Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Prelude and Fugue in F minor - (2012)
for piano
A building cluster of diatonic notes in the natural minor introduces a set of four bar phrases. In large arches, these sing out a lyrical top line with a light rubato. The clusters formed by decorations with the sostenuto pedal at measure 17 and beyond break the simple accompanied melody in the top voice. These two textures populate the prelude.
The fugue opens with a subject based on the prelude, as the top line melody now becomes a bass line as counterpoint. The answers appear not only in the dominant's natural minor but also in the relative major of A flat and its dominant. Stretti make up much of the fugue's form, as the subject appears in canon at the octave and at the twelfth.
3 pages, circa 4' 15" - an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano score.
