Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 — complete pair

Johann Sebastian Bach (1,685–1,750)

First published: 1801
Key: C-sharp minor
Style: Baroque
Level: Licentiate
Roughly: RCM LRCM · ABRSM LRSM · Trinity LTCL · Henle 8
Lesson: L.1 Build a five-voice argument across a complete pair
Musicianship: L.1 Minor sequences
Focus: Independent voicing, subject entries, harmonic pacing, contrasting prelude/fugue character and complete-pair memory.

What its lesson teaches

L.1 Build a five-voice argument across a complete pair

Prepare the complete C-sharp-minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 849. In the five-voice fugue, map each entry and compare its interval pattern with earlier material before deciding how the lines relate. Preserve dissonance timing in a short reduction, then restore the other parts. Make a memory route for both pieces, the prelude as well as the fugue.

Ideas: Independent voices
Fugue vocabulary and structure
Large forms and cycles
Memorising from structure
Theory cards: Reducing counterpoint
Following a complete fugue
Technique: C-sharp harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
Leading-note diminished-seventh arpeggio of C-sharp minor, hands together, 4 octaves

Edition and licence

Score: Open Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, official OpenGoldberg/MuseScore edition

Encoding source: https://musescore.com/opengoldberg/scores/719616 · CC0

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 — complete pair

Edition: Open Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, official OpenGoldberg/MuseScore edition

First published: 1801

Source: https://musescore.com/opengoldberg/scores/719616 (Open Well-Tempered Clavier (2015), MuseScore, CC0)

Open Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, official OpenGoldberg/MuseScore edition

Encoding source: https://musescore.com/opengoldberg/scores/719616

CC0-1.0

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Adapted by Musalea: converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

The other lesson pieces of Licentiate

Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor “Tempest”, Op. 31 No. 2: I. Largo – Allegro, Ludwig van Beethoven
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, Frédéric Chopin
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor / D-sharp minor, BWV 853 — complete pair, Johann Sebastian Bach
Rondo in A minor, K. 511, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, Frédéric Chopin
Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 869 — complete pair, Johann Sebastian Bach
Images, première série: Hommage à Rameau, L. 110 / CD 105, Claude Debussy
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, Frédéric Chopin
Rondo à la mazur in F major, Op. 5, Frédéric Chopin
Images, première série: Mouvement, L. 110 / CD 105, Claude Debussy
Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10 No. 4, Frédéric Chopin
Étude in D-flat major, Op. 25 No. 8, Frédéric Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11: I. Allegro maestoso, Frédéric Chopin

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