Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, no matter how often you have heard it before, simply takes you places! Electrifying, transcendent, mathematically complex, and yet naturally organic and majestic. It is not by accident the most famous fugue by any composer ever.

The piece was salvaged from oblivion through a copy by Johannes Ringk, who had copied a number of Bach’s works, but it became publicly known only about 100 years after its conception, when Felix Mendelssohn organized its first major public performance in Leipzig in 1840. In the 20th century, its popularity soared through numerous adaptations for piano, violin, solo flute, horn, symphonic orchestra, and even rock performances.

Latvian organist Liene Andreta Kalnciema gifts us with a beautiful performance at Riga Cathedral.