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Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, BWV 867

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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.[1]

Prelude

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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.[2]

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 <bes des>8 8 8 <a c>16 <bes des>16 <c ees>8 8
        8 <bes des>16 <c ees>16 <des f>8 8 8 <c ees>16 <des f>16 <ees ges>8 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
        <des f>8 e8\rest e8\rest des8 ees4 \change Staff = "up" \stemDown e8\rest <c ges'>8
        <des f>4 e8\rest <des f bes>8 <c a'>4 e8\rest <c a'>8
      }
      \new Voice \relative c' {
        \voiceFour
        bes8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
        8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
      }
    >>
  >>

Fugue

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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[3] 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.[4]

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

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Sources

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  • Ledbetter, David (2008). Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: The 48 Preludes and Fugues. Yale University Press. pp. 222–226. doi:10.12987/9780300128987. ISBN 978-0300128987. S2CID 246101671.
  • Schulenberg, David (1992). The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 9780028732756. LCCN 91039348.
  • "The Well-Tempered Clavier I No. 22 in B-flat minor". Netherlands Bach Society. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
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