The prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. Bach s fugue in g minor for organ, bwv 578, is known as the little g minor not because it is a work of small importance or even because it is an unusually short work in its own right, but simply so that it and the much longer and later great g minor fantasia and fugue, bwv 542, might not be mistaken for one another. Book 1 a major further tension can be produced when subjects fight with each other, in the sense that the are competing for dominance in a particular situation. Realization of passacaglia and fugue in c minor, bwv 582 by. Each book contains one prelude and fugue in every key, arranged in a. The major restatement of the 17th ostinato is a significant turning point which separates that. Prelude and fugue in f minor from welltempered clavier. Bach took the fourmeasure idea from the opening c to g in the excerpt below and expanded it to an eightbar whole that ends on the low c in the organ pedal. Oct 31, 2011 hmm easy and bach dont seem to belong in the same sentence. Bach used this new tonality in some of his most significant works, including the organ toccata and the chromatic fantasy and fugue. He had written a total of 48 pieces scattered throughout 2 books. A fugue of unusual construction, in the few entries of the subject, and the very large proportion of episode. He was later regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, celebrated for such pieces as the brandenburg concertos and the welltempered clavier. The first development bars 7 ff already brings 2 strettos and modulates.
The work is passed down both as a straightforward prelude and fugue in several slightly different versions and a threemovement fastslowfast concertolike format. The prelude and fugue in c major from the first volume of the welltempered clavier by j. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846 from wtc i a guide to. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846 from wtc i a guide. Additional voices are introduced on the tonic pedal bars 84 to 86.
When a tonal answer is used, it is customary for the exposition to alternate subjects s with answers a, however, in some fugues this order is occasionally varied. The first appearing in bars 16, bach hints at stretto in bars 12 and. After this last cadence, bach uses the plagal extension in. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Motives from the subject will be used throughout the fugue we will use the letters a and b to identify the motives.
Tension is further produced by a changes in the swiftness of lines and phrases. The first fugue in the welltempered clavier is a beautiful introduction to the world of bach s fugues. Prelude and fugue in f minor, bwv 857 bach, johann sebastian. Using the analytical questions above, go through j. Because the prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 547, is known only from copies bach made while in leipzig, it is generally assumed to have been composed while bach worked in that city. Take this example from the csharp minor fugue of book 1 of bachs welltempered clavier.
It will be noticed that as bach treated the first note of the subject as the dominant of c, not the tonic of g, the auxiliary note, f, lay a. We have already done some of the analysis in class, but go through it in more detail, answering all of the questions from the text. Bach, wtc i, fugue in e minor matthew saunders blog. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 870 wikimili, the free. Toccata, adagio and fugue in c majorbwv 564 created date. It is also said that the subject appears exactly 24 times in this fugue representing the 24 fugues in the first book of the welltempered clavier. Here is the first exposition of fugue 2 in c minor in book i of the j. The subject in the alto, begins on the dominant and therefore takes a tonal answer. Written in the last decade of his life, the art of fugue is the culmination of bachs experimentation with monothematic instrumental works. Tureck and koroliov play the first part of the p very slow, which come across quite convincingly.
After the exposition bach presents numerous stretti without any interruption. Bach, fugue in csharp major, wtc i, bwv 848 youtube. Mar 17, 2020 johann sebastian bach, composer of the baroque era and member of a large family of north german musicians. The awareness of this overriding elevenpitchclass sensitivity becomes more evident in examining compositions such as the prelude and fugue in c major from the first volume of the welltempered clavier by j. Bach wrote hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, as well as many other instruments. Fugue no 1 in c major, bwv 846 four voices the well. Stay connected to your students with prezi video, now in microsoft teams. The bwv 851 fugue in d minor is an excellent example of effective use of contrapuntal techniques like transformation by inversion or contrary motion, invertible counterpoint and stretti exposition. He completed book i in 1722 and book ii a generation later in 1742. Bach fugue in c major bwv 953 sheet music for piano. Fugue in g minor, bwv 578, popularly known as the little fugue, is a piece of organ music written by johann sebastian bach during his years at arnstadt 17031707. It is one of bachs best known fugues and has been arranged for other voices, including an orchestral version by leopold stokowski.
