The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire. The attribution of the piece to Bach has been challenged since the 1980s by a number of scholars.
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As with most Bach organ works, no autograph manuscript of BWV 565 survives. The only near-contemporary source is a copy by Johannes Ringk, which is undated. Ringk was a pupil of Johann Peter Kellner. Several compositions by him survive, and he is also notable today for his copies of numerous keyboard works by Georg Böhm, Johann Pachelbel, Johann Heinrich Buttstett, Dieterich Buxtehude, and other important masters.[1] The title of the piece is given in Ringk's manuscript as Toccata Con Fuga, which is rendered as Toccata and Fugue today. It is most probably a later addition, similar to the title of Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, BWV 564, because in the Baroque era such organ pieces would most commonly be called simply Prelude (Praeludium, etc.) or Prelude and Fugue. Ringk's copy abounds in Italian tempo markings, fermatas (a characteristic feature of Ringk's copies) and staccato dots, all very unusual for pre-1740 German music. The piece also survives in several 19th-century copies, all of which originate directly or indirectly with Ringk's manuscript.
BWV 565 exhibits a typical simplified north German structure with a free opening (Toccata), a fugal section (Fugue), and a short free closing section. The connection to the north German organ school was noted early by Bach biographer Philipp Spitta in 1873. However, the numerous recitative stretches are rarely found in the works of northern composers and may have been inspired by Johann Heinrich Buttstett,[1] whose few surviving free works, particularly Prelude and Capriccio in D minor, exhibit similar features. In addition, a passage from the fugue of BWV 565 (bars 36–37) closely resembles one of the sections from Johann Pachelbel's Fantasia in D minor, Perreault 125. Pachelbel's work also may have been the inspiration behind Bach's fugue subject. It was common practice at the time to create fugues on other composers' themes, and a number of such pieces by Bach are known (BWV 574, 579, 950, etc.); moreover, the bass pattern of the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, is borrowed from André Raison's organ passacaglia.
As indicated by the accepted title of the piece, the Toccata and Fugue is in D minor. The Toccata 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 (which actually implies a dominant chord with a minor 9th against a tonic pedal), built one note at a time. This resolves into a D major chord, taken from the parallel major mode.
This is followed by three short passages, each reiterating a short motif, and each doubled at the octave. The section ends with a diminished seventh chord which resolved, through a flourish, into the tonic, D minor. The second section of the Toccata a number of loosely connected figurations and flourishes; the pedal switches to the dominant key, A minor. This section segues into the third and final section of the Toccata, which consists almost entirely of a passage doubled at the sixth and comprising reiterations of the same three-note figure, similar to doubled passages in the first section. After a brief pedal flourish, the piece ends with a D minor chord.
The subject of the four-voice fugue is made up entirely of sixteenth notes, with an implied pedal point set against a brief melodic subject that first falls, then rises. The second entry starts in the sub-dominant key rather than the dominant key. Although unusual for a Bach fugue, this is a real answer and is appropriate following a subject that progresses from V to I and then to V below I by a leap. A straightforward dominant answer would sound odd in a Baroque piece.
After the final entry of the fugal melody, the composition resolves to a held B♭ major chord. From there, a coda is played as a cadenza much like the Toccata itself, resolving to a series of chords followed by arpeggios that progress to other paired chords, each a little lower than the one preceding, leading to the signature finale that is as recognizable as the Toccata's introduction.
In a 1981 paper, musicologist Peter Williams outlined a number of stylistic problems present in BWV 565.[2] These included, but were not limited to, the following, all either unique or extremely rare for organ music of the period the toccata is allegedly from:
Several theories explaining these problems were put forward by scholars. For example, the piece may have been created by another composer who must have been born in the beginning of the 18th century, since details of style (such as triadic harmony, spread chords, and the use of solo pedal) may indicate post-1730, or even post-1750 idioms.[3] In 1982, scholar David Humphreys suggested that BWV 565 originated with Johann Peter Kellner (1705–1772), who had close ties with the Bach family.[4]
Another theory, first put forward by Williams in 1981, suggests that BWV 565 may have been a transcription of a lost violin piece. Parallel octaves and the preponderance of thirds and sixths may be explained by a transcriber's attempt to fill in harmony which, if preserved as is, would be inadequately thin on a pipe organ. This is corroborated by the fact that the subject of the fugue, and certain passages (such as bars 12–15), are evidently inspired by string music. Bach is known to have transcribed solo violin works for organ at least twice. 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 Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29. Bach also transcribed the Fugue movement of his Sonata in G minor for solo violin BWV 1001 as the second half of the Prelude and Fugue in D minor for organ, BWV 539. Williams put this theory into practice by writing a reconstruction of the conjectured original violin work, which has been performed (by violinists Jaap Schröder and Simon Standage) and published.[5] 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:
