This instrument, although of modest dimensions, responded to the touch with remarkable precision and promptness. And we have good reason for believing that Bach had it in mind when he wrote the Toccata in _F_ major;[104] this piece has always been played, traditionally, at a very rapid tempo; and one encounters at various points high _f's_ and _e's_ in the pedal part. If Bach, who was continually seeking new instruments or improvements hitherto ignored, had not had at his disposition a _pedalier_ upon which he could play this pedal part, he undoubtedly would have so written it as to make it generally practicable for performance. It seems evident, on the contrary, that he composed this work only in order to take advantage of a resource which he had not encountered before; thus the date of this Toccata appears to be between the years 1717 and 1723, the period of Bach's residence in Cöthen. [Footnote 104: P. iii, 2. B.-G. xv, p. 155.] While remarkably brilliant, this work bears the stamp of a certain dryness; it is somewhat too much of a "show-piece,"[105] perhaps the best one of this type which Bach wrote; quite different, in so far, from the fugue in _A_ major joined to the prelude in the same key.[106] [Footnote 105: The beginning, at least; while the conclusion is characterized by repetitions, this part of the work is not its least imposing portion.] [Footnote 106: P. ii, 3. B.-G. xv, p. 120.] This fugue (also from the Cöthen period, as well as the prelude, to judge them by the pedal, which extends to _e'_) occupies an entirely individual position among the works of Bach--one which is shared by no other work. One would say that in writing this fugue he had relaxed from the severity which the grandeur of the instrument inspired in him, lending to the work the intimate charm of a somewhat effeminate grace of movement. The elusive rhythm of the subject, and even the theme in its entirety (though a different way), bear a strange resemblance to this fugue subject: [Music] given out by the oboe, repeated first by the flute, then by the _viola d'amore_, and finally by the _viola da gamba_, above the _continuo_ in the cantata "_Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn_."[107] [Footnote 107: This cantata, written for soloists, was first performed December 29, 1715. B.-G. xxx, 2.]