This is the penultimate piece in the set of Little Preludes (12), a collection of pedagogical pieces meant largely for novice keyboard players. But as pure music, these dozen works are all worthwhile, even masterful. Bach, it should be mentioned, did not assemble them into any group, having written them separately in or around the period 1717-1720. Placing them in a Little Preludes set according to their key sequence, however, makes sense both for the student and listener. This Prelude in G minor is similar in part to the first three and the fifth in this set, works founded upon a motif derived from a broken chord, which repeats throughout the piece. Here, however, Bach does not continually repeat the motif in the same guise, but expands on the thematic material, allowing it to take on greater complexity than its counterparts in those earlier preludes. The music here also divulges greater depth in its contrapuntal aspects and other harmonic features. In the end, this minute-and-a-half work must be assessed as one of the finer Little Preludes. The original manuscript of this piece contains fingering indications written by the composer, the only Little Prelude receiving such personal treatment.

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