The violinist Andrew Manze subsequently produced his own reconstruction, also in A minor, which he has performed and recorded. Another violin version was created by scholar Bruce Fox-Lefriche in 2004,[6] and other instruments have been suggested, e.g. a five string cello – a possibility explored in a 2000 article by Mark Argent.[7]
As of 2011, the attribution of BWV 565 remains unclear. In 1998 the issue has been explored in a book-length study by the musicologist Rolf-Dietrich Claus.[8] Among the numerous examples of scholars referring to the work as one of doubtful attribution are the 1997 Cambridge Companion to Bach, edited by scholar and performer John Butt[9] and aimed at the wider public, as well as recent monographs on Bach's music by harpsichordist and musicologist David Schulenberg[10] and Richard Douglas Jones.[11] The designation of BWV 565 as a work of doubtful attribution is not supported by the renowned Bach scholar Christoph Wolff, who, writing about BWV 565 in his seminal Bach biography, Johann Sebastian Bach - The Learned Musician, does not address most of the specific problems of the piece, instead maintaining that any and all problematic passages are explained by the fact that BWV 565 must be an early work. The parallel octaves, Wolff writes, must be explained by the deficiencies of Bach's Arnstadt organ, which the composer sought to rectify.[12] However, although numerous composers throughout the centuries played on small organs, the parallel octaves of the opening of BWV 565 remain unique in organ literature, including the entire Bach oeuvre.[13]
This popular work has been transcribed many times. 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 Felix Mendelssohn among others). In the second wave, much of Bach's instrumental music was adapted to resources that were available in salon settings (for example solo piano, or chamber ensembles). The composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni was a leader of this movement, and wrote many piano transcriptions of Bach compositions, which often radically alter the original. Among them was a virtuosic version of the Toccata and Fugue, which tries to replicate the spirit of the original organ sound. An earlier virtuoso piano transcription also once much in vogue was by Carl Tausig; pianist Marie Novello chose it for what one source claims to be the Toccata and Fugue's first recording.[14] Among other arrangements that have appeared on record are those by Percy Grainger, Ignaz Friedman and Louis Brassin.
The wind organ medium translates readily to the concert band and wind ensemble. Such band versions include transcriptions by Donald Hunsberger (Alfred Publ.), Mark Hindsley (Hindsley Publ.), and Erik Leidzen (Carl Fischer).
Stokowski's first 78rpm disc of 1927 was an international best-seller which introduced the music to many record collectors. He recorded it several more times in subsequent years. Others who have transcribed the Toccata and Fugue for orchestra include Lucien Cailliet, René Leibowitz, Leonidas Leonardi, Alois Melichar, Eugene Ormandy, Fabien Sevitzky, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and Sir Henry Wood.
The Canadian Brass ensemble performed an arrangement of BWV 565 arranged by former member Fred Mills, which appeared on the album The Pachelbel Canon and Other Great Baroque Hits, released in 1980.[15] In 1993, Salvatore Sciarrino made an arrangement for solo flute of BWV 565. This transcription was recorded in the early 21st century by Mario Caroli.[16][17] A version for solo horn was made by Zsolt Nagy[18] and has been performed by Frank Lloyd and others.
The Toccata and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, video games, to rock music, and ringtones.
The piece was used prominently in the 1975 film Rollerball (as mentioned above) to establish a foreboding mood at the beginning of the film and reinforce the dystopic emotions of the end of the film. The Disney film Fantasia, released in 1940, opens with Leopold Stokowski's 1927 transcription for large orchestra of the Toccata and Fugue.
The piece has also been used multiple times in popular music and cultural settings: Keith Emerson performed the Toccata section as part of the song Rondo performed by The Nice and later in live shows with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Emerson would play this on his Hammond organ upside down.
The English classical/rock fusion band Sky (featuring renowned classical guitarist John Williams and classical percussionist Tristan Fry) scored a Top 10 pop hit with their 1980 arrangement of BWV 565. It reached number 24 on the Billboard charts.[19] English Hard rock band Deep Purple has used the piece as an introduction to their song "Highway Star" at various live shows.
Canadian heavy metal band Cirith Ungol recorded their own version of the piece for their 1984 album King Of The Dead.
English alternative rock band Muse has used toccata of this song in their guitar riff for the song "Plug in Baby", which Total Guitar readers voted as the 13th best of all-time. The song "Bach Onto This", an instrumental rock track on ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord's 1982 album "Before I Forget", uses extensive sections of both the Toccata and the Fugue. The intro is also used in part for the introduction of Last Rites/Loved to Deth by the American thrash metal group Megadeth. American glam metal band Mötley Crüe has used the piece as an introduction to their gigs at their three first world tours. Blondie interpolated BWV 565 with rock and rap music for the track "No Exit" on a 1999 album of the same name. Norwegian music group Ulver incorporated parts of BWV 565 into the song "It Is Not Sound" featured on their 2005 album Blood Inside.
Lady Gaga played the beginning of the piece as an interlude in the song "Born This Way" at the 53rd Grammy Awards and during her Monster Ball Tour.
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