Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540

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Beginning of the toccata

The Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540 is an organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach .

Emergence

The origin of the work cannot be clearly determined: Many believe that Bach merged two works that were previously created separately to form a total work of art. Both parts belong together because Bach developed the two fugue themes from the top notes of the opening toccata theme and from the first sixteenth note chain of the toccata. The Toccata is usually estimated to have originated after 1714, and that of the Fugue before 1731. Christoph Wolff , on the other hand, dates both parts to Bach's time as the Weimar court organist (from 1708), while Hans Klotz counts the toccata among his later organ works. Due to its unusual pedal size (up to f 1 ), the Toccata was possibly intended for the Förner organ on Neu-Augustusburg , the residence of the Duchy of Saxony-Weissenfels . Others attribute the plant to St. Agnus in Koethen .

Toccata

Förner organ of the Castle Church, Neu-Augustusburg Castle 2009

The toccata starts with an extended linear canon over an organ point in F major, followed by a pedal solo that seems to have been improvised from the material. The canon is repeated several times in the dominant key of C major. This time the hands change roles, and the left hand guides the right. Another long pedal solo follows. The two extended canon flourishes comprise 108 bars of the work, the pedal solo 60 bars. The concerto movement has a seven-part ritornello structure. The canonical sections and the pedal solos modulate from the initial key F to the dominant key of C major. The rest of the work, with its concertante three-part imitation, forms the harmonic return to F major. This formal model is unique in Bach's oeuvre. Hermann Keller expresses his enthusiasm as follows:

"At the beginning of the extended linear construction of the two canon parts, the proud serenity of the solos in the pedal, the penetrating chord bars, the fiery lift of the second subject, the bold modulation shifts, the inwardness of the three minor movements, the magnificent ending with its famous inversion of the Seventh chord, who wouldn't be enchanted by it? "

- Hermann Keller : The Organ Works of Bach , p. 92.

The Toccata F (as prelude) is with 438 bars in proportion the largest of all Bach works in the format of a toccata and fugue. It is therefore often seen as a showpiece, with the following fugue being left out. In the harmonious structure of the Toccata 45 bars after the second pedal solo, a dominant seventh chord is noticeable, which is deceptively resolved by the third inversion of the intermediate dominant into the Neapolitan . In particular, the doubled fundamental tone is recognized to move the line chromatically outwards in countermovement. In the bass there is a descending augmented unison that absolutely cannot be turned away from the expected V level. Bach implements the tremendous fallacy in a minor key with a second chord three times in this piece (bars 204, 318, 424).

Gap

The double fugue is not very well known. The first subject in the fugue is decorated chromatically and with flourishes. The second subject has a lot of modulation shifts and is sometimes presented at the beginning as a counter-subject of the first topic. The joint is a continuous double joint in which two subjects are emphasized in separate parts and then combined with one another. The effect is heightened by the increasing rhythmic activity of the second subject and the more frequent use of modulations in the last part of the fugue.

The bravura piece of the Toccata in F with its pedal solos and virtuosity on the manual forms a sharp contrast to the rather sober opening of the fugue. Both represent two different aspects of the Italian influence: the motor rhythms and the sequential work through the Toccata or the traditional alla breve counterpoint of the fugue with its chromatizations, its harmonic postponements and uninterrupted series of subjects and responses. These techniques are very similar to those of the Doric Toccata in D minor BWV 538 .

Hans Klotz suspected the aria in F major BWV 587 as an intermediate piece for this composition because it had the same range, as it seems difficult to imagine that Bach's Toccata, Adagio and Fuge in C major BWV 564 is the only three-part of his organ compositions. The separate genesis of the sentences contradicts this thesis.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gunther Hoffmann: The organ work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Reclam, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-15-008540-3 , p. 121.
  2. ^ Christoph Wolff : Johann Sebastian Bach . 4th edition. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-596-16739-5 , pp. 184 .
  3. ↑ Hans Klotz : About the organ art of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Music, disposition, mixtures, lengths, registration, use of the pianos . 3. Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0775-9 , p. 375 .
  4. ↑ Hans Klotz: About the organ art of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Music, disposition, mixtures, lengths, registration, use of the pianos . 3. Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0775-9 , p. 382 .
  5. ^ Felix Friedrich : Christian Förner and the organ of the castle church in Weißenfels. In: Acta Organologica . 27, 2001, pp. 21-108, here: p. 30.
  6. ^ Christoph Wolff: Johann Sebastian Bach . 4th edition. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-596-16739-5 , pp. 141 .
  7. ^ Hermann Keller: The organ works of Bach. A contribution to their history, form, interpretation and rendering. Peters, Leipzig 1976, ISBN 3-87626-039-6 , p. 92.
  8. ↑ Jörg Dehmel: Toccata and Prelude in Organ Music from Merulo to Bach. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1989, ISBN 3-7618-0938-7 , p. 122.
  9. ↑ Hans Klotz: Bach's organs and his organ music. In: Society for music research (ed.): The music research. Vol. 3. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1950, pp. 189–203, here: 201–202.
  10. ↑ Martin Geck: Bach interpretations. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1969, pp. 13-14.