Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Composer's Lounge Which preludes from the well tempered clavier are toccatas?

It was supposed to be. c# minor was a mistyping for c# major.

Then why isn't the C# minor a toccata?

If you're debating whether Bach is dead then perhaps there is a bridge in brooklyn you may be willing to buy.

I don't remember what the C# minor is but I will look.

I don't consider this a piece emphasizing the performer's ability to nimbly play a lot of notes with good touch and quickly. The question is one of what the piece appears to be. I don't think this one is a toccata. I suppose you could play it really fast. But that would sound awful in my opinion.

Bach is DEAD?

That wasn't your definition of toccata.

Most of them are, apparently.

Then I was wrong. I think the main thing is the nature of the piece being fast passagework, and yes, relying on scales and arpeggios like the G major prelude from book one being a great example. I think the definition of a toccata is on wikipedia and I will agree to whatever definition is there.

Perhaps the problem we're having is it's difficult to define some artistic terms with specificity. I am sure that toccatas written by different composers may be difficult to precisely categorize by a set of strict rules as to what a toccata is.

Fwiw



So I added the chord and scale thing. The G major Book 1 and D minor Book 2 seem to have those patterns. I was thinking of the C minor Book 1 and B flat major Book 2 regarding the repetitious patterns of notes.

What about the C minor from Book 2?

I thought about that one but it just didn't seem like one to me in the same way the g major from book I was. It didn't strike me as a piece that worked if played at toccata speed.

If you just compare it to the b flat major Book I you'll see what I mean.

I don't see what you mean.

It works if you play it fast because it's a repeated spelled out chordal passage. It's just like similar figures in the organ toccata and fugue in d minor.

I don't see your point. Just because it's one type of toccata doesn't mean it's the only type.

I never said there was only one type of toccata

Here I'll make it clearer:

Organ Toccata and Fugue in d minor (toccata):



B flat major prelude book I:

Why are you obsessing over comparing these two pieces?