Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 871 (WTC II)

History

This C minor fugue belongs to pair 2 of Bach’s second Well-Tempered Clavier book, assembled around 1742. It is one movement in a prelude-and-fugue pair within the book’s journey through all twenty-four major and minor keys.

Sources

• mutopiaproject.org
• henle.de

What to listen for

1. 1

   The inner opening receives an upper answer

   The alto begins a compact gesture before the soprano answers. Listen for their relationship while the lower voices still wait.

2. 2

   A tenor entry joins quicker upper replies

   The tenor enters with related material beneath increasingly moving upper lines. Hear the added strand within the quick exchanges.

3. 3

   A late low voice thickens the dialogue

   Renewed upper gestures are joined by a fourth low strand later in the source. Notice the fuller texture without assuming four voices were active from the opening.

4. 4

   Short replies find the final chord

   Altered low gestures and compact upper responses lead into the closing C-minor chord. Hear the separate lines gather into the fuller arrival.

How to practise it

First line before a later paired attack; short neighbours into a held tone.

1. Listen for the texture becoming denser at the end of this bounded opening, and practise bringing in the added pitch without disturbing the earlier line.
2. Count the two short neighbours into the longer arrival, then retain that arrival while adding the later pitch instead of reattacking it.

How hard is it

About this piece

Licence

Public Domain

Source

mutopiaproject.org

More by Johann Sebastian Bach

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