Johann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso
organist than as a composer in his day. His sacred
music, organ and choral works, and other instrumental
music had an enthusiasm and seeming freedom that
concealed immense rigor. Bach's use of counterpoint was
brilliant and innovative, and the immense complexities
of his compositional style -- which often included
religious and numerological symbols that seem to fit
perfectly together in a profound puzzle of special
codes -- still amaze musici...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso
organist than as a composer in his day. His sacred
music, organ and choral works, and other instrumental
music had an enthusiasm and seeming freedom that
concealed immense rigor. Bach's use of counterpoint was
brilliant and innovative, and the immense complexities
of his compositional style -- which often included
religious and numerological symbols that seem to fit
perfectly together in a profound puzzle of special
codes -- still amaze musicians today. Many consider him
the greatest composer of all time judging by the
character of Bach's early keyboard works, both the
improvisatory and virtuoso aspects of his playing acted
as spurs to his creativity. Improvisation was essential
to the keyboard player's training in Bach's day, and
numerous passages in the early keyboard works no doubt
had an extempore basis, notably hisfree fantasy
interludes, the toccatas and the ruminative elaborated
chord sequences in his preludes (BWV 921-923). In
addition, many pieces may have originated, at least in
part, as material for the exercise of Bach's own
virtuosity. However, these virtuoso and improvisatory
elements, the urge 'to run or leap up and down the
instrument, to take both hands as full as all the five
fingers will allow and to proceed in this wild manner
till he by chance finds a resting place? represent only
one side of the musical make-up of the young Bach. Just
as strong, and eventually predominant, was the impulse
to create order in sound, to excel in the art of
musical construc-tion. Here Bach appears to have been
very largely self-taught. His search for compositional
models is illustrated in the story of his illicit
copying during the Ohrdruf years (1695-1700) of a book
of keyboard pieces belonging to his elder brother
Johann Christoph. This book, which is no longer extant,
contained music by three seventeenth-century South
German composers (J. J. Froberger, J. C. Kerl and J.
Pachelbel) two of whom (Kerl and Pachelbel) were linked
with Johann Christoph in a direct teacher—pupil
line.
The Prelude (Fantasia) in A Minor (BWV 922), is an
extraordinary example of minimalism. Bach's seemingly
endless variations on so simple a figure is a textbook
case of harmonic development. Organists don't find this
piece in their volumes of "Bach organ music" because of
the artificial division that happened more than 100
years ago between Bach "organ" and "keyboard" pieces.
The pedal part scored is at the player's initiative and
discretion. In most of the ways that harpsichordists
tune, the triads of B, F#, and C# majors sound rough
... and this piece uses enough of them to make it
challenging.
Bach likely wrote this music in his late 20s. Some
sections of the piece are long and repetitive, with
little happening beyond some adventurous modulations
(akin to those of the f# minor toccata, BWV 910). In
the equal temperament of pianos and most organs, it is
difficult to make much of this without being
unimaginative. The piece is arguably too big and
boisterous for the clavichord. Although mostly
unplayed, it deserves better!
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_keyboard_and_lut
e_compositions_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach).
Although originally written for Harpsichord. I created
this Arrangement of the Prelude (Fantasia) in A Minor
(BWV 922) for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
