Bach’s Most Famous Fugue Starts with a Ridiculous Theme

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]If Bach would have entered a competition with this team, probably he would not have won the first prize. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to St. Michael's Peace Church, actually here in Belgium, at the conscious organ.

[00:00:13]I'm here organist titular, as many of you will know, and if you don't know, if you didn't know that I'm organist here, then I cannot blame you because I didn't make any videos here for a long time, which is of course a shame.

[00:00:26]I'm going to change that attitude and that habit, so you will see me more in Leuven here at this organ. Today, we're going to add one video to the series that we have on YouTube, which is Beyond the Noise. That's a series of videos in which I talk about music, why music actually works, why it has this impact on us, because music doesn't speak words, it's just notes. It's very abstract and at the same time very concrete, and many of you, I know, appreciate it a lot when I just talk about my pictures that I have in my mind when I play, or just colors, or whatever, of some beautiful spots to just help you navigate through this music. Now, today, we're going to talk about BWV 565, which is a famous toccata and fugue in D minor. I've recorded this piece on my CD of this organ, but also I made a live recording that probably will be on air as we speak right now. I've made also Beyond the Notes on the toccata, and many of you appreciate that we appreciated that, and especially recently asked for me to make a Beyond the Notes video on the fugue. Now, that's a tricky one, because the fugue has some particularities, if that's good English, that is hard to bring into words. This piece, on an organ like this, works fabulously, but it's for the fugue not always easy to explain why. Yet, we're going to try that, and I'm going to use actually the plenum sound of this organ.

[00:01:51]I was planning to do to not do that, but we'll do an experiment, and I think this microphone is close enough for you to pick up my voice.

[00:01:59]Because that's essential, right? If you are talking to an audience to hear what someone is saying. So, what am I doing now? For those of you not familiar with organs, I'm pulling organ stops. Every stop, every knob you see has a row of pipes, and you can compare it to an instrument player from an orchestra. So, these are the orchestral players that can participate. All the others are silent.

[00:02:24]And so, for instance, when I have a chord, >> [music] >> the sound changes. So, I'm building up a plenum. I can actually do it for you.

[00:02:36]Might be interesting.

[00:02:40]And so, we start with the principal eight.

[00:02:44]That's the main [music] stop. If you see the facade of the organ, those are the pipes in front.

[00:02:48]Then we add to that other stops. We can add some other eight-foot stops, which is like the the male pitches, the pitch where a male the male voice actually sounds at the eight-foot. We can add some flute stops, >> [music] >> flute stops here. Then we can add octave four, [music] octave two, mixture, 16-foot. [music] And then I'm adding this manual, and I do the same thing. [music] Principal, octave, mixture.

[00:03:21]Have this sound. In the pedal, we're doing kind of similar thing. Principal 16, octave lower, add the quint. [music] Four, then the octave four, octave eight, >> [music] >> mixture, posaune 16, posaune eight.

[00:03:37]>> [music] >> I could also add the clarion four, which is like another reed stop, which is a little bit out of tune. And I'm here on my own, so I have not not the possibility to tune, because I cannot be here at the keyboard and at the same time in the organ. That's very very to do. So, we're going to I'm going to try to navigate you through this piece.

[00:03:55]We're going to play some pieces. Again, there's a recording for you if you want to have the piece first as a listen listening experience and then go here or do it in the other way around. It's up to you. These three videos will be linked obviously on YouTube. So, the fugue is a kind of elaboration. It's a keyboard version that Bach made for violin solo. We're not going to be very strange because for you to to to to realize, but violin has polyphonic possibilities. It can have like accentuated tones in the upper voice or the lower voice. So, it has a kind of polyphonic meaning and Bach added to that some other voices obviously to make it into a full organ piece. So, and you can see that at the theme. If you play the theme, >> [music] >> if you analyze this, you have a repeated note.

[00:04:52]So, at at the top obviously.

[00:04:55]And I am experimenting with my writing skills on the tablet here, which is not very particularly impressive today because I changed program. Anyways, we'll have to do with that.

[00:05:07]And so, the top note is a repeated note and the theme has is iconic. I mean, everybody watching now knows this theme, but you can imagine you can you can ask the question like why is that?

