The Well-Tempered Clavier (German: Das Wohltemperierte
Klavier), BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo
keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all
24 major and minor keys, 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". Bach later compiled a second book of
the same kind, dated 1742, with the title Twenty-four
Preludes and Fug...(+)
The Well-Tempered Clavier (German: Das Wohltemperierte
Klavier), BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo
keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all
24 major and minor keys, 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". Bach later compiled a second book of
the same kind, dated 1742, with the title Twenty-four
Preludes and Fugues. The two works are now considered
to make up a single work, The Well-Tempered Clavier, or
"the 48", and are referred to as The Well-Tempered
Clavier Book I and The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II,
respectively. This collection is generally regarded as
being among the most influential works in the history
of Western classical music.
The Prelude No. 6 in D minor (BWV 874) is from second
book of the Well-tempered Clavier and is a didactic
two-voice polyphonic piece of work, is dazzlingly fast,
powerful and tense throughout, capturing the
audience’s attention right from the beginning and
keeping them mesmerized till the end. As for the fugue,
though shorter, it is a three-voice chromatic study in
contrasting rhythms, with alto entering first, then
soprano and followed by bass. The piece is slightly
slower than the prelude and has an ending of twos
against threes, not commonly interpreted during Bach's
era.
Although originally written for keyboard, I created
this transcription for Viola and Cello.
PARTITION