Description
This is a standalone fugue in C major, catalogued as BWV 952. Unlike the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier it is not paired with a prelude but has come down to us on its own as a keyboard fugue, and the circumstances of its composition are unclear. As a small-scale fugue outside the major collections, it is a way into Bach's counterpoint.
It is in C major and 4/4. It is written in fugal style: a single subject passes from voice to voice and is developed as it moves between keys. Within the bright sound of C major, the subject and the lines set against it intertwine in continuous motion. The range runs from C2 to C6, exactly four octaves, so it fits on a 61-key keyboard.
With 806 notes in about two minutes twenty it is short but dense, and the site rates it advanced. In a fugue, hearing each entry of the subject is the foundation of everything. Check where the subject appears in the score view, then slow the playback speed and follow each voice by ear one line at a time. The hand colours also make it easier to plan fingering where a single voice passes between the hands.
Contrapuntal works influenced by Bach, where each composer's individuality shines through a strict formal structure.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
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