Content Examples
Study Scores
World 4
Example 1 - The Salve Regina Study Score (1 hour)
Salve Regina is one of four Marian antiphons in the Gregorian liturgy that were sung during the compline service at the end of the day. The particular antiphon that was sung depended upon the time of the year. Salve Regina was sung from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. The study score begins with the Gregorian antiphon sung by monks, as we follow the score in the original notation with Don Robertson’s modern translation below. Following this, we present polyphonic adaptations of the Salve Regina text that were composed through the centuries and used in the compline service. We conclude with an 18th-century setting by George Frederic Handel. This elaborate setting was composed for a special occasion.
Example 2 - The Genius of Johann Sebastian Bach (40 min)
A very special study score created by Don Robertson, where eight fugal compositions are analyzed with color-highlighted melodies and countermelodies, with definitions of the keys and formal identifications of the sections. First, three fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier are presented, followed by two fugues from the Art of the Fugue. Next, the choral fugues from Cantatas 196 and 17 are looked at, and finally, a thorough analysis of the fugue from the G minor Sonata for Solo Violin.
Example 3 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Cantata 56 Study (1 hour, 15 min)
This is an extended study of Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous solo cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (I Will Gladly Carry Your Cross) composed for the 19th Sunday after Trinity in the liturgy of the Lutheran Church in Germany. Except for the chorale at the end, the cantata is sung by a single bass singer. This study combines videos from two important organizations focused on the performance and study of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach: The Netherlands Bach Society and The J.S. Bach Foundation in Saint Gallen, Switzerland.
The study begins with a full performance of the cantata by the Netherlands Bach Society in dual follow-along score fashion, with the video of the performance on the left and the score on the right. Following the performance, the conductor Fabio Bonizzoni discusses the cantata. Next we move on to a fantastic 45-minute-long workshop focused on the musical and theological background of Cantata 56 presented by the J.S. Bach Foundation in Saint Gallen, with presenters Rudolf Lutz and Karl Graf.
Example 4 - Haydn Farewell Symphony Study (30 min)
This special study score by Don Robertson provides a thorough analysis of Haydn’s Symphony No. 45, the so-called “Farewell” symphony. The sections within each movement are defined, as well as the harmonic structure and the melodic development.
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