16 PLEIN JEU To the religious dimension is added a didactic concern—both instrumental and compositional — in the unfinished collection of 45 chorales from the Orgelbüchlein, partially conceived during Bach’s stay in Weimar around 1713. This includes Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV639 (I Call to You, Lord Jesus Christ), written as a trio — that is, for three distinct layers of sound (two manuals and pedal), like Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV659 (Now Come, Savior of the Heathens), one of the 18 so-called “Leipzig” chorales. With its richly ornamented melody in the soprano and its processional bass line, it stands as one of Bach’s most serenely moving and profound supplications. As with the above mentioned works, the preludes, toccatas, and fugues cannot be precisely dated. They nevertheless appear to belong to Bach’s early period — beginning with the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV565, whose authorship has at times been questioned. Its dazzling vitality reveals the influence of the North German virtuosos, particularly Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), whom Johann Sebastian visited in Lübeck in 1705. Another major bravura diptych, the Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV532, also follows this aesthetic of contrast, with its tripartite prelude in which two toccatalike outer sections frame an alla breve of distinctly 'archaic' contrapuntal density. The immense 137-bar fugue, for its part, is driven by a rhythmic and playful motif, whose motoric character generates an intrinsic virtuosity.
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