Fugue No. 13 in F♯ major, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 858)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 6 (Expert) · Baroque · Piano

A supple, singing three-voice fugue whose subject starts with a long note followed by a written-out turn. From the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I, 1722), preludes and fugues in all twenty-four keys. F♯ major, 4/4, 35 bars (about 2 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Find every entry of the subject and bring it out; practise the voices two by two, then decide which hand takes the inner voices before putting it together slowly. Key signature with 6 sharps: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Fast writing: work section by section in Wait mode, then in dotted rhythms, and raise the tempo in steps of 5–10%.

More pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach

• Partita 4 (BWV 828) — movement 6
• Aus meines Herzens Grunde (Chorale 1) (BWV 269)
• Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major (BWV 772)
• Prelude No. 1 in C major, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 846)
• Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A minor (BWV 784)
• Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779)
• Little Prelude in F major (BWV 928)
• Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D minor (BWV 775)

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0