Although authorship by J. S. Bach is doubtful according
to most scholars, the fugal writing is quite similar to
the one found in the 8 Little Preludes and Fugues. If
Bach did compose this Fugue, he likely wrote it during
the earliest years of the eighteenth century when he
was still a student. The work is not an inconsequential
one in either scope or length, having a fairly
substantial structure and lasting around five or six
minutes. The fugal writing is interesting, though not
as distinctive i...(+)
Although authorship by J. S. Bach is doubtful according
to most scholars, the fugal writing is quite similar to
the one found in the 8 Little Preludes and Fugues. If
Bach did compose this Fugue, he likely wrote it during
the earliest years of the eighteenth century when he
was still a student. The work is not an inconsequential
one in either scope or length, having a fairly
substantial structure and lasting around five or six
minutes. The fugal writing is interesting, though not
as distinctive in its more calculating manner as is
heard in most other Bach fugues. That said, the music
is well-crafted and in the end worthwhile, if minor.
The Fugue opens with a lively, stately theme presented
in single notes that immediately turns fugal. In the
wrong hands this work can sound tedious, since the
theme repeats throughout and thus requires its
contrapuntal features to be sharply detailed and
brought into proper focus. Near the end there is a
cadenza-like episode that builds up to a grand close,
the theme triumphantly resounding. This Fugue has a
glorious sense about it, not unlike the style of many
of Bach's more ecstatic chorale preludes. Still, one
cannot clearly identify the distinctive voice of the
composer's mature or even early years here.
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
modern interpretation of the Fugue in G Major (BWV 576)
for Double-Reed Quartet (2 Oboes, English Horn &
Bassoon).
PARTITION