The Well-Tempered Clavier was designed for both the instruction of young musicians and the entertainment of those already versed in music.
Compositional Technique
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier explores all twelve major and minor keys, allowing modulation to any key without sounding out of tune.
Performer Biography
Alexandra Papastefanou, the pianist on this recording, has performed all of Bach's keyboard works, including his complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, and The Art of Fugue.
Cultural Impact
Pianist Hans von Bülow famously called Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier 'the Old Testament of the piano', with Beethoven's Piano Sonatas as 'the New Testament'.
Historical Context
The first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier was written in 1722, when Bach was Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen.
Performer Biography
Alexandra Papastefanou studied piano with notable teachers including Olga Zhukova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and György Sebők at the University of Indiana.
Composition History
J. S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier was written in two books, composed about twenty years apart.
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