Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist,
harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and
secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo
instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque
period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, p...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist,
harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and
secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo
instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque
period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy
and France.
Bach composed various works for the purpose of
teaching, and he obviously enjoyed challenging
beginners. In the teaching booklets for his eldest son
Wilhelm Friedemann and his wife Anna Magdalena, he
collected all sorts of compositions, some of which he
wrote himself. In both cases, the pieces are tailored
to the level of the pupil concerned, without making any
concessions to musicality.
The Five little preludes are also presumed to have
originated for teaching purposes, although it is not
clear when Bach wrote them or for whom. The originals
have been lost, while the copies date from 1726 at the
earliest. From this, we can deduce that the pieces
could have been composed as early as 1717, but possibly
also twenty years later. The last Prelude is said to
have been written by Bach in Arnstadt already. And
there is some debate about whether Bach actually wrote
these five preludes himself. However, few people still
doubt it, if only for the fact that the pieces are
included in the extremely popular beginners’ book
published by Hans Bischoff in the second half of the
nineteenth century, Kleine Präludien und
Fughetten.
The mastery of the little pieces lies in their
combination of apparent simplicity and musical
richness. They can be played very nicely with little
technical prowess, whereas when played by a
professional they reveal a surprising depth. This
allows the pieces to be used at different stages of the
learning process, thus revealing different shades of
colour every time, like a "gobstopper".
