Bach: Preludes and Fugues in the Key of C from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 & 2
0Bach: Preludes and Fugues in the Key of C from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 & 2
Improvised piano arrangements by Werner Elmker
This video is part of a series of 12 videos presenting Bach's music in a new light.
By placing all the preludes and fugues in the same key together in one video, the listener will experience the similarities and differences in the styles of the two volumes of his most famous work, The Well-Tempered Clavier.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, clavier, meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of instruments, most typically the harpsichord or clavichord, but not excluding the organ.
The modern German spelling for the collection is Das wohltemperierte Klavier. Bach gave the title Das Wohltemperirte Clavier to a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 keys, major and minor, dated 1722, composed "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study". Some 20 years later, Bach compiled a second book of the same kind (24 pairs of preludes and fugues), which became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part Two.
Modern editions usually refer to both parts as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (WTC I) and The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (WTC II), respectively. The collection is generally regarded as one of the most important works in the history of classical music.
Each set contains twenty-four pairs of prelude and fugue. The first pair is in C major, the second in C minor, the third in C♯ major, the fourth in C♯ minor, and so on. The rising chromatic pattern continues until every key has been represented, finishing with a B minor fugue. The first set was compiled in 1722 during Bach's appointment in Köthen, the second followed 20 years later in 1742 while he was in Leipzig.
Bach's title suggests that he had written for a (12-note) well-tempered tuning system in which all keys sounded in tune (also known as "circular temperament"). One of the opposing systems in Bach's day was meantone temperament in which keys with many accidentals sound out of tune. Bach would have been familiar with different tuning systems, and in particular as an organist would have played instruments tuned to a meantone system.
It is sometimes assumed that by "well-tempered" Bach intended equal temperament, the standard modern keyboard tuning which became popular after Bach's death, but modern scholars suggest instead a form of well temperament. There is debate whether Bach meant a range of similar temperaments, perhaps even altered slightly in practice from piece to piece, or a single specific "well-tempered" solution for all purposes.
------------------------
Video produced by Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio
Werner Elmker is an award-winning independent Danish/American multimedia artist specializing in videography, photography, graphic design and piano/keyboard/vocal music. In his visual and musical creations, Werner emphasizes the importance of improvisation as the primary source of all great art forms.
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/wernerelmker
Facebook - http://facebook.com/elmker
Website - http://elmker.com