Allegory in Baroque Music

Author(s): Manfred Bukofzer

Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 3, No. 1/2 (Oct., 1939 - Jan.,
1940), pp. 1-21
Published by: The Warburg Institute
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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC
By Manfred Bukofzer

is common knowledge that baroque art shows a great predilection

It for emblems and allegories. So far this has been studied chiefly in
painting and sculpture, and in poetry. In music the question has not
attracted the attention of many students, apart from scholars like Schering,1
who have devoted their attention to special aspects of the problem. It is
even sometimes denied categorically that music can make any use of
symbol and allegory at all; for these are means of indirect expression
which associate pictures and attributeswith abstract ideas, and since, however,
abstract concepts do not enter into music, it might be maintained that it
cannot possibly make any use of allegory. To be sure, music cannot
represent abstract concepts directly; but that does not imply that allegory
is absolutely excluded from music. Nor can painting represent abstract
concepts directly : if it shows us a woman with bandaged eyes and a sword
and a pair of scales, our recognition of this woman as Justice depends
upon an intellectual convention which has nothing essential to do with
painting. Allegory, therefore, implies a mental act, namely understanding.
But even if this act is not performed, the representation remains to this
extent intelligible, that we see a woman with particular attributes, which
from an artistic point of view can be made more or less convincing. The
allegory can be misunderstood, or indeed not understood at all, without
the picture becoming thereby altogether senseless. A painting supplies in
the first place a sensuous impression, then a meaning is superimposed on
this impression by the interpreter. The difficulty lies precisely in this
second process, since the interpretation is not subsequent to the visual
impression, but coincides with it and even sometimes precedes it.2 In
the same way, music supplies primarily a sensuous impression of tone and
rhythm; is it not possible, then, to superimpose an intellectual significance
upon this sensuous impression?
Those who refuse to admit this might argue that music cannot represent
anything definite, in the sense that painting represents a house, a flower,
or a woman. But music has definite, specifically musical objects, such as
rhythms and melodies. It betrays a very superficial view of the matter
to distinguish music from painting or poetry by asserting that it cannot
represent a house or a flower. This implies a false application of pictorial
standards to music. It would be equally false to require painting to represent
specifically musical objects, such as a definite melody or musical rhythm.
It is more to the point to inquire whether or not a specifically musical or a
specifically pictorial object can be furnished with a meaning which does not
reside in it from the start. This is the case with painting, and there is no
1 Arnold 2 There can be no doubt that the
Schering: "Die Lehrevon den spectator,
musikalischenFiguren," Kirchenmusikalisches
knowing the meaning already in advance,
Jahrbuch, I9o8. "Bach und das Symbol," has quite a different attitude toward the work
Bach-Jahrbuch, 1925 und. 1928. and actually sees more at the first glimpse
"Geschicht-
liches zur 'ars inveniendi,' " JahrbuchPeters, than a man lacking this knowledge.
1925.
I

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2 M. BUKOFZER
fundamental difference between painting and music in this respect. If,
for instance, an allegory of war is embodied in a painting of the god of war,
Mars, it would be possible in the same way to make a musical allegory
of war in the form of a particular march rhythm. Our capacity to
understand such a march as an allegory of war is on the same level as our
capacity to interpret our warrior as no mere warrior, but rather as an
allegory of war.

Before we examine our problem more closely, we must be perfectly

clear about the meaning of the terms we employ. In common parlance,
symbolism is understood as the mode of substitution, of figurative expression.
That is to say, things are represented not immediately, but by means of
certain ambiguous expressions which are in themselves something other
than what they mean. From this point of view allegory, metaphor, simile
and symbol would all be cases of a general symbolic procedure which
employs signs. For our purpose this indiscriminate use of terms is
completely valueless.
The only possibility of arriving at a clear and unambiguous nomenclature
will consist in an attempt to discover the relation, in each case, of the sign
to its meaning. For in every case we are concerned with signs and meanings;
the difference lies in the relation of the intuitive to the mental side of the
process.
It is convenient to differentiate between three kinds of relation. The
first is a purely conventional and accidental one. The sign "red light"
means "stop". That is a convention; the colour might just as well be
different. Sign and meaning have nothing to do with each other :they
are divergent.
In the second class, the sign and the meaning are somewhat more closely
connected. The sign has something in common with the meaning. For
example, a triangle in a church can signify the Trinity. The common
element here resides in the numerical correspondence. In this case the
relation between the sign and its meaning is not arbitrary. Intuition and
comprehension hang together : they are coherent.
Coherence is recognised by means of an intellectual act. But it is not
always certain whether the spectator performs this act properly. He may
misread the meaning. A triangle, for instance, might be a traffic sign.
In this case the meaning is arbitrary; sign and meaning diverge.
Where sign and meaning converge, the problem arises whether the
sign is to be understood in its literal sense or figuratively. If I see a picture
of a lion, I cannot tell whether I have before me merely a picture of a lion
or an allegory of courage. The distinction between literal and figurative
understanding can only exist in the case of signs with coherent significance,
for in the case of signs with divergent significance the form of the sign is
completely immaterial so far as the act of interpretation is concerned.
The possibilities of coherence are limited to relatively few common
notions. The connection lies either in a common property, or analogy
(triangle-Trinity), or in a comparison (brave as a lion), or in the notion

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 3
of a part standing for the whole (the sword means war, the violin music).
Almost all signs with a coherent meaning can be attributed to these three
concepts. In each case we proceed by means of a mental act from the
external character of the sign to the figurative meaning.
On the other hand, sign and meaning can be related in yet a third way.
Instead of proceeding from the appearance of the sign to its meaning, and
linking them together, we find that the meaning is actually bound up with
the appearance. In all coherent signs it is possible to express the meaning
in words without the help of signs. In this case it is not so. A lyrical poem
consists of words with a definite meaning which can be looked up in a
dictionary, but this will not give us the meaning of the poem. The exact
meaning of it is something which cannot be transposed into other words.
Therefore the meaning is directly bound up with the words and is accessible
through them alone, yet it is not completely given by the words as such.
If I arranged the words in a different order, I should destroy the poem.
In this type, where the sign and its meaning are amalgamated, it is no
longer a question of whether something is to be understood literally or
figuratively. The sign is now absolutely inseparable from its meaning.
In contradistinction to divergent and coherent signs, the significance of
these signs is inherent.
An example from music will make this quite clear. We say that a
melody is a succession of tones; let us take then a succession of tones.
Ex. I.

