BACH - Toccata in E minor BWV 914 | Pablo Marquez, harpsichord

Toccata in E minor BWV 914 [Without indication] – Un poco allegro – Adagio – Fugue (Allegro) Pablo Márquez Caraballo, harpsichord Harpsichord built by Titus Crijnen after Ruckers 1624 grand ravalement Tuning: Werckmeister III – Performance criteria – The Toccata in E minor BWV 914 is one of the first pieces by Bach that introduced me to the harpsichord. A piece full of light and poetry, it has a very pronounced character. For those of you wondering about the reason for the tempo changes, or the agogic that characterizes this piece, I will explain to you the principles on which I have based my personal performance: 1️⃣ The idea of the Toccata as a form composed of different sections with contrasting characters or affects, so magnificently developed by the Italian composers Frescobaldi or Merulo. 2️⃣ The application of the “Stylus Phantasticus” described by Athanasius Kircher in his book Musurgia Universalis: “The fantastic style is especially suited to instruments. It is the most free and unrestrained method of composing, it is bound to nothing, neither to any words nor to a melodic subject, it was instituted to display genius and to teach the hidden design of harmony and the ingenious composition of harmonic phrases and fugues. It is distributed in these forms: fantasia, ricercar, toccata, and sonata.“ This style was often combined with the use of the rhetoric structure of a discourse. According to these two premises, the piece would be shape as it follows: 🔹 “Without indication”: This section would be the “Exordium” or introduction, to draw the audience’s attention. It is characterized by its free and improvised character. 🔹 “Un poco allegro”: This section is structured as a double fugue, and would be the “Propositio”, contrasting with the previous movement due to its more regular and stricter tempo. 🔹 “Adagio”: This part would be the “Confutatio”, being a sort of “recitativo”. The original Italian term “Adagio” is not understood here as slow but as free. Normally, soloists had greater freedom to embellish and use agogic resources (“tempo rubato”) in slow movements, so in later centuries this term was associated with a slow metronomic mark. 🔹 “Fuga. Allegro”: This section would be the “Confirmatio”, containing on its last page the “Peroratio” or conclusion. In this way, the entire toccata responds to an outline of a rhetorical discourse. Broadly speaking, these are the reasons that led me to shape this piece. I hope you found it interesting and convincing. I’ll see you in the next video. If you want me to record a specific piece… don’t hesitate to write it in the comments. See you soon!