Clavier-Übung III by Johann SebastIan Bach – "German organ mass"

Abstract

Clavier-Übung III is the third of four movements in the Clavier-Übung cycle by Johann Sebastian Bach. As a result of publishing confusion in the 19th century, the pieces included in the collection were published separately along with the composer’s other organ works. It was not until deeper musicological research and the discovery of the first printed edition of Clavier-Übung III that the composition was shown in a new light. In this article, the author presents Clavier-Übung III from the perspective of a religious message taking into account the formal plan and the symbolism that the composer included in the work by using musical means. The text attempts to explain the term “German Organ Mass” as it has been commonly called. This is done based on the origins of the work, a description of its internal construction, and an analysis of the score material of individual pieces. The main goal of the work is to present Clavier-Übung III as a complementary work that constitutes a certain closed whole as a collection of pieces to be performed in the order proposed by the composer.