We have here a succession of tones, but not a melody. We call such

a conglomeration of tones senseless or meaningless. What gives a melody
meaning is something specifically musical, which cannot be expressed in
words; the specifically musical meaning lies in the music itself.' The
tones are now signs of a spiritual significance which cannot be released with-
out the assistance of these signs. In this sense, what a symphony means
for us cannot be expressed verbally; if it were possible to do this, there would
be no need to compose the symphony.
This inquiry into the relationship of sign and meaning has led us then
to consider three different kinds of figurative expression. We have now
to consider what we should call these three forms. In the first case, that
of divergence, we may call them signs. In the second case, that of coherence,
we may call them allegories;and in the third case, that of inherence, we
may call them symbols.
Signs are applied arbitrarily without regard to their external form;
allegories must be chosen and interpreted understandingly, since the sign
and the meaning must hang together in some intelligible way; symbols
1 Cf. Manfred Bukofzer, "Hegel's Musik- et de Science de l'Art, Paris, I937, Vol. II,
aesthetik," Report of the Congresd'Esthldtiquep. 32.

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4 M. BUKOFZER
are bound up with the intuitive apperception. They interpret themselves
in the very act of appearing; their meaning is not to be formulated in abstract
terms without regard for the intuitive process.
This distinction must underlie the whole of our argument. We have
already seen that we are not so much concerned with the fact that signs
have meanings as with the essential distinction that lies in our definition
of the relationbetween the sign and the meaning. Divergence, coherence
and inherence are therefore the three different possibilities of figurative
expression. As the theme of this paper is musical allegory, I shall deal
chiefly with coherence.
We find in the music of the sixteenth century on almost every occasion
when the text reads "descendit de coelis" a descending melody, and when
the text reads "ascendit in coelum" a rising melody.' These analogies
are generally called tone symbolism,2 but this is only correct if the word
symbolism is so broadly used that it embraces all signs. In point of fact,
what we have before us is a musical allegory. The descent, which is directly
expressed in the word "descendit" and which therefore requires no further
figurative transformation, is embodied in the descent of the melody.
It should be noted that the descending melody is not an emotional
expression of the textual phrase "descendit de coelis"; for these musical
figures have nothing expressive about them. They express no emotion
or feeling, since the shape of the melody is not defined and may equally
well be a descending third, a descending scale, or simply a few descending
notes. As far as the allegory is concerned, this is immaterial, as is, for
example, the shape of the scales in an allegory of justice; the point is that
there must be a pair of scales.
What is embodied, then, in the figure for "descendit de coelis"? Not
the descent from heaven, but simply the abstract notion : descent. The
same figure can be, and has been, used to illustrate the words "descendi
in hortum" from the Song of Songs. In both cases the allegory conveys
an abstract idea, just like in painting. It is clear, however, that the medium
of imagery is different in music and in painting, and predestines them for
different types of allegory. The most suitable subjects for musical allegory
are notions associated with the idea of movement-speed, slowness, ascent,
descent, height, depth, jumping, stepping, duration, shortness, etc.
The theoretical writers of the baroque period had already begun to
puzzle their heads about the sort of words which lent themselves to musical
allegory, and various systems were proposed.3 From the large number of
baroque treatises at our disposal,4 I will choose that of Andreas Herbst,
1 Examples of descending motifs can be beginning with Ellipsis, Suspensio,Antithesis,
found in nearly every Mass of the I6th Epistrophe,etc.
century; they seldom occur, however, in the 4 Glareanus, ADAEKAXOPAON,1547.
Gregorian chant. Adrian Petit Coclicus, Compendium
musices,
2 So Arnold Schering, H. J. Moser and 1552.
others. G. Zarlino, IstituzioniHarmoniche,1558.
s The theorists borrow their terms almost C. Schneegass, IsagogesMusicae, I591.
always from the writers of rhetoric. A S. Calvisius, MEAOIOIIA sive Melodiae con-
long list of instances could be quoted, dendae ratio,
I592.

