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The first movement of the Sonata in G Minor begins with Adagio. I have always wondered why Bach chose Adagio instead of Grave, as the atmosphere seems more fitting for the latter. In Italian, Adagio means "slowly," derived from ad agio, meaning "at ease." Bach’s key choice is remarkable—G is the violin’s lowest note, and in G minor, two notes of the tonic chord are open strings, which we could get a profound sonority. According to Mattheson’s description of key characteristics, G minor is “almost the most beautiful key—uncommon grace and complaisance.”
Examining the notation in 4/4 time, we see chordal pillars standing like columns, while the smaller notes—demisemiquavers and at times even hemidemisemiquavers—flow in between like water (tears), or like a serpent, or grapes...? 💧 🐍 🍇
beginning of Adagio, manuscript by Bach himself.
https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001955, last visited 24th February, 2025
Ledbetter says that both the second movement of Bach’s organ arrangement of Vivaldi’s Grosso Mogul Concerto (RV 208, BWV 594) from his Op. 7 concertos (published in Amsterdam in 1716–17, though Bach used a different manuscript version, meaning the print is not a reliable indicator of dating) and the recitative section of the Chromatic Fantasia for clavier (BWV 903/1) share a stylistic identity with this Adagio. Moreover, both movements are marked Recitativ—in the case of BWV 594, also Adagio. This serves as a useful reminder that Adagio can indicate a free, rhetorical style rather than merely a very slow tempo.1 We can imagine that this Adagio serves as a recitativo of Bach’s mourning for Maria Barbara, expressing the profound layers and delicate folds of his heart.
Also, it is in a form of Corelli, mentioned by my violin professor Ryo Terakado and also by Ledbetter.
"There are in any case plenty of string antecedents for this manner. The one most often mentioned is the Amsterdam printing of Corelli’s Op.5 violin Sonatas (1710) which has ornaments in the slow movements attributed to Corelli. These are in quite a different style from later ornamentations for Corelli’s Sonatas by Geminiani and others in that they tend to have very light filigree ornaments at the end of the note, rather than a steady level of rhythmic ornamentation."2
Dietrich Bartel, in his book Musica Poetica, catalogues numerous rhetorical terms based on prominent theorists from the 16th to 19th centuries. In the section of Groppo, where the term is specifically used to identify a four-note ending configuration, Mattheson apparently describes in his book Capellmeister (p.115f.):
Previous songmasters made a great deal out of the embellishment which they called groppo. According to my German translation, this word means grapelike cluster, and l simply cannot understand how it is possible that this word, groppo, should mean roller or ball, even though Printz, Walther, and many others define it as such in their books. It is undoubtedly derived from grappo, which means a grape, even in French and English. It denotes all those things, both literally and figuratively, which are referred to as clusters, both in Lower Saxony and England (as well as in old High German), namely many small berries or other items which are clustered together just as the notes in this Manier, which are all bound together. These groppi can be applied either periodically as simple coincidental embellishments or can be used to substantially structure the melody, forming entire runs. These runs can contribute in no small part to the musical expression, should the expression of the desired affection permit such turning and revolving.3
As I previously mentioned in Chapter III: Tonalities and Key Characteristics, here again, we see Bach’s special use of the subdominant. Ledbetter says, "The most important aspect from the point of view of style and structure is the expressive and structural use of the ornamentation. It is certainly true that the fourth degree is structurally important in this movement since the opening section, modulating up a 5th to the dominant (bars 1-9), is reprised beginning in the subdominant C minor (fourth degree) and modulating up a 5th to the tonic (bars 14-22). The principle of the subdominant reprise was commonly used by Bach at this time. Within this general scheme there is a remarkable unity of surface and structure, characteristic of Bach, which is also the expressive argument."5
It is in a three parts, A-B-A' with a coda which Prof. Terakado says, serves as a role model for rhetorical form. The A part conveys a lamento, particularly evident in bars 7 and 8. The B part raises an objection to the A part, and then comes back to A' part, a variation of A, now with even stronger dissonances. This part aligns with the rhetorical term named confutatio—the refutation of opposing arguments.
When comparing A' to A, the bass line remains largely the same, but with the decorative tirata leading up to A-flat, the increased use of diminished ninth chords is particularly striking. (Ex.1)
As Prof. Terakado mentions, I also personally interpret this set of six pieces as an expression of grief for Bach’s late wife, Maria Barbara, whom he had unexpectedly lost during a business trip with Prince Leopold of Köthen. The Sei Solo is both a lamentation and a spiritual journey, reflecting his search for a way to overcome his sorrow. The Adagio serves as the entrance to this journey.
Prof. Terakado says, this Adagio reminds him of the myth of Orpheus (Orfeo ed Euridice). Orpheus, traditionally, was the son of a Muse (the patron of epic poetry) and Oeagrus, a king of Thrace (other versions give Apollo). According to some legends, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Orpheus’s singing and playing were so beautiful that animals and even trees and rocks moved about him in dance.
