Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 869 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part I)

Prelude played by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka

Fugue played by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka

Prelude and Fugue in B minor , BWV 869, conclude Part 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier , a collection of preludes and fugues for keyboard instruments by Johann Sebastian Bach .

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Prelude

Prelude in B minor, BWV 869. Copy by Bernhard Christian Kayser around 1723–1725 ( Berlin State Library , manuscript P 401)

The type of movement of the Prelude is an Italian trio sonata , modeled on Arcangelo Corelli . However, the two-part form with repeat signs, which is then included in the pre-classic , and the original tempo designation Andante, are future- oriented . The lines are gradually expanded over the course of the piece: the first part is divided into two cadences ( tonic parallel in D major in bar 7 and dominant in F sharp minor in bar 12). In the second part, on the other hand, after the F sharp minor cadence in bar 27, further cadenzas are bypassed.

Theoretically, the piece could end after bar 42; However, Bach adds a fallacy and a five-bar coda , which in their chromaticism point to the fugue.

Gap

The fugue theme is extraordinary. It contains all twelve degrees of the chromatic scale; Melodically the beginning coincides with the first theme from the F sharp minor fugue of the 2nd part. This chromaticism is framed by two falling minor triads in the tonic and the dominant , combined with six falling semitone steps. The topic appears a total of 14 times; after the four-part exposition that ends in bar 16, there are only ten thematic entries, exclusively in the three lower parts. Bach uses the chromatically shaped, expressive theme neither for narrowing nor for reversals . The chromaticism is loosened up by several diatonic interludes, the motif of which is anticipated in bars 23/24 of the prelude. In several places, for example in bar 19 in alto and in bar 28 in tenor, only the first three notes of the theme appear in these interludes, as if in one attempt, before it is heard two bars later in its entirety. As in the first Kyrie of the B minor Mass , Bach also dispenses with a final increase in the B minor fugue.

With 76 bars and a required Largo tempo, this is the longest, most expressive and one of the most profound fugues in the Well-Tempered Clavier. Philipp Spitta writes: "The expression of pain is here almost unbearable."

literature

• Peter Benary: JS Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: Text - Analysis - Playback . MN 718, H. & B. Schneider, Aarau 2005.
• Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier . 4th edition. Bärenreiter Introduction to Works, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7618-1229-7 .
• Cecil Gray: The Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues of JS Bach.  - Internet Archive . Oxford University Press, London / New York / Toronto 1938.

Web links

• The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Johann Sebastian Bach : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Hermann Keller : BWV 869. (PDF)
• BWV 869. (Flash) Edward Parmentier

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hermann Keller : The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach , p. 114 ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) 
2. ^ Philipp Spitta: Johann Sebastian Bach . Volume 1. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1873.