
Rhetoric and oratory furnished the essential rational concepts of compositional technique and
performance practice in Baroque music. German Baroque composers applied rhetoric by
using figures in music. In particular, the German composers Buxtehude and Bach often
attempted to express a biblical text in music.
During the Baroque period in Germany, Musica poetica developed as a discipline for
16

Leon W. Couch III, Musical-rhetorical analysis and the North German toccata (DMA thesis,
University of Cincinnati, 2003): 5.
9

representing the images, mood, and affections through a musical figure. Composers believed
it could help the listener's understanding and appreciation of works. This philosophy
originated in Martin Luthers theology of music. Leading theorists of Musica Poetica include
Joachim Burmeister (15641629) and Christoph Bernhard (16271692).
In the seventeenth century, a systematic use of rhetorical principles and terminology
in German, along with the concept of musical-rhetorical figures, had been established by the
time of Joachim Burmeisters Musica Poetica (1606), which included a summary of the
Renaissance tradition and formed the fundamental theory of musical figures for decades.17
This was the first treatise in which musical figures were introduced systematically; it also
explained that musical figures were ornaments and digressions from simple composition.
Burmeister assigned musical figures into three main categories, Figuarae harmoniae (figures
involving more than one voice), Figurae melodiae (figures involving one voice), and Figurae
tam harmoniae quam melodiae (figures of harmoniae because of each voice, melodiae).
Other theorists such as Christoph Bernhard (1627-1692) and Johann Mattheson
(1681-1764) also wrote treatises on the same subject as a continuation of Burmeisters
discussion.
Bernhard provided treatises about this subject and continued Burmeisters discussion
of the figures as Stylus Gravis and Stylus Luxurians. Stylus Gravis refers to the older form of
contrapuntal writing. In contrast, Stylus Luxurians, which includes both Stylus Luxurians
Communis and Theatralis, allows modern musical styles such as dissonant figures.
His Tractatus (c.1660) was used as a composition teaching method and his ideas influenced
the next generations of theorists.
Bernhard and Burmeister represent the major thoughts in this discipline. The ideas

17

Bartel, 20.
10

expressed in the theories of Musica Poetica have long been recognized in the music of the
composers of that time, Buxtehude and Bach, and many others.
Table 2.Categories of Joachim Burmeisters Figures and Christoph Bernhards Figures
Joachim Burmeisters Figures
in Musica Poetica (1606).

Christoph Bernhards Figures

in Tractatus (c. 1660)

- Figurae harmoniae
- Figurae melodiae
- Figurae tam harmoniae quam melodiae

- Stylus Gravis
- Stylus Luxurians Communis
- Stylus Theatralis

In 1739, Johann Mattheson applied rhetorical figures and structure to musical

composition in his Der vollkommene Capellmeister. He was more interested in the rhetorical
principles on a structural scale, which he called rhetorical stages. One of these stages,
Dispositio is broken down into 6 steps.18
Table 3. Rhetorical stages by Johann Mattheson
Inventio
Dispositio
Elaboratio
Decoratio
Elocutio

meter, key, theme; main idea or concept of a speech

ordering of sections
addition of figures
ornamentation
performance

Table 4.The six steps of the Dispositio

Exordium

Narratio

Propositio

Confirmatio

Confutatio

Peroratio

Introduction

statement,
commentary,
proposal, a
laying out of
the facts

proposal, an
offer of the
point to be
made

confirmation,
affirmation,
supporting
arguments

argument,
rebuttals of
differing
ideas

close,
concluding
comments

The exordium of a speech arouses the listener's attention. Buxtehude praeludia

invariably start with an opening toccata for this purpose. The narratio establishes the
composition's subject matter, but Mattheson states that in musical discourse one may omit the
18

Ibid., 137.
11

narratio. The propositio presents the actual content of a speech or musical composition. In
the body of the speech, the confirmatio supports the arguments. In music, confutatio sections
frequently contain contrasting themes and characters, heightened by increased dissonance. At
the end, the composition concludes with the peroratio. This section often recalls the opening
material with a ritornello or closes with pedal points and melodic repetition.19
This application of rhetorical stages was advocated by Cicero, Bernhard, and Mattheson.
After 1750, during the Enlightenment, musical ideas of rhetoric were replaced by the
development of new ideas through philosophy and science. Nonetheless, Forkel made an
effort to further develop the rhetoric of music in his Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik
(1788).20

19

20

Leon W. Couch III ,Musical Rhetoric in Three Praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude: 2

Ibid., 1
12

Chapter IV. The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehudes Passacaglia in D minor

