The Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867, is a keyboard composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the 22nd prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. It was composed in 1722 or earlier.[1]

Prelude

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.[2]

Below are the opening bars of the prelude:

\new PianoStaff << \new Staff = "up" \with { \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } << \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 8 = 80 \clef treble \key bes \minor \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c'' { \voiceOne r8 bes16 c16 <bes des>8 8 8 <a c>16 <bes des>16 <c ees>8 8 8 <bes des>16 <c ees>16 <des f>8 8 8 <c ees>16 <des f>16 <ees ges>8 8 } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceTwo r8 e8\rest e8\rest f8 ges4 e8\rest \stemUp a8 } >> \new Staff = "down" << \clef bass \key bes \minor \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceThree \showStaffSwitch <des f>8 e8\rest e8\rest des8 ees4 \change Staff = "up" \stemDown e8\rest <c ges'>8 <des f>4 e8\rest <des f bes>8 <c a'>4 e8\rest <c a'>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 Clavier's 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[3] 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.[4]

Below are the first two statements of the subject in the fugue's opening:

\new PianoStaff << \new Staff = "up" << \clef treble \key bes \minor \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c'' { \voiceOne bes2 f g'4\rest ges f ees des c des ees f e8 f g2~ g4 aes8 g f2~ f4 ees8 des ees4 } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceTwo b1\rest b1\rest f'2 bes, r4 des' c bes aes g aes bes c2. } >> >>

References

Sources

  • Ledbetter, David (2008). Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: The 48 Preludes and Fugues. Yale University Press. pp. 222–226. doi:10.12987/9780300128987. ISBN 978-0300128987. S2CID 246101671.
  • Schulenberg, David (1992). The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 9780028732756. LCCN 91039348.
  • "The Well-Tempered Clavier I No. 22 in B-flat minor". Netherlands Bach Society. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
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