Prelude and fugue
In classical music, the combination of prelude and fugue is one with a long history. Many composers have written works of this kind. The use of this format is generally inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's two books of preludes and fugues — The Well-Tempered Clavier — completed in 1722 and 1742 respectively. Bach, however, was not the first to compose such a set: Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer wrote a 20-key cycle in his 1702 work Ariadne musica.
A number of composers wrote sets of pieces covering all 24 major and/or minor keys. Many of these have been sets of 24 preludes and fugues, or 24 preludes.
Works
The following works employ, sometimes loosely, the prelude-and-fugue format.
- The Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach
- Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543, Bach
- Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566, Bach
- 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, Shostakovich
- Ariadne musica, Fischer
- Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, composer uncertain
- Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos ad salutarem undam, Liszt
- Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, Liszt
- Ludus Tonalis, Hindemith
- Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, Franck
- Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs, Bernstein
Composers
The composers listed below, who lived and composed in the 19th and 20th centuries, employed this format.
- Mark Alburger, 12 Topical Preludes and Fugues
- Algernon Ashton
- Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
- David Cope, 48 Preludes and Fugues
- David Diamond, 52 Preludes and Fugues
- Hiroshi Hara
- Hans Huber
- Alexander Iakovtchouk
- David Johnson, 12 Preludes and Fugues
- A. A. Klengel
- Trygve Madsen, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 101
- Henry Martin
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Bruce Cameron Munson
- Frank Tveor Nordensten
- Camille Saint-Saëns, 3 Preludes and Fugues, Opp. 99 & 109
- Dmitri Shostakovich, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, 1950–51
- Dmitri Kabalevsky, 6 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 61, 1958–59
- Rodion Shchedrin, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, composed in 1964 and 1970
- Igor Rekhin (b. 1941 in Tambov, Russia), 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo Guitar, 1990
- Sergei Slonimsky, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, 1994
- Nikolai Kapustin, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82, 1997