Prelude And Furgue No. 17 Bmw 862 Essay

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Prelude and Fugue No. 17 BMW 862 is part of the book named The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany. He grew up in a musical family; his father being the director of the musicians in his hometown and his uncles all skilled musicians. Respectively, his father and brother taught him the violin, harpsichord and clavichord. However, his brother, Johann Christoph Bach, was the one responsible for his introduction to contemporary music. Initially, he landed a position in a school in Luneburg due to his wonderful singing, but later, he switched to focusing on the violin and harpsichord. Throughout his childhood, he often looked up to the local organist, George Bohm, who later became his teacher. Subsequent to his …show more content…

In bars 9-13, it is evident that Bach had thought of the bass prior to the creation of the right-hand harmony, letting it remain the same from previous measures. Afterwards, in mm. 22-25, the move to the subdominant is emphasized by using extensive scales instead of the florid counterpoints. The inversion of bars 9-13 is then found in bars 26-29. Bars 26-34 recall the original key, modulating from subdominant D flat back to A flat, restating the main subject of the prelude. The fugue’s subject is introduced in the tenor voice, with the answer being in the bass. After a fairly prolonged codetta, the subject and answer comes in, in treble and alto respectively. Much of the piece is based on the counterpoint found in bar 2. Throughout the piece, there are five episodes. Bars 7-10 are formed on the counterpoint found in bar 2. The second episode is based from bar 3, with an inversion of the third voice; an inverted version is later identified in episode 4. Another inversion of the second is established in bars 14-17. At last, bars 25-27 is constructed from the passage of semiquavers in bars 2-3 in tenor, with the addition of treble and alto

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