(BuxWV 161)
Buxtehudes Passacaglia appears in the manuscript known as the Andreas Bach
Buch, a collection of North German masterpieces.21 The work exploits the fully developed
ostinato form of the seventeenth century. It can be divided into four sections by key (D Minor,
F Major, A Minor and D Minor).
Table.5 Sections by Key
Key
Measure

D Minor
1-30

Transition
30-32

F Major
32-61

Transition
61-63

A Minor
63-92

Transition
92-94

D Minor
94-123

Each section consists of seven variations for a total of twenty-eight presentations of

the four measure ostinato theme in the bass.
Example 1. Ostinato theme in the bass

This ostinato theme can be categorized as the figure anaphora (repetiio). Anaphora
is a figure of melodic repetition. It is defined as the repetition of pitches in at least one voice,
often as a ground bass.22 Throughout these variations, cadences generally appear as a halfcadence at the end of almost every four measures, and an authentic cadence at the end of each
key section.

21

"Buxtehude, Dieterich," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S.
Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 4: 695-710. (London: Macmillan, 2001).

22

Bartel, 444.
13

Example 2. Cadence, mm. 13-14.

In addition, this pedal theme is accompanied with a texture of three to four voices.
This accompanied presentation of the theme differs from that of Bachs passacaglia.
The first section begins with a series of suspensions. Starting with the tonic chord, the
consonant d of tonic in the tenor and its second inversion resolves down by step in the
opening progression to the dominant chord. The passage continues to move in stepwise
motion until m. 3. The second variation follows with a continuation of the suspension
progression, and also features inverted voices through moving the tenor of first variation to
the soprano of second variation. The figure which Buxtehude prominently uses is the
transitus. It is in the category of figures of dissonance provided by Bernhard, and is
represented by a dissonance with a tie.23
Example 3. Transitus (dissonance) in BuxWV 161, mm. 1-7 and anaphora (repetition of
pitches in at least one voice, often a ground bass)
Transitus

Transitus

Transitus

Transitus

The third through the sixth variations of the first section feature the figure antithesis,
23

Ibid., 413-427.
14

which means opposing affection by utilizing two contrasting figures: anabasis (ascending
passage) and catabasis (descending passage). This rhetorical technique reinforces a more
passionate affect and intensity by a consistent diminution of note values.
Example 4. Antithesis, the two opposing figures: anabasis (ascending) and catabasis
(descending).
a) anabasis (ascending), mm. 10-13.

b) catabasis (descending), mm. 22-24.

Additionally, from the fifth to the seventh variation of the first section, there appears
the rhetorical figure of synonymia from measure 17 to 29. This four-note figure is also a
figure of melodic repetition, using a pattern of ascending and descending scales.24
Example 5. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 26-29.

24

Ibid., 405-408
15

Furthermore, the fifth and sixth variations apply imitative progressions like a
dialogue and the seventh variation presents this figure in a repetition of the same interval,
creating a trill effect in eighth notes. This continuation of these repetition figures increases
the rhythmic activity.
A prominent feature of this piece is an eighth rest followed by a three eighth-note
pattern. This figure is in the category of interruption and silence and is named suspiratio,
which means the musical expression of a sigh through a rest as a musical pause. Its affect
often represents longing or groaning. However, this figure can also indicate a questioning or
feeling of uncertainty in the vocal line.25
Example 6. Suspiratio, a musical expression of a sigh through a rest, mm. 18-20.

The following bridge section modulating to F Major displays accentus which is a

figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation. This figure ornaments the stepwise motion of
the notes in the right hand (b flat-a-g-f-e) with notes a sixth above to emphasize F.
Example 7. Accentus, The figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation, mm. 31-32.

In the second section (mm. 32-61), there are two different figures of melodic and
25

Ibid., 392-393
16

harmonic continuation. From the first to the fourth variation of this F major section the same
rhythmic pattern is presented; which is two eighth notes followed by longer notes. The
remaining variations move with constant eighth note patterns in the top voice without rest.
Especially, the first and second variations contain a voice exchange; in the right hand
the soprano goes to bass and the bass goes to the soprano during the second variation. This
repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches is referred to as a figure of polyptoton.26
This figure is a musical application for enlarging the structure by various placements of pitch
as an imitation of a musical idea. This rhetorical figure is mostly used in fugal compositions.
Example 8. Polyptoton, melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 37-38.

This second section also adopts the figure of synonymia from bar 49 to 60,
referring to melodic and rhythmic repetition as mentioned above. In the fifth to the seventh
variations, this figure is used throughout, creating a trill effect over the changing harmony.
Example 9. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 57-60.

