Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reconsidering the Study of J. S. Bach's Chorales in the Undergraduate Curriculum

The music of J. S. Bach has a long history in the instruction of harmony and counterpoint. His vocal chorales, in particular, are regarded as the gold standard in the study of four-part writing and harmony. While the medium of chorale writing masterfully illustrates Bach's approach to harmonizing hymn tunes, it presents myriad challenges to students. The modal tradition of the chorales, originating from the stile antico of the prima pratica, combined with their modern harmonic tonal language from the seconda pratica, befuddles even the keenest of admirers. Contributing to their difficult harmonic nature, Bach's manner of writing chorales suggests, at times, a greater latitude toward counterpoint principles than is found in current textbooks. In this article, I wish to indulge in a reexamination of Bach's chorales as a pedagogical resource, focusing on the undergraduate curriculum in the United States.

My article reflects on some of the shortcomings common to the study of four-part writing in the chorales and explores ways authors have coped with them in undergraduate textbooks. Tonal harmony textbooks adopted in American universities starting from about the 1940s were limited in size and scope. Moreover, doubling guidelines were inflexible and contradictory. These kinds of textbooks presented an oversimplified approach to part writing that lacked some important voice-leading nuances. Fortunately, recent undergraduate textbooks have remedied many of these deficiencies.

As a means of comparison to current textbooks, I look back to one of the most celebrated counterpoint treatises of Bach's time: Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum (1725). This influential didactic work was the only surviving theoretical book in Bach's personal library with his personal ownership mark, and the first German translation was published by one of Bach's own students. Fux treats the instruction of four-voice counterpoint in a holistic manner that, under the right conditions, tolerates bending the rules of two-voice counterpoint. Fux's treatise helps untangle critical voice-leading issues specific to Bach's chorales.

Lastly, I delineate some aspects of the chorales that I believe deserve more attention in the classroom. Inasmuch as the melodies from Bach's chorales stem from the sixteenth-century stile antico, a finer understanding of how modality and tonality coexist is needed. A final perplexing aspect of the study of Bach's chorales is the frequent omission of the original text. I believe textual considerations can shed light on various facets of Bach's compositional process, such as the interdependence of his harmonic progressions and specific affective gestures.