Bach: WTC I, Prelude and Fugue in F# major

The Prelude and Fugue in F# major have a jaunty air. The flowing sixteenths of the prelude in 12/16 meter outline triads and offer syncopations to the striding bass line. Bach takes us through a variety of keys: C# minor, D# minor, A# minor and G# minor--before returning to the tonic. A dominant pedal with a hint of the Neapolitan of the dominant, D major, takes us to the final cadence.

The Fugue is a bit more complex. The subject begins with a strong tonic flavor and this "head" motif will assume greater importance later:

We have three quick entries of the subject but after the third a new motif is introduced that acts very much like a new subject, except it is a bit too short. Call it a prominent countersubject, even though it is not actually used to accompany the subject!

This is heard in various voices and expanded in the form of a descending sequence. It becomes so prominent that it is the motif that you recall more than the subject! Towards the end the subject returns for two statements, on the subdominant and supertonic to set up the final cadence. But it is that little sixteenth note figure that sticks in your mind. It appears six times just before the final chord. Trust Bach to write a fugue in which the subject is overshadowed by a little countersubject-type motif. Oh, and the "head" motif from the subject is detached and used in what would be stretto if he stated the rest of the subject, which he doesn't. Bach shows here, as he does in many fugues, that the form is infinitely malleable.

Here is a performance by Sviatoslav Richter with the score: