Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine Choice; Gramophone Award Winner 2021
Featuring
Piotr Anderszewski
Johann Sebastian Bach
Did you know?
1/7
Composer's Artistic Vision
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, comprising 48 preludes and fugues, is considered a compendium of contrapuntal techniques and a forward-looking union of polyphony and harmony.
Composition History
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier was conceived for the 'use and improvement of musical youth eager to learn and for the particular delight of those already skilled'.
Composition History
Bach began constructing the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier around 1738, with documentation from his pupil J.F. Agricola and his wife Anna Magdalena Bach.
Composer Biography
Bach dedicated his first Clavierbüchlein to his nine-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann, in 1720, highlighting his emphasis on teaching performance and composition.
Composition History
Only a small fraction of Bach's compositions were published during his lifetime; The Well-Tempered Clavier was preserved in manuscript form for an exclusive audience.
Historical Context
The Well-Tempered Clavier likely originated in response to J.C.F. Fischer's Ariadne musica, a collection of preludes and fugues demonstrating the versatility of new keyboard tuning systems.
Compositional Technique
A 'well-tempered' keyboard allowed composers like Bach to write in remote or 'advanced' keys that would sound out of tune using older tuning methods.
You might also enjoy...
J. S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I BWV846-869
