# Within the FIRST FIVE MEASURES, what makes Bach identifiable?



## LAS (Dec 12, 2014)

With the first five measures limitation, I'd expect answers having to do with orchestration, chord structure, maybe short motifs, but please, no replies having to do with the overall structure, or length of phrases, etc.

Yesterday and today I listened to all of Bach's sinfonias in chronological order. I was paying attention to whether I would have identified it if I'd heard just that short amount when I flicked on the radio in the car. In disc one (1707-1726) there were only two. In disc two I think all of them qualified (1726-1734). Two didn't count because they were instantly recognizable as well known pieces. But as far as I knew, I was not familiar with any of the others.

So if you agree that there is a signature sound to Bach, not present all the time, but recognizable, then can anyone articulate what makes this sound?

TIA
LAS


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Unless a work is previously known as being Bach's, only hearing the first five bars would make it not much more than a guess. The orchestration in that era was quite flexible. His harmonic and melodic procedures were mimicked by his contemporaries and he also borrowed ideas from others. People can't even decide for sure if JS Bach wrote the famous Toccata and Fugue in D.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Of course, to me Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Corelli are some of the most recognizable Baroque masters. With Bach, his themes are kept to an absolute minimum but thoroughly exhausted using contrapuntal and fugal development. These are musical solutions that require mastery skill in handling fugues, yet musically pleasing to the ear as music. Relentless counterpoint with voices (parts) going in, interwoven with each other make his music truly outstanding.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

BTW, does anyone really know whether BWV565 is composed by Bach or not? The fugue section seems to be atypical (subdominant answer; bass entry of fugue subject alone etc). Also, CPO labeled a bunch of his cantatas "apocryphal", though they sound really close to authentic works.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I think the right mix of self-sufficiency of each voice part, and the way it interplays with others in counterpoint. I'm referring more to the keyboard pieces.


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