Here is the same passage with one voice per staff soprano, alto, tenor, bass from the top down. The alto voice actually crosses over the soprano and stays above it for several measures. Prelude and fugue in csharp minor, bwv 849 wikipedia. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 870 bach, johann sebastian. Good examples are the concurrence of fgabbb in one chord bar 18, beat 1, with g in the bass and gabbbc bar 23, beat 1, with ab in bass rather rare in js bachs oeuvre see for a similar dissonance e. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. Johann sebastian bach fugue 1, c major welltempered clavier, book i, bwv 846. Fugue analysis music theory for the 21stcentury classroom. A very regular fugue in construction, and not difficult to follow.
The other connection between prelude and fugue is the meter. The symbols of the bach passacaglia by david rumsey. In the first exposition of a fugue, all of the voices state the. Janssen builds up an extreme contrast between the two parts, with 48 to 145 bpm speeding up from part 1 to 2 almost 3x nice. It begins with a simple four bar phrase centring on c, then begins to modulate successive harmonic. Praeludium fuga yeardate of composition yd of comp. Prelude and fugue in csharp major, bwv 848 bach, johann. If bach had continued to c major, as the parallel construction would suggest, he would have found himself nearing the end of the. First tanya gille shelly myers a manuscript submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of musical arts in the department of music. The fortyeight preludes and fugues that make up the two books of the welltempered clavier were compiled at two different timesthe first book in 1722 while bach was in. In each book, the first prelude and fugue set is in c major, followed by the next in c minor and so they ascend chromatically in majorminor pairs. Bachs prelude and fugue in c major eleven pitch class. Structure of fugue in c minor from book i of welltempered clavier.
They occupied bach across most of his creative life, from his late twenties to about sixty. The voices appear in the exposition in the unusual order of subject answer answer subject. Prelude 1 in c major bwv 846 from the welltempered clavier. This fugue in c major, the first fugue from the first book of bachs welltempered clavier, presents several interesting aspects. Johann sebastian bach s prelude in c major from the first book of the welltempered clavier appears rather simple on the surface of its rhythmic, structural and harmonic forms, but further layers reveal a complex form grounded in harmonic manipulation and clear phrase delineation. The structure is more reminiscent of a twopart invention than a fugue, but the line between these is somewhat blurry. It is the fourth prelude and fugue in the first book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionnoncommercialnoderivatives 4. We start our analysis with the, so to say, entry door into the 48, the well tempered. How do you master the masterpieces of johann sebastian bach.
Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 846 in c major wtc i teoria. This fugue in c major, the first fugue from the first book of bach s welltempered clavier, presents several interesting aspects. Prelude and fugue, for organ in c details allmusic. Wtc i detailed comments to pfc major, bwv 846 js bach, the. A fugue is a style of musical composition where a theme melody is introduced, and then repeated in one or more other voices.
Bach s welltempered clavier, performed by kimiko ishizaka, with an animated. The exposition first episode measures 12 to 19 measures 19 to 24 final measures complete fugue. The well tempered clavier was a collection of preludes and fugues in all the keys possible on a keyboard. Read our guide to bachs prelude in c major, from the. The welltempered clavier, bwv 846893, is a collection of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, composed for solo keyboard by johann sebastian bach. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 870 last updated may 03, 2019. In existing analyses of the 48 preludes and fugues. A detailed guide that analyzes the structural, harmonic and thematic frame of the prelude and the fugue. Fugue i in c major, bwv 846 well tempered clavier first book. Analysis of bachs keyboard works prelude in cmajor video. Prelude and fugue in f major, bwv 856 from wtc i a guide. Some scholars, however, believe it originated early, in weimar.
Bach s autograph 1722 of the first prelude of book i the prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. It is equally easy to understand the few harmonic progressions that it comprises. Prelude and fugue in c minor bach had written this piece as part of the well tempered clavier. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of. Well analyse prelude in c major in welltempered clavier, bk. This autograph manuscript, of the a flat major fugue from the second set of 24, shows bach s characteristic musical handwriting. Sometimes js bach introduces 16th notes only at a later time in a fugue, in order to raise the overall level of tension e. Bachs welltempered clavier, performed by kimiko ishizaka, with an animated graphical score. An early version of the prelude, bwv 846a, is found in the klavierbuchlein fur wilhelm friedemann bach. Analysis of bach fugue in d minor free essay example. Nov 21, 2006 the fortyeight preludes and fugues that make up the two books of the welltempered clavier were compiled at two different timesthe first book in 1722 while bach was in kothen and in 1742 in leipzig. This is the only twovoice fugue in either book of the wtc. Js bach, the welltempered clavier book 1, detailed comments.