Orpheus joined the expedition of the Argonauts, saving them from the music of the Sirens by playing his own, more powerful music. On his return, he married Eudyrice, who was soon killed by a snakebite. Overcome with grief, Orpheus ventured to the land of the dead to attempt to bring Eurydice back to life. With his singing and playing he charmed the ferryman Charon and the dog Cerberus (was usually said to have three heads, though the poet Hesiod said 50), guardians of the River Styx. His music and grief so moved Hades, king of the underworld, that Orpheus was allowed to take Eurydice with him back to the world of life and light. Hades set one condition, however: upon leaving the land of death, both Orpheus and Eurydice were forbidden to look back. The couple climbed up toward the opening into the land of the living, and Orpheus, seeing the Sun again, turned back to share his delight with Eurydice. In that moment, she disappeared. A famous version of the story was related by Virgil (Roman poet, 70BC- 19BC), in Georgics, Book IV.6
As I have already mentioned in Chapter II. Symbolism and Allegory?, Bach must have studied Greek mythology. Considering this, it is not far-fetched to suggest that the myth of Orpheus aligns remarkably well with this Adagio, as Prof. Terakado observed.
In the A part, Orpheus descends into the underworld of Hades to recover his lost wife, Eurydice. The lamenting motion from G to A (the dominant of D minor) evokes the image of Orpheus journeying by boat to see Eurydice in the Underworld. When he arrives (B part), the music gradually descended into D minor, enveloping us in darkness.
In this B part, we hear numerous dissonances and even the ominous fanfare of Hell’s trumpet (beginning of bar 10).
We traverse through D minor (“devout, calm, grand, agreeable, and expressive of contentment” as described by Mattheson) and G minor, with an incomplete passus duriusculus leading into C minor (“sad and lovely, warmth, drowsiness” by Mattheson) in latter half of bar 10. In bar 11, we are momentarily embraced by E-flat major (“pathetic, profound, pleading”, Mattheson), which even takes us briefly to A-flat major (bar 12), symbolising Orpheus and Eurydice’s fleeting hope of returning to the world of light and life. Overcome with joy, Orpheus cannot resist turning back to look at his beloved Eurydice.
At this moment, time freezes—the fermata in bar 13 marks her vanishing, evaporate, as she is lost forever. The ephemeral nature of life and the pain of losing Eurydice are deeply felt in the A' part, where new diminished chords—even more from the original A section—intensify the sorrow.
In the Coda, Orpheus encounters the mirrored surface of the pond, mourning the cruel truth of his destiny. Likewise, a heartbroken and devastated Johann Sebastian Bach grieves for his own loss, searching for no one but Maria Barbara. Though written in 4/4, the Adagio contains an overwhelming depth of emotion, rising and falling within each tactus. The penultimate bar overflows with feeling, culminating in the final G minor chord, which brings the Adagio to a close and leads into the Fuga that follows.
Lastly, I would like to touch on the gematria I discovered in this Adagio. While I cannot be certain that these were intentional choices by Bach, I believe my findings are worth noting.
We have previously mentioned Bach’s name in gematria:
B(2) + A(1) + C(3) + H(8) = 14
(see Chapter IV. Gematria, Bach and numbers)
Similarly, Maria Barbara’s name in gematria is calculated as follows:
M(12) + A(1) + R(17) + I(9) + A(1) = 40
B(2) + A(1) + R(17) + B(2) + A(1) + R(17) + A(1) = 41
The first phrase of this movement (which also marks the beginning of the entire Sei Solo) starts and ends with a G minor tonic chord, reflecting:
G(7) + D(4) + B(2) + G(7) = 20
Multiplied by two (for the opening and closing), we get:
20 × 2 + 40 = MARIA
Additionally, the bass line of the first phrase begins and ends with G, which results in:
G(7) + G(7) = 14 (a reversal of BARBARA and also BACH).
Since the final chord of the Adagio is also the same open G minor chord, we could interpret this as Bach embedding Maria’s presence throughout the movement too.
Within the first phrase, there is a mirrored pairing of G and F♯, where:
Fis (F + I + S = 33) + G(7) = 40 (MARIA).
Regarding the numerical proportions and symbolism,
In terms of structure, the movement follows a proportional balance:
- A : 8 bars
- B : 5 bars
- A' + Coda : 8 bars
It is unlikely to be a coincidence that Bach incorporated the golden ratio into this design:
5 ÷ 8 = 0.625
Other notable numerical relationships include:
- 8 + 5 = 13 (a number associated with misfortune and death)
- 8 + 5 + 8 = 21, which is 3 × 7, symbolising the Trinity and the Holy Spirit.
In the next chapter, I would like to take a brief look at the following movement, Fuga.
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1David Ledbetter, Unaccompanied Bach : performing the solo works (Yale University Press, 2009), pp.95-96.
2ibid., pp.96-97.
3Dietrich Bartel, Musica Poetica Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1997), p.292.
5Ledbetter (n 1), p.97-98.
6https://www.britannica.com/topic/Orpheus-Greek-mythology, last visited 1st March, 2025.
Next: Chapter VI. Analysation on Fuga from G minor Sonata BWV1001 (to be continued)
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