J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

sonata, or as an organ voluntary. 47 Certainly he started out writing for organ, as the
initial ‘Full’ designation indicates, along with the way in which the dynamics are
conveniently arranged for a two-manual organ. Both Robin Langley and Gordon
Atkinson point out that he appears to have changed his mind, however, for (or perhaps
even during) the Presto, which contains a rich array of dynamic markings, from
pianissimo to fortissimo, including a number of crescendi. 48 The figuration is also
highly pianistic at times, and as we shall see it is hard to decide whether to call it a
fugue or a sonata movement.
The piece begins, at least, in a solidly fugal style (Ex.2.14). At first it appears
to be a kind of triple fugue, with three clearly identifiable subjects; unusually,
however, the second subject is more of a variation of the first than a counterpoint, and
would produce consecutive octaves if both were present at the same time. The number
of voices employed is usually two or three, but (as with many fugues by Handel) there
is no sense that they have permanent identities or registers—there is no way in which
this movement could be designated ‘Fuga a3’ and written out in open score like most
of the WTC. Nevertheless (as also with Handel) the motivic coherence is strong and
the subjects enter frequently. Suddenly in b.53 (after a few bars which sound less and
less fugal), proceedings come abruptly to a halt on chord V/V, and we realise that this
fugal working has served merely as the first part of a sonata exposition. A cantabile
‘second subject’ duly follows, characterised partly by its contrast with the rest of the
texture, partly by a suddenly fortissimo two-octave downward swoop halfway through
(Ex.2.15; dynamics inferred from later occurrences).
47 There is no absolute certainty that they were intended to go together; it is only their proximity in the
manuscript, the uniformity of hand-writing (not to be taken for granted with Samuel Wesley), unity
of key, and contrast of tempo, that suggests this. The movements were never published during his
life, either separately or together.
48 Introduction, Miscellaneous Short Pieces for Organ (Organ Works, 2 nd ed., no.10), ed. G. Atkinson
(Drumoak: Fagus-music.com, 2003), p.7; Fourteen Short Pieces for Organ, ed. R. Langley (London:
Oxford University Press, 1981), p.16. The swell organ had been invented in England several
decades previously; but at this time was only used for making subtle fluctuations within a piano
dynamic, rather than effecting a crescendo from piano to forte.
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