Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was most famous during his lifetime as a keyboard virtuoso, principally as an organist but also as a harpsichord player, and he composed a significant body of keyboard music. Many of these works (including transcriptions of his organ music) occupy a central place in the repertoire of pianists both amateur and professional, delighting players and listeners alike to this day. The keyboard music that Bach published falls into four anthologies, each titled Clavier Übung (Keyboard Practice), a rather dry title for what turns out to be an amazing wealth of music! Other works, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I and II, while not published by Bach, circulated widely in manuscript form and have been influential on composers and performers: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Reger, Schumann, Busoni and many others have fallen under Bach's spell, using his music to develop their own and their students' techniques, and inspired by Bach's extraordinary achievement when composing their own works. Books I and II of The Well-Tempered Clavier each contain preludes and fugues in all the 24 major and minor keys, from C major to B minor, and are collectively known as 'the 48'. Sometimes referred to as the 'Old Testament' of keyboard music (Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas being the 'New'), the preludes explore an astonishing variety of musical forms (including the famous toccata-like Prelude No 1 in C Major from Book I, various dance styles and concerto- or fantasia-like movements) while the fugues range equally broadly from rather formal examples in 'old fashioned' academic style to others based on more up-to-date musical forms. The term 'well-tempered' refers to the system of tuning, new in Bach's day, which allowed music to be played in any key and has become the standard in Western music.
Bach's 15 two-part Inventions and 15 three-part Sinfonias BWV 772-801 were originally written as educational pieces for the notebook Bach prepared for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, herself an accomplished musician. During the Baroque period collections of 'overtures' or 'dance suites' were particularly popular. Bach composed three sets of six suites: the so-called 'English' Suites BWV 806-811, the 'French' Suites BWV 812-817 and the keyboard Partitas BWV 825-830. Each suite comprises a basic set of dances based on different national models, Allemande (German), Courante (Italian or French), Sarabande (Spanish/Latin American) and Gigue (French, based on the British Jig) with additional dances included. The Goldberg Variations BWV 988 presents an aria (that is, a song-like movement) with thirty variations based on the aria's bass line rather than it's tune (Beethoven would work similar wonders with his 'Diabelli' Variations Op. 120). The Italian Concerto BWV 971 was inspired by the exciting new music that was finding it's way north during Bach's lifetime. Bach also transcribed for keyboard several orchestral concertos by Vivaldi and other Italian composers. In addition, several shorter pieces, including the famous hymn Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring and dances from the Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Notebook are included.
13 Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in a Flat Major, BWV 862
14 Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 868
15 I. Prelude
16 V. Sarabande
17 VI. Bourree I and II
18 Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 939
19 Prelude in D Major, BWV 925
20 Prelude in F Major, BWV 927
- Disc 2 -
1 Sinfonia No. 10 in G Major, BWV 796
2 Sinfonia No. 11 in G minor, BWV 797
3 Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 114
4 Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach, Book 2, BWV Anh. 113-132: Menuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115
5 I. Allemande
6 III. Sarabande
7 IV. Gavotte
8 V. Polonaise
9 VI. Menuet
10 Aria
11 Variatio 3. Canone All'unisuono a 1 Clav
12 Variatio 6. Canone Alla Seconda a 1 Clav
13 Variatio 7. a 1 O Vero 2 Clav
14 Jesu Bleibet Meine Freude (Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring) (Arr. M. Hess for Piano)
15 Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F Sharp Major, BWV 858
16 V. Gavotte I and II
17 IV. Aria
18 V. Sarabande
19 VI. Menuet
20 Sinfonia No. 1 in C Major, BWV 787
21 Invention No. 13 in a Minor, BWV 784
22 Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in a Major, BWV 888
23 Invention No. 8 in F Major, BWV 779
24 I. Allemande
25 IV. Air
26 V. Menuet I
27 III. Courante
- Disc 3 -
1 I. [Allegro]
2 Prelude and Fughetta in G Major, BWV 902
3 Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E Flat Major, BWV 876
4 Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 878
5 V. Gavotte I and II
6 I. Prelude
7 II. Allemande
8 II. Andante
9 Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772
10 Invention No. 4 in D minor, BWV 775
11 Invention No. 5 in E Flat Major, BWV 776
12 Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach, Book 2, BWV Anh. 113-132: Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116
13 March in D Major, BWV Anh. 122 (By C.P.E. Bach)
14 Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 880
15 Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F minor, BWV 881
16 Variatio 9. Canzone Alla Terza. a 1 Clav
17 Variatio 13. a 2 Clav
18 Variatio 18. Canone Alla Sexta. a 1 Clav
19 Variatio 19. a 1 Clav
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was most famous during his lifetime as a keyboard virtuoso, principally as an organist but also as a harpsichord player, and he composed a significant body of keyboard music. Many of these works (including transcriptions of his organ music) occupy a central place in the repertoire of pianists both amateur and professional, delighting players and listeners alike to this day. The keyboard music that Bach published falls into four anthologies, each titled Clavier Übung (Keyboard Practice), a rather dry title for what turns out to be an amazing wealth of music! Other works, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I and II, while not published by Bach, circulated widely in manuscript form and have been influential on composers and performers: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Reger, Schumann, Busoni and many others have fallen under Bach's spell, using his music to develop their own and their students' techniques, and inspired by Bach's extraordinary achievement when composing their own works. Books I and II of The Well-Tempered Clavier each contain preludes and fugues in all the 24 major and minor keys, from C major to B minor, and are collectively known as 'the 48'. Sometimes referred to as the 'Old Testament' of keyboard music (Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas being the 'New'), the preludes explore an astonishing variety of musical forms (including the famous toccata-like Prelude No 1 in C Major from Book I, various dance styles and concerto- or fantasia-like movements) while the fugues range equally broadly from rather formal examples in 'old fashioned' academic style to others based on more up-to-date musical forms. The term 'well-tempered' refers to the system of tuning, new in Bach's day, which allowed music to be played in any key and has become the standard in Western music.
Bach's 15 two-part Inventions and 15 three-part Sinfonias BWV 772-801 were originally written as educational pieces for the notebook Bach prepared for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, herself an accomplished musician. During the Baroque period collections of 'overtures' or 'dance suites' were particularly popular. Bach composed three sets of six suites: the so-called 'English' Suites BWV 806-811, the 'French' Suites BWV 812-817 and the keyboard Partitas BWV 825-830. Each suite comprises a basic set of dances based on different national models, Allemande (German), Courante (Italian or French), Sarabande (Spanish/Latin American) and Gigue (French, based on the British Jig) with additional dances included. The Goldberg Variations BWV 988 presents an aria (that is, a song-like movement) with thirty variations based on the aria's bass line rather than it's tune (Beethoven would work similar wonders with his 'Diabelli' Variations Op. 120). The Italian Concerto BWV 971 was inspired by the exciting new music that was finding it's way north during Bach's lifetime. Bach also transcribed for keyboard several orchestral concertos by Vivaldi and other Italian composers. In addition, several shorter pieces, including the famous hymn Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring and dances from the Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Notebook are included.
