WTC II/12 in F minor – Prelude
Several features make access to this prelude easy for listeners. Its
phrases are regular and neatly contrasted with regard to texture, melodic
figures, rhythmic features, and intensity. Moreover, almost all of these
phrases recur several times in the course of the composition, so that a high
degree of familiarization is possible, particularly since both halves are
repeated. It is thus safe to state that the F-minor prelude is determined by
its material. The reluctance to say “by motifs” is owed to the fact that one
expects motifs in Bach’s compositions to be single-voiced units used
within a polyphonic texture, with imitations, sequences, and partial devel-
opments. While the phrases here represent a variety of textures, imitative
play is not among them.
The harmonic progression in this prelude is much more largely scaled
than the design in four-measure phrases might suggest. In fact, many of the
phrases do not establish independent harmonic clauses. The overall design
encompasses mainly the familiar functions: a progressive step away from
the tonic in the first half of the prelude, and the corresponding return from
the subdominant to the tonic in the second half.
I mm. 02-122 tonic to tonic relative (F minor to A major)
II mm. 122-242 tonic relative confirmed
mm. 242-282 tonic relative confirmed again
III mm. 282-402 modulation to the subdominant B minor
IV mm. 402-482 return to the tonic with imperfect cadence
V mm. 482-602 interrupted cadence in the home key
mm. 602-622 plagal cadence in the home key
mm. 622-662 home key confirmed
mm. 662-702 home key confirmed again
The rhythmic pattern is based on a regular use of eighth-notes and
16th-notes and can thus be called simple. The pitch pattern, on the other
hand, contains much variation in the different phrases: there are stepwise
passages, many broken-chord figures, as well as large intervals, the latter
occurring both in the 16th-notes and in the eighth-notes.
The character must be determined as a borderline case. Rhythm and
intervals point to a lively character, but the abundant use of appoggiaturas
indicates an emotional intensity that places a restraint on the tempo.
445
446 WTC II/12
Articulation and touch must be mindful of the various components of
the material: A neutral tone quality is appropriate for all quarter-notes that
represent a cadential bass or should be distinguished from rhythmically
interlocking yet melodically more relevant note-groups in another voice and
for all eighth-notes followed by rests in complementary-rhythm patterns.1
Non legato with a more singing touch is required for all quarter-notes and
eighth-notes that form melodic lines. Legato with high-intensity touch is
indispensable in all appoggiatura-resolution pairs and also applies in the
closing formulas.2 Quasi legato with a light touch is a good choice for the
16th-notes in the toccata-style complementary patterns (see mm. 4-8 etc.).
The score contains five ornaments, all of them mordents. Those in mm.
40, 42, and 69 are approached in stepwise motion and therefore begin on
the main note. A simple shake with three notes is sufficient here. The ones
in mm. 45 and 46 are preceded by a large leap. They therefore begin on the
upper neighbor note and feature a four-note shake.
The F-minor prelude is built not on single-voiced units in a polyphonic
texture but from homophonic cells that develop into short phrases. Each is
at first presented in its own unique texture before there is a vivid exchange
and interplay of accompanying features. (Although these cells are thus not
motifs, the customary “M” will be used for easy reference.)
M1 is presented in the first four measures. The lowest of its three voices
features quarter-notes in cadential steps. The upper and middle voices run
in parallels. Their core consists of an appoggiatura-resolution pair in
eighth-notes preceded by an upbeat in the shape of an anticipation of the
appoggiatura. Owing to the melodic parallel and to the appoggiaturas, each
of the one-measure patterns is high in emotional intensity. The entire
four-measure motif forms a dynamic curve. The tension increases to m. 31
where the subdominant harmony coincides with the sudden leap in the
pitch level of the upper voice. The ensuing decrease is expressed, in the
lower voice by the chromatic transition to the dominant, and in the two
higher voices by a gradual descent.
M2 presents a toccata-pattern. The left-hand strong beats are comple-
mented by three 16th-notes in the right hand. The pitches of both voices
interlock, giving the impression of a single layer in broken-chord figures.
1
Neutral non legato: mm. 1-4 (L), 4-8 (M), 8-16, 20-24, 28-32 (L), 52-56 (U+M), 56-58 (M).
