Canon 9. Canon a 2 Quaerendo invenietis
Quaerendo invenietis "Seek and ye shall find."

How many voices are there?

The “a2” in the title, and the two clefs indicate, that there must be two voices in this canon, derived from one line of music, a variation of the Royal theme.

What are the transformation principles, and what shall you seek?

There is a normal C-clef, and an upside-down F-clef, which we know means that the follower goes in the opposite direction – the leader starts by going up, and the follower down – a mirror canon. One transformation principle is contrary motion.

What notes do the leader and follower start on?

Looking at the placement of the two different clefs, you can see that the leader starts on “c” (middle), and the follower starts two notes below “F” on “D” below middle “c.” Here we have a displacement of space.

But then, to the question, what shall we seek?

We know that there are two voices, and which notes they begin on, but, is there anything else we need to know, in order to play this canon? Think about this first before you proceed.

When you are ready to proceed:

There isn’t any % to show the interval of time displacement, so that would indicate that both voices start at the same time –- or do they? Play the two voices simultaneously, and listen if this could be Bach’s solution.

If not, when does the follower begin? "Seek and ye shall find." You have to discover it for yourself! There are actually more than one solution!

Can you figure out when the leader could begin? This task is more advanced that those you have been asked to figure out above, but try it yourself before you proceed. One hint is to think in musical idea units – think of placing the follower after the completion of a musical idea, or phrase.

When you are ready to proceed:

One solution, is that the follower starts right after the first phrase, actually during the second beat of the last note, “B” of the first phrase, just before the rest, that is, 2 and 1/4 measures after the leader.

And, there are actually three other solutions.

Transformation principles:

1.         displacement in time, to be discovered.

2.         contrary motion

3.         displacement in space

To canon 10