BWV 244 (St. Matthew Passion)
In January, 2018 I began working on animated graphical scores for J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion.
This page documents my progress.
I'm currently working on the first movement (Kommt, ihr Töchter).
Because not all people have the same reasons for viewing a score, I'm making two versions:
plain, bar-graph-style version (suitable for close study), and a more
ornate, "artistic" version.
Plain
In the bar-graph version, each "CORO" group is given its own staff.
Here's the opening, in which the two instrumental groups play the same thing ...
standard bar-graph score, opening (measures 1-8)
... and here's a little further along, where the groups alternate (and the boy's choir comes in) ...
groups alternate, boy's choir, "O Lamm Gottes unschuldig" (measures 26-32)
Ornate
In this version, notes are visualized in very different styles, depending on how they contribution to the composition.
The strings provide the context, the environment, so they are represented by both large background shapes
(using the Voronoi renderer), and elliptical shapes in the foreground.
The wind instruments are in the foreground, shown as rhombi (oboes) and "stars" (flutes).
To reflect their living quality (and importance in the music), the voice parts are depicted with large, organic/irregular shapes.
To differentiate the two ensembles, the note shapes are colored either outside (CORO I) or inside (CORO II) their outlines.
Here's a key showing one note for each part (each staff in the score):
strings I, oboes I, flutes I,
voices I,
cantus (boy's choir),
voices II,
flutes II, oboes II, strings II
In the opening, the two groups play together, so all the notes have both a filled-in center and a surrounding "aura" ...
opening (measures 1-4)
... but when the voices enter, the second CORO group drops out, leaving the centers empty ...
Voices I entrance, "Kommt, ihr Töchter" (measures 16-18)
The boy's choir (singing the cantus firmus) is behind the other parts, to seem more ethereal ...
Boy's choir, "O Lamm Gottes unschuldig" (measures 30-33)
In the "Wohin?" section, there is lots of alternation between inside/outside ...
Voices I & II alternate, "Wohin?" (measures 58-61)
Here's the end of that section ...
End of Wohin? section (measures 62-65)
In the final section of the piece, the two choirs join together (completing the inside/outside shape) ...
Voices I & II join (measures 78-81)
... and here's how it ends ...
Final chord (measures 89-90)
Animations (videos)
Plain
Ornate
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