Fantasia in G major, BWV 572

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The Fantasia or Pièce d'Orgue (organ piece) in G major, BWV 572, is a composition for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach.

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.

## History

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Front page of the 1845-1855 C. F. Peters publication of Bach's organ works edited by Griepenkerl and Roitzsch: its 4th volume contains BWV 572.[1]

An early version of BWV 572 was copied by Johann Gottfried Walther.[2][3] The title page of Walther's manuscript reads Pièce d'Orgue | di | Giov: Sebast: Bach.[3] This copy was probably made around 1714–1717.[2][4] According to George B. Stauffer, Bach composed this early version between 1708 and c. 1712.[2] Jean-Claude Zehnder supposes that this version of the piece was composed in Bach's early Weimar years, while also mentioning Siegbert Rampe [de]'s contention that it may have been somewhat later.[5] The earliest extant copies of Bach's revised version date from the 1720s,[4][5][6][7] and these manuscripts also carry the title Pièce d'Orgue.[4][6][7] The oldest extant copy of the revised version was written by a Köthen pupil in late 1722, around half a year before Bach moved to Leipzig.[5] A manuscript (now lost) which served for the publication of the piece in 1846 was, according to Peter Williams, likely titled Fantasia.[4][1] Philipp Spitta, naming the work Fantasia in the 1873 first volume of his biography of Bach, considered it more Buxtehude-like than any other composition by Bach.[8] The Bach Gesellschaft published the piece as Fantasie (converting its spelling from Italian to German) in 1891.[9] A century later, the New Bach Edition returned to the name found in the early manuscripts, i.e. Pièce d'Orgue.[10] Breitkopf's 21st-century new Urtext edition also uses this name for BWV 572.[5]

Most printed editions entitle it a Fantasia, but many recitalists refer to it in their programmes as "Pièce d'Orgue", its title in all the contemporary copies; but this, according to Peter Williams, is possibly misleading as well, as there is little French about the music itself except the use of ninths and sevenths in the style of de Grigny (in the middle alla breve section) and the possible allusion to French plein jeu music (by the choice of the key of G major). The work could more accurately be described as a toccata, since it shares in the tradition of sectional toccatas (as conveyed by Buxtehude) in which a central contrapuntal section is surrounded by a toccata-like framework.[11]

## Structure

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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, though Williams notes a similarity in the "idea of running semiquavers for hands followed by a sustained durezza passage with pedals" with a prelude by Christian Friedrich Witt. 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.[11]

The contrapuntal section does not resolve to its key chord, and instead leads via an evaded cadence into a coda which shows close similarities to the final line of BWV 565, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.[citation needed]

## Reception

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A Netherlands Bach Society article calls this piece an exercise in French style for which Bach used the Livre d’Orgue from 1700 by the French organist and composer Nicolas de Grigny as a starting point. The same article states: "The way in which [Bach] proceeded to put his own stamp on this style in the Pièce d’Orgue is admirable and dazzling."[12]

