The
Chorale
Zone
Analyzing every one of J.S. Bach's Chorale Harmonizations
You unlock a door πͺ, which is in the key of d minor π. Beyond it is another movementβa movement of sound ππ», a dimension of texture ππ», a dimension of counterpoint π§ . You're moving into a land of both counterpoint and chord progressions, of tonality and modality. You've just crossed over into The Chorale Zone πΈπ΅....
Okay, I am officially ending the joke. Thank you for humoring me π€£. On January 4th, 2022, I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. No, not to climb Everest β°, or to row across the Pacific Ocean π, but rather to analyze of a J.S. Bach's chorale harmonizations. The mission began as an idea I had to analyze a piece of music everyday for a year. After contemplating the best way to go about sourcing material for the challenge, I decided that sticking with as few composers as possible would mean less time searching for music, and more time getting to know a particular artist. So, naturally, I was led to Bach, because he composed somewhere in the ballpark of 3,125,236 pieces during his lifetime. And having composed that many pieces, I could take a look at a subset of his works. The chorales seemed almost too perfect because many printed collections claim to have 389 harmonizations.
So, armed with enough music to last me a little more than a year, I began my analysis, which leads us to where I am today. Currently, I am still in the process of analyzing 1 chorale a day until I exhaust all of the surviving chorales. The best way to follow along is by checking out the YouTube channel!
That being said, I have big πͺπ» plans for this page. I have made many discoveries that I want to be accessible through a database; however, I plan to implement this once I've finished analyzing, so check back in the coming months if you are reading this now!
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