Aria in D minor, BWV 515 -- Urtext

So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife - Enlightening Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker - Pipe aria

This famous Aria in D minor, BWV 515 is hte 20th entry in Anna Magdalena Bach's Notebook.

Johann Sebastian Bach gave this notebook to his wife Anna Magdalena in 1725.

Over the following years, the notebook was filled with favorite selections of the members of the Bach family.

This aria is also known as the Pipe Aria, as it is based on the poem Erbauliche Gedanken eines Tobackrauchers [Enlightening Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker].

This Aria was composed during the Baroque period.

It has a simple A-A-B-B form :

• Mm. 1-8 : Part A (played twice) in the key of D minor, modulating to F Major in measure 5
• Mm. 9-16 : Part B (played twice) starts in C Major, modulating back to D minor in measure 11

Please take note of the following points concerning the Baroque period performance practice appropriate for this Aria :

• Most quarter notes in both the left and right hands should be played slightly detached
• Cadential trills are required in measures 7 and 15, even though not indicated by Bach
• These cadential trills are to start ON the beat, on the upper note
• → For better clarity, the editor has included in this score a suggestion for the proper realization of each one of these two cadential trills in smaller print

Please note also that the dotted slur in measure 14 is editorial as it does not appear in the autograph.

Duration : 01:04

Source : Johann Sebastian Bach, Pieces from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach [Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach] (1725).