For our upcoming Ives Collective concert, Subject Matters, we have chosen three Preludes and Fugues composed or arranged from J.S. Bach by Mozart.

Why these three (out of the six published as K.404a)? All of the Preludes were actually composed by Mozart! The fugues are Mozart’s arrangements of fugues by Bach from the Well -Tempered Clavier. As you can see in the audio examples linked to below, Mozart changed the keys for all three works. As a violist himself Mozart understood that simply arranging the original three-voiced fugues in Bach’s keys would not result in the most resonant sound for the ensemble. His choices involve more open strings, making them far friendlier for players and their instruments.

Here are YouTube links to recordings of the original fugues by J.S. Bach which Mozart arranged for violin, viola and cello.

1) Fugue: Performance on piano with a graphic score (in Eb minor – D minor for the trio version):

2) Fugue: also a piano performance with score (In F# minor – G minor for the trio version):

3) Fugue: piano with score (in F# Major, not F as in the string trio):