Figure and Affection in „Orgelbüchlein” by J. S. Bach

Abstract

The musical-rhetorical figure possesses a rich area of representation, going from the "decoratio" function to the semantic inversion, in accordance with the Doctrine of Affections (Affektenlehre). Since the Baroque period, there have been many attempts to group musical figures by their nature and rhetorical functions. The Doctrine of Affections facilitated the transfer of the expressiveness of the figure from the vocal to the instrumental. A close connection between the rhetorical figure and the affections appears in Bach's "Orgelbüchlein". The set of 46 Chorale preludes for organ, BWV 599-644, constitute a veritable dictionary of expressive constants that can be found in the religious or even secular works composed by Bach.