J.S. BACH Book I Marcel Worms Das wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 846–869 piano J.S. Bach (1685—1750) The Well-Tempered Clavier

The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1) contains 24 preludes piece. All voices are equal, and rhythmically and The third section is a development, in which a number and 24 , each piece a personality with its own melodically independent, and yet they exist side by of the voices, or all of them, again present the theme, unique character. A prelude is always followed by a side in harmony. There is no question of a melody with mostly in another key, and in variation. In the development in the same key. With an endless fantasy Bach lets the accompaniment but of a number of autonomous voices, the theme can be mirrored (all rising intervals become different voices speak, each for itself yet also in dialogue as in a conversation among a group of people. Each voice descending and vice versa), the theme can be elongated with and attuned to each other. A perfect technical leads its own life but also harmonizes with the surrounding (all notes are then proportionally lengthened, meant to mastery of the form goes hand in hand with the ability to voices, as in a discussion among equals, and as in a healthy represent the greatness of God), and the themes can translate all conceivable human emotions into sound. Heart society different lifestyles and cultures thrive side by side. interrupt each other, as in a canon. This last technique is and head, emotion and intellect, are one. All this justifies called a stretto: a following voice begins while the previous the prominent place the work has enjoyed for many years The Fugue one is still busy playing the theme. That in turn, mostly with in the Western musical canon. Conductor Hans van Bülow The fugue is the most ingenious form of polyphony. The the finish line in sight, raises the tension in the music. (1830-1894) called it ‘the Old Testament of every pianist’ strict form has game rules which the composer must The alternation of divertimento and subsequent (Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas would form the New master well. To this fixed form he still has to add his development can be repeated a number of times until the Testament), and according to this work personal implementation. end of the fugue. of all works provides the pianist’s daily bread. A fugue always begins with a theme in a single voice. There are also double fugues and triple fugues with That theme then flies, as it were, in all the other voices two or even three different themes (the Fugue in C sharp The Prelude through the piece – hence the name ‘fugue’ (= flight). The minor is an example) whereby the fugue becomes even The prelude originated as an introduction to the church theme of a fugue must be melodically and rhythmically more complex. The sound of these themes in combination service or as a short phrase giving the choir the right tone, striking: it needs, after all, to be clearly heard in a network surprises us anew; together Bach makes them sing like a on which the player in a natural way began to improvise. of other voices. ‘match made in heaven’. Only later the prelude became a piece in its own right. After the theme is stated in the first voice, it appears in In the construction of a fugue Bach also uses the rules Preludes are mostly relatively short but in the Well- the second, higher or lower (with the first voice settling of the old Graeco-Roman rhetoric, the art of oratory. He Tempered Clavier, some preludes (for example that in E-flat for the role of counter-part), and thereafter in each goes to work like a good orator constructing his argument, major) are longer than the corresponding fugue and are subsequent voice. seeking to keep it compelling from start to finish. A theme more main course than appetizer. When all voices have sounded the theme, the exposition is brought forward and a position asserted, presented in an The prelude has no fixed format, the composer choosing is over and there follows an interlude called a divertimento. attractive manner. Rhetorical pauses are introduced and its form each time anew. A prelude can consist simply of a This more free section provides a certain relaxation, in the speaker from time to time challenges his own thesis by series of broken chords (as in preludes 1, 2 and 3) but also a which the composer can use motives from, or derived deliberately undermining it, therewith proving all the more baroque dance form often provides the starting point. from, the theme. In this way he can reinforce the unity of its correctness. A clear conclusion at the end rounds off With Bach, a prelude is a polyphonic (multi-voiced) the piece. the discourse. Clarification of the title: After all, there is no longer any difference between the comes into its own much better on an organ. And for tuning and the theory of affects sound of the one third and the other, or in the sound of differences in the dynamics we really must choose the Bach composed in this work a series of pieces in which two different fifths: because each key received an equal clavichord or (forte)piano. In these two instruments the all 24 keys, twelve major and twelve minor, are covered. portion of the impurity, they are all equally out of tune! The strings are brought into vibration with hammers; you This diversity of keys was startling in 1722, and was only price we pay for tuning in this equal temperament is thus a produce more volume the more powerfully you strike possible because Bach made use of a so-called ‘tempered’ certain lack of colour. the keys. Bach appears to have had a great love of the or well-tempered tuning technique. According to the doctrine of the affects, which in Bach’s clavichord while, according to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, It had long been known that it is fundamentally day was widely accepted, the conveyance of affects, he thought the harpsichord a seelenloos, soul-less, impossible to tune all intervals (distances between notes) emotions, is