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 5
although his "Musica Poetica" is not in fact very original, since it is compiled
from many earlier treatises.' But for this very reason it displays the general
tendency of the age, which makes it particularly relevant for our purpose.
This work, which dates from I643, is a brief manual of composition. Herbst
devotes a special chapter to "words and text". He distinguishes between
res and verba,which are susceptible of musical allegory. Res is the subject
matter, and verbarefers to the so-called "meaning of the words" ("Verstand
der Worte"), a concept which recurs over and over again in the musical
theory of this period. An example of "res" is the general mood of sadness.
In that case, the composer must choose a key which corresponds to that
mood. The idea that each of the twelve modes expresses a certain character
of passion goes back to ancient music, which, however, did not invent,
but only systematized these correspondences. It is unnecessary in my
present context to enter into this much discussed problem; suffice it to say
that these coordinations have cosmological, not musical reasons. Certain
strings and tones were coordinated with certain planets, and the attribution
of corresponding effects to music is due to astrology. This musical astrology
is not confined to the ancient world, but is also found in China, Babylonia,
India, and Java. In the baroque period these cosmo-musical associations
of different characters have already become conventional rules which have
lost much of their original connotation and are retained merely as part of
the general humanist equipment.
Far more important than these modal coordinations is the doctrine of
tropicexpressionsand of the so-called loci topici (figures of space). These
are technical terms of rhetoric which have been transferred as far as possible
to music by allegorizing the words of the text.2 Herbst in his survey of the
Verba Motus et Locorum,enumerates the words associated with movement
and rest, after having mentioned the locus topicus:stare, currere, saltare,
ascendere, descendere, coelum, abyssus, montes, profundum, etc. To these
he adds the adverbiatemporis,such as : celeriter, velociter, iterum.
Much more comprehensive than Andreas Herbst's is JohannesMattheson's
account of the loci topici.3 Writing in the first half of the I8th century,
L. Zacconi, Prattica di Musica, 1592. ...
J. Heinichen, Neu-erfundene Anweisung
(11. I622). zum Generalbass,
S. Calvisius, Compendium M. I7II.
Musicae, I594. Vogt, Conclavethesauris magnae artis
musicae poe- musicae, 1719-
J. Burmester, Hypomnematum
ticae, 1599. J. Mattheson, CriticaMusica, I725.
S. Calvisius, Exercitationes
duae, I6oo00. J. Mattheson, Der vollkommene
Capellmeister,
J. Nucius, Musicespoeticae,I6I3. I739-
M. Praetorius, Syntagmamusicum III, 1619. A. Scheibe, CritischerMusicus, I743.
J. Criiger, Synopsismusica,1624. 1 Herbst himself gives a list of ten authors
Volupius Decorus (Wolfgang Sch6nsleder), of whom he made use. The passage in
Architectonice
musicesuniversalis,163 question is derived from Calvisius.
I.
Chr. Bernhard, Tractatuscompositionis 2 Cf. Arnold
aug- Schering, "Bach und das
mentatus, about I650. Symbol" (second study), BachJahrbuch,1928.
J. C. Printz, PhrynidisMytilinaei. . .I, Schering's rendering of Scheibe's account of
1696. the tropic expression is not quite correct.
Chr. Caldenbach, Dissertatiomusica,1664. 3j. Mattheson, Der vollkommeneCapell-
D. Speer, Grundrichtiger... Unterricht oder meister,Part II, Ch. IV, Von der melo-
vierfachesmusikalichesKleeblatt,1697. dischen Erfindung, ? 20.

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6 M. BUKOFZER
he takes a critical view of musical allegory, although he still accepts the
standards of baroque music. He criticizes the term locus topicus as a
pleonasm and suggests that it should be replaced by locus dialecticus. He
regards music as a language of tone (Tonsprache)or speech of sound (Klang-
rede), which is to vie with the art of oratory in affecting and arousing the
listener: "Der Musik Endzweck ist, alle Affekten durch die blossen T6ne und
deren Rhythmum, trotz dem besten Redner rege zu machen."' He discusses
at length the locus notationisand the locusdescriptionis. The former signifies
the elaboration of a composition by imitating the purely musical elements
in the form of inversions, canons, fugues, etc. The locusdescriptionis,
on the
other hand, is for him "die sicherste und wesentlichste Handleitung zur
Invention." The "passions" (Afekte) must be "described" or "depicted"
("beschriebenoderabgemalet"). The manner in which such description must
be imagined may be learnt by reference to baroque music itself. I shall
choose my examples chiefly from the music of Bach, in which these tendencies
are found in their most extreme concentration; so numerous indeed that
even Bach's contemporaries criticized them as excessive.

That Bach constantly made use of musical allegory has been observed
and stated by Albert Schweitzer2 and Andre Pirro.3 These two authors,
however, make no difference between allegory, symbol, simile, and metaphor,
and use these words side by side as though they were synonymous. On
the other hand, we are indebted to them for the compilation of a vocabulary
of musical phrases which Bach repeatedly uses for the illustration of certain
words in the text. Let us take a few classic examples. First, one from
a predecessor of Bach's, Buxtehude-an example of the allegory of sinking.
The text runs: "I sink in deep and bottomless mire."4 To this text
Buxtehude writes a melody which descends to the deepest abysses of
the bass.
Ex. 2.
Ich ver- sin- ke im tie- fen Schlammwo kein Grundist

6 6 6 76
3 3 5

In a similar way Bach describes nightand darkness. The intervals spring

downwards, particularly on the words "still more darkness."5

1J. Mattheson, op. cit. (after Neidhardt : 4 D. Buxtehude, DenkmdlerdeutscherTon-

Vorredezur Temperatur). kunst,XIV, p. 61.
* A. Schweitzer, J. S. Bach, le Musicien- 6
Ausgabe der "Bach-Gesellschaft" (BG)
Poite, 1905. 20, p. 75.
3 A. Pirro, L'Esthitiquede J. S. Bach, 1907.

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 7
Ex. 3-
Noch viel Fin- ster- nis

6
2
or, "here all is night" :1
Ex. 4-
ist ja lau- ter Nacht

Finally, "this is the darkness."1

Ex. 5-
es ist die Dun- kel- heit

6
5

We see here that different words such as "night" and "darkness" on

the one hand, and "sinking" and "abyss" on the other, are illustrated
by the same musical device.
Now an example of distance. When the text reads "so far," Bach writes
an interval in which the tones are widely spaced.
Ex. 6.3
Kommtes doch so weit

6 7b
46 5

Here Bach writes an augmented octave or diminished ninth. Similarly

with the words "wandered far and wide."4
1 BG 5, P. 30. 3 BG 5, P. 222.
2BG I, p. 170. 4 BG 18, p.
274.

