MUS 223 Milestone Two: Musical Interpretation
Toccata and Fugue in D minor -- Johann Sebastian Bach.
Musical Interpretation
Regardless of what version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor I listen to.
it's hard for me to pinpoint exact images or stories that come to mind. To honest, it changes
every time I listen. After my fourth listen through to the version used in Fantasia, I decided the
imagery I saw/heard was of a horse ride up and hills in a countryside setting. Another time, I
decided that if it was indeed the "image" of a horse ride, the stereo imaging used in Fantasia,
made me as though said hills must be lined on both sides with mirrors. In modern parlance this is
called "ping-ponging".
One unifying and consistent image I do have is a sense of "largeness" or perhaps
grandiosity. And the image sticks whether the dynamics are soft or powerful, or the scale
changes from minor to major, or the voices change.
The famous intro to the composition always makes feel a sense of foreboding, but
as the song goes through it's transitions and movements my emotions often change from
reflective, to somber, and especially during the violin and viola flourishes, to hopeful.
Analysis
The dynamics in Toccata and Fugue in D minor are a key part of the composition
They are as deliberate as they are subtle. Bach employs dynamics throughout the different
sections of this song as well, creating peaks and valleys, tension and release.
In the Fantasia version, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9UQ61EbdO0, the
strings, brass, and bass all take turns; from the foreboding and slightly bombastic notes of the
composition's intro or the whispery string touches in the different movements of the Fugue,
dynamic is created not just by stark changes in volume, but in the use of crescendo and
decrescendo, and the incorporation of whole, half, quarter, eighth, and particularly triplet
sixteenth notes (think 1, 2, 3...., 1, 2, 3....). (Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, BWV 565.,2020)
Specific time points to focus on in the Fantansia version as examples are:
Introduction/Toccata: (00:00:00 -- 00:00:35), the first movement of the Fugue (00:00:55
00:01:07), and the brief coda (00:08:58 - 00:09:25)
When discussing rhythm, I freely admit to having a skewed perception. I am a
musician myself. Of the many instruments I've tackled, drums has left many concepts of rhythm
fairly well etched into my brain. I started playing drums at eight so old lessons die hard. Being a
"rock guy", rhythm is about a well-defined backbeat, groove, swing, and playing in the pocket (a
term nicked from American jazz).
So my drummer ears really don't pick up on a definable rhythm. It's music so it
MUST have rhythm, it's just rather spaghetti to me. What Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
does have is tempo. Or more accurately tempos. When I dug into varied sources, I discovered
there is much debate regarding the proper tempo that Toccata and Fugue in D minor should be
play