Bach′s Well–Tempered Clavier – The 48 Preludes and Fugues

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The composers listed below, who lived and composed in the 19th and 20th centuries, employed this format.

The second best thing, therefore, is to become a good Bach interpreter, he said. "I will continue to play Bach every day on the clavichord in my living room," the 68-year-old added. Andras Schiff is presented with the Bach Medal Image: Gert Mothes/Bachfest The art of 'beautiful'instrument tuning The portions of Book 1 performed by Martha Goldstein and in the public domain include the following (all on harpsichord): "Prelude in C major" (BWV 846), Fugue in C major (BWV 846), Prelude No. 2 in C minor (BWV 847), Fugue No. 2 in C minor (BWV 847), "Fugue No. 4 in C ♯ minor" (BWV 849), "Prelude No. 5 in D major" (BWV 850), "Fugue No. 5 in D major" (BWV 850), "Prelude No. 6 in D minor" (BWV 851), "Fugue No. 6 in D minor" (BWV 851), "Prelude No. 21 in B ♭ major" (BWV 866), and "Fugue No. 21 in B ♭ major" (BWV 866).While John Eliot Gardiner performed his near-complete Bach sacred cantata ‘pilgrimage’ in the course of the great millennial year in 50 contrasting locations, Masaaki Suzuki’s 18-year journey has been a gradually unfolding musical voyage (a chronological rather than seasonal progression) and in the singular, luminous hallmark acoustic of the Shoin Women’s University Chapel in Kobe. Comparisons of two exceptional Bach projects are largely rendered odious by the fact that Gardiner’s work largely represents a repository of recorded concerts while Suzuki’s has been a considered, slow-burn studio project. If the early critical rhetoric of Vol 1 (Cantatas Nos 4, 150 and 196 – 6/96) was one of astonishment that a Japanese choir could sing such perfect German or that Japanese instrumentalists could comprehend ‘style’ so effortlessly, it soon became apparent that the world is smaller than we think and that Suzuki’s subtle and embedded understanding of Bach was yielding an important set of new recorded ‘texts’ in a global musical language. No complete series can deliver equal inspiration in every volume but Suzuki and BCJ have created an indelible mark on Bach’s recorded vocal landscape. The best is as good as anyone anywhere – and the whole, of the six complete cantata sets, probably the most consistent... Jonathan Freeman‑Attwood Sacred Cantatas

Interestingly, they also rate the E major prelude (BWV 854) at level 4 with its companion fugue coming in at level 6. At the higher end of difficulty is the prelude in B minor (BWV 869), at level 6, and its accompanying fugue at level 7. None of either Book 1 or Book 2 is graded above a level 7 by Henle. Prelude and Fugue in E major, BWV 854 [ commons]. Prelude also in WFB Klavierbüchlein, No. 19: Praeludium 6. The first thing you notice about this remarkable recording is the unusual warmth and tonal vibrancy of the harpsichord, built in 2013 by Huw Sanders after a German two-manual model from around 1710. Mahan Esfahani obviously revels in its capabilities as he takes you on an arresting journey through Bach’s Goldberg Variations, where his sophisticated virtuosity, stylistic aplomb and strong personal profile give fresh and meaningful voice to this well-travelled score. His navigation of the music’s structure (with all repeats intact, including those in the Aria da capo) is carefully considered without sounding in the least bit studied, or different for the sake of being different... Jed Distler Among the most charismatic classic accounts from yesteryear are Glenn Gould’s (brilliant, if manic) and Richter’s (expansive and lyrical), but my definitive choice would be Swiss pianist Edwin Fischer, who made the first complete recording in the mid-1930s. It remains a landmark. Nevertheless, some musicologists say there is insufficient proof that Bach's looped drawing signifies anything reliable about a tuning method. Bach may have tuned differently per occasion, or per composition, throughout his career.J S Bach (1685-1750) compiled two books of 24 Preludes and Fugues for keyboard under the title ‘The Well-tempered Clavier’. They were written at different times – the first, in Cöthen, was finished by 1722, the second, while in Leipzig, by 1744 (or possibly earlier). Bach recycled some of the preludes and fugues from earlier sources: the 1720 ‘ Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’ (one of his sons) contains versions of eleven of the preludes of the first book of ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’. Alexander Siloti transcribed a piano arrangement of the early version of Prelude and Fugue in E minor ( BWV 855a), transposed into a Prelude in B minor. [ citation needed] Recordings [ edit ]

groups of dances, "clearly related to 12 major and 12 minor keys" (1584) by Vincenzo Galilei (c.1528–1591) [5] [ failed verification] Cosma, Viorel (2001). "Daniel Croner". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nded.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5. ‎Palisca, Claude V. (2001). "Vincenzo Galilei". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nded.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5. ‎