The Well-Tempered Clavier is two sets of preludes and
fugues for keyboard. Each set consists of twenty four
preludes and fugues in all of the major and minor keys
in ascending order. They were published in two separate
"books," Book I, which was composed in 1722, and Book
II, composed in 1744. The title of the work refers to a
then new system of tuning, called equal temperament, in
which an octave was divided into twelve equal
intervals. This method of tuning replaced an earlier
one called meant...(+)
The Well-Tempered Clavier is two sets of preludes and
fugues for keyboard. Each set consists of twenty four
preludes and fugues in all of the major and minor keys
in ascending order. They were published in two separate
"books," Book I, which was composed in 1722, and Book
II, composed in 1744. The title of the work refers to a
then new system of tuning, called equal temperament, in
which an octave was divided into twelve equal
intervals. This method of tuning replaced an earlier
one called meantone tuning, in which the key of C major
and those near it were purely intonated, while keys
with many sharps or flats would be out of tune. In the
meantone system, each tone and semitone is subtly
different, while the equal tempered system eschewed
perfect intonation for an equal division of the octave,
such that each tone and semitone was equal. Bach
certainly recognized the value of such a system--it
allowed for greater freedom of modulation and use of
chromaticism--and his Well-Tempered Clavier served as
an effective promotion of this new tuning method. It is
a vivid demonstration of the flexibility and
practicality of the equal or "well" tempered keyboard.
It is also an example of Bach's compositional genius
and good taste: as his first biographer Johann Forkel
noted, despite its perfectly idiomatic music and
attention to specific technical issues, Bach likely
composed this work away from the keyboard while on a
trip with his patron, Prince Leopold.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, according to Bach's own
hand, is a collection first and foremost of pedagogical
works--it is thought that these pieces were designed
for the instruction of Bach's sons--secondly as
divertissements. The original title page bears the
inscription: "For the needs and use of Musical youth,
as well as those already experienced in this study for
the passing of time." Each fugue is preceded by an
improvisatory prelude, in which a particular melodic
motive is developed and embellished, often over a fixed
harmonic pattern. The fugues are perhaps less academic
that some of Bach's other contrapuntal music: they
feature all of the complex fugal techniques one would
expect, but the technical features of the
fugue--stretto, augmentation, and diminution--are not
obtrusive, as they might otherwise be in a more
pedantic work. Bach also employs strong rhythmic
figures, derived from dance music, to great effect in
this work.
Like many of Bach's great pedagogical works, the
Well-Tempered Clavier is a collection of pieces whose
musical value is as great as their instructional value.
Each piece tests different techniques and addresses
different technical challenges; however, Bach is
careful not to sacrifice musicality for pedagogy, so
that fugal subjects are simple yet interesting, motives
are tastefully developed, and melodic lines are supple
and shapely. There is no paucity of purely musical
ideas in this work. Book II, composed some twenty-two
years after the first, is noticeably less pedagogical
in its emphasis, and is obviously addressed to the
accomplished player rather than the "Musical youth"
described on the title page of Book I. Book II also
does not, in the printed score, make a point of equal
temperament: by 1744, this new system was no longer
new, and no longer required Bach's advocacy.
This prelude (BWV 847) in C Minor, like its predecessor
in C Major, is known to virtually every keyboard
student. Its first half is fast and motoric, with a
little tick-tock figure occurring on the downbeats. A
transitional passage brings some relief from the driven
nature of the rhythm, and this dissolves into a brief
toccata that retains a kinship to the earlier music
even as it surges up and down the keyboard.
The fugue offers surprising contrast: a studied, rather
playful figure consisting of a triplet, almost a little
trill, followed by two more notes. This figure repeats
and spins out enough material to support a multivoice
fugue, maintaining a strong presence even during an
episode of otherwise generic passagework. .
PARTITION