 | This section provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(September 2022) |
The Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540, is an organ work written by Johann Sebastian Bach, potentially dating from the composer's time in Weimar, or in Leipzig.
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 Peter Williams writes, "not be misunderstood as mere discrepancy". [1] Because of the range of the pedal parts, the toccata may have been written for a performance, around 1713, at the Weißenfels organ, with its pedal going up to F. [2]
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-waltzes", 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 or a musette , 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 which resolves deceptively to the third-inversion secondary dominant of the Neapolitan chord. 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.
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 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.
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In classical music, a fugue is a contrapuntal, polyphonic compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation, which recurs frequently throughout the course of the composition. It is not to be confused with a fuguing tune, which is a style of song popularized by and mostly limited to early American music and West Gallery music. A fugue usually has three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a final entry that contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key. Fugues can also have episodes—parts of the fugue where new material is heard, based on the subject—a stretto, when the fugue's subject "overlaps" itself in different voices, or a recapitulation. A popular compositional technique in the Baroque era, the fugue was fundamental in showing mastery of harmony and tonality as it presented counterpoint.
Johann Pachelbel was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era.
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a composition for organ by, according to the oldest sources, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and is one of the most widely recognisable works in the organ repertoire. Although the date of its origin is unknown, scholars have suggested between 1704 and the 1750s. The piece opens with a toccata section followed by a fugue that ends in a coda, and is largely typical of the north German organ school of the Baroque era.
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The Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560, are a collection of works for keyboard and pedal formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. They are now believed to have been composed by one of Bach's pupils, possibly Johann Tobias Krebs or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs, or by the Bohemian composer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer.
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538, is an organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Like the better-known BWV 565, BWV 538 also bears the title Toccata and Fugue in D minor, although it is often referred to by the nickname Dorian – a reference to the fact that the piece is written without a key signature – a notation that leads one to assume the Dorian mode.
Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major is an organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. As is the case with most other organ works by Bach, the autograph score does not survive. The earliest manuscript copies were probably made in 1719–1727. The title of the piece in these copies is given, as expected of organ literature of the time, simply as Toccata in C major. The piece is an early work, probably composed in the mid-to-late Weimar years, i.e. 1710–1717. It shares some similarities with other toccatas composed around the same time, such as BWV 538, BWV 540, and others: all show the influence of concerto style and form.
Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566 is an organ work written by Johann Sebastian Bach probably during his 4 month-stay at Lübeck or afterwards in the winter of 1705–1706. It comprises five sections and is an early work in grand form of Bach.
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Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532.2, is a prelude and fugue written for the organ c. 1710, and has an approximate duration of 11+1⁄2 minutes. BWV 532.1 is an earlier version of the Fugue.
The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36 and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most significant and extensive work for organ, containing some of his most musically complex and technically demanding compositions for that instrument.
Nazario Carlo Bellandi was an Italian music composer, organist, pianist, and harpsichordist.
The Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV 861, is No. 16 in Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, keyboard music consisting of 24 preludes and fugues in every major and minor key.
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1727 and 1736, during his time in Leipzig. The work is sometimes called "The Wedge" due to the chromatic outward motion of the fugue theme. Unlike most other organ preludes and fugues of Bach, the autograph fair copy of the score survives, though the handwriting changes twenty two measures into the fugue to the hand of Johann Peter Kellner, a likely pupil and acquaintance of Bach who played an important role in the copying of his manuscripts. Because of the work's immense scope, it has been referred to as "a two-movement symphony" for the organ.
The organ sonatas, BWV 525–530 by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six sonatas in trio sonata form. Each of the sonatas has three movements, with three independent parts in the two manuals and obbligato pedal. The collection was put together in Leipzig in the late 1720s and contained reworkings of prior compositions by Bach from earlier cantatas, organ works and chamber music as well as some newly composed movements. The sixth sonata, BWV 530, is the only one for which all three movements were specially composed for the collection. When played on an organ, the second manual part is often played an octave lower on the keyboard with appropriate registration. Commentators have suggested that the collection might partly have been intended for private study to perfect organ technique, some pointing out that its compass allows it to be played on a pedal clavichord. The collection of sonatas is generally regarded as one of Bach's masterpieces for organ. The sonatas are also considered to be amongst his most difficult compositions for the instrument.
The Fantasia or Pièce d'Orgue in G major, BWV 572, is a composition for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach.
