Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846 from wtc i a guide. Bach s c minor fugue bwv 871 from the second book of the wtc offers an excellent example of three contrapuntal techniques. Below is a graph of what happens structurally in the fugue omitting the countersubjects, in order to provide a better overview. How bach has composed his fugue in c minor, bwv 847. Bac h s gr ea t mo no th e m at i c c yc le s, aft er th e mus i ca l of fe ri n g bwv 1079, th e gold berg variations bwv 988, and the canonic varia.
Structure of fugue in c minor from book i of welltempered clavier. Book 1 a major further tension can be produced when subjects fight with each other, in the sense that the are competing for dominance in a particular situation. Jan 25, 2007 i need some help analyzing the prelude in c maj from bach s wtc book 2. Second, the theme features a dramatic and expressive leap of a minor 9th the big jump upwards between the 2nd and 3rd notes. He was a german composer, during the baroque period. We provide formalized groundtruth data on this corpus as well as a dynamic.
Subject and countersubject detection for analysis of the well. Bachs c minor fugue bwv 871 from the second book of the wtc offers an excellent example of three contrapuntal techniques. Tim smith at nau deserves enormous credit for his analysis and presentation. Analysis of dsharp minor fugue from the welltempered clavier, book i. Incidentally, this subject is an example of double dotting or. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionnoncommercialnoderivatives 4. In which case you will have to tell us which book as there are two sets. As a quintessential baroque fugue, bachs d major fugue from book 1 of the welltempered clavier will make for suitable illustration of how to analyze a fugue. Analysis of bach s fugue bwv 871 in c minor wtc, book ii jose rodriguez alvira j. Compare the fugue of book i to the kyrie of the bminor mass.
Fugue no 2 in cminor, bwv 847 the welltempered clavier. The answer follows in the bass, modulating into c 48 analysis of j. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. First, it is one of the rare fugues with five voices there are two in book 1 of the welltempered clavier, and none in book 2. The second group commences at bar 35, in c minor, modulating to e flat.
The first is a simple back and white horizontal time line showing each subject entry along a vertical axis of voices. The musical examples are all hand drawn, i assume by the author. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition, where a subject is developed. The difference is that she covers both volumes of the wtc at each pitch. The prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. Bach, wtc i, fugue in e minor matthew saunders blog. Click on the link below each diagram to access an interactive version of these analysis, with scores. As with these other works, it exemplifies bachs inexhaustible musical appetite for different styles, old and new, french, german and italian. It is the fourth prelude and fugue in the first book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Fugue in c minor, bwv 575 bach, johann sebastian imslp.
Bach s autograph 1722 of the first prelude of book i the prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. For example, the fugue with the theme ba c h in the art of fugue is called contrapunctus xivperhaps the best evidence. In a conventional baroque fugue, the subject is first stated by itself. I presume you mean the prelude from the 2nd prelude and fugue in c minor. The piano score of this piece was first published in 1722 and is part of wtc 1 by bach. Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 871 in c minor wtc, book ii jose rodriguez alvira j.
Are there any websitesother resources available that will be useful for me. Consider his 1962 interpretation of bachs prelude in c minor from book one of the. Prelude and fugue in c minor bach had written this piece as part of the well tempered clavier. Below is a graph of what happens structurally in the fugue omitting the. In each book, the first prelude and fugue set is in c major, followed by the next in c minor and so they ascend chromatically in major minor pairs. The well tempered clavier was a collection of preludes and fugues in all the keys possible on a keyboard. The prelude and fugue in c major from the wtc i are a very complex set of two pieces which reveals bachs mastery of harmonic and contrapuntal writing. Right no, i am having trouble with figuring out what the harmonic analysis should be for the 3rd measure of this piece. The calligraphy is clear if not as perfect as a professional engraver. Prelude and fugue in csharp minor, bwv 849 wikipedia. Bwv 576 fugue in g major spurious bwv 577 fugue in g major. Kimiko ishizaka bach welltempered clavier, book 1 04 fugue no. Starting from voiceseparated data, we propose here to detect the subject as. It is interesting to hear how kimikos interpretation of the piece evolved from 20.
However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. I think it gives the book a wonderfully personal touch. We have already done some of the analysis in class, but go through it in more detail, answering all of the questions from the text. It has become standard teaching material in advanced and elementary textbooks alike, for courses in canon and fugue as well as lowly music appreciation. For more information, and discussion on this method and its results, please see the fugues main page and the bibliographical references. Bachs fugue in c minor, bwv 847 is analyzed and taught. Fugue book 1 c minor is an elegant and well balanced piece, which draws its fascination of its pure structure and the beauty of the interaction between the subject and the countersubjects. In section 3, the data set is presented and introductory data analysis is.
