LDV201

ANDRÉ ISOIR 17 TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 540 With its 438 bars, this toccata is one of Bach’smost extensive organ pieces; but it is not only impressive in its length: it is built on a single thematic idea and develops with an unchanging rhythm, a regular motion, a majestic stream of semiquavers which sustains the piece from beginning to end. After such a grandiose beginning, the four-part fugue is very different and no doubt less brilliant in its effect. It is nevertheless a masterpiece in its structure. It is in three parts: a fugue on a first subject (solemn and chromatic), another fugue on a second subject, this time lighter and diatonic, and, finally, a third fugue on both subjects at once, the strong characterisation of the two subjects enabling us to identify them in their different combinations, even when they are superposed.