J.S. Bach: Two Canons (BWV 1073 & 1087)

[Martin Jonas]

Following on from my recording of the Crab Canon, here are two more Bach canons that transfer nicely to mandolin.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Canons, BWV 1087
12. Five-part Double Mirror Canon

The Goldberg Canons are one of the most recent additions to Bach's known works: they were only discovered in 1974 when Bach's personal manuscript copy of the Goldberg Variations came to light, with an added page of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria. They increase in complexity from very simple examples to quite complex ones. This one is the twelfth canon: two separare themes, each played on two instruments with the second mirror-inverse, and an added simple bass line.

Score at IMSLP:
https://imslp.org/wiki/14_Canons%2C_...ann_Sebastian)

Nylgut-strung bowlback mandolin (x2)
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin (x2)
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



Johann Sebastian Bach: Canon in A Minor (for Walther), BWV 1073

This is a canon in four parts, each coming in a bar later and a fifth higher than the previous part. Written by Bach in Weimar on 2 August 1713, and dedicated to his distant relative Johann Gottfried Walther.

Sheet music at IMSLP:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Canon_in_A_mi...ann_Sebastian)

Nylgut-strung bowlback mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



Martin