This intimate nature finds an antithesis in the Toccata and Fugue in D minor,[68] which belongs chronologically to the same period; it is still Buxtehude, but it is conceived throughout in a picturesque style. It lacks only an argument to establish by every right its character as "program music." The two rapid and dazzling flashes, a peal of thunder, rumbling heavily in the reverberations of a chord slowly broken, and above the vibration of the deep pedal, augmented in intensity by its duration; wind, then hail;--we are in the midst of the classic tempest. Entirely a thing of virtuosity, appreciated even by those who take account of nothing in the arts but the illusion gained, the Toccata earned brilliant success for Bach upon his journey to the smaller German courts, and contributed in large measure toward the extension of his fame. [Footnote 68: P. iv, 4; B.-G. xv.] This composition belongs to a whole series of virtuosic works, as well as the prelude and fugue,[69] in E major in the edition of W. Rust (_Bach-Gesellschaft_), and in C in Griepenkerl's (Peters); and, above all, the celebrated fugue in D major.[70] [Footnote 69: P. iii, 7; B.-G. xv, p. 276. This work also bears the title of Toccata. It presents the peculiarity of being divided into four movements, whence, possibly, this designation, _concertato_, which accompanies it in one of the MSS. It is essentially an imitation of Buxtehude's compositions in several movements.] [Footnote 70: P. iv, 3; B.-G. xv, p. 88.] Despite the advance in technique, this prelude and fugue are still in the earlier manner; certain characteristics, such as the division into several movements, indicate that the early influences which governed Bach are still potent. Nevertheless, there is in the stately prelude something of the dignity of the French overture; in the _Alla Breve_[71] a recollection of the Italian compositions of the same name is natural. Thus later studies betray themselves more in certain details than in the work as a whole; the subject of the fugue reveals its similarity to Buxtehude in its general style, and in its movement (see the theme in F quoted previously). [Footnote 71: "It is not necessary," says Mattheson, "to indicate the degree of rapidity of an _alla breve_; these words suffice to animate the most sluggish brain, to make supple the heaviest of hands. For example, it is like 'clucking' to a horse."--_Grosse Generalbass-Schule_, Hamburg, 1732.]