[00:05:22]Because very interestingly, this theme is like what is this theme theme composed of of? It's like >> [music] >> I mean, in terms of melodic uh creativity and inventivity, I mean, if Bach would uh if Bach would have entered a competition with this team, probably he would not have won the first prize because >> [music] >> yet it has an impact.

[00:06:01]And that's one of the of course one of that is already one of the first mysteries of this piece. If you talk about it, why does the team work so well?

[00:06:10]Maybe also because it's so simple.

[00:06:12]That's a possibility. It's very recognizable. It's just a scale. Dee dee dee dee dee and then so on. I think it's D major D minor. Nothing more simple than that. The repeated note that typical for typically for a violin um texture might add to that.

[00:06:31]Just >> [music] >> It creates this atmosphere already like yeah, drama but how do you say haunting actually? It's like dee da dee da dee da dee dum. And of course, if you play it on the organ, you have to imitate a violin player. You cannot just play it like that.

[00:06:55]Because then the A becomes very dominant. Of course, you emphasize on the on lower note. It's all to do with articulation and things like that. We're not going to dive into that but it sounds like >> [music] >> Very simple. And then Bach continues with his with the second entrance. So I And a fugue obviously that's try again here. Obviously has multiple team entrances. So we had first in this voice.

[00:07:23]And then we have in the upper voice.

[00:07:24]Later on, we have an team entrance in another voice in the top voice. And then of course at the end comes the pedal.

[00:07:33]Here it is. Very much at the bottom.

[00:07:34]Hope you can still see that on the screen. So Bach is taking his time um to present all four voices of which this composition this fugue is actually revolving around. So, second theme comes left hand or then the other voice continues obviously. It's not so complex. It's just a cut that's not even a counter theme. It's just a second voice that continues to listen to the second entrance of the same theme.

[00:08:03]>> [music] >> You hear also the the organ is not tuned in equal temperament.

[00:08:09]But [music] this is a little bit more spicy, but still it's very acceptable.

[00:08:17]>> [music] >> Then we come to a bridge passage like an intermission you do. There are fancy names for that in fugue writing, but let's forget about that. It's like a a little bit of a of a kind of yeah, no man's land where we are just waiting for the next theme entrance. That's what we are doing here.

[00:08:37]>> [music] >> Again [music] the same figure like the same style like technique.

[00:08:46]>> [music] >> You don't let >> [music] [music] >> This organ is [music] fantastic in doing that. It is so quick in speech so to say that you can really do similar things compared to what I do at the clavichord.

[00:09:16]It might be surprising for you if you're an organist, but it is true. You can you can have the same same dynamic range.

[00:09:23]Not really, but it's in the same direction. You can really make notes more important by articulation and by timing. So, harmonically this is not so difficult to understand.

[00:09:34]>> [music] [music] >> And you could say here it's a kind of a weird ending.

[00:09:44]>> [music] >> It goes to F major.

[00:09:50]So, a little bit of surprise.

[00:09:52]And so, this this intermission, so to say, is very relaxed, not not so much is happening, but this is a very logical 5 1 5 1 5 1, you could say like a kind of Vivaldi-like um sequence of chords. And we tend to like that. It's predictable. And surprise, surprise, humans like predictability. It's good for our brain, of course.

[00:10:15]Bach is doing stuff in order to trick our brain and say, "Okay, but now we are in a different landscape." But this is very >> [music] [music] [music] >> And then you have two voices that accompany the new theme entrance, of course, and that goes like this.

[00:10:48]>> [music] >> Again, bridge passage.

[00:10:56]>> [music] >> Harmonically it's very simple, and now I'm really messing up this thing. So, very simple. Again, it's like it's it's of course written in and certainly the I mean, if the toccata is written by Bach, there is a discussion about that in kind of North German style, but yet you see like this kind of Italian influence, like very very simple simple chord progressions like in in these bridge passage in these intermissions, but they work because the theme [music] has, in spite of being so simple, very much characteristics, much very much very much I would say like depth not in the sense of like musical depth but it works. It has an effect effect and affect that has emotion it has something that you remember and Bach is using that to the maximum.

