Piece d'Orgue BWV 572

No autograph of BWV 572 survives.
The earliest extant manuscript copies of the piece originated in the 1710s (early version) and 1720s (revised version). The piece was most likely composed in the early years of Bach's tenure at Weimar (1708–1717).

The revised version must have been completed at least half a year before Bach moved from Köthen to Leipzig in the spring of 1723.

The piece starts in compound quadruple meter (12/8). This movement is very dynamic and cheerful, and features complete absence of the pedal. The broken chords shared between left and right hand do not seem to have a parallel in any work by another composer.

The youthful vigor and digital dexterity of the opening movement leads to a broken tonic pedal point, which then transitions to the contrapuntal central section which features five voices. In contrast to the first movement, it employs the entire range of the instrument.

The dense texture of the movement makes it more idiomatic for the instrument and more typical for Bach. The movement uses long held chords with many suspensions to great effect, an idiom which Bach employed with relative frequency in his mature works.
The contrapuntal section fails to resolve back to its key chord, and instead leads into a coda which shows close similarities to the final line of BWV 565, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Played on the Three Plena of the Poblet Metzler
Tres vitement: Plenum Unterwerk

Grave: 16' Plenum HW
Ped: 32' Plenum

Lentement: Plenum Rueckpositiv
Ped: Subbas 16', Octavbass 8'