The Toccata and Fugue in F major,

BWV The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2 ...

540, is an organ work written by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, potentially dating from the composer's time in Weimar, or in Leipzig.

History

No firm date can be established for the composition, and it has even been conjectured that the 2 parts were composed separately, with the toccata being a potentially more mature piece. Williams however describes that the differing ''Affekt'' of the two parts does not pose any problem to the hypothesis that the whole work was composed at the same period. This conception of "complementary movements" was even a favourite of Bach's, and the dramatic nature of the toccata as contrasted to the counterpoint of the fugue should, as one author writes, "not be misunderstood as mere discrepancy". Because of the range of the pedal parts, the toccata may have been written for a performance, around 1713, at the

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle. History Perhaps the fir ...

organ, with its pedal going up to F.

Music

Toccata

The toccata starts with a large linear canon (first 6 bars shown above) over a pedal point in F major. It is then followed by a pedal solo based upon material from the canon. The canon is reiterated with some variations in the dominant in C major. This time the hands are switched, and the left hand leads the right. This is again followed by a long pedal solo. The two large canon flourishes cover 108 measures of the composition. The pedal solos cover 60 measures. The concerto movement exhibits a seven-part structure. The canons and pedal solos effect the departure from the home key of F to the dominant C, and the rest of the movement, with its ''concertante'' 3-part imitation and "proto-

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

es", constitute the harmonic return. This formal pattern is unique within all of Bach's works. The Toccata (as a prelude) is proportionally the largest of all Bach's works in the format of prelude-fugue. It is often treated as a show piece, with the ensuing fugue omitted. The Toccata's rhythmic signature suggests a ''

passepied The passepied (, "pass-foot", from a characteristic dance step) is a French court dance. Originating as a kind of Breton branle, it was adapted to courtly use in the 16th century and is found frequently in 18th-century French opera and ballet ...

'' or a ''

musette Musette may refer to: Music * Musette de cour, or baroque musette, a musical instrument of the bagpipe family * Musette bechonnet, a type of French bagpipe * Musette bressane, a type of French bagpipe * Oboe musette, or piccolo oboe, the small ...

'', although the large scale of the movement does not support these characterizations. Nor does the harmonic complexity of the composition; 45 measures after the second pedal solo there is a

dominant chord In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree () of the diatonic scale. It is called the ''dominant'' because it is second in importance to the first scale degree, the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the dominant note is sung as "So ...

which resolves deceptively to the third-inversion secondary dominant of the

Neapolitan chord In Classical music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered ( flatted) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is b ...

. In particular, the doubled root is found to move outward in contrary chromatic motion to a major 9th; in the bass by a descending half tone, far from the expected fifth. Bach implements this deceptive cadence three times in the piece; it would not become idiomatic until Chopin and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

Fugue

The first subject (entries in the tenor, alto and soprano voices shown above) of the fugue is chromatic and ornamental. The second subject has many modulation shifts and is sometimes initially presented as the counter-subject of the first. The Fugue is Bach's only thorough-going double fugue, where two subjects are exposed in separate sections and then combined. The effect is enhanced by the increasing rhythmic activity of the second subject and by the more frequent use of modulation in the final section of the fugue. The bravura of the F major toccata, with its pedal solos and manual virtuosity, contrasts with the sober opening of the Fugue. Both represent two diverse aspects of Italian influence: the motoric rhythms and sequential passagework of the Toccata, and the traditional ''

alla breve ''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C with a vertical line through it), which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian for "on the breve", originally meaning th ...

'' counterpoint of the Fugue, with its chromaticism, harmonic suspensions, and uninterrupted succession of subjects and answers. These techniques are very similar to those used in the "Dorian" Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538.

Notes

Sources

External links

*
A Study of J.S. Bach’s Toccata in F Major

Free download of BWV 540
recorded by

James Kibbie James Kibbie (born March 13, 1949) is an American concert organist, recording artist and pedagogue. He is Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan. Biography Kibbie was born in 1949 in Vinton, Iowa, USA. He graduated from Davenport We ...

on the 1755

Gottfried Silbermann Gottfried Silbermann (January 14, 1683 – August 4, 1753) was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two. Life Very little is kn ...

Zacharias Hildebrandt Zacharias Hildebrandt (1688, Münsterberg, Silesia – 11 October 1757, Dresden, Saxony) was a German organ builder. In 1714 his father Heinrich Hildebrandt, a cartwright master, apprenticed him to the famous organbuilder Gottfried Silberma ...

organ in the

Katholische Hofkirche Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German Katholische Hofkirche and since 1980 also known as Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, is the Catholi ...

, Dresden, Germany {{Authority control Fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions for organ

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

Compositions in F major