Description
This is one of Bach's seven keyboard toccatas, opening with improvisatory freedom before closing in a commanding fugue. Despite being written for a solo instrument, its writing often suggests the contrast between soloist and ensemble found in the Italian concerto style that was gaining popularity at the time. Packing nearly four thousand notes into a little over seven minutes, it challenges a pianist to maintain rhythmic drive from start to finish.
Keyboard works with an improvisatory character, alternating between virtuosic passages and contrapuntal sections.
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 229 of his pieces, including numerous chorale settings and arias.
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