The 'well-tempered tuning system', which made all semitones ideally the same distance apart, enabled pieces in keys with more than four accidentals, which were not possible with earlier tuning systems.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The 24 preludes and fugues in 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' served as a compendium of playing techniques, genres, forms of keyboard music, and the art of composition.
Performer Biography
Heidrun Holtmann has performed with major orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and at international festivals including the Salzburg Festival.
Compositional Technique
Bach's 'Well-Tempered Clavier' was revolutionary for being the first time a composer wrote works in all twelve major and all twelve minor keys of the chromatic scale.
Performer Biography
Heidrun Holtmann, the pianist on this recording, won first prize at the 'Concours Géza Anda' in Zurich in 1982, making her the youngest winner to date.
Composition History
Johann Sebastian Bach compiled the first book of 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' during his years as Kapellmeister in Köthen (1717 to 1723).
Instruments
The term "Clavier" in Bach's time referred to various keyboard instruments, including the 'Hammerklavier', clavichord (which Bach particularly liked), spinet, two-manual harpsichord, and organ.
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