Seeing the B-A-C-H motif
Palmyra Catravas · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2005
Musical compositions can be thought of as complex, multidimensional data sets. Compositions based on the B-A-C-H motif (a four-note motif of the pitches of the last name of Johann Sebastian Bach) span several centuries of evolving compositional styles and provide an intriguing set for analysis since they contain a common feature, the motif, buried in dissimilar contexts. We will present analyses which highlight the content of this unusual set of pieces, with emphasis on visual display of information.