If bach had continued to c major, as the parallel construction would suggest, he would have found himself nearing the end of the fugue in a poor situation. It is interesting to hear how kimikos interpretation of the piece evolved from 20 to 2014, over. Book 1 and book 2 both of which have a prelude no 2 in c minor. The rest is dealt with in her books vol 2, vol 3 and vol 4. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. Note that in double fugues, two subjects are present the second. The prelude and fugue in c sharp minor, bwv 849, is a pair of keyboard compositions by johann sebastian bach. Bachs fondness for puzzles encourages those who tend toward conspiracy. Using the analytical questions above, go through j. This simple graphic documents the entire fugue, book 2, no. Chelsea hicks johann sebastian bachs was born on the 21st of march 1685 and died in 1750. Some of the features buxtehude uses are evident in bachs early organ fugues such as the five section prelude and fugue in a minor.
Apr 04, 2006 c major, c minor, and then up by halfsteps. But smith also finds the ba c h motif and appearances of the numbers 14 and 41 in the csharp minor fugue. The cminor fugue, in three voices, is textbook material for learning what a fugue really is. His fugue in c minor was written in the middle years of his life, 1722. Analysis of d minor toccata fugue and c major toccata. Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 871 in c minor wtc, book ii. Prelude and fugue in c minor, bwv 847, is a keyboard composition written by johann sebastian bach. Prelude and fugue in c minor by aaron pang on prezi. Between these two poles we have all the other colors first the yellows, oranges and ochre between c minor and d minor, all the shades of blue eflat major to e minor, the greens f major to g minor, pinks and reds aflat major to a minor, browns. The preludes for the most part exhibit simple binary or ternary forms. The two biggest potential problems may be 1 confusion of terms and 2 imprecise bracketing. Preludes and fugues the welltempered clavier, by j. Daveconservatoire uses a live performance by kimiko ishizaka from 20 to exemplify various fugal constructions in this video.
Performance recording can be found on youtube under jnfmusic. I want to create a variation on this song, but bach s harmonies are hard to figure out sometimes. He had written a total of 48 pieces scattered throughout 2 books. Analysis of bachs fugue bwv 847 in c minor wtc i jose rodriguez alvira 2011 jose rodriguez alvira. Bach s minor, with cs i in alto and cs 2 in treble.
Although bach keeps the arpeggio texture throughout the piece, the prelude. Four organ fugues of bach bwv 578, bwv 533, bwv 545, and. The subject consists of only five notes, drawn from four consecutive pitches, and it holds to the. Analysis of bach fugue in d minor free essay example. Prelude and fugue in f minor from welltempered clavier book. Bach wrote hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, as well as many other instruments.
Particularly interesting for a more general audience are two different visualizations of each fugue. To continue the parallelism from c major, would require a move to d minor following pattern of the second and third expositions in. Well, among the four most pithy subjects csharp minor and aflat major in book 1, csharp major and e major in book 2, csharp minor ranks as the superstarthe shortest, the most constrained, and the most obsessive. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search.
Prelude and fugue in c minor, bwv 847 bach, johann sebastian movementssections movtssecs. Bachs very bestknown fugue must be the fugue in c minor from book 1 ofthe welltempered clavier. The position of each occurrence is given by the number of. Revisiting bachs fugue form bwv 847 in c minor arioso7s blog. Mathieu giraud, richard groult, emmanuel leguy, florence leve. In each book, the first prelude and fugue set is in c major, followed by the next in c minor and so they ascend chromatically in majorminor pairs. After this last cadence, bach uses the plagal extension in the subdominant key he did the same in the prelude. The first group of middle entries bars 22 to 30 begins in g minor, with the subject in the alto, cs i in the treble and cs 2 in the bass. This study uses bachs fugue in c minor from book i of the welltempered clavier to develop the methodology.
Sometimes js bach introduces 16th notes only at a later time in a fugue, in order to raise the overall level of tension e. The essential listeners guide to bachswelltempered claviera wellmeaning effort, though badly misconceived, in my vieware the author eric lewin altschulers picks for the top ten fugues, the top ten subjects, the superstar four, and so on well, among the four most pithy subjects csharp minor and aflat major in book 1, csharp major. A detailed guide that analyzes the structural, harmonic and thematic frame of the prelude and the fugue. It is the second prelude and fugue in the first book of the welltempered clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. I need some help analyzing the prelude in c maj from bachs wtc book 2. In bachs time the final liberation of the key of d minor from the dorian mode was completed. The c minor fugue, in three voices, is textbook material for learning what a fugue really is. Prelude and fugue in c major, bwv 846 from wtc i a guide to. You can hear the later, studio recording of the same piece in this video.
Downloadable piano sheet music from wtc 1 by johann sebastian bach to print. Prelude and fugue in c minor, bwv 847 bach, johann sebastian. Book ii is online, but in an older shockwave format. Barolsky and martens, rendering the prosaic persuasive. To continue the parallelism from c major, would require a move to d minor following pattern of the second and third expositions in g major and a minor, respectively.