What is toccata and fugue in d minor by Bach about?
It can be called a prelude. It is a toccata. This is an example of “absolute music,” that is, music which is not written to have a meaning beyond the sounds that you hear. Towards the beginning of the baroque period (Bach was at the end) there was formulated a “catalog of affections.” Different tempos and keys were supposed to represent different emotions. One could go out on a limb and say that certain baroque composers associated certain emotions with certain keys and tempi, but this would be speculative. The best answer is that this piece is about its effect on you. It is also about its musical form, the way a work of architecture is in some ways about the beauty of its form. Ultimately it comes down to this: According to Mendelssohn, music is much more specific than words and expresses things that words cannot express. According to Stravinsky, music is much less specific than words, and can never convey meaning. You pick. More important: are you enjoying it? By the way, this piece
