Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
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"The Great" Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 (an alternate version is numbered BWV 543a) is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime around his years as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708-1717). It is the final incarnation of Bach's in the harpsichord Fugue in A minor, BWV 944, written in 1708.
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[edit] Score
[edit] Prelude
The Prelude starts out with a long introduction, introducing the chromatic, almost descending subject, then goes off into a flurry of intricate arpeggios over a long pedal-point. The build up is then interrupted by a virtous run in the harmonic minor, then a grinding tremolo of a mix of the b diminished chord, and the c augmented chord. A stop and go pattern of chromatic runs, downward arpeggios, and pedal solos based on the opening sequence ensue. The Toccata-like prelude bears the marks of Bach's early, north German-influenced style, while the fugue could be considered a later product of Bach's maturity.
[edit] Fugue
The fugue is in 6/8 time, unlike the prelude, which is in 4/4 time. The Fugue ends in one of Bach's most Toccata-like, virtuosic cadenzas in the harmonic minor.
[edit] Liszt's Transcription
Because of the piece's overall Rhapsodic nature, most Organists can play this piece in any tempo they want, and it can be easily transcribed to a different instrument. This is exactly what Liszt did. Liszt transcribed many of Bach's works to Piano.
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
[edit] External links
- Prelude and Fugue in A minor was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
- PDF of Liszt's Piano transcription of BWV 543
- Musicmatch guide review on BWV 543. Musicmatch Guide, classical edition has album reviews and musical reviews on almost all works of J.S. Bach and many other classical composers