[00:11:47]>> [music] [music] >> And then it's intensifying. [music] That's a huge question mark because you don't expect that.

[00:12:09]>> [music] [music] >> G sharp >> [music] >> And then kind of motives that follow each other like when when you have this this this this this texture we had a long a long theme then we had bridge passages and intermissions and there there's a these are very relaxed harmonically using the same technique violin string techniques so to say but now suddenly you have motives that follow each other and more closely and that gives the impression of more hurried more there is something that's coming and of course what's coming is the next theme entrance in the pedal. But Bach is postponing that.

[00:13:00]>> [music] >> And then syncopations with with of course this on this on dissonance I would I would I was looking for the word like dissonant the harmony but dissonant whatever I I don't find the word so dissonance like and beautiful simple but very effective >> [music] >> for the same motive he's using that motive to intensify the texture.

[00:13:43]>> [music] >> And then at the the high point here there comes a pedal.

[00:13:51]>> [music] [music] >> Same [music] motive.

[00:14:02]Building tension with these chromatic lines.

[00:14:08]>> [music] [music] >> So, that's the first part of the of the fugue. I've written it also like beautifully on my screen already because they knew I was going to screw up everything when I did it live. No, all kidding aside we had this texture where Bach presents the four voices. And again, theme very simple, very effective violent technique which is transposing on the organ.

[00:14:36]Um like I told you the motive could play already. And then he is using the same technique, violent technique, string technique of course, but in a completely different setting. We are suddenly in F major and the texture becomes much more thin. Like listen.

[00:14:54]>> [music] >> We come from this >> [music] >> and to this.

[00:15:06]>> [music] >> And then we arrive at passages where um these people were like in in northern Germany like crazy about echo passages.

[00:15:16]It's not indicated in the score, but it's quite obvious that you actually uh you play it on an organ with multiple manuals.

[00:15:24]>> [music] >> Here maybe you can do it here as well, a bit like I personally don't do that. [music] Because it is technically not an echo.

[00:15:38]>> [music] >> And it would take away a little bit from this building element like Bach is going from >> [music] >> going up and up up up and if you then have an echo passage that that would like take take away a little bit of this building climax. So I'm not doing that.

[00:15:57]But then we arrive here.

[00:15:58]>> [music] >> And I don't know how much you can pick up from these microphones that are in the churches This is not this microphone is recording the organ. But in the churches it's really nice because you have this big organ playing on the of the great work of the Hauptwerk and then the the the Bovenwerk actually is on top of the of the great organ. It gives a different projection in the church and you have the impression that the sound comes from elsewhere which is actually true.

[00:16:33]And so this is when you play it on a concert this is this is uh this is a piece that organists play way too little. Um I know because I was guilty of it as well.

[00:16:45]And many it was played and it is played a lot of times and we are a little bit hesitant to play it but I'm here in this church I played a lot and people really love it and it's not only because of these passages but echo passages are just on an organ very pleasant to listen to. And this is of course very relaxed. There is there is there is there is here is not much going on just to play of the echoes and it's really like a one-on-one transcription of what Bach wrote for the violin. And what I do here what you can do on the on an organ here is also play with articulation.

[00:17:17]Just show you. You you could actually play it on one manual.

[00:17:21]>> [music] [music] >> Just by by giving a little bit more depth, little bit less depth to the key.

[00:17:33]But that's of course also a very technical. And then the continues like this.

[00:17:38]>> [music] [music] >> I mean very un-Bach-like, right? I mean, when we think of Bach, we think of a complex structure, like very complex fugues, but this is not complex.

[00:17:58]It's just very effective.

[00:18:00]And in that regard, I mean, we have to give it to Bach because this is his most famous piece. It's a piece that people will remember. And I have to say honestly it it has this effect every time you play it. So here, very relaxed, the theme is actually entering again here. Let's try not to mess it up. See, I'm messing up again, but I leave the note. And but it's it's like there's not much happening in here.

[00:18:24]I'm switched actually PDF reader because the other one didn't allow me to just zoom in enough to give you a full screen and also for me to play. But anyways, so there's a theme enters again. I'm playing it on two manuals.

