Michael Marissen called a rococo trio sonata on this theme for traverso, violin, and continuo “anti-galant.” Muted trombone begins and poco rubato horn and trumpet complete this theme via Klangfarbenmelodie in a chamber orchestra arrangement by Webern, who called it “unapproachable.” A very early piano piece on this theme that Schoenberg and Charles Rosen called a “miracle” was composed after a 1747 visit to Potsdam to try new fortepianos. This subject (*) chromatically descends from G to low G after a rising C minor triad and leap from A-flat to low B. A canon perpetuus on this theme notated with extra clefs is one of ten unsolved riddles gifted to an amateur flutist with a title page whose acrostic puns on a Latin word for “seek.” A Prussian king challenged a composer to improvise a six-voice ricercar (“richer-car”) on this theme, which underlies a palindromic crab canon. For 10 points, what theme by Frederick the Great inspired the contrapuntal BWV 1079 and Gödel, Escher, Bach? ■END■
ANSWER: Thema Regium [or Royal theme; or Thematis Regii; or Soggetto Reale; or Royal subject; or the theme from The Musical Offering or Das Musikalisches Opfer; or descriptions of King Frederick’s theme given to Bach; accept Sonata sopr’il Soggetto Reale; prompt on Prussian Fugue or Fuga or Ricercata or Ricercar a 6 by asking “what theme is the basis of that piece?”; reject “BACH motif” or similar]
<OL, Classical Music and Opera>
= Average correct buzz position