J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in A minor for organ, BWV
543 (an alternate version is numbered BWV 543a) is
probably a product of his years as court organist to
the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708-1717). It is the final
incarnation of music first tried out by Bach in the
harpsichord Fugue in A minor, BWV 944, of 1708 or
earlier. Not as famous as some other Bach organ works,
it is the equal of the best of them. The prelude is a
massive, dramatic thing with a weighty, chromatically
descending subject, ma...(+)
J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in A minor for organ, BWV
543 (an alternate version is numbered BWV 543a) is
probably a product of his years as court organist to
the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708-1717). It is the final
incarnation of music first tried out by Bach in the
harpsichord Fugue in A minor, BWV 944, of 1708 or
earlier. Not as famous as some other Bach organ works,
it is the equal of the best of them. The prelude is a
massive, dramatic thing with a weighty, chromatically
descending subject, made all the weightier when it is
thrust into the pedals midway through the piece. A
master organist can shape this into one of the most
compelling of all Bach's fugue introductions. At the
end of the fugue itself there is an electrifying
passage of freewheeling, utterly unfugal organ
virtuosity. Some observers contend that the chromatic,
toccata-like prelude bears the marks of Bach's early,
north German-influenced style, while the fugue could be
a later product of his maturity. It was not uncommon
for Bach to adapt or join together previously composed
music to form new pieces.
PARTITION