Researching J.S. Bach’s Harmonic Idea

The impact of John Sebastian Bach’s music on future generations is inestimable.Whether it is his counterpoint art,or his rich and unique harmony language,it has left infinite inspiration for future generations,and it is the soil that we can draw nutrients from in our lives.This article aims to start with "Musical offering" and try to explore the harmonic language of Bach,especially the mystery of the perfect balance between harmony and counterpoint in his later works.This article consists of four chapters.The first chapter introduces the reconstruction of "Musical offering" by American musicologist Joel Sheveloff;on this basis,the second chapter gives some overall and detailed observations of each movement.Chapter Ⅲ summarizes some of the profound harmonical phenomena in "Musical offering",and discusses some of Bach’s other works;Chapter Ⅳ describes the composers of later generations on Bach’s acceptance and inheritance,especially how Schoenberg cited Bach’s example to support his theory of harmony.