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8 M. BUKOFZER
Ex. 7-
Ach, ich ir- re weit und breit

36 2

Whereas here the musical allegory reposes simply on a spatial analogy,

Bach uses diminished ninths in a quite different sense when he wants to
allegorize anger and horror. For instance, in the words "the raging
Herod."x
Ex. 8.
Und wennder writ-ten-de He- ro-des

75 6
5
2

This is a musical phrase which we have already heard as a setting to the

words "so far." But the diminished ninth is used here not for the sake of
distance, but on account of its harmonic sharpness. The point of comparison
is that an angry man is wont to utter loud and hideous cries. This is even
clearer in a passage where deeds of horror are spoken of.
Ex. 9.2

dem Greu- el an hei- li- ger Stlt-te

F. b,
i "z , ', . .
u ,- " -

Here again Bach does not use the ninth because of the distance but because
of the harmonic dissonance. It sounds as horrible as the horrors Bach
wishes to allegorize.
The same interval can acquire still a third meaning. Where the text
says "my soul's ardent desire"3 this diminished ninth appears once again.
1 BG 3 BG
12, 2, p. I40. 32, p. 64.
2 BG 20, I, p. 211.

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 9
Ex. Io.
wo mei- ner See- le briin-sti- ges Ver- lan-gen

6 72 6
2

Here the meaning is dependent upon the harmonic relation just as in the
scene of "horrors" or in the case of the "raging Herod." We see, then,
how the same interval may allegorize three distinct notions with different
emotional associations. This is only possible because the musical allegory
is not expressive: that is to say, it does not convey its meaning through
the emotions.
These examples prove that musically similar motifs can allegorize different
things. The unambiguous interpretation of the allegory is only possible
with the text before us. Since the ninth is an interval with a great stretch,
and is also harmonically a strong dissonance, it can appear both as an
allegory of distance and as an allegory of horror. The decisive factor is
the intellectual point of departure.
* * *
We see, then, that there can be no unambiguous allegories in music,
just as in visual allegories one and the same figure can have very different
meanings.
Music does not plainly imitate what is allegorized. It produces an event
in the musical sphere which is analogous to an event in the spiritual sphere.
When Mattheson speaks of "depicting the passions" (Abmalungder Affekte),
he does not mean imitation of expression, but figurative analogy which is
produced by the intellect alone. It is often very difficult to establish an
analogy between the two realms of the sensuous and the spiritual. Hence,
the point of comparison appears to us often very far fetched. From the
way in which the analogy is contrived we can learn a great deal about the
style of a given period.
The analogies in music may refer only to one voice or to all the voices,
to the rhythm alone, to the harmony alone, to the setting and instrumentation
alone, or simply to the intensity of sound. It is also possible to combine
some or all of these elements. When, for example, the word "fall" is to
be represented by a musical allegory, the orchestra might run from the top-
most heights to the deepest depths in a wild downward rush, as for example
Richard Strauss might manage it. In this case voices, harmony, rhythm,
instrumentation would all be involved. In a prelude of Bach to the chorale
"Through Adam's fall debased,"' the fall of Adam is allegorized by means
of plunging intervals in the bass, but these intervals are at the same time
diminished sevenths, and therefore contrasting dissonances which here
allegorize Adam's degradation, precisely in the same way as the scenes of
horror were described before by sharpened octaves.
1 BG 25, 2, Orgelbuichlein.

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Io M. BUKOFZER
Ex. IIa.

This figure runs through the whole prelude. It is not episodic, therefore,
as it would be in Strauss, but plays a structural part in the whole composition.
Moreover, the other voices move in a strictly chromatic way against the
given choral melody in order to allegorize Adam's ruin.
Ex. iib.
(Durch A- dams Fall ist ganz ver- derbt)

This prelude of Bach's is an instrumental composition which dispenses

with the use of words. It is not quite correct, therefore, to say that only
music with a verbal text can make use of allegory. Absolute music can do
so too, if there is any extra-musical reason which can be brought to bear
upon it. Here, in the case of the chorale prelude, there are indeed no
words, but they are implied, as the listener is expected to remember the
words when he hears the music; otherwise both allegories-that of the Fall
and that of Adam's degradation-would be quite unintelligible.
The same figures which Bach used to describe footsteps, haste, or grief,
also occur in his instrumental music. This makes it possible for him to
parody his own works by converting instrumental compositions into cantatas.
Thus, the slow movement from the piano concerto in D minor also appears
in the cantata "We have to pass through much grief."
Again it is important to observe that the pain and weariness are not
expressed here by purely emotional means. The music is not sad; it
merely indicates sadness. Like footsteps and other abstract suggestions of
motion, sorrow is systematized by allegorical musical figures. The most
frequent device for this purpose is the so-called passus duriusculus,lthat
is to say, chromatic motifs which prefer melodic progression in semitones.
This figure is very old. It occurs in Italian madrigals of the I6th century
and frequently in the I7th century in the works of Schiitz. When the text
reads "miserere"the figure is almost stereotyped.
1 Cf. Chr.
Bernhard, Tractatuscompositionis,i I, 29 (J. Miiller-Blattau, Die Kompositions-
lehreHeinrichSchiitzens,1926).

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC ix
Ex. 12.1

mi- se- re- re, mi- se- re- re mi- se- re- re no- bis

or with Bach in the St. John's Passion to the words "and wept bitterly."
Ex. I3.2
und wei- - ne- te

4 6 6- s6q 6 45 6 6
2 5b 5M 4

The same figure occurs with the word "Uebelta'ter"(malefactor).

