11/05/2023
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁-𝐀-𝐂-𝐇 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐭’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝐊.𝟓𝟕𝟔
J. S. Bach and other composers in his family often “signed” their work by incorporating the sequence of notes B♭-A-C-B♮ into their music. With B♭ and B♮ given by their German names B, and H, these notes spell out their last name, and many later composers used this sequence, which became known as the “B-A-C-H” motif, in pieces that were direct homages to J. S. Bach. No such acknowledged tribute was written (or survives) by W. A. Mozart, although Mozart did extensively study, imitate, and absorb stylistic elements of the music of J. S. Bach and his sons. In Mozart’s contrapuntal final piano sonata K.576 in D major, however, B-A-C-H-like sequences appear throughout the three movements, as described here. They are often scrambled, split, or transposed, and they rarely form a theme that would be clear to a listener, raising the question of whether these were purposeful references to any of the Bach family or simply elements of a musical style that happen to recall the B-A-C-H motif to a modern seeker. Although no answer can be unequivocal, examining the events of Mozart’s life in 1789 when K.576 was written and his other compositions of that time—namely the Gigue K.574 and the Minuet K.576b—can help the performer gain perspective on how Mozart’s last piano sonata was influenced by Bach’s music and whether it may contain a cryptographic allusion to Bach.
J. S. Bach and other composers in his family often "signed" their work by incorporating the sequence of notes B♭-A-C-B♮ into their music.
