The diversity of contrapuntal writing illustrating rigorous to casual application of fugal practices in selected cantatas of J. S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas reveal a diversity of contrapuntal techniques and numerous fugal styles, including double fugues, permutation fugues, chorale fugues, and hybrid forms such as ritornello fugues and concerto fugues. Exemplary cantata movements have been drawn from various periods of the Bach canon, illustrating the spectrum of rigorous to casual application of fugal practices, and have been analyzed and compared to selected keyboard and orchestral works. Textural and harmonic factors have been analyzed with special attention to the symmetries of entry patterns the segmentation process applied to subjects, stretto procedures, and specialized instances of diminution of augmentation, or other time manipulations of material. The analytic graphs within this thesis attempt to show these differing structural elements as well as tonal organization; letters of the Greek alphabet have been used to identify the thematic material (;The purely abstract instrumental fugues of Das Wohltemperirte Clavier are tightly integrated, displaying professional mastery of manipulation and a high level of architectural balance. In the organ fugues, Bach dispenses with tight motivic unification in favor of bravura display, homophonic writing, or when featuring organ effects (including spatial manipulation of sound, contrasting timbres, or thematic rests which play the reverberation of the building).;Though the choral contrapuntal works studied here, particularly the permutation fugues, are integrated, the level of cellular unification such as that found in the WTC does not appear to be their goal and indicates a differentiation of technical approach; their intent is focused on the interpretive management and musical symbolism of their text, as is seen in the stretto writing of Cantata BWV 40. The festive cantatas are focused on the celebration of a church holiday such as Epiphany (BWV 65) or the Resurrection (BWV 31); often their dramatic intent takes precedence over contrapuntal manipulation.;The sum of the foregoing analytic materials provides the conclusive evidence for some of the vital distinctions between the vocal and instrumental contrapuntal settings.