Toccata e-moll BWV 914 - Bach, Johann Sebastian - PTNA Piano Music Encyclopedia

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Bach, Johann Sebastian : Toccata e-moll BWV 914

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Work Overview

Music ID : 403
Composition Year：1707　
Publication Year：1839
First Publisher：Peters
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：toccata
Total Playing Time：8 min 00 sec
Copyright：Public Domain

toccata

Commentary (2)

Author : Asayama, Natsuko

Last Updated: July 1, 2007

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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

It consists of a first movement with three sections – an Introduction, an Allegro, and an Adagio featuring chromatic runs – and a fugal movement with a lengthy subject.

The first half, lacking the typical runs of a toccata, begins in a relatively relaxed and modest manner. In the Allegro, two subjects are presented simultaneously at the outset, developing into a double fugue despite a clear texture. This is followed by a brilliant Adagio with chromatic ornamentation.

Although the fugue is undoubtedly authentic, there is a fugue with a very similar subject in old manuscript sources preserved at the Naples Conservatory, and Bach is believed to have borrowed it. The repeated leaping figures are typical violinistic idioms, played across multiple strings.

Writer: Asayama, Natsuko