In the third section in A minor, unexpected rests called abruptio are used in various
ways; before the powerful chords (mm.64-71), eighth-note scales (mm.72-79) and percussive

26

Ibid., 367-368.
17

arpeggio figuration (mm.80-91) in the manual which leads to a climax. This rhythmic section
makes a strong contrast to the first section. Abruptio is a commonly used figure of Musica
poetica throughout Buxtehudes passacaglia.
Example 10. Abruptio (Rest)
a) Abruptio (Rest) followed by chord in BuxWV 161, mm. 63-65.

b) Abruptio (Rest) with eighth note scale in BuxWV 161, mm. 72-75.

c) Abruptio (Rest) with percussive arpeggio figuration in BuxWV 161, mm. 84-87.

This long percussive passage ends with a complete pause (Homoioptoton: a general
pause in all voices) with a quarter rest at measure 92. This figure of homoioptoton arouses

18

attention.27 The following interlude (mm. 92-94) serves as a bridge between the sections that
are composed in quite contrasting character. There are figures named pathopoeia (a
passionate affection through chromaticism) and catabasis (descending passage) in this short
bridge, which is used as a modulatory transition to the fourth section.
This figure of pathopoeia appears as the insertion of dissonances on strong beats.28
In addition, the use of dissonances in this bridge increases the greater emphasis and
significance of the modulation to d minor along with the descending figure, catabasis.
Example 11. Homoioptoton (a general pause), pathopoeia (a passionate affection through
chromaticism) and catabasis (descending passage) in BuxWV 161, mm. 92-94.

There are two other modulatory passages in this piece. Measures 29-32 (d minor to F
major) and mm. 61-63 (F major to a minor) also achieve modulatory transition through the
dramatic use of the figure abruptio (Rest). As we discussed above, mm. 29-32 also include
the figure of accentus.
Example 12. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest and accentus, mm. 29-32.

27

Ibid., 295-297.

28

Ibid., 359361.
19

Example 13. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest, mm. 61-63.

The final d minor section contains triplet rhythms, octave leap figurations, and fewer
suspensions and dissonances. The first two variations of this section begin with triplet
figurations. The third variation utilizes a repeated broken octave. This broken octave appears
in measures 103-104,110-112, 115-116 and 119-120. These consonant leaps are called salto
semplice, whose rhetorical definition is simple leap. It can signify consonant leaps by thirds,
fourths, fifths, sixths and octaves.29 Through a leaping interval, extension occurs with
emphasis. Thus, this figure is a proper choice for the end of the piece. This final section
consists of salto semplice and polyptoton creating unity and emphasis for the ending and
lends a sense of absorption to the performer and listener. In addition, the scales in measures
105, 113, 117 and 121 apply the figure of abruptio (Rest) again for the emphasizing of the
dominant and the figure tirata. Tirata is a rapid scalar passage, a fourth to an octave or
more.30
Example 14. Salto semplice, simple leaps, mm.111-112.

29

Ibid., 380.

30

Ibid., 409.
20

Example 15. Polyptoton, repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches, mm. 115-116.

Example 16. Tirata, a rapid scalar passage, m. 105.

21

Summary
During this study, we saw that Buxtehudes passacaglia modulates to both the
relative major and dominant keys. It is quite unusual for a passacaglia in this period to
change key.
As we saw, there are various figures Buxtehude used. In particular, the main figures
employed in the passacaglia are figures of repetition. The category of figures of melodic
repetition includes anaphora as a repeating bass line, polyptoton as imitation of subject in
different pitches, and synonymia as a repetition of a musical idea. These figures of musical
repetition give unity to the passcaglia.
To summarize, the first section is played in serious character with the transitus; the
second section with a calm pastoral character through the synonymia; the third with energetic
outbursts using abruptio; the fourth with reconciliation between the extremes of the previous
the two worlds of suffering and peace brought together, dynamically-balanced and rendered
with figures of salto semplice and polyptoton in the same key of the first section.
We see that the use of musica poetica in this piece offers contrasts throughout each
section. Understanding this approach can help the performer in choosing registrations and
determining any use of manual changes.

