This Praeludium in E minor is one of Buxtehude's longer seven-section praeludia at 155 measures. It consists of four free toccata segments and three fugues. The outer two free sections are the most substantial while the two interior free sections are tiny in comparison. In fact it could be argued that there is no free section in between the first and second fugue, since the first fugue only briefly breaks down into rhapsodic material before the second fugue starts. Like BuxWV 141, there may be a vague thematic connection between the three fugue subjects, but they do not exhibit the same tight thematic connection found in BuxWV 140. Typical of Buxtehude all three fugues are in different meters, the first in common time, the second in 3/2 time, and the third in 12/8. The first fugue has one chromatic inflection with an A' which is raised to an A sharp'. The second fugue subject takes the chromaticism issue much further with a descending chromatic line from B' down to G'. The last free section grows so spontaneously out of the final 12/8 fugue that it is difficult to decide where the fugue ends and the free section begins, but the last two thirds of the 12/8 music contain no complete entrances of the fugue subject.

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