Bach, W F: Fugue No. 8 in F minor, Fk 31/8

Johan Sebastian Bach’s eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann enjoyed renowned success during his lifetime as an organist and composer. However despite being hailed by some as the most gifted of J.S Bach’s sons, very few of his works documenting his rank as an organist have been printed. Many scholars suggest that most of W. F. Bach’s virtuoso performances consisted of improvisations. His great free (keyboard) fantasias give us an impression of these improvisations, while the seven chorale arrangements are maintained in an old-fashioned style more reminiscent of Pachelbel.

At the same time as we get to know Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s compositions we can also take stock of the real personality of Johann Sebastian Bach’s eldest son. His works are still mostly unknown to the public at large and remain in the shadow of those by his brothers. It is true that his music still seems to be somewhat strange, imprisoned as it undoubtedly is by the composer’s profound inner drama. Born in 1710, Wilhelm Friedemann benefited more than any other of his brothers from the impact of his father’s personality; we may well remember the famous phrase attributed to Johann Sebastian “The son that gives me joy is the one that I love”?

The eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach was hailed as the greatest organist in his time. Living in a time of transition, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach forged his own highly original style, combining the traditional writing learned from his father with new elements of the “expressive and sentimental” period.

Among his most famous compositions, the Eight Fugues, Fk 31 are miniature jewels.

His Fantasias are wonderful examples of the freedom of expression in the new style of ‘Empfindsamkeit’: a musical movement wherein the music tends towards the expressive and sentimental rather than adhering to the rigid contrapuntal rules imposed by the early baroque era.