fundamental to a musical instrument. But a clavichord in a concert hall would only be within an octave so that they are pure: ‘in tune’. If you tune performance. Each key has its own audible to the first rows, so soft is the sound it produces. all the fifths (distances of five tones) ‘pure’, then some of affect and expresses thus one or more On the piano the dynamics are even more varied, and the thirds (distances of three tones) sound seriously out specific emotions: hence the key of you can also play cantabile (lyrically), a way of playing that of tune – and vice versa. The sound of these intervals is b minor stands for drama and tragedy; Bach found very important. Bach knew and played the unacceptable to the ear and they cannot be used. D major is on the other hand a festive key. Bach wanted to early fortepiano and even spoke positively about it in the Bach had an inexhaustible fantasy and wanted the retain this potential for expressing the different affects. last phase of his life. freedom to have all keys and all intervals at his disposal. To Incidentally, we don’t know precisely how Bach tuned his this end, he had to spread out the inevitable lack of purity instruments, only that he used one of the well-tempered History and origins of the over specific intervals within the octave. Although some tunings. Well-Tempered Clavier intervals then retained a degree of impurity, this was now The Well-Tempered Clavier did not appear out of the acceptable to the ear. Thus the unavoidable impurity was What did ‘Clavier’ mean to Bach? blue – anything but. Bach was greatly influenced by the moderated, tempered: well-tempered. Today our pianos are In the Baroque, a ‘Clavier’ was any instrument with a clavier, Ariadna Musica of Johann Caspar Fischer (written in 1702 tuned in equal temperament, with the impurities distributed a keyboard. Bach never indicated which instrument he had or 1710), a clavier work wherein almost all keys (20) were equally over all twelve intervals within the octave. in mind, and we can only guess which option would have used. In 1719 Johann Matteson was the first to write a series You may wonder why Bach had not immediately chosen pleased him the most. of pieces in all 24 keys (Exemplarische Organisten-Probe). this equal temperament. For then the tonal impurity would One problem is that none of the candidates, namely the So Bach did not have first honours, yet his pieces are have been divided optimally into small pieces, thereafter harpsichord, clavichord, organ and fortepiano (forerunner much more diverse, profound and daring than those of his being scarcely noticeable. The advantage is that we of the modern piano) is equally suitable for all 24 preludes contemporaries. experience the tuning as pure (which, objectively speaking, and fugues. For example the Prelude in D major with its Bach wrote the Well-Tempered Clavier probably in is not the case!). On the other hand, you lose thereby the pointed, quick notes is ideal for the harpsichord. But the Cöthen. There he had a lot of time to compose chamber individuality, the distinctive colours of the various keys. Fugue in a minor with its deep bass and stately theme music. Many pieces from the Well-Tempered Clavier surely were written earlier: the first eleven preludes, for example, Often mentioned by Bach, Gemütsergötzung, or appeared already in the Klavierbüchlein (1720) for his son ‘delighting the player’, was also one of the composer’s Wilhelm Friedemann. objectives. The manuscript of the Well-Tempered Clavier dates However, as with almost all his work, Bach also had from 1722, although the work was published only in 1801. another intention with the Well-Tempered Clavier. At Bach was afraid there would not be enough interest in the end of the last fugue the composer writes the three it. Many copies of the work circulated, however, during letters SDG, Solo Deo Gloria, solely for the glory of God, Bach’s lifetime. Experts considered it a compendium for even though we are dealing here with worldly music. composing and keyboard playing. Among others, Mozart, Bach wanted particularly in the fugues to depict musically Beethoven and Chopin possessed a copy. how perfectly God has ordered the world. This view of Bach spent his whole life refining the Well-Tempered the divine order was, certainly in the Middle Ages, quite Clavier. This illustrates the importance he attached to his common, yet even Bach still sees himself primarily as a work. servant of God. The personal expression of the artist was secondary. What were Bach’s intentions For your non-religious pianist it is of course Bach for the Well-Tempered Clavier? himself who created this order. Thus for him, this gives the On the title page of the manuscript Bach stated that he composer himself a nearly divine status. composed the Well-Tempered Clavier for the studious musical youth and as besonderen Zeitvertreib, ‘a special Lastly… pastime,’ for people already skilled in keyboard playing. Hopefully these explanatory notes have not given the The music was initially not at all intended for public impression that people would only be able to enjoy the performance but rather as study material. Not until well Well-Tempered Clavier with solid theoretical knowledge. into the nineteenth century would the Well-Tempered Nothing could be further from the truth. The good news Clavier be heard in the concert hall. On the other hand, an is that Bach’s music not only satisfies the listener craving integral performance of the work would not be contrary to for knowledge and insight, but also gives the amateur who Bach’s intentions. He himself performed it three times in its lacks this knowledge an unforgettable listening experience, entirety for one of his students, and there is clearly a that can enlighten him or her and possibly even create a dramatic build-up in the pieces, with the last fugue as the more complete person. climax: its theme incorporates all twelve tones within the WTK I BACH octave and shows thus clearly what is possible with the well-tempered tuning. MARCEL WORMS

