Bach wtc book 1 b flat major scale

Not only across the whole span of the 24 keys, from c major to b minor, but even within the four or five minutes of a single preludefugue couple, bach can take you from the solemn polyphony of a renaissance cathedral to some avantgarde compositional workshop in late20th century darmstadt or paris. Bflat minor, bwv 867, fugue 3 the welltempered clavier, book 1, bwv 846869 23. In each book, the first prelude and fugue set is in c major, followed by the next in c minor and so they ascend chromatically in majorminor pairs. With the exact same proportional scarcity in his op. Colloquially known as the 48 from the two books of twentyfour preludes and fugues, these works form one of the great landmarks of keyboard repertoire.

Bach, prelude and fugue in b minor, wtc 1 notes in the cross. It is always amazing that bachs keyboard music is robust enough to withstand so many interpretations and transcriptions. This fugue stands out among bachs more celebrated affettuoso fugues in fsharp minor and related keys, such as the imposing fugue in b minor later in the welltempered clavier and both kyries from the mass in b minor, for its immediacy as well as its brevity. Aryeh has kindly helped to make four recordings of the first movement of the first partita in b flat major bwv 825 available as a starting point for discussion. This fugue is one of only two throughout both books of the welltempered clavier written in 5 voices the other is also in book 1 and in a minor key as well. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Both preludes and fugues of the welltempered clavier were based on popular. The preludes for the most part exhibit simple binary or ternary forms. She scales her bach to the rhythmic, structural and sonic needs of the music. The c major prelude from bachs welltempered clavier, book i, william drabkin, music analysis, vol. Joanna mcgregor is one of britains leading pianists. A highly interesting fugue, presenting seme unusual features the most striking is the treatment of the two new counterpoints which accompany the entry of the subject in bar 33. Here, the piano is not so far removed from the original keyboards of bachs time, but the interpretation by daniel barenboim of the welltempered clavier, book 1, is slightly unusual.

Good examples are the concurrence of fgabbb in one chord bar 18, beat 1, with g in the bass and gabbbc bar 23, beat 1, with ab in bass rather rare in js bach s oeuvre see for a similar dissonance e. Fugue in bflat major 119 brilliant see example 2, and in moderate tempo, gently som. Texture is manipulated as a way of shaping the musical discourse. As a result, bflat major is one of the most popular keys for concert band compositions in most central and northern european languages german, hungarian, nordic, baltic, western and southern slavic languages, except bulgarian, the pitch. The welltempered clavier part i bwv 846869 details g. I have to tell something about the 21st prelude and fugue from the 2nd wtc.

A distinct textural change divides the composition. Structure and performance timing in bachs c major prelude wtci. Lossless files are 96 khz24bit, compressed with flac. Similar to the previous prelude is the one in e minor from book 1. B major, bwv 868, fugue 2 the welltempered clavier, book 2, bwv 870893 1. I have every bach recording schiff has made, and his wtc is far and away his superior effort. Proving that jill crossland well deserves her enviable reputation as a bach pianist bbc music magazine, this superb recording of bachs welltempered clavier, book 1, is a great way to start the new year on signum. Good examples are the concurrence of fgabbb in one chord bar 18, beat 1, with g in the bass and gabbbc bar 23, beat 1, with ab in bass rather rare in js bachs oeuvre see for a similar dissonance e. First, it is one of the rare fugues with five voices there are two in book 1 of the welltempered clavier, and none in book 2. Are there any websitesother resources available that will be useful for me. This comprehensive, indepth work book on bachs welltempered clavier should be part of every pianists, piano teachers, and advanced piano amateurs library.