## References

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1. ^ a b Friedrich Konrad Griepenkerl and Ferdinand August Roitzsch (editors). Johann Sebastian Bach's Compositionen für die Orgel: Kritisch-korrecte Ausgabe, Vol. 4\. Leipzig: C. F. Peters, [1846]
2. ^ a b c BWV2a (1998), p. 326
3. ^ a b Mus.ms. Bach P 801 (5) at Berlin State Library website (D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 801, Fascicle 5 at Bach Digital website; RISM 467300222)
4. ^ a b c d Peter Williams. "BWV 572 Pièce d'Orgue ('Fantasia') in G Major", pp. 166–170 in The Organ Music of J. S. Bach. Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0521891159
5. ^ a b c d Jean-Claude Zehnder (editor). Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Organ Works – Breitkopf Urtext: New Edition in 10 Volumes, Vol. 4: Toccatas and Fugues / Individual Works. Breitkopf, 2011. ISMN 979-0-004-18375-5. Introduction Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine pp. 16–19 and 23; Commentary Archived 2022-08-14 at the Wayback Machine pp. 1 and 12–13; Score Archived 2022-08-14 at the Wayback Machine pp. 142–157 and CD-ROM (§6)
6. ^ a b Mus.ms. Bach P 1092 at Berlin State Library website (D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 1092 at Bach Digital website; RISM 467301054)
7. ^ a b Mus.ms. Bach P 288 (2a) at Berlin State Library website (D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 288, Fascicle 2 at Bach Digital website; RISM 467300107)
8. ^ Spitta's Johann Sebastian Bach. Vol. I (1873), p. 319 (English translation: Vol. I, p. 322)
9. ^ Ernst Naumann (editor). "X. Fantasie G-dur", pp. 75–83 in Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA), Vol. 38: Joh. Seb. Bach's Orgelwerke – Dritter Band. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1891. (Preface pp. XIII–XIV and XXVI–XXVIII)
10. ^ Dietrich Kilian (editor). New Bach Edition (NBE), Series IV: Organ Works, Vol. 7: Six Sonatas and Various Individual Pieces. Bärenreiter, 1984 (Score) and 1988 (Critical Commentary)
11. ^ a b Williams, Peter F. (1985). The organ music of J.S. Bach. Vol. 1 (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 232–237\. ISBN 9780521317009.232-237&rft.edition=1st+paperback&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1985&rft.isbn=9780521317009&rft.aulast=Williams&rft.aufirst=Peter+F.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Fantasia+in+G+major,+BWV+572" class="Z3988">
12. ^ "Pièce d'Orgue – Bach". www.bachvereniging.nl. Retrieved 2024-05-18.

## External links

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* Fantasia for organ in G major, BWV 572 (BC J83): Description by John Palmer at AllMusic
* Fantasia in G major, BWV 572: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* BWV 572: Pièce d’Orgue / Fantasia in G Major – audio files of recording by James Kibbie
* Pièce d'orgue, BWV 572 – YouTube video of Robert Pecksmith's performance at St. Jakob, Köthen, Germany
* Toccata in G, BWV 572 (Fantasia, Pièce d'orgue) – Stuart Neame's recording at YouTube

* v
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Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach

Organ|

* Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful)
* Sonatas, BWV 525–530
* Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531
* Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538
* Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540
* Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542
* Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
* Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
* Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546
* Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548
* Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful)
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562
* Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (doubtful)
* Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566
* Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572
* Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578
* Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
* Concertos, BWV 592–597
* Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644
* Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650
* Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668
* Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768
* Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769
* Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120
* Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128

Keyboard|

* Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801
* English Suites, BWV 806–811
* French Suites, BWV 812–817
* Partitas, BWV 825–830
* No. 2
* No. 4
* No. 6
* Overture in the French style, BWV 831
* Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893
* Book 1
* No. 1 in C major
* No. 2 in C minor
* No. 3 in C♯ major
* No. 4 in C♯ minor
* No. 7 in E♭ major
* No. 10 in E minor
* No. 11 in F major
* No. 16 in G minor
* No. 21 in B♭ major
* No. 22 in B♭ minor
* Book 2
* No. 1 in C major
* No. 2 in C minor
* No. 3 in C♯ major
* No. 4 in C♯ minor
* No. 5 in D major
* No. 6 in D minor
* No. 12 in F minor
* No. 13 in F♯ major
* No. 18 in G♯ minor
* No. 22 in B♭ minor
* No. 24 in B minor

* Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 906
* Toccatas, BWV 910–916
* Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938
* Italian Concerto
* Harpsichord solo concertos
* Goldberg Variations
* discography
* Gould recording
* Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989
* Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother, BWV 992

Lute|

* Suite in G minor, BWV 995
* Suite in E minor, BWV 996
* Bourrée
* Suite in C minor, BWV 997
* Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E♭ major, BWV 998
* Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
* Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000

Mixed
collections|

* Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805
* Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987
* Klavierbüchlein W. F. Bach
* Notebook A. M. Bach
* Twelve Little Preludes

* List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
* List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach
* List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

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* Classical Music

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National|

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* BnF data

Other|

* MusicBrainz work

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