The fugue in c minor from book 1 of bachs 48 is now generally described by english speakers as follows. Prelude and fugue in csharp major, bwv 848 bach, johann sebastian movementssections movtssecs. The prelude and fugue in c major from the wtc i are a very complex set of two pieces which reveals bach s mastery of harmonic and contrapuntal writing. It is the first prelude and fugue in the second book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues in every major and minor key. Florida state university libraries electronic theses, treatises and dissertations the graduate school 2004 toward a methodology for the analysis of fugue.
After you are confident that you have completed the analysis, compare your answers to mine for your own benefit, do not look at these links until you have completed your own. The prelude, largo, and fugue in c major, bwv 545, illustrates bachs interest in amalgamating the organ prelude and fugue with the threemovement italian concerto. Prelude and fugue in b major, bwv 868 bach, johann sebastian. He uses seven in the first half and seven in the second half of the piece. Sep 12, 2012 the two books of preludes and fugues in alternately major and minor keys twentyfour in each were not written in sequence or as a single concerted effort. The 14 notes long subject is said to be related to bach s name. On this ground, bach produces a passacaglia of twenty variations, followed by a fugue that. The tension is finally resolved in the last two measures by the final cadence in f major. The prelude and fugue in csharp minor, bwv 849, is a pair of keyboard compositions by johann sebastian bach.
Johann sebastian bach 16851750 written in 1722, publicated in 1801. The prelude and fugue in c major from the wtc i are a very complex set of two pieces which reveals bachs mastery of harmonic and contrapuntal writing. The first gentle unfurling of the c major chord, one might feel, is where. Bach s welltempered clavier, performed by kimiko ishizaka, with an animated graphical score. Prelude and fugue in f major, bwv 856 from wtc i a guide to.
In bach s time the final liberation of the key of d minor from the dorian mode was completed. For another example of bach s programmatic numerology, see the final fugue of the welltempered clavier, no. In the absense of additional fugal devices such as subject variation or countersubjects, bach develops the narrative from the most natural tension available in a fugue. Prelude and fugue in f minor, from welltempered clavier book i johann sebastian bach. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 870, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. Prelude and fugue in d major, bwv 850 bach, johann. Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 871 in c minor wtc, book ii. The most familiar is carl schachters bach s fugue in bb major, welltempered clavier, book i, no. Book i for reading this prelude and fugue in the enharmonically equivalent key of dflat major.
The fugue is for three voices, which may be labelled soprano, alto and bass, and the independence and integrity of each are strictly maintained until the last two bars, when chords are introduced to lend fullness and finality. But as you will see in our analysis, there are only 22 complete subjects. Although bach keeps the arpeggio texture throughout the piece, the prelude is written in five voice texture with a smooth voice leading. Interesting recordings of the p e minor come from gulda who plays the p extremely dry, hantai with beautifully phrased trills, schiff and hewitt. Bach does, however, use a very wide repertoire of chords, not simply i, iv, v, i, rinse and repeat. Prelude and fugue in c minor by aaron pang on prezi. Bach s c minor fugue bwv 871 from the second book of the wtc offers an excellent example of three contrapuntal techniques.
Fugue i in c major, bwv 846 well tempered clavier first. An important feature of the fugue is its two pedal points bars 61 to 65, and 76 to 82. In bach s time clavier was a generic name indicating a variety of keyboard instruments, most typically a harpsichord or clavichord but not excluding an organ either the modern german spelling for. The fugue shows bach mastery of the contrapuntal writing. Prelude and fugue in a major, bwv 864 bach, johann sebastian. Fugue d major the d major fugue is a very interesting piece, as there are some parallels to the first part of a french overture, with its ornamental lines and dotted notes almost in the style of jean babtiste lully. An examination of selected bach organ works scott roberts follow this and additional works at the fsu digital library. First of all, there is an immediate transition between prelude and fugue. Js bach s set of 48 preludes and fugues, spanning all 24 major and minor keys twice each, is one of the cornerstones of western art music. This is in contrast to modern songs which have a melody, usually sung or played by one voice, chords, and rhythm.
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