Toccata and Fugue in D minor

J. S. BachBWV 565

Key

Dm

Time

C

Tempo

♩=80

AO focus

AO3

Form

Toccata + Fugue paired piece. The toccata opens with the most-famous descending mordent in Western music, then explores D minor / its dominant through free improvisatory writing. The fugue follows, with a four-voice subject derived from the toccata's main motif.

Teaching points

• Toccata = touch piece — dramatic, free, virtuosic. The opening is meant to sound improvisatory
• Authorship debate: some musicologists question whether Bach wrote BWV 565 (style is unusual for him); the standard catalogue still credits Bach. Worth flagging in lesson
• AO3: how does Bach unify the two contrasting halves? Track the descending tetrachord motif through both
• Practical (organists): registration matters — start with a full plenum, drop to softer stops for the fugue subject's first entry