Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564

The Toccata in C major (now often precisely: Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564 ) is an organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, which he wrote during his time in Weimar in 1708 as court organist. The work represents a peculiarity within Bach's oeuvre, because Bach between the Prelude ( Toccata ) and Fugue still einschiebt a slow movement.

Construction

Phrases:

• C Toccata in C major
• Adagio - Grave c A minor
• Fuga 6/8 C major

Music:

An introduction to improvisation-like quickly jotted virtuoso Manual runs is stopped by three times the lowest pedal tone before the pedal mounts a own extensive solo. The following, by far the most extensive section of the first movement is clearly inspired by the Italian concerto style; it is based on a few subjects that are contrapuntal out against each other. Similarly tutti and solo passages replaced creek between full grip and more transparent textures - the unanimous virtuosity of initiation is no longer taken.

The slow movement is a delicate, arioso melody of the right hand over a simple chordal accompaniment; the first sentence modulates to the dominant, subdominant and then to the back. Here performs a short solo cadenza in a painful - emphatic swan song, which is characterized by strong chromatic progressions, suspensions and dissonances; the tempo marking Grave makes the harmonic intensification in slow motion visible.

The final four -part fugue uses a break -strewn, clearly violinistic embossed topic in dance six -eight time. Established as counterpoint Bach one-sixteenth - scale motif that fills the topics and breaks right in the first interlude up evokes associations to the final movement of the third Brandenburg Concerto. In the further course the proximity to the concertante style by Terzenführung the fugue theme and interlocking sixteenth motifs on the set of circuits is always clear. A virtuoso cadenza-like passage that leads into the laconic short final chord, reminiscent of distance to the beginning of the Toccata and so brings the work to convincingly end.

Formation

Although the melodic material is unmistakable by Bach, remember the opening bars of Toccata in style and structure to that of Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C Major by Dietrich Buxtehude ( BuxWV 137), the stream had visited a few years earlier, and whose music has its style significantly influenced. On the other hand, show many details of the work already clearly the influence of the Italian style concert before Bach to 1713/14 met the newer style of Antonio Vivaldi.

The idea of an inserted between Prelude and Fugue slow movement must have spent years tied Bach - as exists from Prelude and Fugue in C major ( BWV 545 ), an early version in B flat major with the sentence, which should appear later in the C major Organ Sonata.

Effect

Ferruccio Busoni adapted the work for piano. Nevertheless, the Toccata in C major is in the public perception clearly in the shadow of the more famous Toccata in D minor. The Adagio was released as a single set of Pau Casals for cello with piano accompaniment; in this version of the sentence has become known.