Isaac Chan (Clare IA)

The Well-Tempered Clavier is probably Bach’s foremost keyboard achievement, hallowed as the Old
Testament of piano music for its innovation in well temperament, while also serving as a pedagogical
canon for contrapuntal and technical work. This analysis aims to explore the F minor prelude in the
second book, commonly associated with a more introspective tint.

Structure

This prelude is constructed in a small binary form – with the repeat sign marking the end of the “A”
section that consists of a falling motif and its subsequent arpeggio passages. In the “B” section at
b.29, the music strays into more distant keys: starting on the relative A-flat major (III), leading onto
E-flat minor (v/III) at b.32, before arriving at B-flat minor (iv, or rather, v/v/III). Through a cycle of
5ths Bach brings the music briefly back to F minor at b.48, with a mention of the opening theme in
the left hand – one that may possibly be interpreted as a “false return” of the opening subject. It is
only at the cadential (6/4) figuration at b.56 that the “A” section returns – albeit instantly with a
modified harmonic progression (b.56, i – vii°7 – i6, rather than the simple i-V-i in the opening. Upon
the arc-shaped semiquaver figures one recognizes the “A” section coming to a close – yet the
insertion (b.682) of a i6/4 – vii °7/V – V7 – i serves the function of an ephemeral but emphatic codetta
that adds finality to the ending.

The marrow of the prelude’s melodic content lies with the recurring “Mannheim sigh” motif (b. 1-4,
9-16 etc.), which is built from double suspensions. The descending two-note motif has, in the bulk of
common practice music, taken on a symbolic use of a lament (see fig. 1). In utilising the stimulus of
harmonic delay, and its resultant syncopation in a minor key to produce a subtle empfindsamkeit
quality among Bach’s more inward music.

Fig.1a Mozart: Symphony No.35, 1st movement, b.70-72 (oboes)

Isaac Chan (Clare IA)

Fig.1b Haydn: Symphony No.44 (“Mourning”), 3rd movement

One may argue that, despite its rich counterpoint, this piece is thematically unified around three
conjunct motivic cells, all derived from two pairs of two-note motifs (see att.1), which can be
navigated through reducing the music to a harmonic outline in its original and inverted forms. These
three motivic cells serve not only as melody, but also appear in the inner and bass layers. For
instance, the motif A, when displaced by one beat across two parts, forms an elegant alternation
between 6ths and 3rds in the left hand at b.20.

Nonetheless, his means of melodic decoration and suspension are extremely impressive. Taking
b.202 as an example: in viewing the broken chords vertically in the right hand, the top three notes
are given a triple suspension resolving on every second beat, while the bottom descends
alternatingly on every downbeat, resulting in a harmonic ebb and flow. With the permeating motivic
cell built from an appoggiatura, they are practically present in every bar. Bach uses what can be
considered the ideal sequential progression at b.41, with a conjunct line underlying a crab-like
arpeggiaic movement through the triad, which ends on a yearning 7th (A-flat) to resolve down to the
chord tone (6th, G-flat).

The typical cycle of 5ths is frequent in this piece through a chain of V6 – I progressions (b.202 – 241),
or coupled with continuous 7-6 suspensions (b.63-65); most likely learnt from the Italian school of
Frescobaldi whom he studied as a young man. This fervent use of sequence is also indicative of
Bach’s forward-propelling, or fortspinnung feature of composition, wherein he tries to retain a
musical flow through elongated harmonic progressions. This feature is equally navigable at the ends
of phrases, as the start of the next phrase is weaved naturally onwards – for instance the chromatic
movement G-Gb-F at bar 20 shifts the perfect cadence (in E-flat) at the end of the first section into a
V6/5/VI that opens the cycle of 5ths. While Bach carefully defines his cadences, the immediate
succession (b.40, 56 etc.) of the next phrase gives his music a natural fluidity. In addition, through
the recurring suspensions, the melodic material is inherently given an iambic, duple quality, which
retains a sense of momentum in this piece.

In a Baroque lens, Bach’s use of chromatic harmony through the prevailing diminished 7ths (b.31) –
and a chromatically running bassline. As a result of his interwoven counterpoint, there are particular
instances of harmonic anomalies that are worth pointing out. B.271 features a highly dissonant
chord which would, ordinarily, serve as a iiø7 (with a flattened D), or a V7/V (with a naturalized F)
back into A-flat major. In this situation, however, the resolving by a semitone on both hands gives
this harmony an impression of an augmented 6th chord that pivots into V – momentarily discarding
the bounds of functional harmony. At b.54, two notes from the tonic triad of F minor are met with a
diminished interval clashing with the intended triad. In this instance, rather than having the
Isaac Chan (Clare IA)

downbeat of b.54 resolve back to the tonic, Bach seems to elongate the progression by only
revealing the diminished 7th on the second beat.

Keyboard writing and Texture

Bach’s composition for keyboard is regarded as masterfully contrapuntal – with the “own study and
reflection alone” of the “strong fugue writers” of his day (Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Boehm etc.) that
inculcated a passion for order and counterpoint.1 The alternating two- and three-part polyphonic
textures bring to mind his invention/sinfonia writing; while the insistence on parallel 3rds and 6ths
suggest his habits of fugal writing – particularly in passages of alternating parallels between the two
intervals (b.41, 43). The figurations at b.202 – 241, 63-65 upon the cycle of 5ths also feature the left
hand part playing two distinct lines (one cyclical, one conjunct) alternately, which is a landmark
contrapuntal feature.

Particular moments in the score suggest a residual harpsichord influence at the time. The dual
stemming at b.4-7 suggest a bi-manual means of playing, so as to bring out the central motifs of the
downward stems. Simultaneously the penultimate bar shows two block chords which spell out a
dominant seventh, yet would not reasonably be played come scritto. The frequented practice of
improvising an arpeggiated motion would fit optimally here – as is the norm with most virtuosic
Baroque keyboard works. Upon repetition, as is with da capo aria forms, the performer commonly
takes liberty in adding ornamentation as a display of creativity.

Throughout the piece is Bach’s common figuration of intervallic extension, wherein he presents a
conjunctly moving line while illusively sustaining a pedal note (in b.59-61 he enhances to feature a
lower auxiliary note to serve the harmonic tension).

Bibliography

Jones, Richard: The keyboard works: Bach as teacher and virtuoso, from The Cambridge Companion
to Back (ed. John Butt, 1997)

Matthews, Denis: Keyboard Music, Penguin 1972

Bach, Johann Sebastian: The Well-Tempered Clavier II (ed. Alfred Duerr), Baerenreiter-Verlag, 1995

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Bach-Dokumente, vol.III