, engraving, P. Verscheure Reynvaan, 1795 These pieces came to be played often on the organ in the 19th and 20th centuries, and were especially useful as teaching pieces for beginners. Several elements of the pieces, including the rolling of large chords, octave doublings and repeated notes, and the patterns of movement of the fingers and feet, the rhythm, and overall texture are idiomatic on the
clavichord but make little sense on the
organ. In 1998
Harald Vogel recorded the collection on a pedal clavichord. The eight preludes and fugues are: •
Prelude and Fugue in C major (BWV 553) :Discounted as being a form of
Corelli allemande, the prelude combines features of an Italian concerto or an organ praeludium. The brief fugue is more substantial than a fughetta; the style of the two musical motifs is similar to that of
Pachelbel and
Fischer. •
Prelude and Fugue in D minor (BWV 554) :The compact prelude has an ABA structure, where the A section is dominated by the middle
concertante B segment. Both the prelude and fugue are reminiscent of the first and last lines of the Lutheran chorale
Jesu, meine Freude. •
Prelude and Fugue in E minor (BWV 555) :The prelude of BWV 555 is in the
durezza style of
suspended dissonances, typified by the
ricercars of
Frescobaldi; the model is adapted from the traditions of organ
versets in Southern Germany, rather than string
trio sonatas.
Peter Williams considers that the fugue is probably the best in the collection "with
stretto,
inversus, and a
counterpoint typical of earlier treatments of the descending
chromatic fourth." •
Prelude and Fugue in F major (BWV 556) :In the four-movement
Pastorella, BWV 590 by Bach, the prelude of BWV 556 is vaguely similar to the third movement, but does not match Bach's musicianship. According to Williams, it seems like "an exercise in simple rising sequences, with a basso-continuo pedal part", showing the Italianate influence of
Antonio Soler rather than
Domenico Scarlatti. The fugue could have been composed anywhere in Germany: its musical figures have a polyphonic style like Pachelbel's
Magnificats. •
Prelude and Fugue in G major (BWV 557) :The prelude is a "miniature
toccata" with freely-composed improvisatory passages. It reflects the musical influence of
Johann Kuhnau,
Friedrich Erhard Niedt,
Johann Mattheson, Bach and Fischer. The subject of the fugue is
syncopated, so, as in the
Well-Tempered Clavier, modulations before or after
stretto entries are easily accomplished. •
Prelude and Fugue in G minor (BWV 558) :In 1931, it was suggested by the musicologist
Fritz Dietrich that the prelude could technically be regarded as an "Italian
courante", but, as Williams points out, that runs counter to the ABAB form and the change of harmony in every bar. The conventional formulaic cadences and simple one-bar sequences over a
basso continuo seem like a composer "consciously creating a series of samples". The subject of the fugue is composed of three separate motifs, all of which can be found in
canzonas and
ricercars. The 19th-century Bach scholar
Philipp Spitta praised the fugue, particularly its modulations. Williams has suggested that "perhaps the imaginative penultimate bar was inspired by J. S. Bach". •
Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 559) :The little Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 559 lies in the shadows of Bach's celebrated Prelude and Fugue in A minor,
BWV 543. The demisemiquaver passagework of the little prelude is typical of toccata organ writing in Southern Germany, although they can also be found in
Dieterich Buxtehude's works; the use of pedal points in BWV 559 indicate techniques of organ writing already heard in BWV 543. Like the fugue in BWV 543, the second half of the subject of the fugue in BWV 559 is ornamented; otherwise, however, it is composed on a quite different scale, being more like the "verset-fughettas" of Fischer. •
Prelude and Fugue in B-flat major (BWV 560) :According to Williams, the musical style of the prelude is reflected in contemporary oboe concertos of the 1730s; while the fugue was probably composed after 1740 and shows the influence of
Handel's
Concerti grossi. == Selected recordings ==