The repetitiveness of this substantial work has led scholars to doubt that it's actually by Bach, although it could well be an immature composition of his. In any case, it begins with a canzona-style fugue arising from a static, Morse Code-like dot-dash figure that chugs bar by bar up a few steps of the scale, then flows all over the staff in a shower of counterpoint. The fugue culminates in a brief cadenza. After a pause, the music continues with a meditative Adagio, whose melody struggles upward in the last few bars. After another brief pause, the Fantasia concludes with a gentle Allegro that again gives an impression of upward mobility, even though it is based on a descending hexachord.

© James Reel, All Music Guide