22

Chapter V
The figures of Musica poetica in Bachs Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582)

Both Buxtehudes Passacaglia and Bachs appeared in the manuscript known as the
Andreas Bach Buch, a collection of North German masterpieces. One of Bachs early
masterworks, the Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582) is believed to have been written at
Arnstadt between 1703 and 1708 after he sojourned in Lbeck, where he met Buxtehude.
Bach takes as his models the music of Buxtehude, Pachelbel, and Andr Raison.31
The theme is adapted from the bass line of a Trio en passacaille, specifically the Christe
eleison verset, from the Messe du deuziesme ton by the French composer Andr Raison (ca.
16501719).32 Bach expanded the original four bars to eight. In 1705, Bach walked the 400
kilometers from Arnstadt to Lbeck in order to meet Buxtehude. Since Bach wrote his own
Passacaglia soon afterwards, it may possibly have been born as a fruit of Buxtehudes work of
the same name. The Passacaglia, as a genre, is still important today in the organs repertoire.
Buxtehude and Bachs passacaglias are perhaps the best known examples; others were
written by Johann Pachelbel, Georg Muffat, Gottlieb Muffat, Johann Kuhnau, Johann Kaspar
Kerll,[ ,] Felix Mendelssohn, Max Reger, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and
Leo Sowerby. In addition, many composers have transcribed Bachs passacaglia for various
instruments such as piano (Awadagin Pratt, Eugene d'Albert, Max Reger), for two pianos
(Fazil Say), for orchestra (Leopold Stokowski and Ottorino Respighi), also for brass quintet
(Neil Balm), and string quartet (Nicholas Kitchen).
Bachs Passacaglia begins with a statement of the theme for pedal alone, consists of
31

Ronald Raymond Gauger Ostinato Techniques in Chaconnes and Passacaglias of Pachelbel,

Buxtehude, and J.S. Bach (DMA diss., University of Wisconsin, 1974)
32

Ibid., 64.

23

twenty variations without key changes, and closes with a fugue. These preceding features are
different from Buxtehudes Passacaglia. Bachs theme is twice the length of the one used in
Buxtehudes passacaglia, though Bach returns to the four-measure form of the theme for the
fugue.
Example 17. Theme for the Passacaglia in the pedal, mm. 1-8

This theme appears in the soprano from m. 88 to m. 104 and moves to an inner voice
without pedal in m. 104. It returns to the pedal with a thick and broad harmonic progression
at m. 128, creating a sense of triumph.
Certainly, this recurring theme is an example of the figure anaphora (repetition of
pitches as a ground bass).
After the opening statement of the theme, the first and second variations use the
figure Abruptio (the figure of interruption and silence: a sudden and unexpected break) just as
Buxtehude did in the opening of his passacaglia, and decorates the cadence in m. 24 with a
trill. This trill is called tremolo or trillo and is a figure of melodic and harmonic
ornamentation.
Example 18. Abruptio (figure of interruption and silence: a sudden and unexpected break),
mm. 9-17.

24

Example 19. Tremolo or Trillo (figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation), mm. 23-24.

In the third variation, figures retardatio and syncopatio combine alternatively

between the top voices. The retardatio is named for a hesitation and delay which is resolved
by ascending motion. On the other hand, syncopatio resolves by descending.33 These figures
of dissonance and displacement are used mainly in the third variation to increase tension.
Example 20. Retardatio (figure of a suspension by rising) and Syncopatio (figure of a
suspension by descending), mm. 25-32.
Syncopatio

Retardatio

During the fourth variation, a figure of two voices moving in ascending or

descending as a sequence of notes is applied in parallel sixths and also parallel thirds and
tenths. This figure is called gradatio or climax. It is a figure of melodic repetition for creating
intensity and vivid action by touch.34

33

Bartel, 375 and 397.

34

Ibid., 290 and 220.

25

Example 21. Gradatio (two voices moving in ascending or descending), mm. 32-39.

The fifth variation involves the figure salto semplice (a consonant leap) which is
constantly repeated. On a larger scale, the figure synonymia is presented by the figure salto
semplice by means of this repetition. This leaping figure, especially, requires accuracy of
articulation by the performer.
Example 22. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) and salto semplice (a consonant
leap). mm. 40-42.

This figure of synonymia appears several times in the Passacaglia. For example, in
variation 9 by repetition of a four note figure in all voices consecutively. This four-note
figure can be identified with the figure salti composti, a four-note figuration consisting of
consonant leaps of thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, and octaves.35
Example 23. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) by salti composti (a four-note
figuration with consonant leaps of thirds), mm. 73-76.

35

Ibid., 379.
26

Again, variation 13 uses the four-note motif having the theme in the hands without
pedal. This motif is used continuously in each voice.
Example 24. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea), mm.105-108.

