The Eight Short Preludes and Fugues (also Eight Little
Preludes and Fugues), BWV 553–560, are a collection
of works for keyboard and pedal formerly attributed to
Johann Sebastian Bach. While originally attributed to
Bach, scholars suggest that the eight preludes and
fugues might have been composed by one of his pupils,
Johann Ludwig Krebs, based on certain unusual
characteristics and simplicity unusual to most of
Bach's music when played on the organ. However, Philipp
Spitta noted that they bo...(+)
The Eight Short Preludes and Fugues (also Eight Little
Preludes and Fugues), BWV 553–560, are a collection
of works for keyboard and pedal formerly attributed to
Johann Sebastian Bach. While originally attributed to
Bach, scholars suggest that the eight preludes and
fugues might have been composed by one of his pupils,
Johann Ludwig Krebs, based on certain unusual
characteristics and simplicity unusual to most of
Bach's music when played on the organ. However, Philipp
Spitta noted that they bore the "stamp of commanding
mastery." Additionally, Sir George Grove wrote that "on
stylistic grounds neither Johann Tobias or Johann
Ludwig seems likely..
These pieces came to be played often on the organ in
the 19th and 20th centuries, and were especially useful
as teaching pieces for beginners. Subsequent
scholarship has suggested that this collection was
conceived specifically for the pedal clavichord,
thereby making the stylistic claim of inauthenticity
far less tenable. Several elements of the pieces,
including the rolling of large chords, octave doublings
and repeated notes, and the patterns of movement of the
fingers and feet, the rhythm, and overall texture are
idiomatic on the clavichord but make little sense on
the organ.
These works continue to be performed frequently in
Christian churches because of their short length (about
3 minutes each) and ease of performance compared to
preludes and fugues attributed with greater certainty
to J.S. Bach.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Short_Preludes_and
_Fugues).
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
modern interpretation of the Prelude and Fugue in F
Major (BWV 556) for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
