Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E-flat major, BWV 998, is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach for Lute or Harpsichord. The piece was written around 1735. The original manuscript with the title "Prelude pour la Luth. ò Cembal. Par J.S. Bach" was sold at Christie's on July 13, 2016, for £2,518,500.
Structure
Prelude
The Prelude is similar to the Well-Tempered Clavier (the second book of which dates from around the same time as this work), in which there are many arpeggios. There is a pause in the motion, when just before the coda, there is a fermata over a third-inversion seventh chord with a rich suspension. There is a rare example of explicit consecutive fifths in the left-hand of bar 46.
Fugue
The Fugue is one of only three that Bach wrote in ternary form, with an exact repetition of its contrapuntally active opening section framing a texturally contrasting central section.
Allegro
The Allegro is a binary form dance with 16th notes.
Arrangement for guitar
Arranged for guitar, it is usually played in D major with a Drop D tuning. Julian Bream played it in a BBC2 broadcast on television in early 1978 at the All Saints chapel of Wardour Castle. In 1994 he recorded it on his album Bach Guitar Recital.