Bach, Johann Sebastian : Das wohltemperierte Clavier, 2 teil, 24 Praludien und Fugen BWV 870-893
Work Overview
Composition Year：1738
Publication Year：1801
First Publisher：Simrock, Hoffmeister & Kühnel, Nägeli
Instrumentation：Piano Solo
Genre：pieces
Total Playing Time：2 hr 17 min 30 sec
Copyright：Public Domain
Commentary (1)
Author : Asayama, Natsuko
Last Updated: May 1, 2007
[Open]
Author : Asayama, Natsuko
“The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part II, consisting of Preludes and Fugues in all the whole tones and semitones. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, Court Composer and Kapellmeister to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and Director of the Choir at Leipzig.”
These words are inscribed on the title page of the Altnickol manuscript, copied in 1744. The autograph fair copy was created around 1742. It takes the form of loose-leaf sheets, with the prelude written on the front of a large sheet of paper and the fugue on the back, eliminating the need for page turns. This autograph manuscript is currently housed in the British Museum in London.
While no specific impetus for the collection's creation can be proven, it was a period when Bach had published up to four volumes of his Clavier-Übung, so it is not inconceivable that he was looking for an opportunity to publish it. However, it is more likely that he sought to provide a 'home,' so to speak, for the pieces he had accumulated since Part I, thereby preventing the dispersal of individual works. Bach, by nature, did not treat his works as disposable but continuously refined them towards perfection, and such revisions and compilations were particularly frequent in the latter half of his Leipzig period. The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part II, incorporates many pieces from the past rather than new compositions; some works were even transposed and added to complete the 24 keys. Yet, significant revisions were made even after the fair copy, indicating that this collection was not merely a compilation for Bach. It was also highly regarded as a pedagogical work, and it is said that all of Bach's pupils possessed their own copies of Part II.
The increased diversity compared to Part I, composed 20 years earlier, is likely due to the extended period of composition. Within it, one can observe a tendency to break away from the Baroque style and move towards the Pre-Classical era. Furthermore, the increased number of pieces ending with a minor triad compared to Part I is evidence of the growing independence of minor keys over time, and the wider adoption of tunings that allowed minor triads to sound more harmonically pure.
See also
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Movements (24)
Prelude und Fuge Nr.10 BWV 879
Key: e-moll Total Performance Time: 5 min 10 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.11 BWV 880
Key: F-Dur Total Performance Time: 5 min 20 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.12 BWV 881
Key: f-moll Total Performance Time: 6 min 10 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.13 BWV 882
Key: Fis-Dur Total Performance Time: 5 min 10 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.14 BWV 883
Key: fis-moll Total Performance Time: 7 min 40 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.15 BWV 884
Key: G-Dur Total Performance Time: 3 min 40 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.16 BWV 885
Key: g-moll Total Performance Time: 6 min 10 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.17 BWV 886
Key: As-Dur Total Performance Time: 6 min 00 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.18 BWV 887
Key: gis-moll Total Performance Time: 8 min 50 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.19 BWV 888
Key: A-Dur Total Performance Time: 3 min 20 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.20 BWV 889
Key: a-moll Total Performance Time: 8 min 20 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.21 BWV 890
Key: B-Dur Total Performance Time: 6 min 20 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.22 BWV 891
Key: b-moll Total Performance Time: 6 min 30 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.23 BWV 892
Key: H-Dur Total Performance Time: 5 min 00 sec
Prelude und Fuge Nr.24 BWV 893
Key: h-moll Total Performance Time: 5 min 40 sec
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