Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531
Canzona, BWV 588
Fantasy in C major, BWV 570
Prelude (fantasia) and Fugue in D minor, BWV 549a
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 566
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 551
Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582
Prelude in A minor, BWV 569
Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 535a (fragment)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
The Young Bach
Already in Johann Sebastian Bach's youth, he was recognised as an artist and as a virtuoso musician, even though at first he was simply an eager and curious learner and practitioner. The mixture of a high level of musical talent, curiosity, and hard work created in one single musician a musical genius who wanted to live according to Buxtehude's saying: “Non hominibus, sed Deo”(Not to men, but to God). When we talk about "the young Bach", we talk about his childhood in Eisenach (1685-1695), his childhood and youth in Ohrdruf (1695-1700), his time as student in Lüneburg (1700-1702), and his first position as organist in Arnstadt (1703-1707).
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531 – In this work, one can hear the youthful eagerness, the overwhelming temperament, the virtuosic passagework in the manuals and in the pedal, bordering on showing off, as if he provocatively wanted to distance himself from the past.
Canzona in D minor, BWV 570 – The young Bach could also compose in this restrained, sensible, and meditative way. He chose the genre of the Canzona, originally from the South German/Italian tradition.
Fantasia in C major, BWV 570 – This very quiet, beautiful, and calm piece is actually an etude to achieve “a very careful legato playing and lightness when releasing the finger from the key.” (Philip Spitta)
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWW 531 and Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 549a – If BWV 531 was furious, virtuosic and extrovert, than the Prelude and Fugue in D minor is introvert, restrained and self-reflecting. It is composed in the subtler key of D minor in contrast to the majestic C major of BWV 531. In this sense there is an obvious complementarity between the two pieces.
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 566 – This is a piece in a grand style work with strong connections to the later works. Set aside all signs of immaturity that have been connected to this piece; it shows the young Bach as a virtuoso as well as composer who reaches out to large compositional forms and thus anticipates his later works.
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 551 – Here we meet the systematic Bach within the symmetrical form of the piece: Prelude - Interlude - Fugue - Interlude - Postlude. Bach makes particular play with the different chromatic colours.
Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582 – Bach's compositional mastery is particularly evident in the Passacaglia. The work reaches far beyond existing models. The 21 variations "exhibit absolute control over compositional principles, musical form, figurative material, fugal devices, and harmonic strategies." (Christoph Wolff)
Prelude in A minor, BWV 569 – This prelude is an etude in the use of all keys and that also plays through all possible descending sequences.
Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV 535a – This unfinished piece is recognised as one the earliest works by the young Bach. It may have been composed in 1707. The piece itself is composed in the stylus phantasticus, a style that was the normal for preludes and toccatas of this time.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 – This is a furious, dramatic, and breath-taking piece, and perhaps Bach's best-known. It is suspected that was it originally a piece for solo violin, since so much of its passagework has a violinistic character.
Hans-Ola Ericsson |
