[A.Sax.]Fantasia Cromatica/J.S.Bach | Arr. Takuya Tanaka

Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903 is a keyboard work by Johann Sebastian Bach consisting of two sections: a Fantasia and a Fugue. No autograph manuscript survives, and the work is known through 18th-century copies, so the exact date of composition is unknown. It is generally considered to belong to a period when Bach was renowned as an outstanding keyboard improviser. The intended instrument is also not specified; performances have historically been given on harpsichord or clavichord, and later on the piano.

The opening Fantasia is freely constructed, unconstrained by strict meter or formal rules. Chromatic figures, sudden harmonic shifts, broken chords, and recitative-like passages appear in alternation. The extensive use of chromaticism is a defining feature of the work and has been associated with the Italian style and the improvisatory traditions of the North German keyboard school. The music often proceeds with an ambiguous sense of tempo and pulse, and its character can vary greatly depending on the performer’s use of ornamentation and timing.

In contrast, the following Fugue is a strict contrapuntal work with a clear meter and formal structure. Its subject is a distinctive, highly chromatic theme that is imitated and developed throughout all voices. The fugue is relatively expansive, characterized by dense voice leading and sustained tension. The chromatic elements introduced in the Fantasia are here organized through contrapuntal treatment, resulting in a more architectonic musical expression.

By uniting a free fantasia with a rigorous fugue within a single work, this piece occupies a unique position in Bach’s keyboard music. It also exerted a strong influence on later composers and performers and is often regarded as a forerunner of the dramatic and improvisatory expressions found in Romantic keyboard music. Within the history of keyboard music, it stands as an important work that demonstrates both expressive freedom and structural mastery at a high level.

In this arrangement, the opening Fantasia has been arranged as an alto saxophone solo.