The Well-Tempered Clavier is a collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues written by J. S. Bach. The works are split over two books, each book containing twenty-four preludes and fugues in all of the major and minor keys. Each prelude asks for a specific technique from the performer in addition to highlighting different keyboard conventions at the time. Each fugue consists of melodic writing from either two to five voices, as well as incorporating other compositional techniques such as the use of canon and augmentation.
The F minor prelude and fugue from book two: BWV 881 is one of my favourites. The prelude is short at only 70 bars and its structure is determined by the regularity of the homophonic melodic phrases that it is built upon. Not only are these phrases regular in length, they also recur multiple times, allowing the material to become familiar to the listener’s ear. They are neatly contrasted through the use of sequence, changes in texture and key.
The first theme lasts for 28 bars and has a binary structure. It begins with a melodic idea that utilities three voices, opening in the tonic of F minor before passing through an imperfect cadence into E flat major at bar 16 and eventually ending with a perfect cadence in the relative major key of A flat, after a four bar sequence of arpeggiated semiquavers.
The second half of the prelude follows a similar pattern, beginning in the key of A flat major but modulating into E flat minor by bar 32. The melodic idea is developed further with a greater use of semiquavers and ornaments before a perfect cadence back into the tonic at bar 56, which triggers a recapitulation of the opening material. This recapitulation is short lived before a persistent passage of semiquavers takes over. The prelude finishes with a short codetta and a perfect cadence in the tonic key.
The mood of this prelude could be interpreted as a lively character because of the use of semiquaver runs and large intervallic gaps although I see the opening melodic figure as an almost sighing or longing feel, suggesting that Bach could have written it to be a very intense prelude. I also think that the appoggiaturas not only add intensity but also limit the speed of the prelude, possibly pointing towards a more concentrated mood.
In contrast, the paired fugue is 85 bars long and suggests a dance character, achieved through the stately use of quavers in the opening two bars, followed by a run of semiquavers. The melodic writing is again written for three voices and is introduced by the top voice in the tonic key of F minor. The middle part states the subject at bar 5 in the dominant key of C minor, before the lower part introduces the subject back in the tonic key at bar 12. A countersubject idea is introduced at bar 17, a descending fifths sequence that is reminiscent to the one in the prelude. This concludes the section with a perfect cadence in E flat major at bar 24.
The next section begins with the top voice stating the fugal subject in the relative key of A flat major, followed by the middle voice at bar 29 and the countersubject at bar 32. Both the fugal idea and the countersubject are developed and keep reappearing in various different keys and voices until the final repetition of the fugal subject in the dominant key at bar 72. The fugue finishes with a short codetta that includes the use of the countersubject.
The mood of this fugue could also be interpreted as having a lively character, especially because of the use of regular semiquaver runs and the non-legato opening melodic idea, which gives an energetic feel. I find this fugue very strict compared to the relative freeness of the preceding prelude, especially with the persistent fugal entries.
Bibliography
Bruhn, Siglind, Preludes And Fugues in Eb, D#, E, E, F, F (Hong Kong: Mainer Internat, 1993).
Burkholder, Peter, Donald J. Grout, and Claude Palisca, eds. A History of Western Music, 8th edition (New York: W.W. Norton, 2010).
Cook, Nicholas, A Guide to Musical Analysis (London: Oxford University Press, 1987).
Kelly, Thomas Forrest, Early Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
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