Allegory and Symbolism in “Sei Solo” — Focusing on musical message by J.S. Bach, from Six Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas BWV1001-1006
(2025)
author(s): Eriko Nagayama
published in: KC Research Portal
This research explores the use of allegory and symbolism in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas (BWV 1001-1006). The central inquiry is how Bach incorporated European allegorical and symbolic ideas into his music. Key aspects of this investigation include understanding how Bach applied symbolism through ornamentation, tonality, and numerical values.
The study raises several questions: What were the common allegorical ideas in Europe at the time? Is there a consecutive story behind the Sei Solo? How do symbols relate to the piece?
Additionally, it will examine how allegories (which is more common in literature and art) manifest in his Sei Solo through musical gestures like messa di voce, harmony hierarchies, and inflections.
This research is dedicated to all the curious minds exploring allegory and symbolism in music—from those newly discovering J.S. Bach to devoted Bach lovers, students, and professionals.
Some works and their afterlife
(2018)
author(s): Mika Elo
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
In this exposition I present a cluster of works with regard to their subtle interconnections, often not consciously constructed or intended in any particular ways at the time of their conception. The afterlife of these works, however, enact aesthetic intra-actions of their ensemble. Shedding light on some parts of this cavernous network of pressing matters I make an attempt of explicating the ways in which artistic thinking might get "diffracted" into many part-processes that are both divergent and entangled. In the course of my presentation, I try to be sensitive towards the fact that these strings of thinking are distributed in a complex manner across the divide of sensibility and intelligibility. In terms of the chosen approach this implies avoiding the use of discursive explanations as the main medium of explication. This "method", if it can be formalized as one, involves priorizing the material circumstances of particular articulations, both verbal and non-verbal, over content-oriented gestures of translation.