Ulrich Siegele: Taktzahlen als Ordnungsfaktor in Suiten- und Sonatensammlungen von J. S. Bach

Mit einem Anhang zu den Kanonischen Veränderungen über „Vom Himmel hoch“

One of the organizing elements in J. S. Bach’s collections of instrumental music, in particular the sonatas and suites, is the numbers of bars—both the sums resulting from groups of movements and the averages resulting from these sums. The implications behind these numbers, revealed upon a breakdown of their structural constituents, can be divided into basic numbers and into modifications, whether they be large, structural, or small and pragmatic. These amounts, or number of bars, inform two compositional parameters: the projected length of a collection and the perceived norms regulating the order and types of its movements. A special feature is the fact that these bar numbers relate to the computation of real time, thus providing a frame of reference for the dispositional duration of the respective collections. As a rule, 162 bars correspond to half of a quarter hour, or seven and a half minutes. 1944 bars, corresponding to ninety minutes, proves to be significant as a target for the length of numerous collections.

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