The Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue (BWV 903), one of Bach’s best known works, is a work of virtuosity and bold harmonic structure. It is an extraordinary piece – large, sprawling, emotional, and unique in its character compared to the rest of Bach’s music. The title of the piece comes from either the fugue’s chromatic melody, or from the startling modulations in the Fantasia.
Bach composed only a few “fantasies” – a type of prelude usually preceding a fugue. The fantasy is highly virtuosic and similar in form to the toccata, English fantasy, and the canzone, in that it consists of alternating sections of differently textured music.
The Chromatic Fantasy consists of three main sections: the first being a true prelude, the second a recitative-like section, and the third a mixture of the two.
To the listener it might seem that the fantasy is entirely chromatic and even atonal, but Bach maintains tonality with the use of conventional cadences and finally, a fixed tonic pedal in the last section that brings together this grand introduction to the fugue.
Here is Andras Schiff to play this amazing music for you:
