Bach: WTC I, Prelude and Fugue in A flat major

If the Prelude and Fugue in G major were all about virtuoso exuberance, this prelude and fugue are about beauty and restraint. The Prelude is cheerful and rhythmic, recalling more the influence of dance movements and less that of the improvisatory unmeasured preludes. There are some lovely descending 5th sequences--Bach always manages to make them sound fresh. A big cadence on E flat major in the middle emphasizes the relation to binary dance forms and Bach works his usual magic with the running sixteenths as an ever-present obligato.

Call me crazy, but the simplicity of the fugue subject:

Really reminds me of the similar simplicity of the fugue subject of the Prelude and Fugue in A major from Shostakovich's Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues:

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Both subjects outline the tonic triad with special emphasis on the dominant. What Bach does with his very neutral subject is link it very closely with its answer:

This supplies some of the harmonic interest that the subject avoids with its 4-3 resolution and 4-5 ending. The subject sits on the tonic but points to the dominant while the answer emphasizes the dominant. For much of the fugue these two are very closely linked. Bach plays around with the melodic shape of this material, sometimes widening the leap of a sixth to a seventh. He modulates to F minor and B flat minor. The whole atmosphere of the fugue is that of restrained beauty and melodic grace.

Here is a performance on harpsichord by Olivier Fortin:

And another with Sviatoslav Richter that has the score: