I had a full nerd-out while analyzing the first of what will be many Bach Chorales inside the Latter-Day Musiversity smartphone app.

He never disappoints. And in the Chorale from his Cantata #4, the Easter cantata "Christ lag in Todesbanden," he does it again.

This time by inventing a completely new and very exciting way to use a deceptive cadence in a minor key.

All you who love writing with modes, you won't want to miss this one!

But he doesn't stop there.

He uses a series of slippery pivot chord modulations... well, more like short tonicizations (little mini modulations that change their minds PDQ)... he takes us on an unexpected adventure through the tonal centers of the major chords in the minor key.

All of this, and more, packed into a seemingly simple 4-line hymn.

Simple and Bach don't fit in the same sentence very often.

But what he does so magically is, he turns the deep, intricate inner workings of his music into something that seems inevitable on the surface. This is craft at the highest level.

So, let me take you through each step of this great hymn setting and see if you can pick up some cool tactics for your own writing.

It's all inside the "Studying the Bach Cantatas" section in the Latter-Day Musiversity app.

If you don't yet have access, you can get started at this link:

https://douglaspew.ck.page/842cbedb0c

Have a good one!

Doug