Well-Tempered Clavier I:48 Preludes and Fugues BWV 846-869 for Keyboard (Piano) Sheet music – January 1, 1990

Johann Sebastian Bach's idea of composing a collection of preludes and fugues in all major and minor keys was new and revolutionary in the second decade of the 18th century, particularly when considering that the tuning in use up top then distributed pure and impure intervals irregularly throughout the keys. The result was that one could play very well in many keys, but not at all in others. Bach was the first composer to conquer the entire breadth pf tonality in his Das Wohltemperirte Clavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier), thus providing the musical world with a masterpiece of keyboard literature. The Well-Tempered Clavier is the Old Testament, Beethoven's sonatas the New. We must believe in both. Hans von Bülow The preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier embrace an entire cosmos of compositional devices and musical characters the ne plus ultra of unity through diversity. Here Bach not only presented the sum total of keyboard artistry in his day but foresaw its future evolution. His treatment of the keys marked a turning point in music history. - Contents: Prelude and Fugue in C major BWV 846; Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV 847; Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major BWV 848; Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor BWV 849; Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 850; Prelude and Fugue in D minor BWV 851; Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major BWV 852; Prelude and Fugue E-flat/D sharp minor BWV 853; Prelude and Fugue in E major BWV 854; Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 855; Prelude and Fugue in F major BWV 856; Prelude and Fugue in F minor BWV 857; Prelude and Fugue in F sharp major BWV 858; Prelude and Fugue F sharp minor BWV 859; Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV 860; Prelude and Fugue in G minor BWV 861; Prelude and Fugue in A-flat major BWV 862; Prelude and Fugue in G sharp minor BWV 863; Prelude and Fugue in A major BWV 864; Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 865; Prelude and Fugue in B-flat major BWV 866; Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor BWV 867; Prelude and Fugue in B-major BWV 868; Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 869; Appendix Fugue in D minor BWV 851/2 Read more