Bach – Fantasia in G Major, “Pièce d’orgue” BWV 572 (c.1710-1720)
Probably one of Bach’s earlier works, and also probably meant to be a general use organ piece for church, the Fantasia [sometimes dubbed “Organ piece”] is in three distinct sections. The first, almost like the “prelude” to the work, built out of a jumpy rhythm emphasizing the home key. It soon deviates and dances around a bit through modulation, feeling like a carefree and sunny morning. Soon we come back to the opening but the rhythm is more flushed out and the music moves like a wave, flowing into a deep organ pedal that announces the next section of the work. The middle part is more static, the main melody being a simple pattern that moves the work forward. It is a dense choral passage that again goes through modulation, almost freely in the kind of “sewing machine” cliché we hear about Bach. It sounds almost like an improvisation, and we crawl around with the melody that meanders through different key changes. Right when you think it will come to the final chords, an unstable shift takes us into the last section. The coda is a rapid patter in the hands over a pedal note that crawls downward, until it’s found the low D, anticipating our return to G, but the pedal stays there for a long time making our anticipation almost agonizing as our blood rushes until finally, the last chord rings out in G major. It isn’t one of Bach’s “greatest works” but even so, it is still by Bach, and under his hands the organ sings out in glory.
