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

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András Schiff’s two versions of the ‘48’ remain timeless classics. The first, a Decca recording from the 1980s, is poised and lyrical, if occasionally verging on the self-indulgent; the later, 2012 version on ECM would be my desert island choice. Schiff’s mature vision is more abstract, less sentimental: as such, we hear Bach’s music distilled to its essence, rather than the pianist’s personality. 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. ‎ Bach 1722 – Il temperamento di Dio[Bach, 1722, the temperament [from] God]. bach1722.com (Report) (in Italian). [ dead link] Underpinning so much of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s approach to Bach is identifying the provenance and essence of dramatic character, ‘mutant opera’ (as Gardiner calls it) found in genres – like the motet – which are not enacted but depend on perceptive rhetorical judgement within a fabric of rolling continuity. Bach’s motets may pay homage to forebears in scale, tone and technique but each one, especially revealed in this vibrant and questing new set, presses for fresh meaning with all the virtuoso means Bach could muster. a b Swich, Luigi (August 2011). "Further thoughts on Bach's 1722 temperament". Early Music. XXXIX (3): 401–407.

See also: List of keyboard and lute compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach §The Well-Tempered Clavier (846–893), and List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach §BGA14 Watkin plays the first five suites on a cello by Francesco Ruggieri – a luthier contemporary of Bach’s whose instruments are famed for their warmth of tone – and the sixth on a rare five-string cello by the Amati brothers of the same period. But the extraordinarily resonant sound he makes is probably less to do with the instruments than with the playing itself, which is warm, expansive, generous and friendly. That is not to say that this performance is not of the highest level intellectually and technically: it is, and largely because of its appreciation of these suites as not just dances but discourses almost verbal in their directness. It is as if all the work that Watkin has ever done on these pieces has been absorbed absolutely and then reproduced in a performance that is able to be completely original in its voice at the same time as never producing a phrase that jars in its unsubtlety, or presents an ego that overarches the music... Caroline Gill Another theory leads to Karlsbad," said Jörg Hansen, referring to the period when Bach was Kapellmeister (master of the chapel choir or orchestra) for Prince Leopold — ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen in what was then the Holy Roman Empire. The theory goes that on a visit with the court orchestra to the spa town in the current-day Czech Republic in 1720, Bach was "bored" and spent his spare time composing. Bach's musical guiding light Ledbetter, David. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: The 48 Preludes and Fugues (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002). ISBN 0-300-09707-7.The well-tempered Clavier, or Preludes and Fugues through all the tones and semitones, both as regards the tertiam majorem or Ut Re Mi [i.e., major] and tertiam minorem or Re Mi Fa [i.e., minor]. For the profit and use of the studious musical young, and also for the special diversion of those who are already skilful in this study, composed and made by Johann Sebastian Bach, for the time being Capellmeister and Director of the Chamber-music of the Prince of Anhalt-Cothen. In the year 1722. [31] Book 1 of The Well-tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach – Prelude in C major (BWV 846)", performed on a French harpsichord tuned in equal temperament by Robert Schröter. Fredrich Suppig: Labyrinthus musicus, Calculus musicus, facsimile of the manuscripts. Tuning and Temperament Library, Volume 3, edited by Rudolf Rasch. Diapason Press, Utrecht, 1990. J S Bach compiled two books of 24 Preludes and Fugues which he wrote at different times: the first was finished by 1722, the second by 1744 (or possibly earlier). Each book follows the same key scheme progression of major/minor pairs, beginning with C Major and ascending the 12-note chromatic scale (C Major, C minor, C-sharp Major, C-sharp minor etc.). Lowrance, Rachel A. (2013). "Instruction, Devotion, and Affection: Three Roles of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier". Musical Offerings. 4 (1): 15–30. doi: 10.15385/jmo.2013.4.1.2.

Performing in Leipzig's Gewandhaus, Schiff received a standing ovation for his latest Bach interpretation. He was subsequently awarded the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig for his cultivation of Bach's works. Lehman, Bradley (November 2005). "The 'Bach Temperament' and the Clavichord". Clavichord International. Vol.9, no.2. Gusztáv Fenyő performs these two exceptional cycles side-by-side in five recitals, each beginning with Bach and ending with Shostakovich, thus offering a unique listening experience which promises to enthral with the sheer abundance of musical ideas while highlighting their formal connections.

Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp major, BWV 848. Prelude also in WFB Klavierbüchlein, No. 21: Praeludium [8]. That Isabelle Faust and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin have let this Bach violin concertos album run to nearly 2 hours of music suggests a relish of their task that is mirrored triumphantly in the resultant music-making. Their choice of repertoire, too, feels driven by a desire to celebrate Bach’s life with the violin rather than document it. If they had wanted to be pedantically completist about it, we would have the Fifth Brandenburg and the Triple Concerto; instead we get the three known violin concertos plus the three most convincing reconstructions from harpsichord concertos, supplemented by a reconstruction of the putative early violin version of the B minor Flute Suite, and all neatly interspersed with arrangements of two of the organ sonatas and a clutch of cantata sinfonias (including the rarely heard, trumpet-and-drum-laden BWV1045, a violin concerto movement of some flashiness)... Lindsay Kemp But 300 years ago, harpsichords were tuned to sound "pure," as the younger Bach so admired. Playing a different key with the same tuning could sound off, meaning you had to tune the instrument differently for each key you wanted to play. Gardiner’s admiration for this work is palpable in every bar, perhaps over-curated for some; and if so the softer-hues of Cohen may be preferred. But in the grip of its conceits and its virtuoso executancy, captured in the strikingly immediate recorded sound of LSO St Luke’s, this High Mass joins a distinguished discography at high table... Jonathan Freeman-Attwood The division of Bach’s second book into three programmes rather than two, as for the first book, reflects the longer length of the individual pieces; Shostakovich’s Preludes & Fugues also vary in length. The Preludes & Fugues of both composers have been divided between the five programmes partly to create programmes of roughly similar duration, but also, where possible, to create an appropriate conclusion to each concert.