Marcel Worms (1951) studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in with Hans Dercksen. He also had lessons with the Russian pianist Youri Egorov and with Alicia de Larrocha. After graduating in 1987, he specialised in the study of chamber music with Hans Broekman and 20th century piano music with Alexandre Hrisanide. Marcel Worms remains active as a chamber music player and soloist. In 1990 he premiered early works of Schoenberg in a recital at the Icebreaker in Amsterdam and in 1991 he performed the complete piano works of Janáček. Since 1992 he has often performed the program Jazz Influences in 20th Century Piano Music on Dutch stages. In 1994, this program was released on the BVHaast label. The Groupe des Sept, founded by Marcel Worms, has performed and recorded, among other things, the complete works of Poulenc for piano and wind instruments. In 1994, Mondrian’s memorial year, Marcel Worms performed the program Mondrian and the Music of his Time. The composers Willem Breuker and Theo Loevendie each wrote a work for this project. Marcel Worms performed this program in the Netherlands and many other European countries, in Russia (at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Pushkin Museum in ) and in the United States (including the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.). From 1996 until 2016, Marcel Worms worked on a unique Blues project: over 200 Dutch and foreign composers, from

Marcel Worms in front of the Bach statue next to the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. 50 countries on all continents, have contributed a blues for Since 2002, the pianist has been active with the piano solo piano. This project has been recorded on 8 CDs. Since works of Federico Mompou. In 2007 he released two CDs 1998, Marcel Worms has performed countless concerts with this composer’s music and organised a three-day Arvo Pärt comprising selections from his library of works dedicated Mompou Festival in Amsterdam. In 2009 he debuted on ZEF 9641 to him and his project. The Blues have been heard in the CD some 40 unpublished works of Mompou that had Netherlands (for example at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam), in been rediscovered the year before in Barcelona. most European countries, in Russia, the Middle East, In 2012 Marcel Worms recorded on one CD both the Far East, the United States, Africa, South America Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Metamorphosis by Philip and Cuba. In 1999 his Blues project was heard at the Glass. His latest CDs focus on the classical music of the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. In 2001 there were Caribbean, on the music of the Baltic countries (including performances at the Festival for New Music in Bucharest the complete works for piano by Arvo Pärt), on music and at the Warsaw Autumn in Warsaw, and in 2002 at the by composers inspired by Chopin, on Preludes and Fugues EU Jazz Festival in Mexico City and the Audio Art Festival by Bach, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich and on music by in Krakow. In 2004 this program was performed at the Jewish composers from the Interbellum. Festival De la Música Contemporanea in Bolivia, at the Forum Neuer Musik in Cologne, at the Festival of Aveiro, Portugal and at the Fajr Festival in Iran. In 2005 the pianist 3x6, Preludes and Fugues ZEF 9666 presented his Blues project at the Festival Tblisi Autumn in Georgia and in 2008 at the International Pianofestival of Bucaramanga in Columbia. He also played it in a number of African countries. As part of the Van Gogh exhibition in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, Marcel Worms played the program Pictures at a Van Gogh Exhibition in these cities, that also was recorded on CD. At the request of the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, he put together a program around Picasso that also appeared on CD on the occasion of a Picasso exhibition at this museum. A program of tangos from Latin America and Europe was heard, among other places, in China and in Piano Works by Jewish Composers Argentina, and it appeared on CD for the BVHaast label. ZEF 9669 J.S. BACH Book I Marcel Worms Das wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 846–869 piano

