Of the pieces we studied over the course of this program, there were some I had already listened to a handful of times, others I had only listened to a couple of times, and a few that were completely unfamiliar to me. However, for my last post, I wanted to write about a piece that I became acquainted with before coming to Leipzig.
Fugue in C-sharp minor – WTC I
Over the past half a year, whenever I have sat down at a piano, I have found myself spending less than half the time practicing, and more than half the time playing through the first book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. Each time I read through, one particular fugue would always catches my attention, not only because of its ridiculous difficulty and complexity and its somewhat unorthodox structure, but also because of the profound suffering expressed by the music.
However, it wasn’t until I was home from Germany, that I found out just what makes this fugue special. While surfing the internet, I stumbled upon an article by Timothy M. Smith from Northern Arizona University, filled to the brim with instance after instance of religious and numerical symbolism from the fugue. It frankly blew my mind. As there is very little that I could say about the piece that isn’t said in that article, I will just touch on the main points that Smith brings up. However, I will also include a brief analysis of the fugue, a discussion of the pianistic difficulties, and finally a few comments on noted recordings.
Anaylsis
This fugue has five voices, which is already unusual, as it is one of only two such fugues in the WTC. The subject is the five-note motif (do-ti-me-re-do) shown below. The exposition follows as normal, with the subject entering in each voice and alternating between the tonic and dominant key:
A fairly standard development ensues, ending with a modulation to the relative major. However, at this point, a new subject enters in the soprano voice.
Or is it a subject? It is a distinct motivic idea that is presented eventually in each voice, however, not in the formal way outlined above. To add to the confusion, 13 measures later a third motivic idea is introduced, which is also reminiscent of a subject but also fails to meet these formal constraints.
So then, although this piece has been called a triple fugue, perhaps it is better to consider it as a fugue with two countersubjects that enter 36 and 49 measures in respectively. Finally, at the 94th measure, the fugue closes with a stretto section in which the second subject drops out entirely and the first and third subjects enter in an overlapping fashion until the eventual final cadence.
Numerical Symbolism
So sure, the fugue is a little unusual, but what’s the big deal? I will try to present just a few things from the Smith article, to give a small taste of the wealth of symbolism in this piece. First of all, the number five.
Five voices, five notes in the subject (the shortest subject of any fugue in WTC I), a second theme consisting of a sequence repeated five times, not to mention a lament of five descending semitones (c#-g#) interlaced throughout.
What is the significance of this? According to Smith, “Lutherans of Bach’s day associated [the number] five with the wounds that were inflicted upon Jesus by the nails in his hands and feet, and a soldier having thrust a spear into his side.” Additionally, the lament is heavily associated with the crucifixion, for example, serving as the basis for the Crucifixus in the B minor Mass.
Additionally, the pattern of the main subject, consisting of a stepwise descent, an ascending interval crossing over the original note, and another stepwise descent, is considered symbolic of the cross. In fact, the exact same subject with rhythmic alterations is used for the Laß ihn kreuzigen! (Let him be crucified!) fugue in the St. Matthew Passion. This pattern is also repeated five times in the statement of the second subject, with the ascending interval altered to a third.
What’s more, this pattern can be found twice (and one more time in reverse) with descending intervals of a half step and an ascending interval of a minor third, which is a transposition of B-A-C-H, Bach’s very own musical signature. While this may seem like chance, Smith found that these are the first instances of such a motif in the WTC.
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However, the following is what ties it all together: when each letter is given a number indicating its place in the Latin alphabet, B+A+C+H totals 14, which in reverse is 41. In measure 41, the BACH motif is played in reverse (HCAB). Not convinced? The second subject is stated exactly 14 times, at which point it disappears for the remainder of the piece. Within those 14 statements, the variant of the cross motif with the third can be found exactly 41 times. What else happens at measure 41? The only inverted occurrence of the second subject, and on the strong beats of this inversion the five-note lament rising from G# to C# instead of falling.