2
Appoggiaturas requiring intense legato may come in parallels (U+M: mm. 1-4, 9-16, 28,
29-32, 40, and 57), grow single-voiced out of a suspension (M: m. 34 and U: mm. 36),
appear single-voiced without a marking (U: mm. 37, 38, 45, and 46, L: 49, 51, and 52, and
U+M: m. 70) or slurred (U: mm. 42 and 44). For a closing formula in legato see U: m. 39.
F minor 447
There could hardly be a more obvious contrast between the textures of M1
and M2. The melodic content of M2 is negligible: the left-hand notes owe
their melodic value more to their metric position on strong beats than to the
consistency of the line they build. This is not surprising since they are,
after all, primarily parts of broken chords. This lack of melodic expression
is reflected in the somewhat subdued intensity of this cell and in its lack of
direction. Harmonically, these four measures make no progress but extend
the C-major chord reached in the middle of m. 4 in an ornamental fashion.
The broken-chord figures seem to circle without a goal (see mm. 5-62 ,
which recur identically in mm. 7-82). Correspondingly, the dynamic tension
is as if suspended. Neither build-up nor relaxation is called for.
M3 appears in mm. 202-242. The texture displays once again three
voices, each of them essentially independent of the other. What makes the
interplay nevertheless so simple is the regular rhythm and the one-measure
sequential pattern. Each of these one-measure units contains a rising step
in quarter-notes in the lower voice, a syncopated falling third ending on a
weak beat in the middle voice, and a curve made up of rising and falling
broken-chord 16th-notes in the upper voice. Harmonically, each middle
beat represents an inverted seventh-chord followed in the ensuing measure
not by its resolution but by another extended triad, now in root position
(mm. 202-241: A7-D9, g7-c9, f7-B9, E7-A9). The entire phrase conveys the
impression of a long release of tension.
The next four measures seem different at first glance. They can,
however, be regarded as a combination of M2 and M3. The complemen-
tary rhythm of the lower and middle voices appears in a different guise
from M3, but the broken-chord figures in the upper voice resemble those
in M2. Harmonically, the phrase is distinguished by a high content of
accidentals (see particularly the F and C in mm. 26-27). Although the
melodic direction, as in M3, is descending, this variant expresses an
increase to m. 27 followed only then by a relaxation.
M4 only emerges in mm. 402-422. The upper-voice contour consists of
a two-measure unit, the longest unit in this prelude and also the one that is
melodically the most eloquent. The dynamic shape shows a curve in which
the climax falls on the appoggiatura. The middle and lower voices are
combined here in the hidden two-part structure of the left-hand part. The
melodic lower voice contrasts the eloquent upper-voice unit with a descent
in eighth-notes (C-B-A-G-F-E), while the middle-voice part of the
hidden two-part structure adds a pedal on D followed by a broken G-minor
chord as harmonic backdrop. M4 is followed by one complete and two
varied partial sequences, and complemented by an imperfect cadence.
448 WTC II/12
The following table lists the prelude’s material in order to show what
correspondences hide behind the many variants. Strongly diverging
variants are marked with an asterisk, developments with the “plus” sign.
mm. 02-122 M1, M2, M1.............. mm. 282-402 M1, M2, M1* f/p/f
inserted: mm. 402-482 M4 mf
mm. 122-202 M1, M2 .............. mm. 482-562 M1*, M2* f/p
inserted: mm. 562-622 M1+ f
mm. 202-282 M3, M3/M2 .............. mm. 622-70 M3, M3/M2 mf
WTC II/12 in F minor – Fugue
The material of the F-minor fugue has a dance-like character. Bach
achieves this primarily through the persuasive rhythm and pitch pattern in
the subject’s head: upbeat + triple repetition, upbeat + triple repetition.
These two immediately remembered initial measures are complemented by
two measures of unobtrusive running notes. The end of the subject is
reached, as can be expected of such a regular phrase, after precisely four
measures. The only irregularity arises in the two possible endings Bach
invents for this subject. There is the strong-beat ending (a “male” ending in
the terminology taken from Greek poetic meter) in which the melodic line
concludes with a return to the tonic harmony on the downbeat of a
statement’s fourth measure (see, e.g., in m. 32). Much more frequent is the
weak-beat (or “female”) ending, which extends this tonic through two
more eighth-notes and thus achieves a more perfect complement to the
subject’s 1/8 upbeat.