In Variations 6-7, figures from the category of representation and depiction such as
anabasis (ascending motion) and catabasis (descending motion) allude to both exalted and
negative images through ascending and descending motion as they decorate the principal
subject.36 The affect created through the use of two contrasting figures is highly emotional.
Example 25. Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion),
mm. 48-51 and Catabasis (figure of representation and depiction: descending motion), mm.
56-60.
a) Anabasis (figure of representation and depiction: ascending motion), mm. 48-51.

b) Catabasis (figure of representation and depiction: descending motion), mm. 56-60.

36

Ibid., 445.
27

In Variation 8, the figures of anabasis in variation 6 and catabasis in variation 7 are

now established simultaneously. This combined figure is named the figure of antithesis. This
figure of antithesis means an application of opposing ideas in a passage to make the music
more intense through highlighting and emphasizing contrast.37
Additionally, in variations 6 to 9, the figure suspiratio is employed, beginning with a
sixteenth rest. This is the figure of a rest as musical expression of a sigh.38
Even though the figures suspiratio and antithesis are usually referred to as
representation and depiction in vocal music, they can be adapted to instrumental music as
well, for decorating the principal subject.39
Example 26. Suspiratio in antithesis (contrary motion) with anabasis and catabasis,
mm. 65-68.

Variation 10 to 12 consists of the figure passagio or variatio consisting of a

sequence of four notes of short duration moving by step or leap. Its function is to embellish
and ornament the theme or melodic passage through variety.40
In variation 10, the right hand moves rapidly in sixteenth notes while the left hand
voices perform with the gravity of quarter note chords and the pedal presents the theme. The
tenor and bass voices drop out in variation 11, and the remaining voices are inverted. In other
words, the soprano now has the theme, while the rapid sixteenth notes appear in the alto.
37

Ibid., 198.

38

Ibid., 392.

39

Ibid., 197.

40

Ibid., 432.
28

Variation 12 also presents the figure passagio through stepwise motion supporting
the theme in the top voice.
Example 27. Passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of
embellishments).
a) passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments), mm.
87-91.

b) passagio (an ornamentation of melodic passage with a variety of embellishments, mm. 97100.

From the thirteenth variation to the sixteenth variation, there is no pedal. The theme
appears in the manual concealed amongst the figures.
For example, the fourteenth and fifteenth variation present the theme in sixteenth note values.
The fourteenth variation starts with the figure suspiratio (stenasmus) through a sixteenth rest.
Each hand moves in contrary motion with the figure contrapositum which is another name for
antithesis, already introduced in the previous variations. However, the fifteenth variation
expresses the theme with the ascending figure ascensus in the same function as anabasis with
leaps of thirds, fifths and octaves, and sometimes sixths. As we have seen above, these leaps
29

are called salto semplice, a simple leap.41 Despite appearing simple to play, these two
variations need great technical ability due to the use of leaps and the need for a steady tempo
while rapidly moving.
Example 28. Suspiratio (A musical expression of a sigh through a rest) and Contrapositum
(A musical expression of opposing affection), mm. 113-114.

The pedal theme returns in the sixteenth variation with an eighth rest before the first
chord of the manual, similar to the second variation of the piece.
However, it expands with the use of the figure suspirans by beginning on the offbeat and this
musical idea repeats through the figure extensio.
This device is defined as a figure of a prolongation of dissonance.
Example 29. Suspirans (a figure beginning off the beat) and extensio (a prolongation of a
dissonance), mm. 129-130.

The following seventeenth variation moves forward to the next variation by using
sixteenth-note triplets in both ascending and descending motion. This variation proceeds with
the individual motifs decorating the main chords. This idea may refer to the figure distributio,
which has various and broad meanings among the musical-rhetorical figures. Its motifs or

41

Ibid., 445 and 447.

30

phrases are used to help develop the next material.42

Example 30. Distributio (a musical-rhetorical process in which individual motifs or phrases
of a theme or section of composition are developed before proceeding to the following
material), mm.137-138.

The figure corta dominates variation 18. This figure consists of three notes in which
one notes duration equals the sum of the other two. In Italian, it literally means short. This
figure belongs to one of the ornamental figures. By applying this figure, the piece begins to
present affections of agitated and joyful expression.

43

Example 31. Corta (three-notes figure in which one notes duration equals the sum of the
other two), mm.145-147.

From variation 19 to 20, the rhetorical figures are combined very clearly.
For example, variation 19 contains repetition of the musical idea called synonymia. This
repetition of musical idea is the figure of circulatio, which means a series of notes in a
circular or sine wave formation.44
42

Ibid., 239.

43

Ibid., 234.

