Description
Of the two forms in which BWV Anh. 117 survives, this is b: a bright F major polonaise full of small, busy figures. It is connected with the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, into which several polonaises were written. The Anh. in its number places it in the appendix of Bach's catalogue, among works not confirmed as his, and its composer remains uncertain.
In F major and 3/4, a bright major-key melody moves in the polonaise's triple-time tread. With 241 notes in 51 seconds, it has more notes than the D minor and G minor polonaises from the same notebook, and a busier texture. Its range, C2 to B-flat 5, fits on a 61-key keyboard.
Rated intermediate. The task is to tidy the melody's small figures within the triple time without upsetting the polonaise's stately step. F major has only one black key, B-flat, so the hand positions are fairly easy to find. Lower the playback speed to check the small figures, repeat short phrases with the A-B loop, and follow the relation between the right-hand melody and left-hand bass with the hand colours.
The polonaise, a stately Polish triple-time dance, including Chopin's grand works marked by a proud, march-like rhythm.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
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