I. Compositions For The Clavier

1. Six Little Preludes far Beginners.255

2. Fifteen Two-part Inventions. An Invention is a musical theme so constructed that by imitation and inversion a whole movement can be evolved from it. The subject having been first stated, the rest develops naturally out of it. For the instruction of a young Clavier player these fifteen Inventions are of great value, seeing that the composer has been careful not only to provide exercises for both hands but for every finger as [pg 125] well. They were composed at Cöthen in 1723, with a long title which begins: “An honest Guide, in which lovers of the Clavier are shown a clear method of playing correctly in two parts,” etc.256 It cannot be denied that, among other blemishes, the Inventions occasionally exhibit melodic poverty and roughness. But finding them useful to his pupils, Bach eventually revised them and removed from them everything that offended his maturer taste, so that they now stand as masterpieces of pure music. Moreover they are invaluable exercises for the fingers and hands and are sound instructors of taste. There is no better introduction to Bach's larger works than they afford.

3. Fifteen three-part Inventions, also called Symphonies. They were written for the same purpose as the Inventions, but are more advanced.257

4. The Well-tempered Clavier, or, Preludes and Fugues in all tones and semitones, composed for the profit and use of young musicians desirous of knowledge, as also for those who are skilled already in this studio. Part I. was finished in 1722. Part II., like Part I., contains twenty-four Preludes and twenty-four Fugues in every key, [pg 126] and was composed at a later period.258 Every number of it, from first to last, is a masterpiece. In Part I., however, certain Preludes and Fugues bear marks of immaturity and are included probably only in order to complete the series. But here again Bach eventually corrected whatever seemed to him lacking in finish. He altered or rewrote entire passages, so that in the later texts few movements are not perfect. Among these few I reckon the Fugues in A minor,259 G major and G minor,260 C major,261 F major and F minor.262 The rest are excellent, some of them so superlatively good as to be not inferior to those in Part II.263 Even Part II., for all its original perfection, has been improved by the composer, as may be observed by comparing the original and later texts. Both Parts contain treasures of art not to be found outside Germany.

5. Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue.264 I have taken considerable pains to discover a similar piece of music by Bach, but without success. The Fantasia is unique and unequalled. Wilhelm Friedemann sent it to me from Brunswick inscribed with these words by a mutual friend. “Anbey kommt an etwas Musik von Sebastian, sonst genannt: Fantasia chromatica; bleibt schön in alle Saecula.” It is remarkable that this piece, for all its technical skill, appeals to the most unpractised hearer, if it is performed at all tolerably.

6. A Fantasia in C minor. It is not of the same character as the preceding work, but resembles rather the Allegro of a Sonata. It is divided into two parts, but must be played as a single movement. It is an excellent work, and in old copies an unfinished Fugue follows, which, however, cannot belong to it.265 The first thirty bars certainly are by Bach, for they are marked by an extremely bold use of augmented and diminished intervals and their inversions, in three-part harmony. None but Bach attempted such things. [pg 128] The rest of the movement seems to have been added by another hand and bears no trace of Bach's style.

7. Six large Suites, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, etc. They are known as the “English Suites,” because the composer wrote them for an Englishman of rank.266 All of them are of great merit as works of art, and some movements, in particular the Gigues of the fifth and sixth Suites, are perfect masterpieces of harmony and melody.

8. Six small Suites, consisting of Allemandes, Courantes, etc. They are generally called the “French Suites,” because they are written in the French style.267 The composer is intentionally less academic in them than in his larger Suites, and their melodies are more than usually pleasant and agreeable. In particular the fifth Suite deserves to be noticed: all its movements are most melodious, and in the concluding Gigue [pg 129] only consonant intervals, especially thirds and sixths, are used.

These are Bach's principal works for the Clavier which can be considered classics.268 A great number of single Suites,269Toccatas and Fugues,270 besides those already mentioned, have great and varying merit, but are youthful works.271 At the most, ten or twelve of them seem to me worth preserving, some of them because they would be useful as finger exercises, for which their author originally intended them, others because they are at least better than similar works by other composers. As an exercise for the fingers of both hands I particularly single out a Fugue in A minor,272 in which the composer has been at great pains to write florid passages in order to give equal strength and suppleness to both hands. For beginners a little two-part Fugue273 should also prove useful. It is melodious, flowing, and not at all old-fashioned.

[pg 130]