While the first upbeat + triple-repetition group should be separated from
its varied sequence by phrasing, the final note of the sequence (the third E
in m. 2) doubles as the beginning of the running notes and does not allow
for another cut. The subject thus consists of a short first subphrase and a
much longer second one. The rhythmic pattern, in the subject itself as well
as in the fugue as a whole, is simple, consisting primarily of eighth- and
16th-notes. In the pitch pattern, the most noteworthy characteristics of this
subject are the leap and broken chord respectively linking the two upbeats
to their subsequent downbeats (F-C = perfect fifth, D-B-E = extract of C9
chord) and the triple note repetition. The remaining 16th-notes move
almost exclusively in stepwise motion.
F minor 449
The subject’s harmonic layout is also straightforward: the tonic on the
downbeats of mm. 1 and 4 surrounds the dominant in mm. 2 and 3. The
subdominant appears in a metrically weak position (m. 1, last eighth-note)
and thus does not gain momentum. Yet as it marks the only fast harmonic
change in this subject (with only one eighth-note between its appearance
and the change to the dominant), it endows the beginning of the second
subphrase with a sense
of slightly heightened
urgency. The dynamic
development reflects
these features. In the short initial subphrase, the downbeat, prepared by the
bouncing upbeat, is distinctly accented. The relationship between upbeat
and downbeat is enhanced in the sequence, where the first E is even more
prominent than the first F had been. While the note repetition in the first
subphrase brings about an immediate release, the length of the second
subphrase now requires a gradual diminuendo. (Emotional “waves” in m. 3
should be avoided so as not to blur the subject’s structure and character.)
The F-minor fugue comprises nine subject statements.
1. mm. 0-4 U 4. mm. 24-28 U 7. mm. 50-54 M
2. mm. 4-8 M 5. mm. 28-32 M 8. mm. 71-75 U
3. mm. 11-15 L 6. mm. 40-44 L 9. mm. 74-78 M
Apart from the interval adjustment in the answer (as is common in
fugues whose subject begins with a fifth, this interval is converted into a
fourth to retain the tonality) and the above-mentioned “female” and “male”
endings, the subject remains unchanged. No inversions occur, and the only
overlap of consecutive statements (mm. 74-75) is so minimal that it is not
perceived as a stretto. Moreover, Bach has not invented a single counter-
subject for this fugue. There are six subject-free passages.
E1 mm. 82-112 E3 mm. 321-402 E5 mm. 541-712
E2 mm. 152-242 E4 mm. 442-502 E6 mm. 781-85
Four of these episodes are subdivided. We should distinguish E2a/b
(mm. 152-171-242), E3a/b (mm. 321-331-40), E4a/b (mm. 442-462-502), and
E5a/b (mm. 541-661-712). The subject’s tail figures in episodes that begin
as subject prolongations, as happens in E2a (descending sequences), E3a
(twofold imitation), and E4a (a rising two-measure sequence). The
subject’s head with extending sequences is used as a motif in E5. Genuine
episode material is limited to one sequence model and one small motif.
450 WTC II/12
The motif is first heard with sequences in the lower voice of E4b and taken
up once at the outset of E5a, with an imitation. The sequence model, intro-
duced in mm. 17-18, quotes the subject’s note repetition in double thirds
with an ornamental extension in the upper voice against quasi-melodic
curves in 16th- and eighth-notes in the lower voice. E2b continues with
two descending sequences, one faithful, the other varied and extended. In
the structurally corresponding E3b the upper and middle voices are inverted
and the extension of the second sequence is slightly modified. Another
analogous episode is E6, while E5b is shortened in its second sequence.
The relationships between the episodes are manifold and revealing for
the structural layout. Note particularly the four larger passages that corre-
spond with one another while being distinguished from their surroundings
by texture owing to the three-part model: E2b . E3b . E5b .E6. All have
harmonically concluding endings. These are thematically open in mm. 24
and 71 but characterized by closing formulas in mm. 39-40 and 84-85.
Performers may wish to consider setting the distinct sequence models in
the four corresponding blocks apart from the remainder of the fugue by
choosing a different color.3
E2b and E3b are prepared by analogous episode segments that extend
a preceding entry, whereas E5a consists of two corresponding halves.
