The Well-Tempered Clavier is a two-volume collection of keyboard music by Johann Sebastian Bach, the first book compiled in 1722 and the second in 1742. Each book contains 24 pairs of preludes and fugues, one pair in every major and minor key, moving in order through the full chromatic scale from C major to B minor. Bach described the collection as written for the benefit of musical youth eager to learn and for the enjoyment of those already skilled, and it demonstrated in practice that a keyboard instrument tuned appropriately could be played comfortably in every key; it is regarded as one of the most important works in the history of Western classical music and shaped the keyboard writing of later composers from Mozart and Beethoven to Chopin and Shostakovich.
Facts
Year CreatedBook 1, compiled 1722; Book 2 followed in 1742. Medium
Medium (category) Connections
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The Well-Tempered Clavier is a foundational work of contrapuntal keyboard music.
The Well-Tempered Clavier pairs a prelude and fugue in every key.
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Source The Well-Tempered Clavier (Wikipedia)
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1. The Well-Tempered Clavier (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationComposition history section
The first set was compiled in 1722 during Bach's appointment in Köthen, and the second followed 20 years later in 1742 while he was in Leipzig.
Lead section
The first set was compiled in 1722 during Bach's appointment in Köthen, and the second followed 20 years later in 1742 while he was in Leipzig. Bach recycled some of the preludes and fugues from earlier sources: the 1720 Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, for instance, contains versions of eleven of the preludes of the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier.
lead paragraph
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time clavier referred to a variety of keyboard instruments
In Group: Bach Keyboard Works, Lead
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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