The Well-Tempered Clavier (German: Das Wohltemperierte
Klavier BWV 846–893), is a collection of solo
keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all
24 major and minor keys, dated 1722, composed "for the
profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning,
and especially for the pastime of those already skilled
in this study". Bach later compiled a second book of
the same kind, dated 1742, with the title Twenty-four
Preludes and Fugu...(+)
The Well-Tempered Clavier (German: Das Wohltemperierte
Klavier BWV 846–893), is a collection of solo
keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all
24 major and minor keys, dated 1722, composed "for the
profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning,
and especially for the pastime of those already skilled
in this study". Bach later compiled a second book of
the same kind, dated 1742, with the title Twenty-four
Preludes and Fugues. The two works are now considered
to make up a single work, The Well-Tempered Clavier, or
"the 48", and are referred to as The Well-Tempered
Clavier Book I and The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II,
respectively. This collection is generally regarded as
being among the most influential works in the history
of Western classical music.
This Prelude (BWV 851) is a toccata-like virtuosic
piece with continuous arpeggiated voice which moves in
sixteenth-note triplets.
The first part of the Prelude is structured into three
sections. At the beginning, Bach establishes the D
minor key and then moves to the relative major key (F
major) a bit later, the composer forms two two-measure
sequences in the key of G minor and A minor
respectively. He then begins a transitional episode
leading back to D minor with short tonicisations to A
minor, F major, D minor, B flat major and G minor. As a
result, the first part has five measures, middle –
four, and last - five measures which is proportionally
close to 1/3 each of this first part.
The second part probably can be divided into two
sections. The first part is an extended D point
featuring interchange of diminished seventh chord of
Subdominant (G minor) and G minor second inversion
triad plus return to the Tonic. Significantly, until
here, the harmonic rhythm was very intense, moving
mostly in quarter notes or even in eighth notes. The
harmonic rhythm of the D pedal point section, in
contrast, changes to half measure which creates a sense
of constant growing tension.
Interestingly, instead of closing the Prelude with the
same perpetual motion in two parts, Bach chose to
interrupt the flow with an unexpected change of texture
which forms a new section. In this part, the composer
presents us brilliant chain of arpeggiated diminished
triads which are written for the main voice without any
support of the bass. In this chain, Bach reaches the
highest note of the Prelude which can be considered as
a climactic point of the piece. The piece ends with a
cadence in quarter-notes and full chord.
Although originally written for keyboard, I created
this arrangement for Solo Cello.
