Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
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The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1703 and 1707. Its authorship and instrumentation are controversial, as some scholars have argued that it was originally written for violin by a different composer. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film and video games to rock music.
[edit] Score
[edit] Toccata
Despite the accepted title of the piece (which most likely did not come from Bach himself), the Toccata and Fugue is scored in D minor. It is not in D dorian as the key signature supposes, as it was common practice in the Baroque period to write in leading tone accidentals (B flat in the relative major)rather than in the key signature. It begins with a single-voice flourish in the upper ranges of the keyboard, doubled at the octave. It then spirals toward the bottom, where a diminished seventh chord appears, built one note at a time. This resolves into a D major chord, taken from the parallel major mode.
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[edit] Fugue
The fugue is written in four voices on a subject made up entirely of sixteenth notes. The subject pulls away in successive degrees from an implied pedal point.
[edit] Compositional process
[edit] Influence of other composers
The source of that rhapsodic treatment that is apparent in Bach's earlier organ works is not so hard to find: Bach was a great admirer of Dieterich Buxtehude in his early years. In 1706 he even absented several months from his job in order to hear Buxtehude in Lübeck.
Buxtehude's organ works, like those of his contemporaries, are characterized by the presence of the stylus phantasticus, a performance style derived from improvisation. The stylus phantasticus included elements of excitement and bravura, with adventurous harmonies and sudden changes in registration. Buxtehude's free organ works made great use of these elements. These works generally began with a free section, followed by an imitative section (sometimes a full-blown fugue), then another free section, and then another imitative section (usually based on motivic material from the first imitative section), and finally another free section. BWV 565 derives several of its stylistic elements from this earlier form of organ music, in particular the stylus phantasticus.
[edit] The organ test hypothesis
The exceptional number of fermatas and broken chords in the Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 has been explained by some (for example, Klaus Eidam; see references below) on the supposition Bach composed it as a work to test an organ. The first thing Bach is said to have done when testing an organ is to pull out all the stops and play in the fullest possible texture, in order to see if the organ had "good lungs," i.e., bellows sufficient enough to provide plenty of wind to the instrument. If there was not enough wind, the pitch and tone quality would suffer. The opening of BWV 565, with its three opening flourishes and massive rolled chord, would serve as a good test for an organ's winding system.
[edit] Authorship challenge
Peter Williams argues that the Toccata is not by Bach.[1] In support of this view, he cites the following:
- There is no autograph score.
- The copyist who created the oldest known manuscript (Johann Ringk, 1717-1778) was a student of a student of Bach's, who had access to some of the Bach manuscripts and whose reputation is dubious: he is believed to have passed off inauthentic (as well as authentic) works under the composer's name.
- The work abounds in fermatas and dynamic markings, not ordinarily used in organ music in Bach's day. (But Bach even in this time was unusual in the fact that he used heavy ornamentation).
- Lastly, Williams alleges that various musical passages in the work are simply too crude musically to have been Bach's work.
Williams's views have more recently been endorsed in a book-length study by the musicologist Rolf Dietrich Claus, cited below.
This view is further endorsed by the proliferation of undisguised consecutive fifths in the piece (no less than 10 bars in), which Bach was always careful to avoid. Even if the piece were a transcription of a solo instrumental work, these fifths still form an integral part of the work.
[edit] Violin transcription
Williams theorized that the Toccata was not originally written for organ, but in fact is a transcription of a work for solo violin. Williams places this original violin work a fifth higher, in the key of A minor, so that the work begins on a high E and descends almost to the lowest note on the instrument:
Under this account, many aspects of the work fall into place.
- The fairly plain musical texture would reflect the general texture of Bach's well known solo sonatas and partitas for violin, which often convey a contrapuntal texture implicitly, rather than through double-stopping.
- Various passages echo a violin technique in which sixteenth notes (semiquavers) are played by alternating between strings—Williams's conjectured key of A minor places many of these notes on an open string, which would fit with other passages in Bach's solo violin works.
- The use of parallel octaves in the opening, otherwise unusual in Bach's music, would be a natural way to give greater weight to a solo violin line.
- The passage at m. 137 seems to suggest quadruple-stopped chords on a violin, though such chords are rare in works of Bach's time and prohibitively difficult to play on a modern instrument.
Williams put his theory into practice by writing a reconstruction of the conjectured original violin work, which has been performed (by violinist Jaap Schröder) and published. The violinist Andrew Manze subsequently produced his own reconstruction, also in A minor, which he has performed widely and recorded.
The possibility that the Toccata is a violin-to-organ transcription is supported by the fact that, at least twice in his career, Bach is known to have transcribed solo violin works for organ. The Prelude first movement of the Partita in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006, was converted by Bach into the solo organ part of the opening movement of the Cantata BWV 29 Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir. Bach also transcribed the Fugue movement of his Sonata in G minor for solo violin BWV 1001 as organ music, namely as the second half of the Prelude and Fugue in D minor for organ, BWV 539.
