Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867
{{Short description|Keyboard composition by Johann Sebastian Bach}}
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.{{sfn|Netherlands Bach Society}}
Prelude
{{listen|type=music
|filename=Kimiko Ishizaka - Bach - Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 - 43 Prelude No. 22 in B-flat minor, BWV 867.ogg|title=Prelude
|filename2=Kimiko Ishizaka - Bach - Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 - 44 Fugue No. 22 in B-flat minor, BWV 867.ogg|title2=Fugue
|description2=Performed by Kimiko Ishizaka}}
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.{{sfn|Schulenberg|1992|pp=192–193}}
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
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
}
\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{{sfn|Ledbetter|2008|p=224}} 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.{{sfn|Schulenberg|1992|p=193}}
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
{{Reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{Cite book |last=Ledbetter |first=David |year=2008|title=Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: The 48 Preludes and Fugues |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=222–226 |doi=10.12987/9780300128987 |isbn=978-0300128987|s2cid=246101671 }}
- {{Cite book |last=Schulenberg |first=David |year=1992 |title=The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach |url=https://archive.org/details/keyboardmusicofj0000schu |publisher=Macmillan Publishing Company |isbn=9780028732756 |lccn=91039348}}
- {{Cite web |url=https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-867/ |title=The Well-Tempered Clavier I No. 22 in B-flat minor |publisher=Netherlands Bach Society |access-date=April 23, 2021 |ref={{sfnref|Netherlands Bach Society}}}}
External links
- {{IMSLP|work=Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867}}
{{Compositions for Organ, Keyboard and Lute by Johann Sebastian Bach}}
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Category:The Well-Tempered Clavier
Category:Compositions in B-flat minor
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