Most piano performances of this work fall into one of two. Wtc book ii was compiled about 20 years after book i, and bach may have lost interest in such overt educational. Bach wrote hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, as well as many other instruments. A detailed guide that analyzes the structural, harmonic and thematic frame of the prelude and the fugue. For example the first prelude, in c major, was originally an improvisation exercise on the given chord sequence, written for bachs son wilhelm friedemann, and the version in the wtc is bachs solution manual to the exercise. Bach, the well tempered clavier, book i, fugue no 21 in bflat major, bwv 866. Lossy files have been converted with lame, mp3 vbr v0. In bach s time clavier was a generic name indicating a variety of keyboard instruments, most typically a harpsichord or clavichord but not excluding an organ either the modern german spelling for the collection is. As on his 1989 goldberg variations recording, barenboims approach to the welltempered clavier book 1 puts pianism first and counterpoint last. Bars 127 in its sectional form, the fugue in b major resembles the fugue in bflat major, a few pages earlier in the wtc, at least at first blush, but the differences between them are revealing. Why did bach write pieces in csharp major rather than dflat. In bflat major, after the central cadence two serious countersubjects are unleashedadding up to three contrapuntal lines with just. The just tempered scale was built around the pythagor.

Csharp was not the same as dflat because they did not use the even tempered scale of modern times, rather they used the just tempered scale. Does the scale bflat major have any general meaning or does it stand for anything in bach pieces. Liberal applications of the sustain pedal, relaxed tempos, strong dynamic contrasts, and subtle coloration mark barenboims playing, and he aims in each of bachs 48 epigrammatic preludes and fugues to find a unique character, an individual world of drama a. Wtc book 1, prelude and fugue in b flat major, bwv 866 by walter gieseking piano on amazon music. From all the works written in the baroque era, no other work has been so wellcherished, frequently performed and thoroughly studied than this work of bachs. Prelude and fugue in bflat minor, bwv 867 bach, johann. Prelude and fugue in b flat major, from book i, welltempered clavier johann sebastian bach.

Upon hearing the w ork in its e ntirety, gr oupin g the pieces by key, a listener can clearly iden tify pieces of the same k ey not only because o f. C major, bwv 870, prelude 2 30 the welltempered clavier, book 2, bwv 870893 1. Bach, the welltempered clavier, book 1 sviatoslav richter 1969 duration. In 1722 the scale commonly in use today had not been. If you want a more detailed discussionanalysis of this piece, you could look at. I need some help analyzing the prelude in c maj from bachs wtc book 2. Fugue in bflat major the welltempered clavier, book 2.

Happy 250th, well tempered clavier, book i the new york. And if the tonality had any meaning that would be a good thing to mention. Last year i asserted that by one measure of statistical count, the second book of bachs welltempered clavier wtc is more chromatic than his first book. Many transposing instruments are pitched in bflat major, including the clarinet, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and soprano saxophone. The welltempered clavier, bwv 846893, is a collection of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, composed for solo keyboard by johann sebastian bach. Js bach prelude and fugue 21 in bflat major synthesia piano. Prelude and fugue in bflat major, bwv 866 bach, johann. Daniel barenboim takes to bachs great first book of the welltempered clavier like a virtuoso of the old school. An exceptionally great welltempered clavier played with deep expressiveness and intelligence, danielben pienaar blends the gentle with the strong in this recording for a brilliant interpretation of johann sebastian bachs solo piano music. Js bach, the welltempered clavier, book i, fugue no 21 in bflat. Part 1 of johann sebastian bachs welltempered clavier has survived in a complete autograph. Prelude and fugue in bflat major from welltempered. The 14 notes long subject is said to be related to bachs name. Pablo casals reportedly claimed that one should play bach like brahms, and daniel barenboim certainly takes that advice to heart.

Pienaar shows great range in taking on the extraordinarily wide range of styles represented in this body of work, and all four albums in this. A4 pages, 600 dpi scan with stamp added showing the printed source and a digital table of contents built by the uploader. Volume ii deals with the preludes and fugues wtc i, nos. You added the second example after this answer, so, for completeness sake, ill put my comment up here. Js bach, the welltempered clavier book 1, detailed.