{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A prelude and fugue is a musical form generally consisting of two

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

in the same key for solo

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

. In

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, the combination of prelude and

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

is one with a long history. Many composers have written works of this kind. The use of this format is generally inspired by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

's two books of preludes and fugues — ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time ''clavier'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...

'' — completed in 1722 and 1742 respectively. Bach, however, was not the first to compose such a set:

Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (some authorities use the spelling Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer) (1656 August 27, 1746) was a German Baroque composer. Johann Nikolaus Forkel ranked Fischer as one of the best composers for keyboard of his da ...

wrote a 20-key cycle in his 1702 work ''

Ariadne musica ''Ariadne musica'' is a collection of organ music by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, first published in 1702. The main part of the collection is a cycle of 20 preludes and fugues in different keys, so ''Ariadne musica'' is considered an important ...

''. A number of composers wrote sets of pieces covering all 24 major and/or minor keys. Many of these have been sets of 24 preludes and fugues, or 24 preludes. The first movement may be alternatively titled, resulting in a Fantasy and Fugue, or a toccata and fugue, among others.

Works

The following works employ, sometimes loosely, the prelude-and-fugue format. * Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer: ''

'' (1702) * Johann Pachelbel : Prelude and Fugue in E minor, P.416 *

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf near Kirchberg i ...

** Prelude and Fugue in D minor, GWV 826 (1715-1716) ** Prelude and Fugue in A minor, GWV 855 (1716) *

: **

Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566 Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in (C or) E major, BWV 566 is an organ work written by Johann Sebastian Bach probably during his 4 month-stay at Lübeck or afterwards in the winter of 1705– 1706. It comprises five sections and is an early work in g ...

(ca. 1705) **

Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 is a piece of organ repertoire, organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime around his years as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708–1713). Extended footnote 1, with references in Germ ...

(sometime around 1708–1717) **

Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544 Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544 is a piece of organ repertoire, organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1727 and 1731, during his tenure in Leipzig. Unlike most other organ Prelude and fugue, preludes and fugues of Bach, ...

Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 is a piece of organ repertoire, organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the Prelude (music), prelude dating around his time in Leipzig (1723–1750), and the fugue dating around his time in Weimar ( ...

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1727 and 1736, during his time in Leipzig. The work is sometimes called "The Wedge" due to the chromatic outward motion of the fugue ...

** ''

'', Books I and II (1722 and 1742) * Uncertain (formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach) –

Eight Short Preludes and Fugues The Eight Short Prelude (music), Preludes and Fugues (also Eight Little Preludes and Fugues), BWV 553–560, are a collection of works for keyboard and pedal formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. They are now believed to have been composed ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

** Prelude (Fantasy) and Fugue in C major K.394 (1782) ** Adagio and Fugue in C minor K.546 (1788) *

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

: Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35 (1827/37) * Franz Liszt: ** '' Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos ad salutarem undam'' (1850) ** '' Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H'' (1855 rev. 1870) *

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

: Prélude, Choral et Fugue (1884) *

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

: '' Introduktion, Passacaglia und Fuge'' *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

: ''

Ludus Tonalis ''Ludus Tonalis'' ("Play of Tones", "Tonal Game", or "Tonal Primary School" after the Latin ''Ludus Litterarius''), subtitled ''Kontrapunktische, tonale, und Klaviertechnische Übungen'' (''Counterpoint, tonal and technical studies for the piano ...

'' (1942) *

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

: '' Spitfire Prelude and Fugue'' (1942) *

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

: '' Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs'' (1949) *

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (1950–51)

Composers

The composers listed below, who lived and composed in the 19th and 20th centuries, employed this format. *

Mark Alburger Mark Alburger (born April 2, 1957 in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania; died June 20, 2023 in Vacaville, California) was a San Francisco Bay area composer and conductor. He was the founder and music director of the San Francisco Composer ...

, ''12 Topical Preludes and Fugues'' * Algernon Ashton *

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

David Cope David Howell Cope (May 17, 1941 – May 4, 2025) was an American author, composer, scientist, and Dickerson Professor of Music at UC Santa Cruz. His primary area of research involved artificial intelligence and music; he wrote programs and algo ...

, 48 Preludes and Fugues * David Diamond, 52 Preludes and Fugues * Hiroshi Hara * Hans Huber *

Alexander Iakovtchouk Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are ...

* Andersen Viana - Sinfonia Amerindia/Prelude and Fugue * David Johnson, 12 Preludes and Fugues * A. A. Klengel * Trygve Madsen, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 101 * Henry Martin *

* Bruce Cameron Munson * Frank Tveor Nordensten *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, 3 Preludes and Fugues, Opp. 99 & 109 * Vsevolod Zaderatsky, 24 Preludes and Fugues, 1937-39 *

, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, 1950–51 *

Dmitri Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

, 6 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 61, 1958–59 *

Rodion Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR St ...

, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, composed in 1964 and 1970 * Igor Rekhin (b. 1941 in

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

, Russia), 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo Guitar, 1990 *

Sergei Slonimsky Sergei Mikhailovich Slonimsky (; 12 August 1932 – 9 February 2020) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist and musicologist. Biography He was the son of the Soviet writer Mikhail Slonimsky and nephew of the Russian-American composer N ...

, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, 1994 *

Nikolai Kapustin Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin ( ; 22 November 19372 July 2020) was a Russian composer and pianist of Russian-Jewish descent. He played with early Soviet jazz bands such as the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. In his compositions, mostly for piano, he o ...

, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82, 1997 Musical forms * *