Book I BWV 846–869 Marcel Worms Piano J.S. Bach Das

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 fugues, 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 fugue 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 Robert Schumann 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.

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