Johann Sebastian Bach - booksnow.scholarsportal.info

—174 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH.lifted it into a high ideal region, giving it an intellectual andinspired form, which, on the incomparably higher level towhich Bach had raised instrumental music, was once moreworthy of the attention of the most earnest musicians.Although in later times the older variation form has continuedto flourish, just because its relations with the originof instrumental music were of so close a kind, and hasborne new fruit in the shape of many delightful creations,yet the best musicians, even down to the latest times, haverecognised in Bach's thirty variations the highest model ofthe form.We must now return to the Quodlibet which forms thelast variation. Musical diversions of this kind, in whicheven words in different languages were sometimes mixedup, might be performed in two ways. Either a number ofwell known melodies were sung or played one after another, sothat those tunes which had the least inward connection werebrought into juxtaposition ; if each could be strung on tosome unimportant phrase of the words or the music of thepreceding one, the joke was all the better. The othermethod consisted of performing simultaneously several wellknown melodies with the most incongruous words. Thislast and more ingenious method was the one chosen byBach. The words of the two popular songs used are handeddown by his pupil Kittel.^^^ They run thus :Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir gewest, I long have been away from thee,Ruck her, ruck her, ruck her; I'm here, I'm here, I'm here,Mit einem tumpfen^-^ Flederwisch With such a dull and dowdy prudeDrüber her, drüber her, drüber her.andOut there, out there, out there.Kraut und RübenKail and turnipsHaben mich vertrieben ;Don't suit my digestion ;Hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, If my mother cooked some meatSo war ich länger blieben.I'd stay here without question.322 The information comes to us through Pölchau, who inserted a note to thiseffect in his copy of the original edition of the variations. This copy is in theRoyal Library at Berlin.3-3 Dialect for " Stumpfen."