Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846

The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, is a keyboard composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Bach's autograph (1722) of the first prelude of Book I

Analysis

Prelude

The prelude is 35 bars long and consists mostly of broken chords. Below are the first four bars of the prelude:

{ << \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c'' { \voiceOne r8 g16 c e g, c e r8 g,16 c e g, c e r8 a,16 d f a, d f r8 a,16 d f a, d f r8 g,16 d' f g, d' f r8 g,16 d' f g, d' f r8 g,16 c e g, c e r8 g,16 c e g, c e } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceTwo r16 e8._~ e4 r16 e8._~ e4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 e8._~ e4 r16 e8._~ e4 } >> \new Staff << \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c' { c2 c c c b b c c } >> >> >> }

The prelude continues like this with different variations on harmony and change of key. The prelude ends with a single C major chord.

Fugue

The fugue is 27 bars long and is written for four voices. It starts with a two-measure subject in the alto voice. The first voice to join is the soprano, which replies with the answer in the dominant key (G major).

{ #(set-global-staff-size 17) \relative{ \new Staff \clef treble \key c \major \tempo 4=70 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t << { \voiceOne R1 r2 r8 g'^"Soprano" a b c8. d32 c b8 e a, d ~ d16 e d c b} \new Voice= "Alto" { \voiceTwo r8 c,_"Alto" d e f8. g32 f e8 a8 d,8 g ~ g16 a g f e f e d c d c b a8 fis' g4~ g8 fis16 e fis8 d g} >> } }

The answer is repeated in the tenor and bass voices when they enter. The piece then modulates through various related keys, with the subject being repeated in each of the four voices. The piece eventually ends up back in the home key. It ends with each voice stopping at a note and holding it until the end, forming a C-major chord.

Legacy

Schwencke measure

Some earlier editions of the prelude contain an extra bar between bars 22 and 23 known as the "Schwencke measure", a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression (though it may be accidentally corrupted manuscript(s) associated with Schwencke), even though this sort of progression was standard in the music of Bach's time.[1]

{ << \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \tempo 8=116 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c' { r8 b16 c es b c es r8 b16 c es b c es } >> \new Staff << \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c { \voiceOne r16 es8._~ es4 r16 es8._~ es4 } \new Voice \relative c { \voiceTwo g2 g } >> >> >> }

However, according to Hermann Keller, "Schwencke was a sophisticated and well-informed musician who was probably not thinking of improving Bach."[2]

Measure 22 contains an F♯ in the bass, which skips to A♭ in measure 23, creating a diminished third; while the Schwencke measure has a G in the bass of a 6
4 (second inversion) minor chord with C as its root borrowed from the parallel harmonic minor. The A♭ may be considered as its enharmonic, G♯, which creates a major second step with F♯, but A♭ functions as an upper leading-tone (parallel natural or descending melodic minor). Franz Kroll may have been the first to question and edit the measure, first in 1862, and the measure does not occur in Bach's student Heinrich Gerber's 1725 manuscript copy.[1] August Halm was also critical of the measure,[3] questioning its logic as early as 1905.[4]

Gounod's "Ave Maria"

Charles Gounod composed a melody that was designed to be based on the prelude; a setting of that melody to Ave Maria is popular. The edition of the prelude used by Gounod contains the Schwencke measure.[1]

20th century

Arvo Pärt's "Credo" is built around Bach's C major prelude, first unravelling it through the central cacophonous twelve-tone part of the work, then remerging on the piano with the chorus and orchestra joining in harmony for the massive finale.

Mstislav Rostropovich compared this Prelude to the introductory bars of the prelude of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, in a video named Rostropovich interprets Bach, filmed in 1991 at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, France.

"Repent Walpurgis", the last track on the debut album by progressive rock group Procol Harum contains an arrangement of the prelude by band leader Gary Brooker.[5][6]

Further media

Full length audio of the prelude or fugue

Excerpts

References
  1. Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". Bach. 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775. The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression.
  2. Keller, Hermann (1965). Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach, p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter. . Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert "On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I", Henle.de. Accessed: June 8, 2018.
  3. Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. ISBN 9781580463294.
  4. Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). Beethoven Forum, p. 70. University of Nebraska. ISBN 9780803229211. Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", Der Kunstwart 18, pp. 486-487.
  5. Johanson, Claes (2000). Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale. SAF Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-946-71928-0.
  6. The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-199-71870-2.
  7. Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999]. Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02656-7. OCLC 750541259.
  8. Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". The Philosophical Quarterly. 34 (134): 80. doi:10.2307/2218896. ISSN 0031-8094. JSTOR 2218896.
  9. Snelson, John (2008-10-01). Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-300-12845-1.
  10. "Maurane - Sur un prélude de Bach Lyrics". musiXmatch. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  11. פרפרים בראש, retrieved 2022-01-14

Further reading
  • Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major". The Well Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2. Ed. Saul Novak.

Interactive media

Sheet Music

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