This praeludium in G minor consists mostly of fugal material. The first imitative section starts midway through the third bar, and each of the four fugues in the praeludium are separated by only brief rhapsodic episodes, the longest of which is only ten measures occurring between the second and third fugue. Not all of the fugue subjects are thematically related, but the fourth fugue is a variation on the second fugue subject, with a few alterations adapting from common time to 3/4 time. The second and fourth fugue are also the most substantial of the four fugues, making it possible to see the first and third fugues as a sort of extension of the free toccata-like segments that they follow. If the praeludia is looked at in this light it makes a classic five-section praeludium. Also worth noting, Buxtehude employs double invertible counterpoint in the second fugue.

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