Originally Posted by: bcraig4J

Bach's music overall is best thought of as a weaving together of independent voices,

So does this mean that the outer voices ,inner voices

Is this correct that Bach's music has each voice have a melody of their own ?

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In general, not always. I'll show you what I mean in an example!

[quote=bcraig4J]

Outer Voices

1.Soprano

2.Bass

Inner Voices

1.Alto

2.Tenor

Because I thought that the two outer voices

Soprano ,Bass we’re herd much more up front by the listener’s ear

then the inner voices

Alto ,Tenor which blend in

Yes! For sure. But keep in mind that in Bach's music, along with much Baroque music, polyphony rules the day! Since the classical period up to modern day the tendency of most music is to have one voice as the melody. And all the other voices or instruments are there to support the melody. In Bach's music you often have the soprano & bass lines are both independent lines carrying equal weight.

Consider any fugue, invention or lute suite by Bach. This video demonstrates polyphony in Bach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUm0Y7Sr7XM

The Concerto in D minor for 2 violins is a great example of splitting or sharing the focus of attention for the melodic threads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teHzIUqs7uU

But that's a pretty dense sound! So with that in mind I think the Air in G is probably more well known & like to the modern day because it's an example of Bach's polyphony that is written in a way that lets each voice have enough sonic space to be heard in turn. The soprano line calms down & holds a note so the bass can be heard clearly. The bass calms down to a single repeated note or simple descending scale line when the soprano gets more active.

Here are the first 12 measures with the focus of attention highlighted! Listen to the piece while looking at the score. Notice that the focus of attetion shifts from one voice to another to form an overall tapestry of sound.

So, yes, you are right that often the outer voices (soprano & bass) are often most prominent, while the inner voices mostly flesh out the overall harmony. But sometimes those inner voices are highlighted! This particular piece is a great example of Bach making the overall sound a little less dense with all the voices being active so that each one has time to shine.

Hope that helps!