Information about the piece

Prelude D Minor, BWV 926 by Johann Sebastian Bach is a baroque composition characterized by its complex and rigorous nature, indicative of a time when music focused heavily on form and method.

• Bach composed the piece as part of the Nine Little Preludes, a set of keyboard pieces. Intended for teaching and educational purposes, these preludes provided students with exercises to improve their technical and stylistic capabilities.
• Prelude D Minor, BWV 926, with its swift arpeggiated figures and stately harmonic progressions, still stands as an exemplary piece for students to practice their dexterity and understanding of harmonic movements.
• Composed during Bach's period in Köthen around 1720, this piece reflects the baroque period's typical structure, an expressive melodic theme with a strong focus on ornamentation, developed through the use of a repeated left-hand bass figure, or ostinato.
• In terms of musical theory, this piece is structured in a binary, or two-part, form with each section being repeated. The primary key is D minor, the secondary, or dominant key, is A minor. Each of these sections begins with a fast sequence of sixteenth notes, then moves to a contrasting section with eighth notes. The first section ends with a Half Cadence, the second with a Perfect Cadence, serving to solidify the sense of key and preparing the way for the return to the home key of D minor in repetition and at the end.

Perfect for budding pianists looking to challenge their technical abilities while honing their understanding of Bach's music, Prelude D Minor, BWV 926 can be bought and downloaded directly from our website. Our intermediate version of this beautiful composition opens up the doorway to Bach's world.