Bach's Little Preludes and Fugues

[mr_bubb]

Hello,

I have a question about Bach's Little Preludes and Fugues.  I have the scores and recordings of the "Little Preludes": that is, just preludes, from the book for W.F. Bach, from the Kellner collection, etc., 18 in all.  But I've also heard mention of the Little Preludes AND Fugues, originally for the organ, attributed to Bach, but probably by a student, etc.

I have not seen a score of these works, but I know arrangements have been done for piano.  Has anyone played them?  How do they rate in difficulty compared to the preludes proper?

[Egghead]

Hello,

I have a question about Bach's Little Preludes and Fugues.  I have the scores and recordings of the "Little Preludes": that is, just preludes, from the book for W.F. Bach, from the Kellner collection, etc., 18 in all.  

Just for clarification.
To my knowledge there are
six small preludes from the Klavierbüchlein for Wilhelm F. Bach: BWV 924 (C major), BWV 926 (D minor), BWV 927 (F major), BWV 930 (G minor), BWV 928 (F major), BWV 925 (D major).

there is a second group of six small preludes from Johann Peter Kellner's collection: BWV 939 (C major), BWV 940 (D minor), BWV 941 (E minor), BWV 942 (A minor), BWV 943 (C major) and BWV 999 (C minor).

A third group of small preludes ("six small preludes for beginners on the Clavier") are BWV 933 (Cmajor), 934 (Cmin), 935 (Dmin), 936 (Dmaj), 937 (Emaj) and 938 (Emin).

all 18 are meant to be easy (whatever that means).

There also exist socalled "small preludes with fughettas", and "small fugues"; these are somewhat harder in my opinion. If you have difficulty with the 18 samll preludes listed above, then the preludes with fughettas can probably still wait a little.

Just for completeness, what I am referring to is:

Fugues: BWV 953 (Cmaj), BWV 952 (Cmaj) and BWV 961 (Cmin) and finally the

small preludes with fughettas:
prelude BWV 902 (G maj)
prelude BWV 902a (also Gmaj), fughetta BWV 902,
prelude and fughetta BWV 899 (Dmin)
prelude and fugue BWV 900 (Emin)
prelude and fugue BWV 895 (Amin)

Is this what you meant?

If you are comfortable with three independent voices, enjoy.

Egghead

[momopi]

Necro'ing a very old thread because I don't to make a another thread on the same topic.

I got this copy from IMSLP. Would anyone know the BWV numbers for these pieces? It says it's arranged progressively so I don't think the pieces are separated by collections/notebooks but rather mixed together regardless of which notebook the piece came from... (Hope I attached the right file)

Thanks in advance for your help.

[marijn1999]

Necro'ing a very old thread because I don't to make a another thread on the same topic.

I got this copy from IMSLP. Would anyone know the BWV numbers for these pieces? It says it's arranged progressively so I don't think the pieces are separated by collections/notebooks but rather mixed together regardless of which notebook the piece came from... (Hope I attached the right file)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi there,

I'll give it a shot. Now remember, this is completely off the cuff, so I'm not a hundred percent sure about this:

BWV 999
BWV 929 (it's a trio written after a menuet by his contemporary Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, however still called a prelude by Bach)
BWV 927
BWV 930
BWV 939
BWV 941
BWV 942
BWV 924
BWV 926
BWV 928
BWV 940
BWV 925
BWV 933
BWV 936
BWV 935
BWV 934
BWV 937
BWV 938
BWV 961 (this is a Fugue, quite invention-like)
BWV 952 (also a fugue, this time in three parts)
BWV 953 (also a three-part fugue, but easier then BWV 952, imo)
BWV 899 (four-part prelude and three part fugue)
BWV 900 (three-part - if I remeber correctly - prelude with three part fugue)
BWV 895 (four-part prelude with four-part fugue)
BWV 857 (very uncertain about this one, if I'm right it originally was some kind of choral prelude)
BWV 914 (this is the three-part fugue one kind find at the end of the e minor toccata, absolutely not ease, and also not one of the little preludes/fugues)

They aren't arranged by book/collection. It it just the order they think is progressive in difficulty, which it is, if I may say so, not. Just my opinion. Also, don't pay attention to the editorial markings. Rather come up with your own interpretative ideas by gaining inspiration from other pianists. Last thought, Bach doesn't need all the tricks a piano can do to make his music sound great.

Hope that helps.

BW,
Marijn

[momopi]

Wow, that was fast.

Really helpful post. Thanks a lot!


m_m

[momopi]

I found an amazing recording of Bach's Little Preludes on YouTube played by Ralph Kirkpatrick.

Here is the link:

Thanks in advance if someone would post the BWV numbers together with the video time.