J.S. Bach - Prelude & Fugue in A minor, BWV 894 (c. 1715-25)

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

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Uploaded with special permission by performer Peter Watchorn
https://www.musicaomnia.org

Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 894 (1715-1725?)

1. Prelude (0:00)
2. Fugue (5:57)

PETER WATCHORN, pedal harpsichord
(Hubbard & Broekman after Ruckers/Blanchet/Taskin,
1990/after J.A. Hass, 1734)

The A minor Prelude, a truly virtuoso piece, resembles a concerto movement, with its regularly occurring ritornello and clearly defined solo episodes, culminating in a full-blown cadenza. Later Bach (or, less likely, one of his followers) used the Prelude and Fugue as the outer movements of his Concerto in A minor for harpsichord, violin and flute, BWV 1044, mirroring the orchestration of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto (BWV 1050). The Prelude, which carries within it all the excitement, drive and momentum of a full-scale concerto, is paired with a Fugue that fully complements it in its forward-moving urgency, with a relentless energy that never flags. Both of these movements require fast tempos and virtuoso technique: and the works benefit through the occasional use of the pedal harpsichord, which is especially appropriate in underscoring some of the major cadences, and particularly effective for supplying a bass-line to the Prelude’s dramatic cadenza (similar in function to the cadenza found in the D minor Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1052), which keeps both hands busy negotiating its many notes.