Theory as Practice: The role of ornamentation and rhetorical devices as essential expressive elements in the keyboard works of J. S. Bach.

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By analyzing selected keyboard works of J. S. Bach I will reveal that real-note ornamentation and rhetorical figures and devices are essential to Bach's musical expression as they enhance and communicate its meaning. From its beginnings as an improvisatory phenomenon, ornamentation in Bach's music becomes a structural expressive necessity. I will identify the ornamental and rhetorical figures contained within the pieces and explain their expressive and interpretative possibilities in terms of a semiology of 'Affekt', implementing my findings in practice by creating audio recordings on period and modern keyboard instruments to make them accessible to scholars, performers and audiences.