In his formative years, Johann Sebastian Bach composed
many youthful pieces based on earlier models. Indeed,
throughout his life he would use the formal models of
other countries as structural guidelines for his own
work.
In the case of the Toccata in f-sharp minor, Bach used
the North German Toccata as his model. While this work,
along with the other keyboard toccatas, give the
listener or performer glimpses into what would blossom
into Bach's mature style, its quality is inconsistent,
sugg...(+)
In his formative years, Johann Sebastian Bach composed
many youthful pieces based on earlier models. Indeed,
throughout his life he would use the formal models of
other countries as structural guidelines for his own
work.
In the case of the Toccata in f-sharp minor, Bach used
the North German Toccata as his model. While this work,
along with the other keyboard toccatas, give the
listener or performer glimpses into what would blossom
into Bach's mature style, its quality is inconsistent,
suggesting perhaps that its individual sections were
composed separately and later assembled. The dating for
this composition is problematic, though it might be the
latest of the seven "manualiter" (or hands only)
toccatas, judging by its mysterious key and chromatic
fugue subject.
In this work we observe the oscillation between freely
composed sections and the more strict fugal sections.
The toccata opens with a rapid fantasia-like section
and subsides into a dramatic adagio. This section, and
the final fugue, led many early Bach scholars in
incorrectly place this toccata much later than the
other six in Bach's Coethen period (1717-1723). Modern
scholars take this more advanced section, which has
similarities to earlier compositions such as the
Capriccio BWV 992, as evidence that Bach might have
compiled fragmented pieces together into one work;
furthermore, as the embellishment in the section is
more advanced than earlier works, it is supposed that
it was added later, perhaps for the benefit of his
students.
The fugue which follows, marked "presto e staccato" is
one of Bach's least adventurous in this genre. The
subject is rather uncreative, and the counterpoint
equally simple. Despite this, Bach does modulate to
remote key regions for the time period, including
d-sharp minor, and uses an extended implied shift of
meter from common time to 3/4 time (which is quite an
advanced technique). The moderato bridge between this
and the final fugue sounds a bit directionless, though
it is clearly worked out from an easily deduced
harmonic framework. At the same time, it seems almost
too long. The final fugue, however, is worth waiting
for. Perhaps the most advanced section in all of the
manualiter toccatas, the chromatic fugue subject seems
a precursor to the more famous Chromatic Fugue (BWV
903). Also, the underlying ground bass used by the
dance form implied by this movement (the chaconne)
appears to be used in the slightly later Cantata
#12.
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