Prelude & Fughetta in Eb Major

Prelude

This prelude opens with a sort of three-part-invention-like ‘exposition’, but by bar four, when a fourth voice is arbitrarily added, the piece takes on something of a ritornello concerto grosso character: consider something along the lines of Bach’s concerto transcriptions for keyboard, but with consistent four-part writing throughout. This sense of ‘ritornello’ is characterised by the frequent recurrence of the opening theme/subject, which indeed occurs with quite a ritornello-like manner: returning in different keys, with an overall ‘tutti’ impression due to the fuller texture.

In addition to this, there are a few rather Italianate cadences, and a brief passage emulating terraced dynamics (bar 14-17). The overall magnitude (length and just general ‘size’) and lack of clear form of the piece also lends itself to this concerto grosso style. The quotation at bar 21 (the ritornello melody from Bach’s keyboard concerto in D major) also reinforces this.

This prelude was written over the course of the two years of my A-Level. I started writing it right at the start of my classical music (or rather, Bach) interest; over the years, as my knowledge of counterpoint and harmony grew, along with my repertory of listening material, I interpolated the piece with new phrases and sections. The piece started off being almost entirely in Eb major. When I learned about binary form, I attempted to add a B-section in Bb, and once I'd practiced

Fughetta