Präludium und Fuge d-Moll op.13 Nr.06

And on we go with *The Well-Tempered Organ, Part II*.

After the rather cheerful and at times almost exuberant D major work, No. 5, we now come — quite naturally — to its counterpart in D minor: Prelude and Fugue, Op. 13 No. 6.

This time there is no autumn song, no French Overture, and no other particular “programme” behind the piece. It is simply music. Perhaps even a small step back towards what I originally had in mind when I began *The Well-Tempered Organ*.

The Prelude is marked *Adagio* and is written in 3/4 time. From the very first bars, a fairly dense flow begins to develop, and it hardly ever really comes to rest. Small figures are constantly moving against one another; voices meet, separate again, and then come together somewhere else.

So although the basic tempo is slow, there is always something happening.

This time I wanted to rely less on large effects. The piece lives more from its web of voices and from its harmonic turns. D minor is, of course, very rewarding for this — dark enough to create tension, but still open enough to move again and again into brighter areas.

After just under three and a half minutes, the Prelude comes to an end.

And then the mood changes quite noticeably.

The four-part Fugue is marked *Allegro molto* and moves forward with much more energy.

The subject is relatively long and has a certain forward drive because of its rhythmic shape. It can be passed very naturally from one voice to another — and, just as importantly, it can be taken apart and reshaped rather nicely. ;-)

And I make plenty of use of that as the Fugue develops.

At first, the subject is introduced in the usual way and answered in the dominant. Later it appears in inversion. And after that, of course, it also has to suffer the usual treatment of being played backwards — retrograde has by now almost become part of the standard equipment in my fugues.

to be continued .....