Ex. 14.3
ein Ue- bel- ta. ter
At
- FL I

It is, however, also possible that the chromatic progression should have quite
a cheerful meaning as in the aria of the St. John's Passion "Ich folge Dir
gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten" ("I follow Thee also, my Saviour, with
gladness." Here the figure appears with the word "schieben"(push).
Ex. 15.4
zu schie- ben

.... c0,
Thus the chromatic progression has three different meanings in the Passion
of St. John alone.
1 Andr. Hammerschmidt, Missae, I668
(after Pirro, op. cit., p. 83).
2Bach, St. John's Passion, Eulenburg's
Miniature Score, p. 48.
3
Ibid., p. 59-
Ibid., p. 39. The English versions of
this aria demonstrate conclusively that the
translation of Bach's Cantata texts cannot
correctly be done without paying attention
to musical allegories. The aria begins with
the words "Ich folge Dir gleichfalls mit
freudigen Schritten," (which means literally
'I follow thee also with joyful footsteps').
In the very beginning three different
allegories are superimposed. Firstly, "I
follow" represented by the threefold imitation
of the initial motif in the basso continuo,
the tenor voice and the instrumental upper
part. The fugato here signifies following.
Secondly, the word "joyful" coincides with
a slurred, vivacious motif of the tenor, often
used by Bach to indicate joy. The "foot-
steps," finally, are represented by the peculiar
conduct of the bass with its sudden rests-a
typical figure for steps. A translation not
regarding this triple allegory destroys the
point. The "classical" English version by
the Rev. J. Troutbeck is correct only as
far as the allegory of following is concerned.
It coordinates the word "Saviour" with the

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 S2 M. BUKOFZER

These examples are particularly instructive, since they show how the
notion of what is 'painful' in music has changed since the time of Bach.
Precisely at this point where the false impression might prevail that music
must always express the feeling of pain in the same way, it is necessary
to remark that the so-called "passions,"' which baroque theoreticians of
music discuss, are not to be confused with our feelings. They are rather
to be described as a group of typified and fairly static attitudes of mind
represented by corresponding figures. The dynamic interpretation of
emotion would be as false here as in other allegories where the intellectual
character is more obvious.
The intellectual element is most evident where the allegory is addressed
not only to the sense of hearing but also to the sense of sight. Again the
analogy of 'falling' is a characteristic instance. The movement of something
falling from above to a place below is by no means identical with the
movement from the higher to the lower note. High and low, as far as notes
are concerned, are merely spatial metaphors which must not be taken literally.
In many periods and countries the tones are not called high and low, but
heavy and light or sharp (gravisand acutus,grave and aigiie).
The musical allegories which address themselves to the senses of sight
and sound are particularly frequent in Bach. Let us take three examples.
In the cantata Herculesam Scheidewegethe words "for the snakes which
tried to seize me with their lullaby"2 are represented by winding figures
in the bass.
Ex. 16.
denn die Schlan- gen so mich woll- ten wie- gend fan- gen

To be sure, one hears this rise and fall, but the allegory of winding appears
in its clearest shape only in the musical notation. The bass is of course
motif of joy and pays no attention to by putting to it the word "sadness." It
the footsteps (I follow thee also, my Saviour, would require a whole book to discuss all
with gladness). Thus, both motifs, that of the blunders of the different translations of
joy and that of the footsteps, become Bach's oratorios and cantatas.
musically absurd and meaningless. A 1 The strict meaning of the word "passion"
modern translation by J. Atkins : "I follow, (Affekt)deserves further investigation. It is
I follow with gladness to meet thee", is better a fundamental notion of baroque psychology,
from one point of view. It takes account of the history of which is not yet written. The
the allegory of joy by putting the word "glad- "Traites des Passions" written for painters,
ness" to the motif ofjoy. It misses, however, ought to be correlated with those of the
the allegory of footsteps. Atkins connects musical theorists, not to speak of the
in bar 63/64 the above-mentioned chromatic definitions and deductions in the "systems
progression which indicates 'pushing,' with of the passions" produced by contemporary
the word "urge." This is, indeed, far better philosophers.
than the classical version, which actually 2 BG 34, p. 147-
reverses the cheerful meaning of the motif

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 13
not an emotional expression of the snakes, but indicates them by its reference
to their convolutions. The melody, however, also indicates the word
"wiegend"by constantly representing the stereotyped figure of a lullaby.
Here we have two meanings superimposed : the snake in the bass and the
lullaby in the vocal line.
In the text of the Sermon on the Mount : "And with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again,"' Bach used the image of the scales
as an allegory of the correspondenceof earthly action and heavenly atonement.
Ex. I7.
Dennwie ihr messtwirdman euch wie-der

mes- -sen

denn wie ihr messt wird man euch wie-der

mes- -sen
-F

This is the meaning of the melodic inversion, which is a well-known device

of counterpoint. Those parts of the melody which go upward in the first
period, turn downward in the second period and vice versa. The inversion
is strictly carried out, so that the visual effect is that of absolute symmetry.2
It should also be noted that Bach used the introductory figure not only
in an inversion but also in a retrograde movement. He used the same
sequence of notes from back to front in order to emphasize the contrast
still more sharply. The visual construction of this image is already
astonishing, but it becomes even more complicated.
Ex. I8.
Denn wie ihr messt wird man euch wieder mes- -sen, denn

_ _ _
I ,1 -
1•.--I-

76 4
4 2
1 BG 37, p. io8.
2 Another
Schtitz in a far more primitive fashion,
example : the words "einer zur by splitting the choir into halves, one of
Rechten und einer zur Linken" are illustrated which sings "einer zur Rechten" and the
by Bach again by a melodic inversion. The other "einer zur Linken".
same text had already been allegorized by

