Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846

Bach's autograph (1722) of the first prelude of Book I

The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, is a keyboard composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer. An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Analysis

Prelude

The prelude is 35 bars long and consists mostly of broken chords. Below are the first four bars of the prelude:

${ << \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c'' { \voiceOne r8 g16 c e g, c e r8 g,16 c e g, c e r8 a,16 d f a, d f r8 a,16 d f a, d f r8 g,16 d' f g, d' f r8 g,16 d' f g, d' f r8 g,16 c e g, c e r8 g,16 c e g, c e } \new Voice \relative c' { \voiceTwo r16 e8._~ e4 r16 e8._~ e4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 d8._~ d4 r16 e8._~ e4 r16 e8._~ e4 } >> \new Staff << \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c' { c2 c c c b b c c } >> >> >> }$

The prelude continues like this with different variations on harmony and change of key. The prelude ends with a single C major chord.

Fugue

The fugue is 27 bars long and is written for four voices. It starts with a two-measure subject in the alto voice. The first voice to join is the soprano, which replies with the answer in the dominant key (G major).

${ #(set-global-staff-size 17) \relative{ \new Staff \clef treble \key c \major \tempo 4=70 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber #'transparent = ##t << { \voiceOne R1 r2 r8 g'^"Soprano" a b c8. d32 c b8 e a, d ~ d16 e d c b} \new Voice= "Alto" { \voiceTwo r8 c,_"Alto" d e f8. g32 f e8 a8 d,8 g ~ g16 a g f e f e d c d c b a8 fis' g4~ g8 fis16 e fis8 d g} >> } }$

The answer is repeated in the tenor and bass voices when they enter. The soprano then repeats the subject, to which the tenor answers in the dominant, modulating to G minor and then to G. The piece then continues with each of the four voices restating the subject multiple times throughout, modulating to various related keys. A four-voice canon is formed in bars 14 - 15. The fugue then culminates with a four-bar long forming of the tonic triad.

Legacy

Schwencke measure

Some earlier editions of the prelude contain an extra bar between bars 22 and 23 known as the "Schwencke measure", a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression (though it may be accidentally corrupted manuscript(s) associated with Schwencke), even though this sort of progression was standard in the music of Bach's time.^[1]

${ << \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \tempo 8=116 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c' { r8 b16 c es b c es r8 b16 c es b c es } >> \new Staff << \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c { \voiceOne r16 es8._~ es4 r16 es8._~ es4 } \new Voice \relative c { \voiceTwo g2 g } >> >> >> }$

However, according to Hermann Keller, "Schwencke was a sophisticated and well-informed musician who was probably not thinking of improving Bach."^[2]

Measure 22 contains an F♯ in the bass, which skips to A♭ in measure 23, creating a diminished third; while the Schwencke measure has a G in the bass of a ⁶
₄ (second inversion) minor chord with C as its root borrowed from the parallel harmonic minor. The A♭ may be considered as its enharmonic, G♯, which creates a major second step with F♯, but A♭ functions as an upper leading-tone (parallel natural or descending melodic minor). Franz Kroll may have been the first to question and edit the measure, first in 1862, and the measure does not occur in Bach's student Heinrich Gerber's 1725 manuscript copy.^[1] August Halm was also critical of the measure,^[3] questioning its logic as early as 1905.^[4]

Gounod's "Ave Maria"

Ave Maria by Gounod

Gounod's Ave Maria, arranged for piano and cello. Performed by John Michel

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Charles Gounod composed a melody that was designed to be based on the prelude; a setting of that melody to Ave Maria is popular. The edition of the prelude used by Gounod contains the Schwencke measure.^[1]

20th century

Arvo Pärt's "Credo" is built around Bach's C major prelude, first unravelling it through the central cacophonous twelve-tone part of the work, then remerging on the piano with the chorus and orchestra joining in harmony for the massive finale.

Mstislav Rostropovich compared this Prelude to the introductory bars of the prelude of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, in a video named Rostropovich interprets Bach, filmed in 1991 at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, France.

"Repent Walpurgis", the last track on the debut album by progressive rock group Procol Harum, contains an arrangement of the prelude by band leader Gary Brooker.^[5]^[6]

"Fromage Frais", the sixth track on the band Union Jack's debut studio album There Will Be No Armageddon, is an Acid trance arrangement of the prelude.

Derived works and influence on popular culture

Douglas R. Hofstadter's "Prelude... Ant Fugue"^[7]^[8] dialogues are explicitly inspired by J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C major.
Webber's Don't cry for me Argentina is not only based on the Prelude but also on Gounod's Ave Maria adaptation.^[9]

Further media

Full length audio of the prelude or fugue

Prelude in C major (BWV 846)

Performed on a French harpsichord ...

... tuned in equal temperament by Robert Schröter

Performed in ...

... Kirnberger temperament

Performed on a French harpsichord ...

... tuned in Werckmeister III temperament by Robert Schröter

Performed in Werckmeister temperament

Performed on a piano ...

