The WTF Bach Podcast Bach as A Minor in a minor.
Yep. I based an entire episode on the pun. We study two works not usually heard in the organ repertoire, the Prelude (Fantasy) BWV 569 and the Prelude with Fugue BWV 551, both in a minor. These are not the best known pieces in the repertoire, but they command our attention—especially when you consider that one of them was written when Bach was just 14 years old.
BWV 569, composed around 1708 when Bach was 23, is a single-rhythm experiment in modulation—akin to his Fantasy, BWV 922. On the page, it looks repetitive, but harmonically it’s anything but:
I mentioned I’d link to my own recording of its sister piece, BWV 922 (this cover art: under appreciated.)
The second piece, BWV 551, recently dated to around 1700, shows stunning compositional command for a young teenager. If Mozart and Mendelssohn are the poster children of musical precocity, Bach must now be added to the whizz-kid list. As Schweitzer puts it:
“If ever a composer’s period of probation was short, it was his.” -Schweitzer, Vol. 2, p. 122.
This piece, based on the keyboard toccatas of Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667) is an absolute blast. For our purposes, we can call it a double fugue. Look to the pedal line to identify both subjects, and imagine tap-dancing the 16th-note theme:
The first time I played it, the ending is what had me cracking up (alone and in an organ loft.) Not only does the piece seem like it’s coming to a stop in d minor:
But on the last bar, Bach adds the raised fourth degree! Exceptional.
Performers in today’s episode:
Rübsam, Koopman, Preston, Walcha, Hans Fagius.
I read excerpts from:
Pirsig, Robert M. Lila: An Inquiry into Morals. Bantam Books, 1991.
Wolff, Christoph, and Markus Zepf. The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook. Translated by Lynn Edwards Butler, University of Illinois Press, 2012.
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Concepts Covered:
In this episode on early Bach organ works, we highlight two lesser-known compositions in A minor: the Prelude (Fantasy) BWV 569 and the Prelude with Fugue BWV 551. These pieces, rarely featured in standard organ repertoire, showcase the astonishing talent of young Johann Sebastian Bach. BWV 569, composed around 1708, reveals experimental rhythmic modulation reminiscent of BWV 922. Bach enthusiasts, organ music lovers, and anyone interested in the early genius of J.S. Bach, will be interested in the fugal analysis, the discussion on double fugues, the influence of Froberger, and Bach’s copy of Frescobaldi.
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