[00:18:40]>> [music] [music] >> Because otherwise you are actually your fingers are actually like fighting with each other. That continues. I mean, you can listen to the recording. And then suddenly he has enough of this light play. And he he enters again the drama with this very famous, I guess, if you know the piece, well, everybody's waiting for it because there the the the the the climax of the fugue actually start to be built up.

[00:19:16]>> [music] >> I was thinking if I miss miss a stop with No, it's okay.

[00:19:22]>> [music] >> It's very I like it very keyboard-like.

[00:19:35]It's also very string-like. I mean, for an organ, this is quite quite rare that you have passages like this.

[00:19:41]>> [music] >> And then, of course, everything starts.

[00:19:47]You have here the theme in the pedal, but then the right hand adds to that like >> [music] >> So, in spite of having the theme in the pedal, the the attention of the listener goes to other passages like the And of course, there comes the trills, the famous trills, I would say. For those of you who know the piece, you know what I'm talking about. So, I'm going to play it for you.

[00:20:16]>> [music] [music] >> If you analyze that, it's very simple.

[00:20:35]You have just this very simple >> [music] >> And then the trill of course, the trill is on the on a high G. That high trill, of course, gets gets an attention because I mean, and and and and the left hand and in the pedal, you have a kind of busy uh voices, and then they have this trill that's like like shouting in in the sky.

[00:20:56]>> [music] [music] >> And then he continues that. This is a very, very, very dense and very um interesting passage as well. Like here, from here you have all voices actually interacting with each other. And we arrive here at this D in the pedal where that D is like giving a little bit of rest. You have another passage further on that will do that.

[00:21:32]But we will will talk like here the A.

[00:21:35]Like these long notes, of course on the organ, you cannot do that on the string instrument. But on an organ, you can do it that and it gives like a like majestic feeling. But here first, if we start playing here, um you have this all these motives it go right like just three voices, but there is a density here that adds to the dramatic effect. And it is very, very effective. Like I I I just demonstrate.

[00:22:01]>> [music] [music] >> So, this is kind of pause, a kind of island here. This This pedal note like just brings rest and peace.

[00:22:23]>> [music] >> And now narrative. The right hand just continues and now is in dialogue with the pedal. The left hand is actually moving in between of that. But all the three voices are interacting now.

[00:22:41]>> [music] >> So, you have a passage here where everything everybody is busy. Like not listening to each other, like going past each other, like behind each other, like over the top of each other. And it's it's a short passage, but they come together here again.

[00:23:02]>> [music] >> Also, not not strange.

[00:23:09]>> [music] >> Harmonically, it's not very complex, but Bach is using it with like maximum effect.

[00:23:20]>> [music] [music] >> Question mark.

[00:23:34]>> [music] >> I mean, if you hear that in the context of the entire piece like a melodic moment or harmonic moment, if you want.

[00:23:45]>> [music] >> Will escape you because we know the piece so well, but if you hear this for the first time >> [music] >> I mean >> [bell] >> that's a serious question mark, right?

[00:23:59]>> [music] >> And this thing it keeps on going. Like, there there is no no no piece anymore.

[00:24:04]We're Of course, building the climax up to the pedal solo, which is also like kind of iconic.

[00:24:10]It's not difficult to play though. If you're not playing the organ, this this not a very difficult pedal piece, especially not the the the the theme.

[00:24:20]Plays very easily, but yet Bach will stop there and then the pedal gets all the attention. Um so, we're we're still here in this the very microscopic like motive here, motive there. All the voices going with each other, going against each other, like very polyphonic.

[00:24:40]>> [music] >> But this is [music] this is if you speak about tempo, relative tempo. We have of course a tempo for the entire piece, but the composer is capable of like um like com- Yeah, how do you say that? Not compromising, that's not the word I Like Like compressing everything into a kind of tighter structure. And he's doing that here. And suddenly where as you compare that to the passages we had before like playing the echoes, suddenly you have from half notes beats, so to say, or harmonic changes or even whole note, you go to quarter note and even to eighth notes. And that's an increase in tempo, in relative tempo, and it builds, of course, to the climax.