44

Ibid., 216-219.
31

Variation 20 continues this idea through descending parallel motion (gradatio) in the
manual, enlarging the texture from three voices to four, and presenting the theme more
strongly as this final variation before the fugue begins.45
Example 32. Synonymia (repetition of the musical idea) with circulatio and gradatio.
a) Circulatio (a series of notes in a circular or sine wave formation), mm. 154-156.

b) Gradatio (descending parallel motion), mm.167-168.

Beginning in bar 168, the theme of the fugue, four measures long, starts on the
upbeat. The fugue has a total of twelve thematic entries with five in minor keys, two in major,
and then another five in minor.

45

Ibid., 220.
32

Table.6 Twelve thematic entries

Key
cm
gm
cm
gm
cm

Measure
169-173
174-177
181-184
185-189
192-195
198-201
209-212
221-224
234-237
246-249
256-259
272-275

EM
BM
gm
cm
gm
fm
cm

The fugue makes prominent use of repeated notes and repeated chords called
palilogia, or polyptoton, referring to melodic repetition for emphasis. Palilogia is described
in music and in rhetoric as both a general and a specific form of repetition of a theme, either
at different pitches in various voices or on the same pitch in the same voice.46 As a result,
fugue is established by the various combinations of this figure.
Several figures of harmonic repetition are presented under the category of fugal
figures. According to Bartel, fuga is defined as a compositional device in which a principal
voice is imitated by subsequent voices.47
The fugue is based on a subject, which is the same as the first four measures of the
passacaglias theme, and two countersubjects. The first countersubject begins with an eighth
rest (Abruptio) and consists of eighth notes with slurred pairs of notes. Bach uses this slurring

46

Ibid., 342-344

47

Ibid., 277289.
33

motive associated with both Christs death and birth (by rising or falling).48 The second
countersubject enters in sixteenth note values. These countersubjects introduce the two main
rhetorical figures; epizeuxis and tremolo (trillo). The figure of epizeuxis is defined as an
immediate and emphatic repetition of a note. And tremolo means the rapid alternation of two
adjacent notes, such as a trill.49
Example 33. The figures

of epizeuxis, abruptio and tremolo in the countersubject

a) Epizeuxis (an immediate and emphatic repetition of a note) and Abruptio (a sudden rest)

b) Tremolo (a rapid alternation of two adjacent notes)

At measure 190, the figure trillo is used before the c minor entry, creating an
emphatic cadence in G major. This figure is used again at m. 196, 252, 286 and in the long
double trill at mm. 269-270.
Example 34. Trillo (a trill), m. 190.

From mm. 204 to 207, the right hand repeats sturdy leaps in eighth notes which
descend measure by measure and are accompanied in the left hand by rapid sixteenth note
48

Peter Williams, The Organ Music of J. S. Bach. 2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2003):273.
49

Ibid., 263 and 427.

34

leaps of a third played like a broken chord. These two contrasting figures lead to the next
entry of the subject in B-flat Major. The right hand presents a figure of a sequential motif;
epizeuxis by circulatio which is a series of usually eight notes in a sine wave formation.50
Furthermore, the left hand goes through the descending passage using a figure of repetition
called polysynseton.

Polysynseton can be adopted broadly in aspects of repetition as a form

of emphasis.51 In this passage, the figure seems to emphasize a broken triad. And also, it
serves to modulate through the three chords outlined (A-flat Major- g minor- f minor- E-flat
Major) in each measure: 204, 205, 206 and 207.
Example 35. R.H (Epizeuxis by Circulatio) and L.H (Polysynseton), mm. 204 to 207.

The next episode (mm. 212-220) moves forward to a statement of the theme in G
minor by the use of tmesis (sectio), utilizing a sixteenth rest for a sudden interruption or
fragmentation.52 This figures literal meaning is a cut. This figure creates an added variety
to the musical texture which engages the listeners attention by occurring several times
throughout the fugue. For instance, bars 178 to179 serve as a short bridge before the subject
in the bass (bars 180 to185) enters. Actually, this musical line also refers to the figure
suspiratio (suspirans) which employs affections of sighing or longing by use of rests. These

50

Bartel, 216.

51

Ibid., 369.

52

Ibid., 392-393.
35

two figures (Tmesis and suspiratio) are both in the category of musical figures of silence.53
Finally, at bars 281 to 285, this figure leads to a climax, arriving at a fermata over a
Neapolitan sixth chord.
Example 36. Tmesis (sectio), the figure of a sudden interruption or fragmentation, mm. 216217.

The next episode contains the figure accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or
lower neighboring note) in the manual while the pedal plays the counter subject.
As we noted above, this figure has the function of embellishment.
Example 37. Accentus (a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neighboring note), mm.
224-227.

