Contextual Analysis of Chorale Phrase Harmonizations by J.S. Bach

Example 1:  J.S. Bach, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How beauteous beams the morning star)
Select a button, or click on the musical example, to cycle through the different views.

Score
SATB: SB:

Analytical Commentary
Note the perfect authentic cadence (PAC) and the sense of finality it achieves. Note too the ornamental D4 marked with parentheses in the alto voice. In m. 2, listen carefully for the arrival of the Dominant (D) and be sure to study how the 7th is added to V at cadence in the tenor voice. This tonic expansion begins and ends on a root position tonic triad and features parallel 10ths between the outer voices, a voice-leading paradigm often found in tonic expansions. {Chorale 195, mm. 5-6}