Prelude And Fugue In E-flat Minor, BWV 853

The Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor, BWV 853 is the eighth pair of preludes and fugues in the first book of ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' by Johann Sebastian Bach, compiled around 1722.

After the cheerful lightness of E-flat major, Bach reserves the first tragic encounter in his harmonic journey for E-flat minor.

The prelude, marked by a meditative character, introduces a fugue of considerable complexity, employing techniques such as canon and augmentation, similar to those found in ''The Art of Fugue''. The fugue appears in the enharmonic key of D-sharp minor, although some editions present it in both D-sharp minor and its enharmonic equivalent, E-flat minor.

The two books of ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' are widely regarded by composers and educators as important reference works. First circulated in manuscript form among musicians and later published in the early 19th century, they have been used both for the enjoyment of listeners and as foundational material in the study of keyboard technique and composition since their creation.

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Background

''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' is often cited as one of the most significant works in classical music. It has been considered a key reference by composers and musicians such as Joseph Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Richard Wagner, César Franck, Max Reger, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, and Charles Koechlin, among others, whether as performers or admirers. Hans von Bülow notably referred to it as a foundational work, describing it as the ''Old Testament'' of music, in parallel with Beethoven's thirty-two sonatas, which he referred to as the ''New Testament''.

The scores, unpublished during Bach's lifetime, initially circulated as manuscript copies shared among musicians—his children, students, and colleagues—until the late 18th century, already attracting attention. Their broader dissemination began with publication in the early 19th century, after which they became common in the repertoires of both amateur pianists and professional musicians, and were occasionally performed in concert settings. For instance, Chopin is known to have played selections from the work privately before public performances. Since Bach's time, the collection has served as a tool for keyboard training and instruction in composition and fugue writing. The music contained in these volumes is both pedagogical and musically engaging, notably due to the diversity, structure, and craftsmanship it presents.

Each book consists of twenty-four diptychs (preludes and fugues), exploring all major and minor keys in chromatic order. The term " tempered" (as in Well-Tempered Scale) refers to the tuning of keyboard instruments, which must temper fifths (flattening them slightly so that D-flat becomes the same as C-sharp) to modulate into distant keys—just like modern tuning systems. Thus, the instrument can play in all keys. Bach consequently explored tonalities that were virtually unused in his time, opening new harmonic horizons.

The preludes exhibit inventiveness and resemble improvisation, drawing on traditions such as the toccata, invention, or arpeggiated prelude. The fugues, while structured, are treated with expressiveness rather than rigidity. They encompass a broad spectrum of moods, emotions, forms, and structures, suggesting joy, calm, intensity, or melancholy, and present a varied and human musical landscape. Some incorporate multiple contrapuntal techniques—such as stretto, inversion, or canon—while others do not, reflecting an approach marked by flexibility rather than systematic design. This contrasts with the more methodical character of ''The Art of Fugue'', a later work composed entirely in D minor.

Prelude

This pair—prelude and fugue—is considered "one of the most beautiful" and "most moving." "A new masterpiece", "among the most admirable" in the collection, it is "one of Bach's greatest keyboard works". The prelude is also included in the '' Little Keyboard Book for Wilhelm Friedemann'', whose compilation began in 1720. The rare key of E-flat minor is described as follows by Schubart:

The prelude, notated , consists of 40 measures.

It is a deeply meditative, inward song, halfway between recitative-arioso and nocturne, with an extremely rich harmonic diversity. The piece calms down in the final bars, dying away in an atmosphere of mystery.

Few composers have conveyed such depth of sentiment using minimal means and straightforward expression as Bach does in this piece. Music critic Cecil Gray interpreted the postlude