Here, Smith points to Bach’s Fulda canon in which the five-note lament is also present accompanied by the inscription Symbolum, Christus Coronabit Crucigeros, which he translates as “This is a symbol of Christ who will crown those who carry his cross.” The connection? Bach’s monogram, which a few of us saw engraved on some of his belongings preserved in the Bach Museum. It consists of a crown with five jewels placed on top of Bach’s initials superimposed with their mirror image, which creates a pattern of crosses. In measure 41 the HCAB is presented and in measure 48, BACH is presented in its prime form. And between them is the inversion of the five-note lament.
If this is at all interesting, I would strongly recommend reading the whole article, which is short and very nicely structured. It highlights types of numerical symbolism somewhat similar to what Ruth Tatlow was pointing out in her lecture, and I found it very eye-opening. There is also an accompanying visual that I will link below.
Technical Difficulties
Now, as a hobby pianist without strict classical training, I will share a bit about what makes this fugue so hard to play for me. First of all, I try to play Bach without the sustain pedal, in a similar way to how someone might play an organ or a harpsichord. When playing like this, the key should stay depressed for the full duration of a given note. In order to hold each voice through properly, each finger should then be independent of each other finger. It is also often necessary to slide fingers from key to key and cross them over or under one another.
To give a taste of this, here are a couple examples:
Here, the B must remain held down while the F# and D# move down. Often when one hand has three voices to play, the fifth finger is all that remains to play the upper voice, as is the case here.
Here, the half notes are part of the subject and are accented. However, the B cannot remain down for the whole two beats, but the pianist must still create the illusion that it is being held down rather than struck twice in order for the motif to remain clear.
Another case of three voices in one hand. Here, the middle voice crosses above the top voice mid-tie, all while the bottom voice is held through. This makes it hard to track which finger is playing which voice at a given moment.
Another recurring challenge is when the span between two voices exceeds the comfortable range of the hand. Here playing both upper voices completely in the right hand would require an octave played between the second and fifth fingers, which, for me, is not comfortable. It is suggested to take the lowermost notes of the alto voice in the left hand, which then creates the challenge of maintaining a smooth line as it transfers back and forth between the two hands.
Here, the left hand has to leap down to play the thunderous entrance of the subject in the bass voice, meaning the tenor line has to be picked up by the right hand. The third finger on F# is no longer sufficient, since all three of the lower fingers are required to play the moving line, so the F# must transfer to the fourth finger over the course of the tie.
Finally, the G# half note is tied to an eighth note, but this simply isn’t physically possible. This is not the only instance of unplayability that I have come across while reading through the WTC.
Recordings
Finally, a couple of different takes on the fugue by the various masters:
This recording I really like. The tempo is comparatively fast, giving it a real sense of urgency, almost desperation. The subject is accentuated well, and the fugue starts out very calmly and evenly before a forceful bass entrance of the subject that sparks a rise in intensity, peaking at the (augmented!?) chord four measures from the end, before falling back a little.
A beautiful touch and amazing voicing, but a bit sluggish for me, and a bit too much pedal. Very serene, but I feel that I lose track of the musical ideas. I always appreciate a little more forward momentum.
An interesting interpretation. Very understated until all of a sudden it isn’t. A moderate tempo with stark dynamic contrasts but played very clearly and with great voicing. Despite this, it doesn’t come across as overly romantic to me, in general. I find the addition of the octave in the final pedal G# intriguing. It almost feels to me like pulling out another stop on an organ.
My favorite tempo so far. To me this feels very emotionally charged, though it’s a little bit rough around the edges. I enjoy the relentlessness of his playing, and I would say that this is probably the one that “convinces” me the most. I think the strongest section is the stretto which really feels like it is driving forward with each accented beat.
And I’ll include this one too for those who are into this sort of … thing.
Anyway, that’s all. I hope I was able to justify at least a bit why I think this is such a meaningful work of art and also such a remarkable composition.
References
Digital Bach. The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849 – Animated Score and Analysis, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ShwIrMJlU&list=PLYwl4jo5DoXTTPY0P8TlcyHkrwbEsWMyP&index=4&ab_channel=DigitalBach. Accessed 8 July 2025.
Smith, Timothy A. Fugue No. 4, 2002, www.musanim.com/pdf/BWV849FugueTimonthySmith.pdf.
