The Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562 is a relatively short piece written for the organ 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 ...

. Bach began the composition during his time in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, and an unfinished fugue, probably by Bach, was added in his later life.Classical Archives
/ref> The piece features a heavily

appoggiatura An appoggiatura ( , ; german: Vorschlag or ; french: port de voix) is a musical ornament that consists of an added non-chord note in a melody that is resolved to the regular note of the chord. By putting the non-chord tone on a strong beat, ( ...

-laden harmony.Decca Records Publication No. 443 485-2

Composition

Bach was hired in 1708 by the ruling duke of Saxe-Weimar,

Wilhelm Ernst Wilhelm Ernst (25 August 1905, in Gelsenkirchen – 23 July 1952, in Gelsenkirchen) was a German chess master. Biography He was a winner at Weidenau 1937. He played several times in German Chess Championship; took second, behind Kurt Richter, at ...

, as an organist and member of the court orchestra; he was particularly encouraged to make use of his unique talents with the organ. During his tenure at Weimar his fame as an organist grew, and many students of the organ visited him to hear him play and to learn from his technique.Baroque music.org
/ref> The composer also wrote many of his greatest organ works during the period, including the

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Scho ...

and the Prelude and Fugue in E major, BWV 566.Classical Archives 2
/ref> The ''Fantasia and Fugue in C minor'' was begun during this period, as a lone

fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

in the title key. The fugue was added in 1745, most likely by Bach, but possibly by one of his students or sons. This piece is one of a few by Bach with a considerable period between the composition of its component sections.

Analysis

The whole piece lasts about six minutes, and comprises an 81-bar fantasia and an unfinished fugue, of which 27 bars are written. The fantasia has a very imposing structure and sound, the feel of which is created by the piece's one-measure generative theme. This theme passes between five

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

voices of the organ, with occasional movement into new ideas; even the pedal bass is used for the theme. The theme contains many

s, which provide the piece with a slight virtuosic feel. The fugue is written in time and uses a simple half–quarter rhythm. It ends abruptly in the middle of the 27th bar after the exposition of the five voices is completed and a stretto passage begins.

References

External links

*
Free download of BWV 562
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 1724-30 Trost organ in the Stadtkirche, Waltershausen, Germany {{Authority control 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 ...

Fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions in C minor Unfinished musical compositions