... by Kimiko Ishizaka

performed on a Flemish harpsichord ...

... by Martha Goldstein

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Fugue in C major (BWV 846)

Performed on a piano ...

... by Kimiko Ishizaka

Performed on a Flemish harpsichord ...

... by Martha Goldstein

Excerpts

Prelude in C major (BWV 846)

Bars 1 to 5...

... with wolf interval

Bars 1 to 5 ...

... with comma differences without harmonic seventh

Bars 1 to 5 ...

... with comma differences with harmonic seventh

Bars 5 to 11 ...

... with wolf interval

Bars 5 to 11 ...

... with comma differences without harmonic seventh

Bars 5 to 11 ...

... with comma differences with harmonic seventh

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". Bach. 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775. The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression.
^ Keller, Hermann (1965). Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach, p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter. ISBN 978-3-7618-0077-5. Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert "On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I", Henle.de. Accessed: June 8, 2018.
^ Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. ISBN 9781580463294.
^ Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). Beethoven Forum, p. 70. University of Nebraska. ISBN 9780803229211. Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", Der Kunstwart 18, pp. 486-487.
^ Johanson, Claes (2000). Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale. SAF Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-946-71928-0.
^ The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-199-71870-2.
^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999]. Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02656-7. OCLC 750541259.
^ Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". The Philosophical Quarterly. 34 (134): 80. doi:10.2307/2218896. ISSN 0031-8094. JSTOR 2218896.
^ Snelson, John (2008-10-01). Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-300-12845-1.

External links

Interactive media

BWV 846 Fugue (Flash) - David Korevaar performing
BWV 846–869 Prelude and Fugue (Flash) at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext David Korevaar, Philip Goeth, and Edward Parmentier performing

Sheet Music

[Bach-1] Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". Bach. 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775. The insertion of the measure shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Bach's skip in the bass from F-sharp to A-flat. It seems unlikely that any knowledgeable contemporary of Bach's would have tried to 'correct' this not uncommon bass progression.

[2] Keller, Hermann (1965). Das Wohltemperierte Klavier von Johann Sebastian Bach, p. 40. Kassel, etc.: Bärenreiter. ISBN 978-3-7618-0077-5. Quoted in Müllemann, Norbert "On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach's C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I", Henle.de. Accessed: June 8, 2018.

[3] Rothfarb, Lee Allen (2009). August Halm: A Critical and Creative Life in Music. University of Rochester Press. p. 56. ISBN 9781580463294.

[4] Lockwood, Lewis; Webster, James; Reynolds, Christopher; eds. (1996). Beethoven Forum, p. 70. University of Nebraska. ISBN 9780803229211. Halm (1905). "Musikalische Logik", Der Kunstwart 18, pp. 486-487.

[5] Johanson, Claes (2000). Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale. SAF Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-946-71928-0.

[6] The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-199-71870-2.

[7] Hofstadter, Douglas R. (c. 2006) [1999]. Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02656-7. OCLC 750541259.

[8] Hamilton, Andrew; Hofstadter, Douglas R.; Dennett, Daniel C. (January 1984). "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". The Philosophical Quarterly. 34 (134): 80. doi:10.2307/2218896. ISSN 0031-8094. JSTOR 2218896.

[9] Snelson, John (2008-10-01). Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yale University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-300-12845-1.

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v t e Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach
Organ	Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful) Sonatas, BWV 525–530 Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531 Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532 Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537 Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538 Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540 Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544 Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548 Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful) Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562 Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564 Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (doubtful) Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566 Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572 Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578 Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 Concertos, BWV 592–597 Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644 Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650 Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668 Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768 Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769 Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120 Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128
Keyboard	Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801 English Suites, BWV 806–811 French Suites, BWV 812–817 Partitas, BWV 825–830 No. 2 No. 4 No. 6 Overture in the French style, BWV 831 Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893 Book 1 No. 1 in C major No. 2 in C minor No. 3 in C♯ major No. 4 in C♯ minor No. 7 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 16 in G minor No. 21 in B♭ major No. 22 in B♭ minor Book 2 No. 1 in C major No. 2 in C minor No. 3 in C♯ major No. 4 in C♯ minor No. 5 in D major No. 6 in D minor No. 12 in F minor No. 13 in F♯ major No. 18 in G♯ minor No. 22 in B♭ minor No. 24 in B minor Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 906 Toccatas, BWV 910–916 Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938 Italian Concerto Harpsichord solo concertos Goldberg Variations discography Gould recording Aria variata alla maniera italiana Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother
Lute	Suite in G minor, BWV 995 Suite in E minor, BWV 996 Bourrée Suite in C minor, BWV 997 Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E♭ major, BWV 998 Prelude in C minor, BWV 999 Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000
Mixed collections	Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805 Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987 Klavierbüchlein W. F. Bach Notebook A. M. Bach Twelve Little Preludes
List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

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International	VIAF
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Other	MusicBrainz work

Analysis

Prelude

Fugue

Legacy

Schwencke measure

Gounod's "Ave Maria"

20th century

Derived works and influence on popular culture

Further media

Full length audio of the prelude or fugue

Excerpts

References

Further reading

External links