Preludes and Fugues, B302
Opus number
–
Burghauser catalogue number
302
Date of composition
1859
Premiere - date and place
Nos. 5 and 8: 30 July 1859, Prague
Premiere performer(s)
Nos. 5 and 8: Antonin Dvorak
First edition
Nos. 1 and 7: SNKLHU (in: Ceska varhanni tvorba ), 1954, Prague
komplet: Editio Supraphon, 1980, Prague
Parts / movements
1. Prelude in D major
2. Prelude in G major
3. Prelude in A minor
4. Prelude in B flat major
5. Prelude in D major
6. Fughetta in D major
7. Fugue in D major
8. Fugue in G minor
Duration
approx. 19 min.
Only a few works have survived from the time Dvorak studied at the Prague organ school – apart from the piano polka Per pedes, these include a handful of organ works: five preludes, one fughetta and two fugues. They were essentially school etudes whose main purpose was to demonstrate in practice everything the student had learned from his music theory classes. These are the only known compositions Dvorak wrote for solo organ. Dvorak, then aged 18, performed two of them – the Prelude in D major and the Fugue in G minor – at a graduation concert on 30 July 1859. According to a review in Dalibor magazine, Dvorak performed these works “superbly”.