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 14 M. BUKOFZER

denn wie ihr messt wirdman euch wiedermes- -sen

rtt~ -

6Z 6 7
75
9 56 5 g 25
5$ 2

Here you see the relevant bass which is constructed on precisely analogous
lines. The inversion here is just as strictly carried out; but, apart from the
scales, the combination of the two voices as a fugue has a still further meaning.
All passages of the Bible which are of dogmatic importance and contain
a general commandment are set by Bach almost without exception in fugue
or canon form.' In these instances the fugue and canon are evidently an
allegory of law, since the fugue and the canon are the most rigid forms of
musical composition. That is why Bach has set the whole thing as a fugue.
Again two meanings, the scales and the law, are superimposed.
More primitive examples of visual allegory may be seen in the so-called
eye-music (Augenmusik). It consists in altering the notation to suit certain
words. For example, the notes to the words "nox" and "tenebrae"are
coloured black in the notation, also the notes to the Song of Songs' : Nigra
sum. The musical effect is a faster singing of the notes, since the black
filling of the notes indicates rhythmical acceleration. Andreas Herbst
had already expressed some scepticism about this procedure : "Weil aber
dieses nicht ffir die Ohren, zu welcher Delectation solches billig geschehen
sollte, sondern allein fuir die Augen angenommen ist, also 1asst man es in
seinem Werth oder Unwerth beruhen." Another form of eye-music is
to be found in the manner of rhythmic notation. J. Handl (Gallus) illustrates
the word "confundantur" in a motet by giving for each voice a very
complicated rhythmic notation, so that the rhythm appears very complicated
to the eye, though it is musically very simple. In this context we may also
mention those cases in Bach where he sharpens the notes when the word
"cross5"appears, because the German word for sharp is Kreuz. Especially
in the so-called "Kreuzstabcantate" we find this allegory used constantly.
Though all these examples are relatively simple, many more complicated
ones might be adduced. In the words "For whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted":3
Ex. 19.
Wer sich selbst er- h6- -het der
S .
IJ iIki"-F ,

1
Cf. also the chorus of the Jews in the Madrigal," Zeitschrift der Int. Musikgesell-
St. John's Passion "We have a law" (p. 99) schaft, XIV.
set as a strict fugue. 3 BG
Io, p. 246.
2Cf. Alfred Einstein, "Augenmusik im

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 15

soil er- nie-dri- get wer- den undwer sich selbst er nie-

- dri- get der soll er-h6- - het wer- den.

Bach uses here the spatial analogy of a rising and falling line corresponding
to exaltation and abasement. That is quite simple. But he implies a
second allegory in that he sharpens the notes in the rising line in unexpected
places and flattens them in the descending melody, since in German "erhiihen"
and "erniedrigen" are also musical technical terms meaning to sharpen and
to flatten. This twofold allegory turns out to be more or less a pun, like
that on the word "Kreuz,"which is intelligible only in the German language,
and which appears only in the musical notation.

If we wish to see how far it is possible to carry the combination of

every conceivable sort of allegory, we have only to look at the beginning
of the cantata "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God".1 Ex. 20.
See p. 16, 17.
The text quotes the first Commandment, which lays down the law of love
as the foundation of the Christian faith. The whole composition is carried
through in strict imitation. The fugue here signifies the quotation of a
dogmatic sentence from the New Testament. As we have already seen,
the fugal form allegorizes law. To the words of the first Commandment
the trumpet plays the chorale "These are the Holy Ten Commandments."
The quotation itself points, like the finger in pictures of the Crucifixion,
at the Commandment. The text is taken for granted as commonly known,
and the melody represents the meaning of the text. The bass of the chorus
takes up the melody of the trumpet, though in a special form-namely a
canon in augmentation. All the values are doubled, and thereby the ten
Commandments are made the basis of the whole, just as they are the basis
of human life. The chorale melody is played by the trumpet, the instrument
which Bach always uses as the allegory of the majesty of God, often to the
point of representing the voice of God himself.
This high estimation of the trumpet is shown also in its social aspect,
when we remember that trumpeters were the most respected and most
highly paid of all musicians. It is amusing to note that Bach always puts
the trumpet at the top of the score, as a kind of spatial allegory of God's
supremacy.
Finally, it appears during the course of the movement that the chorale
1 BG
18, p. 235. Cf. the analysis of Pirro and especially Schering, Bach-Jahrbuch,(op.cit.
p. 154 f.), Schweitzer (op. cit., p. 442) 1925.

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16 M. BUKOFZER
Ex. 20.

Dominica 13 post Trinitatis.

,,Duot(L1t ott,beinenferren,tiben".
Tromnba da tirarsi.

M.. ..

Melodie:,,Dias sinddie hei 'E zehn Gebot

a• .... . .. . . I -A
M-_.INV ..0 . .. .
v, f
i• ... . .

6 ,_.... . .
..

, ,1 ...
• , , ....
D o
..... .. . , . ....rren

I) sollstGottdei Her- re,

ga.eni,
liebeuvo.
e,

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 17

ollsto itt, n gapzem Her

dei.ane Her.rem,lie.Ac .
..

D
sollt ott, dl Herren, lie. ben yoa ganzem Her
.

lie ben ron ganzem Her

"-.

. . . .- . - . . zen;

zen,do sollstGott,drinenHerrcn, rn gazem Her -en;

lie.be . . .

