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March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1784–1829) · sheet music

  • Time 2/2
  • Levels 7
  • Passages 7

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German baroque (1784–1829). The reading release has 7 passages from this piece at level 7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 7.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122.

  1. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 7

How to play March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122

  1. Tempo:Think of a stately walking pace, two broad beats per measure. A march should feel steady, not hurried, so choose a tempo you can keep without tension.
  2. Rhythm:The graded passages include syncopation. Say the rhythm aloud first, tap it on your knees, and make sure the off-beat notes land clearly between the beats.
  3. Right hand:Play the tune with a firm but light touch and a slightly detached articulation. Lift at the ends of phrases so the march step stays crisp.
  4. Left hand:Keep the left hand steady like a drum. It anchors the pulse, so play it evenly and a little softer than the melody.
  5. Hands together:Join the hands slowly and check that the left hand's steady beats line up with the right hand's syncopated entrances. If they clash, return to the rhythm tapping.
  6. Reading:D major has two sharps, F and C, and the passages that move to A major add G sharp. Say them aloud before you start, and watch for leaps of a fifth or more in the melody.
  7. Practice:Play each phrase slowly with a metronome, then loop the syncopated places until the off-beat feels natural. End by playing the whole march at a steady walking tempo.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the syncopated notes so they land on the beat. Fix: Count out loud and place each off-beat note exactly between counts.
  • Playing the march too fast and losing its stately character. Fix: Choose a tempo where you can march in place while you play.
  • Forgetting the F and C sharps, or the G sharps once the music moves to A major. Fix: Circle every G sharp in pencil and play those spots slowly before you play the whole march.
  • Letting the left hand drift or get heavy. Fix: Practice it alone with a metronome, soft and even.

Structure: binary (two parts)

The march is in binary form: two short parts, each repeated. The music sets out its syncopated theme in D major, moves to the dominant, A major, and then works its way back to D major for the close.

A · First part (D major)
The march step is set in D major with a bright tune whose syncopations cut across the pulse.
B · Second part (A major to D major)
The second half starts in A major, which raises the tension, then turns back to D major for the close. It keeps the same step, so the rhythm stays your anchor.

About March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122

The March in D major is one of four short pieces, two marches and two polonaises, that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote into the second notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, begun in 1725. They appear in his own handwriting and are considered early compositions by J. S. Bach's second son, Anna Magdalena's stepson.

Because the notebook belonged to J. S. Bach's household, the four pieces were long credited to the father and given numbers in the appendix of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV Anh. 122-125. They now sit in the part of that appendix reserved for works wrongly attributed to J. S. Bach, and in the Helm catalog of C.P.E. Bach's music the march is H. 1/1.

Today it is a favorite early piece because it is short, bright, and clear in shape. Its theme leans on syncopation, which gives students a first taste of off-beat accents inside a regular march step.

  • The 1725 notebook runs to 42 numbered entries, and the composers of some of them, including several popular songs of the day, are still unknown.
  • The notebook holds another C.P.E. Bach march, in G major (BWV Anh. 124), as well as an E-flat major march (BWV Anh. 127) whose attribution to J. S. Bach is considered doubtful.
  • The 1725 notebook has a light green cover with Anna Magdalena's initials and the year 1725 printed in gold.
  • When C.P.E. Bach later inherited the notebook, he added annotations to its cover.

Why the first passage is level 7

That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it has syncopated rhythms.

Seven graded passages here are all at level 7, in 2/2 with two sharps and a shortest note of an eighth. The syncopation and the G sharps of the A major passages set the level, so read the rhythm before the notes.

Questions about March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122

How hard is March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 to play?
Its passages grade from level 7 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 7.
Is there an easy part of March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it has syncopated rhythms.
What key and time signature is March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 in?
The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.
Who composed March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122?
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German baroque (1784–1829). The March in D major is one of four short pieces, two marches and two polonaises, that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote into the second notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, begun in 1725.
Can I practice March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 7 graded passages from March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who composed the March in D major, BWV Anh. 122?
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, J. S. Bach's second son. He wrote it into his stepmother Anna Magdalena's 1725 notebook in his own hand; it was once credited to J. S. Bach, which is why it still carries a BWV appendix number.
What does BWV Anh. mean?
BWV is the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, the catalog of J. S. Bach's works, and Anh. stands for Anhang, its appendix. The appendix is split into sections for doubtful works and for works wrongly attributed to Bach, and this march is in the second group.
What else is in the Anna Magdalena Bach notebook?
The 1725 notebook mixes minuets, marches, polonaises, songs and arias, and the aria later used to open the Goldberg Variations, with music by J. S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Petzold, Stölzel, and others.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 7 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 7
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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