After this figure finishes, the anabasis (ascending passage) leads to a climax. The top
voice plays eighth notes rising simply by step while the other two voices are ascending in
sixteenth notes leaping by thirds. These two figures proceed in parallel tenths.

53

Ibid., 392-393.
36

Example 38. Anabasis (ascending passage), mm. 241-242.

A highlight of this passacaglia is the very long trill and virtuoso pedal passage
appearing in bars 269 to 270. This long trill decorates the inverted pedal point which is
embellished by the pedal figure of Circulatio combining ascending and descending motion by
thirds.
Example 39. Circulatio (A sine wave formation), mm. 269-270.

After the last subject, from measure 275 to 280, the central figure used is transitus.
This figure can exist on both strong and weak beats.54 From a broader perspective, it occurs
as a passing note. In this phrase, transitus occurs as the notes G-F-E-D in the soprano voice.
For the performer, careful articulation is required between the notes to create the effect of
syncopation.

54

Ibid., 413.
37

Example 40. Transitus (a figure of a dissonant or passing note), mm. 277-279.

Leading to the conclusion of the piece, the primary figures used are figures of
interruption and silence. There are seven figures in this category. However, their functions
differ slightly from each other.
For example, there is a general pause in bar 285 in all voices following the fermata.
After two eighth rests, the music continues on the off beat. This pause is the figure of
homoioptoton (aposiopesis) which we have studied in the previous chapter. This figure is
defined as a general pause of all the voices, rather than abruptio and tmesis which we
discussed above.55 Additionally, the figure of tmesis appears again with eighth rests in the
manual and sixteenth rests in the pedal continuing to the end of the piece.
Example 41. Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285 and Tmesis (a sudden
interruption of the melody through rests), mm. 287-288.
a) Aposiopesis (a rest in all voices of a composition), m. 285.

55

Ibid., 203.
38

b)Tmesis (a sudden interruption of the melody through rests), mm. 287-288.

The other main figure near the end of the work (mm. 281-285 and m. 287 to the end)
is epiphora (epistrophe), which means the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at the
end of subsequent passages.56 The passage from the second beat of bar 281 to 285 contains
two different rhythmic patterns. One is a figure of three eighth notes in the manual and the
other is seven sixteenth notes in the pedal. These two rhythms are played together and lead
toward the fermata and large rest in bar 285. These two gestures occur again after the fermata
from bar 287 to 289 to create the effect of extension (emphasizing an addition) and lead to
the conclusion of the work.
During the two measures of adagio at the end, the figure of paragoge (the pedal
point) supports the final cadence in C major.
Example 42. Epiphora (a figure of the repetition of the conclusion of one passage at the end
of subsequent passages), mm. 287-289, and paragoge (pedal point), m. 287 to the end.

56

Ibid., 260-262.
39

Summary
The Passacaglia in c minor provides us with expression in musical language which
can be linked to musical-rhetorical devices. We have located many of the figures of musica
poetica within the extensive melodic repetition and fugal figures inherent in the genre of
passacaglia.
Bach borrowed the four-measure ground bass from the French organist Andre
Raisons (1650-1719) Premier Livre d'Orgue, expanded it to eight measures, and capped the
passacaglia with a fugue whose subject returned to the original four-measure theme. The
figure anaphora can certainly be seen as representing the complete work.
Variations 1 through 12 present gradually more complex textures with sighing
syncopated motives, and utilizing representative figures of abruptio, trillo, synonymia,
suspiratio and antithesis. At variation 11 the theme is exchanged from the pedal to manual.
Then it progresses through variations 13 to 16 with the figures contrapositum, ascensus, salto
semplice and extensio. In particular, variations 16-18 present rhythmic variations with figures
distributio and corta, while 19 and 20 present the same figures with the addition of one voice
in the manual.
The fugue subject then repeats Raison's ground bass with two countersubjects
entering around it, using the figures palilogia, and polyptoton. The fugue gains intensity with
the figures abruptio, circulatio, timesis, epiphora and accentus; combined with the intensity
of rising sequences. Finally, the passacaglia ends with the figures polysynseton and paragoge.
Through the recognition of the common figures Bach used, the performer can be
guided towards appropriate articulation whenever they meet similar figures.
In addition, we have discussed expressive and pictorial devices. Although performing
the harmonic and melodic embellishment and ornamentation is difficult, examination of the

40

figures can help with the understanding of how to choose the registration and articulation for
heightened expression.

