Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867
The Prelude and Fugue in B♭ minor, BWV 867, is a keyboard composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the 22nd prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. It was composed in 1722 or earlier.[1]
Prelude
[edit | edit source]
The prelude is in the style of an arioso, with up to seven nominal voices manifesting in only three distinct strands. The prelude's structure is bipartite, divided in half by a cadence. British music critic John Alexander Fuller Maitland compared it with the St Matthew Passion.[2]
Below are the opening bars of the prelude: <score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff = "up" \with {
\consists "Merge_rests_engraver"
}
<<
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
\tempo 8 = 80
\clef treble \key bes \minor \time 4/4
\new Voice \relative c {
\voiceOne
r8 bes16 c16 <bes des>8 8 8 <a c>16 <bes des>16 <c ees>8 8
8 <bes des>16 <c ees>16 <des f>8 8 8 <c ees>16 <des f>16 <ees ges>8 8
}
\new Voice \relative c' {
\voiceTwo
r8 e8\rest e8\rest f8 ges4 e8\rest \stemUp a8
}
>>
\new Staff = "down" <<
\clef bass \key bes \minor \time 4/4
\new Voice \relative c' {
\voiceThree \showStaffSwitch
<des f>8 e8\rest e8\rest des8 ees4 \change Staff = "up" \stemDown e8\rest <c ges'>8
<des f>4 e8\rest <des f bes>8 <c a'>4 e8\rest <c a'>8
}
\new Voice \relative c' {
\voiceFour
bes8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
}
>>
>>
</score>
Fugue
[edit | edit source]Among the fugues in The Well-Tempered Clavier's first book, BWV 867's fugue is the closest to stile antico. The fugue is in five voices, and its subject stands out for its use of a wide minor ninth interval[3] and "rhetorical" pause. Instead of substantial episodes, there are only two canonic bridges. The fugue climaxes in a five-part stretto before ending on a Picardy third.[4]
Below are the first two statements of the subject in the fugue's opening: <score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff = "up"
<<
\clef treble \key bes \minor \time 4/4
\new Voice \relative c {
\voiceOne
bes2 f g'4\rest ges f ees
des c des ees f e8 f g2~ g4 aes8 g f2~ f4 ees8 des ees4
}
\new Voice \relative c' {
\voiceTwo
b1\rest b1\rest
f'2 bes, r4 des' c bes aes g aes bes c2.
}
>>
>>
</score>
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Netherlands Bach Society.
- ^ Schulenberg 1992, pp. 192–193.
- ^ Ledbetter 2008, p. 224.
- ^ Schulenberg 1992, p. 193.
Sources
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External links
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