[00:25:28]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Also here in the bass. Listen what you can do on an organ.

[00:25:44]>> [music] [music] >> A major. It's a dominant of D minor.

[00:25:55]We're bringing rest.

[00:25:56]>> [music] [music] [music] >> And I have the pedal solo.

[00:26:14]It was not difficult to play and I messed it up anyways.

[00:26:18]>> [music] >> It continues with like, "Okay, it better not to say." And now we continue.

[00:26:29]>> [music] >> Very busy still.

[00:26:33]>> [music] >> This is a surprise.

[00:26:39]And this is a surprise because it announces like somebody saying like, "Guys, guys, guys, guys, enough, enough, enough, enough.

[00:26:46]Let's chill a little bit.

[00:26:48]We are going separate ways now a little bit and we come back later.

[00:26:53]And that E flat is announcing that.

[00:26:56]>> [music] >> Suddenly there is more harmony and what is Bach doing then? I have already written it on score. We enter section number five.

[00:27:08]>> [music] >> Again, very simple.

[00:27:13]>> [music] >> A kind of repetition of the echoes before.

[00:27:20]But different. Because now I have the D and the pedal.

[00:27:23]>> [music] >> It's like like this. It's a kind of trumpet player like an angel like announcing like there is something coming here.

[00:27:33]It's very and in a way very effective.

[00:27:36]But very simple.

[00:27:38]>> [music] >> But the adding these D and the pedal is actually unbelievable.

[00:27:48]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Pedal has then a kind of theme. I mean, we have had this kind of island of relaxation but we are continuing now just where we left off. So this this E flat, what we were just talking about, the guy had said like hey, we have to chill a little bit here. It didn't work.

[00:28:15]We just continue and it did the structure becomes so intense that we suddenly land here.

[00:28:22]I just called and everything will stop for a moment. So we're leading to that place.

[00:28:28]>> [music] [music] [music] >> This is an iconic moment as well, huh?

[00:28:49]>> [music] >> You will not hear that often in bass music like this, like >> [music] >> when you do not do it and it is in the right place or the right way, it could be very cheap. But he is actually doing it at right on top of like where he wants to have it. You have the low D in the pedal and the the the manual goes up.

[00:29:11]>> [music] >> Theme in the left hand.

[00:29:21]>> [music] [music] >> Six grades.

[00:29:36]Um has a name in English for sure, which I don't know, I don't remember. Doesn't matter. It's a huge question mark.

[00:29:45]Bach writes an organ fermata on that and then what now?

[00:29:50]>> [music] >> If you play it on a concert, you have to always be aware like what kind of audience you're serving. When the audience is not really into listening to this music on organ, they will stop start clapping when you just leave the chord. And it's a pity because you should take your time here. It's like >> [music] >> we erase the table, everything goes off the table and we start again. And what is Bach doing? It's like of course, it's a violin piece and there's the virtuosity of the violin player which is imitating here on organ.

[00:30:25]>> [music] >> Something like that.

[00:30:37]Still thinking I'm missing missing maybe it was just my ears. I missed a stop.

[00:30:42]Maybe it's the clarion four I missed. I don't know.

[00:30:44]Doesn't matter. So, this this kind of like where are we going? Very baroque, of course.

[00:30:49]>> [music] >> Very like like this this this like in this church, in fact, what you see.

[00:30:55]Um I'm pretty I'm pretty I'm predictable and you end here >> [music] >> adagissimo, which means very very very slow. It's very rare you see that actually in Bach's music. So, >> [music] >> I'm not sure, to be honest, if that is from Bach. I I I should look up the history of this, but I don't think we have a manuscript of this. The first manuscript we have is, I think, of the 19th century by a composer named Rink Rink. Um but the few I'm not so sure about the history, but anyways, adagissimo means very long and and I mean would not exaggerate here because I'm doubting a little bit if it's from Bach and if it is from Bach, we would not know what it really means except from not fast.

[00:31:36]>> [music] >> And they have an iconic note here. The pedal goes to an F.

[00:31:42]>> [music] >> Playing here from another score.

[00:31:49]There goes another line here.