41

Conclusion
In this study, I have demonstrated that the principles of musica poetica are evident in
aspects of Buxtehudes Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) and Bachs Passacaglia in C
minor (BWV 582). Although these pieces are formally unusual, they also contain structural
constraints. I have also discussed the use of musical-rhetorical figures based on Musica
Poetica by Dietrich Bartel and illustrated through various examples.
Both passacaglias are masterpieces of the genre and use figures of musica poetica for
their musical expression. Both works also appear in the manuscript known as the Andreas
Bach Buch, a collection of North German masterpieces.
In Chapter III, I traced the development of musica poetica and gave some historical
background from ancient Greek philosophy to the emerging Doctrine of Affections according
to historical authors contributions. The origins of rhetoric are rooted in the ancient
philosophers and the doctrine of ethos was an influencing factor in Luthers theological
philosophy. His beliefs about music affected the musicians from his time through the
Baroque period.
Especially during the Baroque period, the interest in rhetorical devices received
much serious scholarly attention by the major theorists of the time, including Christoph
Bernhard, Joachim Burmeister, and Johann Mattheson. They provide musical-rhetorical
figures as a standard vocabulary for musical compositions.
Buxtehude and Bach employed these figures of musica poetica throughout their great
passacaglias. Although neither passacaglia has a text, the listener would have understood the
references to musical language through the musical-rhetorical figures expressed.
I will summarize below how, throughout the variations, various examples of musicalrhetorical figures are utilized to help define the Affekt.
As one of the central aspects of the genre, figures of melodic repetition are
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prominently used by the composers; including anaphora, gradatio, epistrophe, epizeuxis,

mimesis, palilogia, polyptoton, polysynseton and synonymia.
In particular, the figures which both composers utilize are anaphora and synonimia.
Anaphora refers to a repeating bass line such as a ground bass, an opening phrase or motive
in a number of successive passages, and general repetition through the recurrence of a theme.
In addition, one of the most important rhetorical devices for determining the formal structure
is synonimia (repetition of a musical idea in an altered or modified form).
Bach often uses the figures of gradatio, epistrophe, epizeuxis, mimesis, polysynseton
and palilogia. During the fugue, the subject restates the ground bass while two
countersubjects enter around it with the figures of palilogia, and polyptoton. The fugue builds
up through the figures of timesis and epiphora. At the end of the passacaglia, Bach adopts the
figure of polysynseton.
As figures of representation and depiction, the figures of anabasis, catabasis and
antithesis are used. Devices such as catabasis and anabasis were used to symbolize the cross
and represent the passion and death of Jesus. Additionally, they could represent negative
emotions in Bachs music, such as crying and pain. If these figures are combined, they would
present the figure of antithesis (a musical expression of opposing affection and materials).
Also, using the figures of circulation they lift up the intensity of the fugue with rising
sequences.
For the use of dissonance and displacement, both composers apply the figure of
transitus. Buxtehudes passacaglia starts the first section in a serious character with the
transitus occurring with the tie. On the other hand, Bach applies this figure as a passing
note to display the descending notes of G-F-E-D which creates the effect of syncopation.
In the category of interruption and silence, the main figure used by both composers
is abruptio. This figure is applied in various ways during Buxtehudes work. Unexpected
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rests called abruptio are used initially before the powerful chords in the manual, then in
eighth-note scales and percussive arpeggio figurations which lead to a climax. This rhythmic
section makes a strong contrast with the first section. The other use of the figure of Abruptio
(Rest) appears during the modulatory sections in mm. 29-32 (D minor to F major) and mm.
61-63 (F major to A minor).
To create melodic and harmonic ornamentation, the figures used are accentus,
bombus, corta, groppo, messanza, salti composti, salto semplice and trillo. Buxtehude and
Bach both use accentus. Buxtehude uses this figure in the bridge section preceding lower
neighboring notes by adding the sixth above to emphasize the key change. On the other hand,
Bach uses this figure for the intensity of rising sequences during the fugue. In contrast,
figures such as corta are used by Bach to designate joyful emotions with this three note figure.
Salti composti and salto semplice are both consonant leaps. However, salti composti consists
of three consonant leaps while salto semplice is a simple consonant leap.
As a miscellaneous figure, Bach alone employs the figure of paragoge (pedal point)
at the end of the passacaglia.
To sum up, Musica Poetica can be understood as a phenomenon of Lutheran
Germany from the sixteenth century through the Baroque period; a product of mathematical
discipline, rhetoric, and educational intent. I am convinced that even a little understanding of
these seventeenth-century ideas will be beneficial to the performer seeking an increased
expressive palette, and to the listener by giving some tangible expressive techniques for
which to listen.

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