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“Ricercar a 6” from Musical Offering, BWV 1079
Johann Sebastian Bach

- Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach
- Died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig
- Composed in 1747
- Duration: 8 minutes

Unlike his contemporary, George Frideric Handel, who led a cosmopolitan, well-traveled life, Johann Sebastian Bach stayed mainly within the regions that are now part of modern Germany. However, two of his trips have become storied journeys bookending his remarkable life. The first took place when he was 20 years old, when he trekked over 200 miles on foot to hear his idol, the organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude, and the other happened three years before his death in 1750. On May 7, 1747, Bach arrived in the city of Potsdam to visit his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, who was employed at the court of Frederick II, “the Great,” King of Prussia. Knowing the reputation of the elder Bach as a master improviser, Frederick asked Bach to honor their company by demonstrating at the keyboard. Bach agreed, and asked Frederick, an accomplished flutist, to give him a theme on which he could extemporize. The king provided what subsequently became known as the “Royal Theme,” a melody that outlines a C-minor scale on the way up and descends chromatically on the way down with an extended turn at the end. For unknown reasons, after the trip Bach revisited Frederick’s theme and—though unsolicited to do so—fleshed it out as the Musical Offering, making sure to adapt the theme to three core forms: canon, fugue, and sonata. In all, there are thirteen separate pieces that comprise the entirety of the Musical Offering. Since no performances were given during his lifetime, it is viewed, along with Bach’s The Art of Fugue, as the composer’s way of documenting for posterity the culmination of his abilities.

Ricercar, an ancient term for a kind of fugue, was a title Bach never used before or after the Musical Offering. Two different kinds of ricercars had developed over the years. The first was a freely improvised prelude (ricercar meaning “to seek out”). The second was formally organized. In Bach’s Musical Offering there are two ricercars, one for three parts and the other for six. The ricercar a 3 is usually accepted as a notated version of Bach’s original free improvisation in Potsdam, while the ricercar a 6 is his rigorously “academic” approach to the theme, worked out fully as a six-part fugue in C minor. As the music begins, we hear the Royal Theme entering on the note C, and the second voice entering on the note G, per the rules of this style, in which the subjects must be introduced at the interval of a fifth. The remaining four voices each take their turn with the theme in this opening exposition. Once all the voices have been heard, the music shifts into an episodic play between the theme and countersubjects (analogous to the development section of a Classical-era sonata form). Halfway through, a full statement of the Royal Theme reappears, signaling the point at which each of the other five voices will return to the theme once more, bringing the tour de force to a conclusion on a brilliant C-major chord. 

“Ricercar a 6” from Musical Offering, BWV 1079
Johann Sebastian Bach

- Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach
- Died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig
- Composed in 1747
- Duration: 8 minutes

Unlike his contemporary, George Frideric Handel, who led a cosmopolitan, well-traveled life, Johann Sebastian Bach stayed mainly within the regions that are now part of modern Germany. However, two of his trips have become storied journeys bookending his remarkable life. The first took place when he was 20 years old, when he trekked over 200 miles on foot to hear his idol, the organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude, and the other happened three years before his death in 1750. On May 7, 1747, Bach arrived in the city of Potsdam to visit his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, who was employed at the court of Frederick II, “the Great,” King of Prussia. Knowing the reputation of the elder Bach as a master improviser, Frederick asked Bach to honor their company by demonstrating at the keyboard. Bach agreed, and asked Frederick, an accomplished flutist, to give him a theme on which he could extemporize. The king provided what subsequently became known as the “Royal Theme,” a melody that outlines a C-minor scale on the way up and descends chromatically on the way down with an extended turn at the end. For unknown reasons, after the trip Bach revisited Frederick’s theme and—though unsolicited to do so—fleshed it out as the Musical Offering, making sure to adapt the theme to three core forms: canon, fugue, and sonata. In all, there are thirteen separate pieces that comprise the entirety of the Musical Offering. Since no performances were given during his lifetime, it is viewed, along with Bach’s The Art of Fugue, as the composer’s way of documenting for posterity the culmination of his abilities.

Ricercar, an ancient term for a kind of fugue, was a title Bach never used before or after the Musical Offering. Two different kinds of ricercars had developed over the years. The first was a freely improvised prelude (ricercar meaning “to seek out”). The second was formally organized. In Bach’s Musical Offering there are two ricercars, one for three parts and the other for six. The ricercar a 3 is usually accepted as a notated version of Bach’s original free improvisation in Potsdam, while the ricercar a 6 is his rigorously “academic” approach to the theme, worked out fully as a six-part fugue in C minor. As the music begins, we hear the Royal Theme entering on the note C, and the second voice entering on the note G, per the rules of this style, in which the subjects must be introduced at the interval of a fifth. The remaining four voices each take their turn with the theme in this opening exposition. Once all the voices have been heard, the music shifts into an episodic play between the theme and countersubjects (analogous to the development section of a Classical-era sonata form). Halfway through, a full statement of the Royal Theme reappears, signaling the point at which each of the other five voices will return to the theme once more, bringing the tour de force to a conclusion on a brilliant C-major chord.