Dynamically, E5a is the only episode that represents truly active increases
in the ascending sequences of the subject head. (One might have a point in
arguing that these make up for the missing third entry that the balance with
section I would require). Only E1 and E4, which are not so distinct in their
material and structure, serve as links between two subject statements
within a section. Both begin with a slight increase before giving way to
relaxation, while all other episodes represent a decreasing tendency.
The thematic leaps and broken chords as well as the simplicity of the
rhythm indicate a rather lively basic character. The tempo should be fast
enough to create the effect of a true 2/4 meter, with only one strong beat in
each measure, and to guarantee the light character in the 16th-notes. The
relative tempo of the prelude to the fugue needs careful planning. A simple
proportion of quarter-note = quarter-note (and thus: measure = measure)
may sound dull. A complex proportion, while more difficult to imagine,
gives more satisfactory results for each of the two pieces. It implies using
3
Having the second manual of a harpsichord in mind may help. On modern pianos, one can
shade the fingers’ soft touch in these segments by depressing the left pedal. This gives an
effect that is both convincing in terms of the structure of this fugue and in keeping with
Baroque performance practice. Exact timing of the left-foot pedal is, of course, essential.
F minor 451
a note value that does not literally occur, the triplet eighth-note, as a base:
one triplet eighth-note in prelude tempo corresponds with one eighth-note
in the fugue. (Approximate metronome settings: prelude beats = 66, fugue
beats = 100.) The appropriate articulation includes non legato for the
eighth-notes and a crisp legato for the 16th-notes. The non legato may
sound bouncing in the subject itself, slightly less assertive in the secondary
material, and particularly gentle in the sequence models.
The only ornament suggested in the score appears, in parentheses, on
the first down-beat note of the first subject entry. If played, it must be
added to all other complete entries. An ornament that is not indicated even
in brackets but which almost all performers will intuitively add is the
(four-note) cadential mordent on the dotted G in m. 84.
The structure of this fugue is very clear, as can already be seen from
the outline and function of the episodes. The four corresponding episode
segments each conclude a section. As they end with different degrees of
melodic conclusiveness, the impression arises that sections I+II and
sections III+IV form the two larger blocks of a binary design. This concept
is supported by the observation that the first and third sections contain
bridging episodes between their entries, while the second and fourth
sections do not. The following table visualizes the correspondences.
section I: section III:
subject in U, M, + E1 (linking) subject in L + E4 (linking)
subject in L + E2a (short opening) subject in M + E5a (long opening)
E2b (sequence model; E5b (sequence model;
no closing formula) no closing formula)
section II: section IV:
subject in U, M subject in U, M
E3a (short opening) —
E3b (sequence model + E6 (sequence model +
closing formula) closing formula)
The harmonic plan supports the binary layout in that both the first and
third sections set out from the tonic. The developments inside each half of
the fugue, however, are different: Section I contains three statements in the
field of the tonic, after which E2 modulates to E major (the dominant of
the tonic relative A major). The second section is held in the major mode,
with its two entries in A and E major respectively. E3a then modulates to
C minor, and E3b closes in C major (the dominant). The two statements of
the third section are both on the tonic, after which E5 ends on an F7 chord
(the dominant of the subdominant B minor). The fourth section features
entries on the subdominant and tonic and thus closes the circle.
452 WTC II/12
The dynamic development from one entry to the next is not the fore-
most intent in this fugue. In section I, the tension rises throughout the three
entries (the dynamic curve in the bridging episodes constituting no inter-
ruption but just a suspension) and then diminishes gradually through the
concluding episode E2. Correspondingly in section III, the tension
increases through two entries (suspended during E4) and again in the
sequences of the subject head, before it subsides gradually throughout the
concluding E5. In both cases, the harmonic ending on the dominant of the
key in which the subsequent section will set out creates further release and
thus mollifies the beginning of sections II and IV. The reduced texture
supports this, as the entry in mm. 24-28 appears manifestly (and that in
mm. 71-75 practically) in two-part setting. In both cases, the final subject
statement is placed in the middle voice, the most subdued of the three
possible positions. Any growth in tension that might be brought forward
by the increase in texture is thus annihilated, and sections II and IV remain
much less outgoing than sections I and III. The concluding episodes E3
and E6 end both halves of the fugue on a soft note.