According to the obituary printed after his death,
Johann Sebastian Bach composed most of his organ works
in Weimar, where he worked between 1708 and 1717. This
is not surprising, since after his appointment at
Weimar his duties did not involve the composition of
works for the organ. His years as organist there
witnessed a tremendous development in his compositional
style, particularly in the realm of freely composed
preludes and fugues.
Scholars believe Bach began this work while in We...(+)
According to the obituary printed after his death,
Johann Sebastian Bach composed most of his organ works
in Weimar, where he worked between 1708 and 1717. This
is not surprising, since after his appointment at
Weimar his duties did not involve the composition of
works for the organ. His years as organist there
witnessed a tremendous development in his compositional
style, particularly in the realm of freely composed
preludes and fugues.
Scholars believe Bach began this work while in Weimar,
and completed it probably in 1712-1723. Bach's omission
of the B flat from the key signature (it appears
instead as an accidental) has prompted the nickname
"Dorian," but it is clearly minor, not truly Dorian.
The lively toccata is, as one would expect, a great
vehicle for the demonstration of digital dexterity, but
its square rhythms mark it as an early work. Bach seems
to have been influenced by the north German school in
his use of two manuals for the toccata. The fugue is
the real prize of this work; its weight makes the
preceding toccata seem superfluous. Striking stylistic
contrasts abound in the fugue, with an Italianate,
vocal-style subject and numerous repeated chords,
another nod to the north German school. At 222
measures, it is one of the composer's longest fugues,
over half of it being dedicated to intense episodic
development. In the exposition, we hear four entries of
the subject, a seven-measure, syncopated theme, each
paired with one of two countersubjects. A
counter-exposition follows, reversing the order of the
entries, placing the dominant-level answers before the
tonic entries as the counterpoint loosens a bit. The
four entries in the developmental segment, the first
and third of which initiate brief canons, explore
various harmonies. In the recapitulation, three more
entries also introduce canons and, as with earlier
subject entries, maintain a dense contrapuntal
structure. With one exception, episodes are not built
on new material, but derive from a canonic sequence
that follows the first answer in the exposition. These
episodes also are canonic, but the nature of the
material makes the passages sound less contrapuntal
than the subject entries and emphasizes cross rhythms.
Even after the final entry, with its full pedal, Bach
begins another episode, this one functioning as a
coda.
PARTITION