[edit] Transcriptions
This popular work has been transcribed many times, primarily for the goal of expanding the use of the work to new audiences. The following are some notable examples.
[edit] Piano
Around the end of the 19th century a "second wave" Bach revival occurred (the first having been the one launched earlier in the 19th century by Mendelssohn among others). In the second wave, much of Bach's instrumental music was adapted to resources that were available in salon settings (piano, chamber ensemble, etc.). The composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) was a leader of this movement, providing many piano transcriptions of Bach compositions, many of which radically altered the original version. Among them was a loud and virtuosic version of the Toccata and Fugue.
[edit] Orchestra
Another Bach-revival wave announced itself in the 20th century. For this wave, which was probably the first major Bach wave in the United States, Walt Disney was instrumental: Disney favoured classical music and after including potpourri bits of classical music in most of his animation film scores, he tried out a more in-depth approach with Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which led to the project he considered one of his most important endeavours ever: Fantasia.
This film opens with Leopold Stokowski's orchestral transcription (for a very extended orchestra) of the Toccata and Fugue, as an example of absolute music (i.e. where there is no extra-musical image built into the music itself). Stokowski's rendering breathes a very romantic interpretation of Bach's music, making it into a showpiece of orchestral color, virtuosity, and sheer volume: at the time he had produced his transcription (1927) ideas about authentic performance were still more than half a century away, and nothing much had changed in that respect by the time Fantasia was released (1940).
Stokowski's version inspired other settings for large orchestra of Bach's music, particularly his organ compositions. Eugene Ormandy released an album of such works, reviving, together with some fresh arrangements, Elgar's Op. 86, a pre-Stokowski orchestration of the Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 537, enriched with abundant harp strokes (Vinyl album reference: Bach: Orchestral Works, Philips Favourite Series - Minigroove 331/3 - S 04614 L).
[edit] Flute
In 1993 Salvatore Sciarrino made an arrangement for solo flute of BWV 565. This transcription was recorded in the early 21st century by Maria Caroli (released on Zig Zag Territoires: ZZT 040802). A review by Peter Grahame Woolf of this interpretation can be found here: http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/cddvd/SciarrinoBachCaroli.htm
[edit] Popular culture
This piece is likely Bach's most famous work; not only is it a favorite of classical music enthusiasts, it is one of the few pieces recognizable to the general public. It has found its way into a wide variety of mediums, influencing musicians, composers, and arrangers in various genres in a classic example of crossover.
Musical critics have also admired the work. For instance, it is described by Uwe Kraemer as having "ecstatic technical virtuosity and [also] mastery of form" and by Hans-Joachim Schulze as having "elemental and unbounded power ... that only with difficulty abates sufficiently to give place to the logic and balance of the Fugue". While it is not an easy work to perform on the organ, it is one of the easier of Bach's preludes and fugues. For the most part, Bach's organ music became increasingly more difficult to play as his life went on, and the "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" was written very early in his career.
Virgil Fox performed a series of concerts of Bach organ works for rock music audiences in the 1970s ("Heavy Organ"), one of which included a dramatic performance of the Toccata and Fugue, to illustrate his view that Bach's music should be interpreted using all the available modern resources, as opposed to using only the means of expression that would have been available in Bach's time.
[edit] Films
The Toccata and Fugue can be heard in a wide variety of films, including but not limited to Fantasia (see above), Rollerball, Sunset Boulevard, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Aviator, La Dolce Vita, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde[1] and Tales from the Crypt; the musical/film The Phantom of the Opera.
One of the gags in The Great Race has Jack Lemmon's character Professor Fate perform the Toccata on an organ, then leave the instrument to dine whilst the music continues, revealing that it is a "player" organ with a piano roll. Captain Nemo can be heard playing this work in the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film. Parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 soundtrack mirror the piece. A section of "The Kraken" resembles the opening measures sans the rests, and the track "Davy Jones" is played on a pipe organ in a similar vein to Toccata and Fugue.
[edit] Television and video games
In television, the piece can be found in the title sequence of the animated TV series Once Upon a Time... Man; in Sailor Moon Season 3 it is used in the episode 'The Purity Chalice'. Countdown with Keith Olbermann uses it in the segment "Worst Person in the World." Orochimaru's theme music in the anime Naruto seems to borrow some elements from the piece. The song is used as the theme of the Dark Kingdom in the anime Sailor Moon, and reappears several times, notably in S as Eudial torments Sailor Uranus and Neptune, and in Sailor Stars when Eternal Sailor Moon loses her powers in the Nehellenia arc.
In video games, the piece is found in Gyruss and the opening scene of Donkey Kong Junior; in the opening scene of the Game Genie program for the NES, as well as in the intro screens of the computer games Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, the Toccata is used in the prologue, when Phoenix Wright has a nightmare about the Judge. The Toccata is also used as the character Richard Wellington's ringtone later in the same case, and plays when he nearly strangles himself at the end of the case. The nightmare from the first case also recurs at the very end of the game, just before the last day of the final case's trial, complete with the Toccata.