. zen, du sollstOot~
dinHern HesiniIWb0n n ganzm BrH;

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18 M. BUKOFZER

melody is deliberately divided up in such a way that it recurs ten times,

in allusion to the tenfold number of the Commandments. Here we have
a play on numbers.
In this cantata, therefore, there are five different allegories super-
imposed : first, the Commandment "Thou shalt love thy Lord" allegorized
by means of a fugue; then the quotation from the chorale "These are the
Holy Ten Commandments," as a tacit allusion to the Commandments;
thirdly, the augmented bass melody, which turns the Commandments into
a fundamental law by means of canon form, the most rigid of all melodic
accompaniments; fourthly, the trumpet as the allegory of the voice of God;
and fifthly, the tenfold entrance of the chorale melody as a mystical allegory
of the number ten.
Here it may truly be said that there is nothing in this movement without
a definite meaning, just as in baroque pictures of allegories every line has
a positive figurative sense. But the most important point of all is that
the music is real music. The allegories have a concrete reality and are
no pale constructions invented for the nonce. This fivefold overlay takes
place simultaneously, as can happen only in music, without breaking
through the artistic unity of the piece. For the movement is a self-contained
affair. When we recognize the fivefold complex of meaning and hear it
as a simultaneous musical unity, we experience a feeling of immense richness.
As we listen, it is as though we were perpetually leaping from one meaning
to another. This multiplicity in unity, this combination of spiritual and
purely aesthetic pleasure, appears to me unique in its intensity.

Examples of this type might be repeated indefinitely. The objection

that these meanings are interpreted into the piece by ourselves is not valid,
since the same devices recur repeatedly. The key to these meanings is
given us by a comparison of the cantatas. As Schweitzer says, they interpret
each other mutually, though it must be confessed that his whole attitude
to these devices is fundamentally false. Like Pirro, Schweitzer interprets
these allegories as a sort of tone-poetry. Pirro alludes expressly to Wagner.'
The title of Schweitzer's book is significant : Bach, le musicien-poete.To be
sure, Schweitzer contrasts what he calls the "tone symbolism" of Bach with
that of Wagner; but it is not made clear that in the one case we are dealing
with allegories and in the other with naturalistic psychology.
It may perhaps be objected that we have been discussing so far only
a particular form of programme-music. But programme-music, in our
sense of the word, always and inevitably implies a psychological programme;
it expresses the feelings of the composer in the presence of some special
event. As Wagner says: "The language of music expresses nothing if
not feelings and emotions."2 But allegories are fundamentally unpsycho-
logical; they are intellectual. Programme-music, in the strict sense, begins
1 Pirro closes his book with the words : Richard Wagner."
"Ils reconnaitront alors sous l'habit s6vere 2
"Oper und Drama", GesammelteSchriften
du cantor, le maitre expressif, le pr6curseur IV, p. 234-
farouche et v6h6ment de Beethoven et de

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 19
only when certain sounds, whose meaning is exactly defined, are reproduced
upon an instrument : e.g. cuckoo-calls, fanfares, the tinkle of bells. Strictly
speaking, this is only the adoption of an already existing tune. This is
quite rightly observed by an undeservedly neglected musical theorist called
Chabanon,1 who wrote about 1780 : "it is simply a question of lending to
one melody the character of another." A very elaborate account of
programme-music is given by a predecessor of Bach's, J. Kuhnau,3 in his
Vorstellungeneiniger biblischenHistorien (1700). He distinguishes in his preface
between two kinds of programme-music. In the first something in nature
or art is 'presented' :
und dieses geschieht entweder also, dass der Zuhdrer die gehabte Intention
des Komponisten bald merken kann, auch wenn sie mit Worten nicht
angedeutet worden ist. Wenn man z.B. den Gesang der Vogel, das
Glockengelaiute, den Kanonenknall oder auf einem Instrument das
andere nachahmt; wie man auf dem Klavier die Trompeten oder Pauken
imitiert.
This is a mere question of sound : something which can be apprehended
by the ear. By the second type Kuhnau means what, in fact, we have
called musical allegory :
Oder aber man zielt auf eine Analogiam und richtet die musika-
lischen Saitze also ein, dass sie in aliquo tercio mit der vorgestellten
Sache sich vergleichen lassen. Und da sind die Worte allerdings n6tig.
Kuhnau then procedes to give some typical examples of such allegories.
Also praesentiere ich das Schnarchen und Pochen des Goliath
durch das tiefe Thema und das fibrige Gepolter. Die Flucht der
Philister und das Nacheilen der Israeliten durch eine Fuga mit geschwin-
den Noten, da die Stimmen einander bald nachfolgen. Ebenso praesen-
tiere ich den Betrug Labans durch die Verffihrung des Gehdrs, namlich
durch eine unvermutete Fortschreitung von einem Tono zu einem
anderen. Und gehort in solchen Failleneine giitige Interpretation darzu.
Kuhnau's programme-music is so interesting precisely because it shows
us how intellectually a composer of the baroque period conceived his
musical programme; for instance when he presents the fraud of Laban
by a sudden modulation whose only object is to deceive the ear. We
realise how totally different programme-music can be at different periods
and in different styles. In the baroque period the extensive use of allegory
is typical. Chabanon gives a very clear definition of these processes. He
remarks that music cannot reproduce images for the ear, but that it must
always fall back upon metaphors contrived by the intelligence: "ce n'est
pas a l'oreillequel'on peint en musique,c'est d l'espritqui,plac6 entreces deuxsens,
combineet compareleurssensations."
The notion of musical allegory as a representation communicated by
1 M. de Chabanon, De la 2J. Kuhnau, Denkm'ler deutscher Tonkunst,
Musique considedrie
en elle mime et dans ses rapports avec la parole, IV. Vorrede. The preface is a most im-
les langues, la podsie et le
thddtre, Paris, 1785 portant document for Baroque programme-
(second edition). music.

