Ebenezer Prout · section 1 of 50

Editor’s Preface

THE present handbook, on which my revered father was working enthusiastically up to the very day of his death, is designed to supply a concise analysis of Bach's immortal " Forty-eight," for the use of students who are desirous of obtaining some insight into their construction. Much has already been written on the subject, and from many standpoints; but I am unacquainted with any book that serves the purpose which has been here kept in view, of pointing out the essentials of the form of the fugues, systematically arranged, and unencumbered by technical details of harmony on the one hand, and by flights into the realms of poetic fancy or of psychological perceptions on the other hand.

The analyses which had been finally arranged for the press, by Dr. Prout, have been deemed sacred from any editorial interference. The arrangement of the rest has been on similar lines from his very copious manuscript notes, and my work has only been that of selecting and editing. The author, himself, had been contemplating the desirability of some slight curtailment, wherever possible, in order to keep the book within strictly moderate dimensions. I have, therefore, rigorously excluded whatever could be spared without detriment, from those analyses for the arrangement of which I am responsible. It was not, however, an undesirable thing that the first few should be somewhat more extended than the later ones, as they give the opportunity to enunciate certain generalisations which the careful reader can afterwards apply for himself.

No study of these wonderful masterpieces can be exhaustive. There is much of constructive beauty and meaning yet awaiting discovery in them, and the student should endeavour not merely to find what he is told to look for, but also to make original explorations for himself. Those who desire fuller guidance, especially on the evolution of the rhythmic figures, motives and other smaller sections, may find it in Dr. F. Stade's analyzed edition of the fugues, "J. S. Bach, Die Fugen des wohltemperirten Klaviers partiturmässig dargestellt," etc.; Riemann's " Katechismus der Fugen-Komposition" also gives an abundance of valuable and suggestive criticism, including much that is aesthetic more than technical. Van Bruyck's older "Technische und ästhetische Analysen des Wohltemperirten Claviers" is very largely concerned with the last-named aspect of the subject. Both Riemann and Van Bruyck deal with the preludes as well as the fugues.

There remains only the pleasing duty of returning hearty thanks to my friend Mr. R. Orlando Morgan for the warm interest he has throughout manifested in the work, and for much valuable help and advice in connection with the arrangement of the matter.

LOUIS B. PROUT. LONDON, January, 1910.