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The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue is an extravagant work of virtuosity and bold harmonic structure. It is an extraordinary piece - large, sprawling, emotional, and unique in its character compared to the rest of Bach's music. The title of the piece comes from either the fugue’s chromatic melody, or from the startling modulations in the Fantasia. Either opinion is equally acceptable and debated. Bach composed only a few “fantasies” – a type of prelude usually preceding a fugue. The Fantasia is highly virtuosic and similar in form to the toccata, English fantasy, and the canzone, in that it consists of alternating sections of differently textured music. The English fantasy differs from Bach’s fantasies because it does not contain any free, improvisational sections. And unlike the Italian canzone, Bach’s chromatic fantasy does not include sections of imitative counterpoint. The Fantasia consists of three main sections: the first (0:00) being a true prelude, the second (3:38) a rec
