The nineteenth century commentator, Hugo Riemann, described Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 because the “holy of holies.” The phrase, discovered within the Hebrew Bible, refers to the inside sanctuary of the Tabernacle, the place the Shekhinah (God’s presence) appeared.
The fourth piece from Guide 1 of Bach’s Effectively-Tempered Clavier, BWV 849 is solemn, meditative music full of wrenching melancholy. The Prelude is a loure, a French Baroque dance which resembles a gigue in sluggish movement. It’s a passionate and lamenting dialog between two voices, one occurring within the larger register and the opposite within the bass. The topic of the five-voice Fugue is dissonant and compressed. Made up of 5 pitches (C-sharp, B-sharp, E, D-sharp, C-sharp), the topic’s contour resembles a cross, the image of crucifixion, on the workers. The motif is derived from the Introduction chorale, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (“Savior of the nations, come”). Unfolding over three themes, the Fugue delivers its most jarring dissonance within the remaining seconds earlier than resolving with the sudden sunshine of a Picardy third.
This efficiency, recorded by the Netherlands Bach Society in Bois le Roi, France in September of 2016, options harpsichordist Bertrand Cuiller:
Featured Picture: Bach’s manuscript for the Fugue in C-sharp minor
