Dale Carr | Præludium in d, BWV539a, by Bach, performed by Dale Carr in Hohenkirchen on 25 June, 1998 @dalecarr6361 | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Præludium in d for organ, BWV539a, by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Dale Carr on the organ in Hohenkirchen {Wangerland} on 25 June, 1998
Forkel's catalog {Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke, Leipzig, 1802} pairs this short prelude with an arrangement for organ of the 2nd movement of Bach's sonata for violin solo in g, BWV 1001, and the 2 pieces are found together in a MS from the period; no earlier source is known. In any case, it's always been considered to be a work for organ, though it can be equally effective on the harpsichord.
Despite its brevity and seeming simplicity, a few elements deserve closer examination:
1. the highest & the lowest parts in the 1st 7 measures are exchanged in the passage that follows {contrapuntal inversion};
2. the suggestion of 2-measure groups at the opening is belied in m.8, which begins a new phrase, as it were, a measure too early;
3. the cadence midway {youtu.be/0QmrI1_Oqqg?t=65} on the dominant would fit well in a binary form {like most of Bach's dance movements}, but there is no repeat. Instead, the lowest voice proceeds directly with a return to its initial ascending line, but without the chromatic counterpoint of the beginning;
4. there is a clear 'recapitulation' @ {youtu.be/0QmrI1_Oqqg?t=94} followed by a short conclusion echoing the cadence in the middle of the piece.
registration: 8' & 4' flutes
Præludium in d for organ, BWV539a, by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Dale Carr on the organ in Hohenkirchen {Wangerland} on 25 June, 1998
Forkel's catalog {Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke, Leipzig, 1802} pairs this short prelude with an arrangement for organ of the 2nd movement of Bach's sonata for violin solo in g, BWV 1001, and the 2 pieces are found together in a MS from the period; no earlier source is known. In any case, it's always been considered to be a work for organ, though it can be equally effective on the harpsichord.
Despite its brevity and seeming simplicity, a few elements deserve closer examination:
1. the highest & the lowest parts in the 1st 7 measures are exchanged in the passage that follows {contrapuntal inversion};
2. the suggestion of 2-measure groups at the opening is belied in m.8, which begins a new phrase, as it were, a measure too early;
3. the cadence midway {youtu.be/0QmrI1_Oqqg?t=65} on the dominant would fit well in a binary form {like most of Bach's dance movements}, but there is no repeat. Instead, the lowest voice proceeds directly with a return to its initial ascending line, but without the chromatic counterpoint of the beginning;
4. there is a clear 'recapitulation' @ {youtu.be/0QmrI1_Oqqg?t=94} followed by a short conclusion echoing the cadence in the middle of the piece.
registration: 8' & 4' flutes
