Georg Wilhelm Saxer, Präludium und Fuge, D Dur (2)
The last piece in the Leipziger manuscript with signature Becker II.2.51 is a prelude with a fugue. It has no named composer in the manuscript. However, based on the style of the piece I think it is save to presume Georg Wilhelm Saxer is the composer of this piece. The prelude is well written piece, with a strong motivic force, that is used through the entire piece. One could call it a Toccata, and with good reason. The fugue is like the other fugues by Saxer: very little musical development, just four expositions in a row, joined by very short episodic phrases. The overal effect is more like a concerto than a fugue. It is a great piece to play and (in my opinion) a great piece to listen to. Sadly, it’s the last Saxer composition available in this manuscript. Even though I wish there were more, we have to make do with the five preludes, published on this site in the last two months.
The recording was done on the sampleset, made by Voxus, of the Matthijs van Deventer-orgel in the Grote Kerk, Nijkerk.
Score
Saxer, Praeludium und Fuge, D Dur (2)
Performance
Saxer, Praeludium und Fuge, D Dur (2)
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Could you please explain in more detail what these stylistic similarities are that make you attribute this and the previously published pieces to Saxer? Because, when analysing for example the fugues and their expositions and developments, I can’t really find many characteristics that tie them together in a particular way, other than the fact that they were clearly written in the North German style. But I’m more a performer than a scholar or musicologist, so I’d like very much to learn more about your reasons (via private message too, if you prefer).
Many thanks
I’m certainly no scholar or musicologist either, so you should always read my comments critically. That said, the similarities are mostly in the fugues. They are all rather unimaginative, consist for by far the largest part of a series of expositions and contain hardly any development of the musical material. They sound to me as all having been written by the same composer. The fugue by Brunckhorst and the Canzona by Werckmeister sound a lot more imaginative, therefore my supposition that the compositions without named composer are by Saxer as well. There exists another manuscript with compositions by Saxer, that I would like to compare to the manuscript that contains the compositions I already [ublished. Sadly, I have not yet been able to find a digital copy of that other manuscript.