Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542
The Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, is an organ prelude and fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. It acquired that name to distinguish it from the earlier Little Fugue in G minor, which is shorter. This piece is not to be confused with the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, which is also for organ and also sometimes called "the Great".[1][2]
Bach's biographer Spitta and some later scholars think that the Fugue was improvised in 1720 during Bach's audition for an organist post at St. James' Church in Hamburg.[citation needed] Assuming this is correct, the theme or subject of the Fugue, a Dutch popular tune (called 'Ik ben gegroet van...'), would have been given to Bach for him to demonstrate his talents as an improviser. It has been suggested by musicologist Christoph Wolff that the choice of a Dutch tune was in homage to Johann Adam Reincken, the long-serving organist at St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg, who was born in the Netherlands.[citation needed] During his 1720 trip to Hamburg Bach is believed to have met Reincken,[3] whose music he had known since his teens.[4]
The Fantasia may have been composed separately during Bach's time in Köthen (1717–23).
No autograph manuscript of either the Fantasia or the Fugue survives, and no manuscript of the Fantasia survives from the composer's lifetime.[5] It is not clear whether the practice of coupling the Fantasia with the Fugue derives from the composer himself. William H. Bates writes:[6]
Only one eighteenth-century manuscript in its original state [...] places the two pieces side by side. Further, it is evident that the fugue circulated widely [in manuscript] without the fantasy [...]. In fact, known or likely fugue copies by Bach pupils or associates [...] are devoid of any association with the fantasy.
There are many variant textual readings in the manuscripts, perhaps most prominently in the final chord of the Fantasia, which is recorded as both G major and G minor.[7] Some manuscripts preserve the fugue in the key of F minor rather than G minor; this transposition was probably performed in order to make the fugue playable on an organ whose pedals lacked a high D, and may well have been approved or even carried out by the composer himself.[8]
Arrangements
The work was transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt as S.463. Modern arrangers have orchestrated the work, such as Dimitri Mitropoulos,[9] and Karl Munchinger.
References
- ^ Williams, Peter (2003), The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-89115-8
- ^ Yearsley, David (2012), Bach's Feet: The Organ Pedals in European Culture, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521199018
- ^ According to Bach's obituary the two met in "about 1722".
- ^ Researchers find Bach’s oldest manuscripts. 2006. Associated Press.
- ^ Bates (2008)
- ^ Bates (2008), pp, 82–83
- ^ Bates (2008), p. 60
- ^ Bates (2008), p. 29
- ^ "J. S. BACH - Orchestral Transcriptions". Archive.org. 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2024. (Track 19)
Bibliography
- Bates, William H. (2008). "J. S. Bach's Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542: A Source Study for Organists". Bach. 39 (2). Berea, OH: Riemenschneider Bach Institute: 1–88. JSTOR 41640575.
- Pieter Dirksen, J.S. Bach's Fantasia and Fuga in G Minor, The Organ Yearbook 45 (2016), 133–167.
External links
- Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 542, G minor: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Video recording of the Fantasia in G minor (BWV 542) performed by Robert Pecksmith on the 1969 Grant, Degens and Bradbeer organ of New College Chapel, Oxford
- Free download of BWV 542 recorded by James Kibbie on the 1736 Erasmus Bielfeldt organ in St. Wilhadi, Stade, Germany
- Score of "Ik ben gegroet van..."
- v
- t
- e
- Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful)
- Sonatas, BWV 525–530
- Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531
- Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532
- Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
- Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538
- Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540
- Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542
- Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
- Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
- Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546
- Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548
- Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful)
- Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562
- Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564
- Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (doubtful)
- Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566
- Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572
- Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578
- Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
- Concertos, BWV 592–597
- Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644
- Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650
- Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668
- Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768
- Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769
- Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120
- Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128
- Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801
- English Suites, BWV 806–811
- French Suites, BWV 812–817
- Partitas, BWV 825–830
- Overture in the French style, BWV 831
- Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893
- Book 1
- No. 1 in C major
- No. 2 in C minor
- No. 3 in C♯ major
- No. 4 in C♯ minor
- No. 7 in E♭ major
- No. 10 in E minor
- No. 16 in G minor
- No. 21 in B♭ major
- No. 22 in B♭ minor
- Book 2
- No. 1 in C major
- No. 2 in C minor
- No. 3 in C♯ major
- No. 4 in C♯ minor
- No. 5 in D major
- No. 6 in D minor
- No. 12 in F minor
- No. 13 in F♯ major
- No. 18 in G♯ minor
- No. 22 in B♭ minor
- No. 24 in B minor
- Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue
- Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 906
- Toccatas, BWV 910–916
- Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938
- Italian Concerto
- Harpsichord solo concertos
- Goldberg Variations
- discography
- Gould recording
- Aria variata alla maniera italiana
- Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother
- Suite in G minor, BWV 995
- Suite in E minor, BWV 996
- Suite in C minor, BWV 997
- Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E♭ major, BWV 998
- Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
- Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000
collections
- Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805
- Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987
- Klavierbüchlein W. F. Bach
- Notebook A. M. Bach
- Twelve Little Preludes