Approaches to Hegelian dialectic on Bach chorales

The development section understood as the Argumentative Tonal Transition

Abstract

This paper presents a hermeneutical theory that analyzes the tonal relationships in Bach’s key major chorales, which in the exposition section present a tonal conflict between the tonic and the dominant keys. For this analysis, the three moments of the Hegelian dialectic are used: thesis, antithesis and synthesis, which show the conflict in the exposition section and its resolution in the development part, which is reinterpreted as the Argumentative Tonal Transition where the keys that appear there serve as neutral or decisive arguments due to their relationship with the main keys of the chorale.