Prelude and Fugue in E minor,

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 BWV2a ...

855, is the 10th

prelude and fugue {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The prelude and fugue is a musical form generally consisting of two movements in the same key for solo keyboard. In classical music, the combination of prelude and fugue is one with a long his ...

for keyboard (harpsichord) in the first book of ''

The Well Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

'', composed in 1722 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 w ...

. The Prelude in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed f ...

855a, features as No. 18 ("Praeludium 5") in the 1720

Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach ''Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach'' (Bach's original spelling: ''Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach'') is a collection of keyboard music compiled by the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach for his eldest son Wil ...

. BWV 855a may also refer to both this Prelude and a

Fughetta In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

in the same

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

, an early version of BWV 855.

Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Зило́ти, ''Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti'', uk, Олександр Ілліч Зілоті; 9 October 1863 – 8 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, ...

made a piano

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

in B minor of the Prelude BWV 855a.

Prelude and Fughetta, BWV 855a

Where the 1998 version of the ''

Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis 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 BWV2a ...

'' (BWV^2a) described BWV 855a as only a Prelude, based on its appearance in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, BWV 855a may also refer to both this Prelude and a Fughetta in E minor, found in a manuscript copy made between 1750 and the early 19th century, once owned by F. Konwitschny but later lost. The Prelude and Fughetta were published in Series V, Volume 6.1 of the

Neue Bach-Ausgabe The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete Wo ...

, based on various sources for the Prelude, and on the Konwitschny source (of which a film copy had been preserved) for the Fughetta. BWV 855a is an early version of BWV 855, No. 10 in the 1722 first book of the ''Well-Tempered Clavier''.Bach Digital Work No. at \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \new Staff >>

Prelude and Fugue, BWV 855, No. 10 of ''The Well Tempered Clavier'', Book I

This piece was written for harpsichord by Bach in 1722 or earlier. \version "2.18.2" \header \score

Prelude

There are 41

measures Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Meas ...

. The bass line is made up of running sixteenth notes throughout. The treble line is made up of running sixteenth notes throughout with mixed notes in between. \version "2.18.2" \header upper = \relative c'' lower = \relative c \score

Fugue

The fugue is in 2 voices and there are 42 measures. \version "2.18.2" \header Dux = ContreSujet = Comes = upper = \relative c' lower = \relative c \score

Siloti's arrangement of BWV 855a: Prelude in B minor

made an arrangement the Prelude BWV 855a for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, transposing it to B minor: \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \new Dynamics \new Staff >> This arrangement has been described as "perhaps Siloti's most tender and perfect" transcription. It transposes Bach's original down from the original E minor into B minor, with the steady

sixteenth note Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note (American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the dura ...

figuration that was originally given by Bach to the left hand being instead assigned to the right hand. Siloti also adds a repeat of the entire work, in order to allow for a change of voicing where the melody in the left hand is emphasized. The chords in the left hand are

arpeggiated A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

; however according to Siloti's daughter Kyriena (to whom the work was dedicated), he would omit the arpeggiation on the first pass and restore it on the repeat in order to heighten the effect of the left-hand melody. It has been performed by many pianists, most famously

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and educatio ...

. The date of the arrangement is uncertain: it was first published by A. Gutheil of Moscow, and was performed by Siloti in public for the "first time" (according to an announcement in the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'') in February 1912.

References

External links

*
BWV 855: The Well-tempered Clavier Book I – X (A = 415 Hz) – Harpsichord sound
at MuseScore website {{Authority control The Well-Tempered Clavier Compositions in E minor