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20 M. BUKOFZER
the intellect is one which appears, moreover, at the very beginning of
baroque music, whose earliest efforts date back to the time of the Counter-
Reformation. The Renaissance ideal was melodic beauty, pure and simple,
of which the greatest representative is Josquin des Pres (d. 1521).1 In
opposition to this there arose a movement which attempted to mirror the
words of the text by means of allegories, the so-called "musica reservata"
-a kind of secret lore intelligible only to the few. In 1555 Lasso makes
an explicit distinction between musica che si domandaosservataand musica
che fosse palese a tutti.2 The former type of music is characterized by a
friend of Lasso's as follows: music presents its subject in a sort of ocular
action, rem quasi actam ad oculosponendo. Here the words "quasi actam"
are especially important. The figurative method is admitted; but the
appeal is made, significantly enough, not to the ear, but to the eye. Even
the definition of the method already resorts to metaphor.
Another theoretical writer, Sethus Calvisius,3expresses more clearly what
is intended. He too avoids the word allegory, but his whole conception
implies it. According to him, "music employs elegant fictions which put
the matter before the mind, the eyes, and the ears." The word fictio is of
especial importance; and so is the juxtaposition of the eye, and particularly
of the mind, with the ear.

We have now spoken at length of allegory in baroque music; and in

conclusion we must ask where the symbols are to be found. We have
defined the symbol as a sign whose meaning is inherent, and cannot refer
to things whose nature we can describe otherwise. The allegories we have
described might, in themselves, occur in any musical style, and not merely
in that of the baroque period. But, as a matter of fact, allegories occur almost
exclusively in baroque music. Programme-music occurs in other styles,
but usually in the form of direct imitations (cuckoos, cannon-shot or storms),
or else in programmes with a psychological basis-as when Beethoven
in the Sixth Symphony says "mehrAusdruckder Empfindungals Malerei."
The important point about baroque allegory is its non-expressive, non-
psychological character. This can unfortunately be demonstrated only in
negative terms; we are so imprisoned in our own contemporary notion of
music that we possess no positive expression for it.
The counterblast to baroque music took precisely the form of the
1 The passage in question taken from Adr.
Zacconi, himself a representative of early
Baroque theory, says of the Renaissance Petit Coclicus' Compendiumdescribes in a most
composers (he calls them "musici vecchi") interesting way how Josquin composed "in
that "they intended nothing but the pure a sort of inner urge not being able to eat
and simple performance (pura et semplice or drink before the composition was finished
modulatione)." The perfect composition of (ante absolutam cantilenam!) "-I shall come
the Renaissance period is said to have been back to this passage in a separate study.
called "absoluta cantilena" by Josquin and 2 Orl. di Lasso, Preface to his book of
his pupils (cf. H. Besseler, "Musik des Villanellenund Chansons,
1555-
Mittelalters und der Renaissance," Handbuch 3 Cf. K. Benndorf, "Sethus Calvisius als
der Musikwissenschaft, 1931-34, P- 251). This far Mu-
Musiktheoretiker," Vierteljahrsschrift
"absoluta cantilena," however, turns out to sikwissenschaft, X, p. 424.
be a rather grotesque blunder of translation.

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 ALLEGORY IN BAROQUE MUSIC 21

discovery how to express feelings withoutthe intervention of the intellect. Music

no longer meantthis or that emotion; it was itself the immediate expression
of that emotion. This transition from the notion "it means" to that of
"it is" marks the transition from the baroque style to its successor, the
classical-romantic style. It was a natural consequence that musical allegory
was relegated to a subordinate place on the boundaries of programme-
music, since direct expression came to be preferred to indirect.
In this sense baroque music differs from music of every other sort,
in its peculiar conception of the very nature of the art. In the baroque
period music is a language of signs, in which every sign has one or more
meanings; but these can only reproduce things which are more or less
known in advance. Music is thus a mirror, in the sense that man is a reflection
of God. But this reflection can make nothing; man is creature, not
creator. The composer does not invent his themes, and lays no store by
originality. The whole emphasis is on the execution and the elaboratio.
That is why composers borrow their themes so often from other works,
and often use the same motifs for quite different purposes. For the same
reason, the forms of the allegory, once chosen, have a central function.
They are not used merely episodically; they are structurally built in. In
the prelude "Durch Adams Fall" the figure of the descending seventh is
retained throughout the whole composition. The allegory furnishes the
backbone of the composition, thereby becoming a specifically musical method.
Baroque music is not, like modern music, a language of feeling, which
expresses its objects directly, but a sort of indirect iconology of sound. For
this reason it lacks all psychology in the modern sense. The rigidity of
baroque music, especially from the rhythmic point of view, has long since
been remarked upon. But this is not a weakness of such music; on the
contrary, it is its very strength. The humanization of music by means of
a dynamic emotional conception of its nature appears only during the first
half of the eighteenth century, when baroque ceremonial-the pigeon-holing
of the stereotyped emotions-gave way before the so-called naturalfeelings.
To the rising middle-class age the formality of baroque music appeared
unnatural, even inhuman. The two styles are based on two different
conceptions of music.
These two styles are themselves symbols, whose meaning is not to be
expressed in words, but can only be experienced in its intuitive sensuous
form. It is not correct, then, to speak of the symbol 'in' baroque music,
since it is itself symbolic and interprets itself. We who no longer live inside
this music, can still gain a reflection of it from comparison of one baroque
composition with another, which may help us to understand how this music
was intended to be understood.? But such notions as we can acquire in
this way possess no definable significance, such as an allegory possesses.
They can only refer us back again and again to the music. In this process
the study of the allegorical method may supply a key to baroque .music, for
the variations of this method from one style to another are a means of
characterizing the style itself.
1 Cf. Manfred Bukofzer, "Musikanalyse und Musikdeutung," SchweizerischeMusik-
zeitung,1937-

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