Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major,
BWV
The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, 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 and the third edition in ...
852, is a keyboard composition by
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
. It is the seventh
prelude and fugue
{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A prelude and fugue is a musical form generally consisting of two Movement (music), movements in the same key for solo keyboard music, keyboard. In classical music, the combination of Prelude ( ...
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'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...
'', a series of 48
preludes and
fugue
In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...
s by the composer.
Analysis
Prelude
The
prelude is 70
measures long, and consists of three sections:
* The first section begins from the first measure and lasts until 10. It is a short
toccata
Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virt ...
, mainly made of energetic
semiquaver
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 du ...
movements, with the ending two measures (m. 8 and 9) made of
demisemiquavers. It establishes the
tonic key (
E), presents theme I, and ends on the
dominant (
B).
* The second section starts at m. 10, and ends at m. 25. It is a
chorale
A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale:
* Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...
, in the style of
four-part harmony
Four-part harmony is music written for four Human voice, voices, or for some other musical medium—four musical instruments or a single keyboard instrument, for example—for which the various musical parts can give a different note for each Cho ...
, introducing theme II.
* The third section starts at m. 25 and lasts until the end. It is a four-voice
double fugue, and the first
subject
Subject ( "lying beneath") may refer to:
Philosophy
*''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing
**Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or ...
is introduced in the
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
(theme I extended), second subject in the
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
(theme II).
This section is three times as long as the other two sections together.
This prelude is unique among the 48 preludes of ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' because it already includes a fully developed fugue. It may originally have been conceived for
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
(the early version has fewer
semiquaver
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 du ...
s in the
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
of the second section than the final one).
Fugue
The fugue is 37 measures long and has three voices.
Its light style contrasts strongly with the prelude.
Notes and references
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
The Well-Tempered Clavier
Compositions in E-flat major