Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier & The Doctrine of Affections?

Question

So, apparently in the Baroque era, each piece of music was supposed to convey an "affection", which is kind of like an emotion. Generally, I think the emotions were either love, hate, joy, sorrow, wonder, or desire. Please tell me which "affection you think best describes this piece by Bach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkg0aQxsKlU
P.S. It's probably hate, sorrow, or desire, because it's in a minor key.

Answer 1

There is a lot more to the "doctrine of affections" than the "states of the soul" that you have listed. Mattheson, for example, listed 20 of them, along with melodic patterns, scales, bass lines, etc. for each of them -- which scholars of the era never came to agreement on, by the way.



It is an exercise in futility, IMO, to attempt to codify each of Bach's (or any Baroque composer's) works this way. A deep study of the doctrine would be helpful in understanding the different musics of the era, perhaps. But if the emotions are codified in the music (this is my main argument against the doctrine) then all one simply has to do is play them note for note, direction for direction. This would make for a seriously boring set of interpretations.



Bach's music to me is architecture and design of the most marvelous kind. My job in performing them would be to project the beauty of those structures to the audience.



Cheers,





G.

Answer 2

While there is some merit to using the Doctrine of the Affections to understand Baroque music you shouldn't take it too far and it doesn't apply to every piece of music. This concept is certainly made more confounding by the various affections having loose definitions, and given different definitions by different philosophers and theorists.



It's a nice idea that describes a significant quantity of Baroque music, however that's where the idea stops, because it doesn't do much else to help understand music in anything other than overly broad generalizations.



This is further complicated by the lack of recording technology from the period, so there is still some uncertainty to how the music was actually performed, and whether the Doctrine of the Affections was descriptive or prescriptive.



EDIT:

since this is for Grade 3 RCM history you can expect your professor to define exactly what he or she considers the musical representation of the affections. If you start reading the academic literature on this is gets pretty contentious especially in the gray areas.

Answer 3

Where did you read or hear this?

I have read something similar, that a contrast of two or more emotions in the same piece was inconceivable in the Baroque Era.

That's why it wasn't until the Classical Era that the sonata-allegro form, with its two contrasting themes, was borne.



I was fond of this piece when I was a child, but I never thought of describing it in a single word.



Glenn Gould plays that piece differently from most people. Most people play it faster, and he's the only I've ever heard play every note staccato.

Bach is unavailable for comment, so we don't know which interpretation is correct.