[00:31:51]Um I'm not sure that that's a 19th century Bach edition. I just took the score because it's vertical. I'm not sure that this a line that's there because I'm playing it with a huge um articulation because then the effect is even bigger.

[00:32:05]>> [music] [music] [music and bell] >> Something like that.

[00:32:17]Then comes a little bit of a pedal solo.

[00:32:20]>> [music] >> And here there is no trill here in my score.

[00:32:25]There is between brackets, so probably there is another score of the violin.

[00:32:29]You correct me. I have no idea of this I should have actually checked before making this video, but this Beyond the Notes video is not about the history and it's also showing you you my my my my life as a musician. And as interesting as I find it to find like the intricacies like where comes the sign of the trill, I do read that when it is important but for this piece I haven't and I don't miss it to be honest.

[00:32:53]But I'm playing the trill because on this organ it works magnificent.

[00:33:02]>> [music] >> To be honest, I don't know anyone else who's doing that. Anyways, then we come Presto. Like again, same the repetition of like this very baroque figure.

[00:33:16]By the way, Presto here if this from Bach and if the Adagio is from Bach, it just means like we're going back into like a fast tempo but it's not fast in the sense of the 19th century Presto.

[00:33:26]It's just like we're going here a little bit slower, a little bit faster but the notation already indicates that. So, without even Presto Adagio you would do the same thing.

[00:33:36]>> [music] [music] >> Adagio >> [music] >> Again, question mark equal.

[00:33:58]And then a very beautiful passage like the ending of the piece. It's like the coda. Everything has been said and it's very relaxed.

[00:34:07]>> [music] >> Just going down.

[00:34:09]Lower.

[00:34:15]And yet, [music] the tension is building because the chord will start very relaxing >> [music] >> but suddenly there are like kind of dissonances.

[00:34:30]>> [music] >> Question mark.

[00:34:35]And then of course the beautiful And I'm adding some notes [music] here what's on the recording.

[00:34:43]So here.

[00:34:45]I don't know if you can still see this part of the screen.

[00:34:48]I'm I'm adding some some connection notes.

[00:34:50]>> [music] [music] >> So also this kind of ending without a clear dominant chord.

[00:35:11]It's like >> [music] >> very rare for Bach.

[00:35:20]>> [music] [music] [music] >> It's also this huge like it's not it's not Yeah, it's an articulation you could say the phrasing.

[00:35:42]I'm just using the effect of the church.

[00:35:45]>> [music] >> Makes a huge effect here in the church I can tell you. So yeah, I I don't know if this was any clear to you or they were I'm just rambling I'm just talking to you to pieces I feel it as I see it but it's like to in the preparation of this fugue I was thinking like what can I possibly say and it's always the same thing it's often time the same. Sometimes you have pieces where there's a lot to say or you can okay, we're going to focus on this and on this and on that. Here was less clear to me but when you're going through the piece and that's for me is the nice thing of this Beyond the Notes series as well.

[00:36:23]I'm discovering things together with you and so therefore sometimes I cannot keep up with my own promise to keep the timing like under 30 minutes.

[00:36:33]I didn't work for this video, either.

[00:36:34]So, I apologize for that, but this is an important piece. It's an iconic piece.

[00:36:39]It's a piece that is in in history. So, like for organ, this is what This is like an ambassador for the organ. And so, I think it deserved that little bit of my time, and maybe also your time. Let me know in the comments um if you have played this piece, if you have other things to add, if you um want to correct me, or want to add something, or whatever, have suggestions, have more about the history of the piece, I would be more than um happy to read all of that. And with that out of the way, I think that's all I've got for you today. I would just like to to to uh to end with a shout-out to my patrons. They make it possible that I'm be here I am I'm here I'm here since few hours now to prepare actually since this morning to prepare for this video series. And that's because of my patrons that I can do that. So, check it out. There's a link in the description box if you um I would very much appreciate that. If it's something for you, we have a lot of practicing sessions like behind the scenes, updates on the projects that are ongoing, and a lot more. Just check it out and see if it's something for you. I would appreciate if you only do that.

[00:37:44]Thank you for watching. Thank you for being here, and we see each other very soon again. Bye.