A version of this is played when visiting a god or goddess in the NES game Battle of Olympus. An up-tempo drum-heavy version is also used as the background music for the coin-op video game Gyruss, released in 1983 by Konami. The theme song of the evil character Golbez from the video game Final Fantasy IV features part of this song. A brief rendition of the first couple dozen notes (with a unique arrangement) of the Toccata are played when you achieve the high score in the Williams arcade game Defender. Part of this song can be heard in the boss battle theme in the video game Final Fantasy VIII. Final Fantasy VI also featured some of the song in the final battle's theme Dancing Mad. Beautiful Day remixed Toccata and Fugue for an online music game called O2Jam.
In the Dragonball Z OVA, Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku, composer Shunsuke Kikuchi highly influenced the pipe organ recital from this piece. It can be heard when Hatchhyack appears in a powerful android body that nearly defeats the Saiyan warriors.
[edit] Popular music
- Jon Lord made an extension of this piece for, and performs on, rock group (electronic organ, electric guitar, electric bass guitar, drum set). It is the track called "Bach onto This" of the album "Before I Forget."
- Fugue In D Minor, released by Egg on their debut album, is a progressive arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue
- It Is Not Sound by Ulver, released on album Blood Inside, is heavily based on Toccata and Fugue.
- Linda Brava released her version of the Toccata and Fugue in 1997, and the version got a critical acclaim. It can be heard on her debut album called Linda Lampenius.
- Vanessa-Mae recorded a version for her album The Violin Player (1994/1995). Vanessa Mae's version of the Toccata and Fugue also appeared in several remixes (by Bobby d'Ambrosio, Lectroluv, etc.).
- Sky, guitarist John Williams's instrumental group, recorded the piece in 1980, with the main instrument being the electric guitar (played by Kevin Peek, also credited with the arrangement). The single reached the heights of the singles charts in several European countries in the summer of 1980. This spawned many imitations over the next decade or so.
- "Imitation Situation" by Fever Tree (San Francisco Girls) (1967) opened with the opening figure of the toccata.
- The Swollen Members's song "Steppin Thru" contains a re-written version of the opening of the toccata as a bassline throughout the song.
- The Eurobeat song by Mega NRG Man, "Back On The Rocks", features the opening of the Toccata as its intro.
- The Band's organist Garth Hudson played part of the Toccata for the famous opening solo on Chest Fever from Music From Big Pink.
- Mötley Crüe used it as an introtape to their concert at the 1983 US Festival in San Bernardino, California.
- Björk's song "Cover Me" from the Post album in the string quartet and vocal version opens with the Toccata's beginning sequence, performed by a violin.
- Myleene Klass, former member of the British manufactured pop group Hear'Say, also covered Toccata and Fugue through use of the Piano which can be heard here.
- American Heavy Metal band Cirith Ungol recorded a guitar and bass rock arrangement of Toccata on their album King of the Dead.
- A section of this piece was also used by Ritchie Blackmore, during his time as guitarist with Rainbow, on the Rainbow song "Death Alley Driver".
- Covered by Dave Matthews Band
- Japanese visual-kei band Malice Mizer integrated the main theme of the fugue into the piece 聖なる刻 永遠の祈り (Seinaru Toki Eien no Inori) on their Baroque-influenced 薔薇の聖堂 (Bara no Seidou) album. Played on violins, the theme is accompanied by electric guitar, bass, tympani, and additional percussion.
[edit] Other references
On pre-GSM Nokia phones, the Fugue ringtone is a one-voice remix of the fugue section.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Scholarly
- Claus, Rolf-Dietrich. Zur Echtheit von Toccata und Fuge d-moll BWV 565, Verlag Dohr, 2nd ed. Cologne, 1998. ISBN 3-925366-37-7. (German)
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- A comprehensive text dealing with authorship issues. See Yo Tomita's review.
- Fox-Lefriche, Bruce. "The greatest violin sonata that J.S. Bach never wrote", Strings xix/3:122, October 2004, 43-55.
- Williams, Peter. "BWV 565: a toccata in D minor for organ by J. S. Bach?", Early Music 9, July 1981, 330-337.
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- A free summary is available at BachFAQ.org.
[edit] General reading
- Druckenbrod, Andrew. "A haunting tune, but is it really Bach's?", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 30, 2005.
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- A summary of the authorship issue for the layperson.
- Eidam, Klaus. The True Life of J. S. Bach, New York: Basic Books, 2001, tr. Hoyt Rogers. ISBN 0-465-01861-0.
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- Chapter 4 focuses on this piece. The book, however, may not be factually accurate; see Yo Tomita's review.
[edit] Sheet music
Free Complete urtext edition available on WIMA: http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/J.S.Bach.php
[edit] Recordings
[edit] Notes
- ^ "BWV 565: a toccata in D minor for organ by J. S. Bach?", Early Music, vol. 9, July, 1981, pp. 330-337.
