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Bach, Johann Sebastian : Toccata fis-moll BWV 910

Work Overview

Music ID : 399
Composition Year:1707 
Publication Year:1837
First Publisher:Trautwein
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:toccata
Total Playing Time:12 min 30 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Asayama, Natsuko

Last Updated: July 1, 2007
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

It consists of four parts: a toccata-like introduction, an arioso-like Adagio, a fugue titled "Presto e Staccato" (rapidly and detached), a recitative-like transitional section, and a fugue with a chromatic subject.

The first transitional section, the Adagio, is written in an archaic 3/2 meter, but the tempo is by no means particularly slow. It is richly interspersed with chromaticism and traverses various keys.

Subsequently, the fugue subject, which simply descends diatonically, is unusually simple for Bach, yet it is extremely clear and full of energy. The second transitional section repeatedly uses almost the same rhythmic figure, and its harmonic progression is in a minor key, making it sound somewhat redundant.

The final fugue has a chaconne-like rhythm and a subject that descends a fourth chromatically. This theme sounds almost like a lament bass, imbuing the fugue with a sense of melancholy.