Concurrence and Nonconcurrence between Learned and Natural Schemata: The Case of J. S. Bach’s Saraband in C Minor for Cello Solo

Abstract

The concept of concurrence/nonconcurrence is significant in many areas outside music. Here we observe it as an important parameter in characterizing a musical style, and even an esthetic ideal. We attempt to discover its diverse overt and latent appearances – between parameters, between units, and between learned and natural schemata – and to find a regularity governing its use (in written music and not in the performance practice). The study was conducted on the basis of analyses that took into account texture phenomena in tonal music, paying attention to the natural regularity that is manifested in salience factors, types of curves in various parameters, and so on. The additional factors provide states of concurrence/ nonconcurrence that may themselves be considered natural schemata. Here we first present the concepts, illustrated with examples taken from various styles, and we then use them for an in-depth analysis of one piece – the saraband from Bach’s Fifth Suite in C Minor for Cello Solo.