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Baroque · fugue

Fugue No. 20 in A minor, BWV 865 (WTC I)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 9, estimated · With Maestro

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The short answer

A manuscript from 1722, a printed afterlife around 1800. Fugue No. 20 in A minor, BWV 865 (WTC I) is a fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 9, an estimate.

On this page
  • fugue
  • Baroque
  • Key of A minor
  • grand

Also known as Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I, Fuga XX.

History

Fugue No. 20 in A minor, BWV 865 (WTC I) belongs to the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach's collection fair copy is dated 1722. For many years its life was in manuscript: around 1800, publishers in Zurich, Bonn and Vienna/Leipzig brought competing editions into print. That long journey from manuscript to publication is part of this piece's wider history.

Sources

What to listen for

  1. An inner line moves between staves

    The opening inner figure changes staves while other voices wait. Follow its musical contour without turning notation placement into a fixed hand instruction.

  2. A lower entry expands the texture

    Related lower movement joins sustained upper responses and expanding registers. Hear the new entry within the ongoing layers.

  3. Held punctuation sits inside the continuation

    Renewed contours emerge amid dense exchanges and internal fermatas. Hear the held punctuation as part of the ongoing piece, not its final ending.

  4. Low A anchors independent upper continuation

    The closing region holds low A while upper lines continue independently. Hear their movement reach the final fermata above the sustained foundation.

How to practise it

Follow the opening inner entry before the later E-centred turn takes over.

  1. Sing the A/G-sharp/A/B contour first, then keep that line connected across the source staff change.
  2. Practise E/D-sharp/E into F-sharp/G, then join the B/A/G/A cell without giving every sixteenth equal weight.

How hard is it

Level 9, estimated

Extended contrapuntal argument requires endurance, independent articulation and long-range organization rather than local accuracy alone.

About this piece

Interpretive sketch of Johann Sebastian Bach, an illustration and not a verified likeness
An illustration, not a portrait
Licence
Public Domain
Source
mutopiaproject.org

More by Johann Sebastian Bach

  1. Prelude in C major, BWV 846Level 4, estimatedOpen to everyone
  2. Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772Level 5, estimatedWith Maestro
  3. Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971: III. PrestoLevel 9, estimatedWith Maestro

With Maestro

Play it, slow it down, hear where you land

Follow the opening inner entry before the later E-centred turn takes over.

Practise it in PlayPiano