Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Satzüberschrift

English translation:

chorale titles (here)

Added to glossary by Chris Rowson (X)
Jan 12, 2004 18:54
20 yrs ago
German term

Satzüberschrift

German to English Art/Literary Music
“An der querformatigen Handschrift fallen zunächst drei Besonderheiten auf:

2. Die zahlreichen, nur mit einer Satzüberschrift versehenen Leerseiten. Bei der Konzeption des Orgelbüchleins hat Bach insgesamt 164 Satzüberschriften eingetragen, von denen aber kaum ein Drittel realisiert worden ist.“

I´m not sure what to do with “Satzüberschrift” here. The Orgelbuchlein actually contains some 60 chorale preludes (as I learned to call them as a student organist). I don´t like to refer to these as “movements”, since this for me implies parts of a larger work, whereas the Orgelbuchlein is not a unitary work, but a collection of many small pieces. “Setting" is my next thought, but chorale preludes are not really settings. And “piece” is too informal for this use.

And then there´s the “-überschrift”: is that "title" or “heading” or what? (It is always the name by which the chorale is/was known, usually, if not always, the initial words.)

Any advice, guidance or assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Change log

Apr 11, 2015 11:49: Steffen Walter changed "Field (specific)" from "(none)" to "Music"

Proposed translations

+1
14 mins
Selected

chorale prelude titles

You've more or less said it yourself, but I think this is what I would go with (provided that all the pieces are indeed chorale preludes) - there doesn't seem to be a more general word for Satz that will do, and "title" makes it perfectly clear that we are talking about words and not about some sort of musical jottings; in this particular instance I think it's better than headings.
Peer comment(s):

agree Harry Bornemann
2 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thankyou everyone for your contributions. After seeing them, all fog rolled away and I used "chorale titles" because that´s what they actually are. (Not movement titles, which would often be right, because the pieces in the Orgelbüchlein are not movements of a larger work, but independent pieces constituting a collection.)"
+1
14 mins

title

This is a tricky one, isn't it?

From the context, I would propose for that sentence:
"The many empty pages bearing nothing more than a title."
And then in the next sentence, clarify this with:
"... Bach listed/entered a total of 164 titles for the chorale preludes, of which..."
Peer comment(s):

agree Harry Bornemann
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
21 mins
German term (edited): Satz�berschrift

movement title

... seems to be an established term — see links.
Peer comment(s):

agree Mario Marcolin
1 day 12 hrs
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3 hrs

designation

chorale prelude designation
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5 hrs
German term (edited): Satz�berschrift

Time signature

Yes.

A true master of counterpoint, he had clearly thought about changing his "Taktbezeichnungen" but never got round to it. Sound logical?

I won't bore you with cross references, given your experience. HTH
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