>> > uniqueness of each tonal center by giving it a particular sonority?  In
>> > other words, why didn't Bach simply keep the C#-major prelude (WTC I) in
>> > C major?  Or better yet, why not transpose the C-major prelude up a half
>>
>> And, what about the "French Overture," which was written in C-Minor,
>> but published in B-Minor, and is now performed in both?  Isn't there
>> a difference in the 'feel' of those two keys?  (But, if there is a
>> different feel to the two keys, and if the story about Bach's allowing
>> it to be published in B-Minor is correct, didn't Bach care?)
>>
>
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In some cases (obviously not these), Bach, Handel, and probably others
transposed pieces when they revised them and added trumpets.  The trumpets
were in D (whatever "D" meant in any given time and place).  Thus Bach's
Magnificat in Eb and in D.  And that's why the Mesiah choruses are in the
key of D (but, of course, a lower D than today's tenors and sopranos have
to deal with).
 
John
 
John & Susia Howell ([log in to unmask])
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia U.S.A. 24061-0240
(703) 231-8411 - FAX (703) 231- 5034