Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867

{{listen|type=music The prelude is in the style of an arioso, with up to seven nominal voices manifesting in only three distinct strands. The prelude's structure is bipartite, divided in half by a cadence. British music critic John Alexander Fuller Maitland compared it with the St Matthew Passion. Below are the opening bars of the prelude: \new PianoStaff 8 8 8 16 16 8 8 8 16 16 8 8 8 16 16 8 8 } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceTwo r8 e8\rest e8\rest f8 ges4 e8\rest \stemUp a8 } >> \new Staff = "down" 8 e8\rest e8\rest des8 ees4 \change Staff = "up" \stemDown e8\rest 8 4 e8\rest 8 4 e8\rest 8 } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceFour bes8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 } >> >> ==Fugue==

Among the fugues in The Well-Tempered Claviers first book, BWV 867's fugue is the closest to stile antico. The fugue is in five voices, and its subject stands out for its use of a wide minor ninth interval and "rhetorical" pause. Instead of substantial episodes, there are only two canonic bridges. The fugue climaxes in a five-part stretto before ending on a Picardy third. Below are the first two statements of the subject in the fugue's opening: \new PianoStaff > >> ==References==