Bach's Toccata And Fugue In D Minor Analysis

Considered one of his most famous pieces, Bach 's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" speaks a lot, both technically as well as contextually. Initially, my reaction for the piece was positive, with the notion that it would be used to accompany theatric performance of some sort. I noticed the song was composed in a way to have both slow and fast parts, as well as being complex yet easy to follow. Upon looking into Bach 's religious beliefs and lifestyle, in addition to the time period this was composed in, my view on the song changed. The emotional reaction after learning about its history was a lot more powerful, after knowing that this piece was crafted for church. Words such as repenting sins and shame come to mind while listening to this piece, contrary to the initial thoughts of "someone dies in a play." This piece consists of an organ playing two sections, one being a fast paced section with a wide range (toccata), with the other largely being a melody played at several different tones (fugue). Beginning by …show more content…
To begin, Bach was a devout Lutherian, who played music for the church (Sherrane). Toccata and Fugue, a two-part musical piece composed for the organ (generally speaking, the instrument most associated with the church), is assumed to have been created with spiritual intent (Schwarm). Bach 's duties for the church included making religious music, which combined with his faith, and musical passion make it likely this piece was crafted for sacred purposes. Bach not only made this piece to accommodate the church 's needs, but also the musical standards of his time period. In terms of technicality, "Fugue", the second part of the piece, was a popular musical technique in the late 1600s and early 1700s, around the same time the piece was created (Schwarm). This piece consists of a free opening, a fugal middle section and a brief free closing section, a typical north-German structure in composing