LDV201

18 BACH_TOCCATAS & FUGUES FANTASIA AND FUGUE IN G MINOR BWV 542 with TRIO IN D MINOR BWV 583 This is one of the great masterpieces of organ literature: Bach’s genius and mastery are most brilliantly obvious, and his lively imagination combines wonderfullywith the rigour of its structure. It was probably composed in 1720, when Bach travelled to Hamburg, shortly after the death of his wife Maria Barbara: the waves of dramatic lamentation in the fantasia, the grievous plaints, which reason attempts to overcome, are too intense in tone to be anything but the reflection of a painful personal experience. The sublime fantasia opens with a dramatic, almost improvised recitative which sweeps in gusts almost over the full range of the keyboard; it is answered by a more peaceful polyphonic episode. After the grandiose pathos of the fantasia, the fugue represents victory. Although it is in a minor key, its marvellous subject, distantly based on a popular North German song, asserts its triumph over despair in an almost joyful spirit. Right from the start, a powerful, regular dynamism gives the arabesque its firmness and the curve its rigour, while supporting the discourse. Throughout the six sections, the fugue moves implacably towards its conclusion, the proud assertion of the musician’s personality overcoming the vicissitudes of earthly life.