Classical Music | Piano Music

Johannes Brahms

Prelude and Fugue in g minor for the Organ  Play

Ron Regev Piano

Recorded on 07/04/2006, uploaded on 01/08/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Prelude and Fugue in g minor for the Organ                 Johannes Brahms (arr. R. Regev)

Brahms published only one set of works for the organ: his very last compositions, the 11 choral-preludes opus 122.  These were not, however, his only works for the instrument.  As a young man he considered earning a living by becoming a church organist; at that time, in the early 1850s, he composed several preludes, fugues and choral-preludes for the organ.  He did not deem these compositions worthy of publication, but did not destroy the scores, so they were published posthumously.

These early works for the organ, although heavily influenced by the Baroque writing style (most notably that of J. S. Bach), do demonstrate some of Brahms' compositional hallmarks: they invoke the extreme chromaticism and rhythmic complexity that are so characteristic of the composer's later works.  The prelude and fugue in g minor is the second set in a group of two.  The prelude is a brilliant work, perhaps aimed at demonstrating the composer's technical proficiency with the instrument.  The fugue, which starts out as a strict Baroque-styled composition, soon develops the great drama that has become so closely associated with Brahms.    Ron Regev

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