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Fantasia in C

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Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (trans. Jordan Sterk)


This work bears the designation BWV 570.


General Info

Year: c. 1706 / 2017
Duration: c. 2:45
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Organ
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $68.00; (digital) - $68.00   |   Score Only (print) - $10.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute I
Flute II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Suspended Cymbal


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

This magnificent Baroque organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach is a prime example of the composer's genius. This accomplished arrangement preserves all of the rhythms and style of the original but is transposed to the key of B-flat for more accessibility. It's a wonderful work to introduce to students and add a sense of history to concert programs.

- Program Note from publisher


Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fantasia in C Major, BWV 570, was most likely written during the composer’s term as organist in the city of Arnstadt, Germany (ca. 1703-1706), or perhaps during his one-year stay at Mauthausen (1707). It is among the few Bach fantasias for organ that stand alone, not otherwise a part of a greater prelude-fugue or fantasia-fugue combination. These would come later, after his move to Weimar in 1708. Only then would Bach come to prefer such compound works, although he did compose such examples before his arrival at Weimar, including the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.

The Fantasia in C Major is written in four voices, to be played on two manuals sans pedals. This arrangement lends it to performance on other keyboard instruments. Unfortunately, they do not always do the work justice, since much of BWV 570 is based on sustained tones that cannot be maintained to the same degree on a harpsichord or a piano as on an organ. However, it is this very tendency that makes a setting for symphonic wind ensemble so ideal.

Jordan Sterk’s transcription has preserved all of the rhythmic motion and style of Bach’s original, but he has transposed it from C Major to the key of Bb for greater ease of playing.

- Program Note from The Virginia Wind Symphony concert program, 21 December 2017


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Wind Symphony (Shelby Swanson-Williams, conductor) – 16 October 2019
  • George Washington High School (Charleston, West Va.) Concert Band (Mark Hardman, conductor) – 23 April 2018
  • Virginia Wind Symphony (Norfolk) (Dennis J. Zeisler, conductor) - 21 December 2017 (2017 Midwest Clinic)


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • "New Music Reviews." The Instrumentalist, 73/7 (February 2018), p. 42.
  • Perusal score
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