1 2’11 Prelude nr.1 in C major bwv 846 25 1’29 Prelude nr.13 in F sharp major bwv 858

2 2’00 Fugue nr.1 in C major bwv 846 26 2’08 Fugue nr.13 in F sharp major bwv 858

3 1’39 Prelude nr.2 in C minor bwv 847 27 1’08 Prelude nr.14 in F sharp minor bwv 859

4 1’38 Fugue nr.2 in C minor bwv 847 28 2’54 Fugue nr.14 in F sharp minor bwv 859

5 1’21 Prelude nr.3 in C sharp major bwv 848 29 0’58 Prelude nr.15 in G major bwv 860

6 2’24 Fugue nr.3 in C sharp major bwv 848 30 2’50 Fugue nr.15 in G major bwv 860

7 2’46 Prelude nr.4 in C sharp minor bwv 849 31 2’00 Prelude nr.16 in G minor bwv 861

8 3’32 Fugue nr.4 in C sharp minor bwv 849 32 1’40 Fugue nr.16 in G minor bwv 861

9 1’34 Prelude nr.5 in D major bwv 850 33 1’24 Prelude nr.17 in A flat major bwv 862

10 1’56 Fugue nr.5 in D major bwv 850 34 2’44 Fugue nr.17 in A flat major bwv 862

11 1’45 Prelude nr.6 in D minor bwv 851 35 1’27 Prelude nr.18 in G sharp minor bwv 863

12 2’11 Fugue nr.6 in D minor bwv 851 36 2’15 Fugue nr.18 in G sharp minor bwv 863

13 4’16 Prelude nr.7 in E flat major bwv 852 37 1’22 Prelude nr.19 in A major bwv 864

14 1’45 Fugue nr.7 in E flat major bwv 852 38 2’12 Fugue nr.19 in A major bwv 864

15 2’47 Prelude nr.8 in E flat minor bwv 853 39 1’11 Prelude nr.20 in A minor bwv 865

16 4’20 Fugue nr.8 in E flat minor bwv 853 40 4’37 Fugue nr.20 in A minor bwv 865

17 1’29 Prelude nr.9 in E major bwv 854 41 1’24 Prelude nr.21 in B flat major bwv 866

18 1’23 Fugue nr.9 in E major bwv 854 42 2’13 Fugue nr.21 in B flat major bwv 866

19 2’26 Prelude nr.10 in E minor bwv 855 43 2’36 Prelude nr.22 in B flat minor bwv 867

20 1’21 Fugue nr.10 in E minor bwv 855 44 2’16 Fugue nr.22 in B flat minor bwv 867

21 1’02 Prelude nr.11 in F major bwv 856 45 1’11 Prelude nr.23 in B major bwv 868

22 1’27 Fugue nr.11 in F major bwv 856 46 2’11 Fugue nr.23 in B major bwv 868

23 2’16 Prelude nr.12 in F minor bwv 857 47 5’35 Prelude nr.24 in B minor bwv 869

24 4’07 Fugue nr.12 in F minor bwv 857 48 5’38 Fugue nr.24 in B minor bwv 869 ZEF 9674

Recording location: Zeeuwse Concertzaal, Middelburg (NL) Music direction: Jakko van der Heijden Recording: Jakko van der Heijden, Concertstudio Editing: Walter Calbo Recording dates: June 16, 17 & 23, 2020 Piano: Steinway D Piano technique: Joost van Hartevelt, De Hamernoot, Middelburg

Cover: Paul Klee — Compositon with Stars (Im Bach’sen Stil), Collection Gemeentemuseum The Hague

Photo Marcel Worms: Cara Boerwinkel Liner notes: Marcel Worms Translation: Elizabeth Gaskill Design: Meeuw With many thanks to: Hotel aan de Dam, Middelburg www.marcelworms.com

www.zefi rrecords.nl WTK I BACH