Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. "The Great" Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 (an alternate version is numbered BWV 543a) is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime around his years as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708-1717). It is the final incarnation of Bach's harpsichord Fugue in A minor, BWV 944, written in 1708. This piece should not be confused with the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, which is also called "the Great." The Prelude starts out with a long introduction, introducing the chromatic, almost descending subject, then goes off into a flurry of intricate arpeggios over a long pedal point. The build up is then interrupted by a virtuoso run in the harmonic minor, then a grinding tremolo of a mix of the b diminished chord, and the c augmented chord. A stop and go pattern of chromatic runs, downward arpeggios, and pedal solos based on the opening sequence ensue.