Bach - Prelude and Fugue in d# minor, BWV877 (WTC II)

[andhow04]

the d# minor prelude and fugue from the second book. a rather sadomasochistic key.  this is often transposed into e-flat minor, i understand, but in both my henle and bartok editions it is presented in d#. of course the related harmonies bach modulates to are not hard to understand - the dominant, A#, is b-flat major and minor scales; the relative major is F#, which we all know; the sixth is B major; but they are all spelled differently, so it can be a bit hard to grasp.

on top of that, this has to be one of the most sophisticated harmonically speaking of the fugues. the prelude is in a bipartite invention form, like the preludes from WTC II in e minor, a minor, and some others. the fugue is a four voice masterpiece of subtle harmonic shading and pacing. it has a very particular unfolding that lends it a heavy, stately drama.  voices intertwining with the bass in the root position are rare, and modulations are more often hinted at then cadenced in.  but i really came to love this fugue, after getting past the initial difficulties.  hope you do too.



UPDATE 1-9-13 re-recorded this one as the piano was pretty out of tune, also i slowed down the fugue quite a bit (my new recording is 2 minutes longer than the old one)
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