My dear friends,
Bach's Well Tempered Clavichord is a treasure trove of sublime music.
One of my favorites is the sixth Prelude and Fugue in D Minor in both books.
To-day I would like to share with you some thoughts on the prelude in D Minor from Book One.
Like so much of Bach's music, it sends one into a trance-like state.
The triplet pattern in the right hand is repeated relentlessly till the very end , culminating with four cadential chords crowned with a Tierce de Picardi .
This repeated pattern without a single break is what builds up a cumulative, hypnotic state.
At the same time the music is noble ,inward looking and meditative.
But the left hand has an equally important role to play.
The pedal point on the tonic with which it starts is a clear indication that the music is going to be serious ( as is also the key of D minor itself). But then the left hand starts to move in fifths and thirds and seconds etc. and begins to have a life of its own.
It is supremely important NOT a to play this Prelude without expression, but to continually make small, expressive crescendos and diminuendos. (Never mind that the harpsichord could not do that. You are playing on a piano).
In measures 3 and 4, when the right hand ascends, one must follow the general rule of piano playin - to make a crescendo.
When, in 4 and 5 it descends, we make a diminuendo till we reach the peaceful cadence in F major.
From measure 6 something glorious happens. The left hand begins to sing! One must play these melodic phrases legato, all the wile making tiny crescendos and diminuendos as the music rises and falls in very short phrases that modulate incessantly and with awesome ingenuity.
In measure 16 there is an exciting moment of harmonic tension which I like to emphasize by playing forte, followed by a less tense phrase or "response" in measure17 which I like to play subito piano, to emphasize the drama.
In measures 20,21 and 22 the left hand sings again , legato.
As with all his music (or at least 99 per cent of it) Bach does not indicate a tempo.
I very strongly urge that you learn this Prelude from an Urtext version.
Above all, avoid using the Czerny edition of the Wohltemperirites Kavier.
Czerny - who was indeed a great writer of piano exercises - suggests tempi that are much too fast, as well as adds phrase lines and expression marks according to how HE thinks the music should be played. he also adds fingering.
All this makes it impossible for you to form your own conception of the music, which was exactly Bach's goal - that you play the music the way YOU perceive - by not indicating tempi,
phrase lines or expression marks.
There are many great performances on YouTube of the Wohltemperirttes Klavier, among them being Sviatoslav Richter, Rosanlind Tureck and Wanda Lanovska.
I myself do not like to play this Prelude too fast. Depending on my mood ,I play anywhere from 88 to the quarter note (which makes it pensive) to 112 (intense).
If you've always wanted to play this Prelude, please don't wait.
You will have to work hard and be patient, but the ultimate reward will be great indeed.
Bach's Well Tempered Clavichord is a treasure trove of sublime music.
One of my favorites is the sixth Prelude and Fugue in D Minor in both books.
To-day I would like to share with you some thoughts on the prelude in D Minor from Book One.
Like so much of Bach's music, it sends one into a trance-like state.
The triplet pattern in the right hand is repeated relentlessly till the very end , culminating with four cadential chords crowned with a Tierce de Picardi .
This repeated pattern without a single break is what builds up a cumulative, hypnotic state.
At the same time the music is noble ,inward looking and meditative.
But the left hand has an equally important role to play.
The pedal point on the tonic with which it starts is a clear indication that the music is going to be serious ( as is also the key of D minor itself). But then the left hand starts to move in fifths and thirds and seconds etc. and begins to have a life of its own.
It is supremely important NOT a to play this Prelude without expression, but to continually make small, expressive crescendos and diminuendos. (Never mind that the harpsichord could not do that. You are playing on a piano).
In measures 3 and 4, when the right hand ascends, one must follow the general rule of piano playin - to make a crescendo.
When, in 4 and 5 it descends, we make a diminuendo till we reach the peaceful cadence in F major.
From measure 6 something glorious happens. The left hand begins to sing! One must play these melodic phrases legato, all the wile making tiny crescendos and diminuendos as the music rises and falls in very short phrases that modulate incessantly and with awesome ingenuity.
In measure 16 there is an exciting moment of harmonic tension which I like to emphasize by playing forte, followed by a less tense phrase or "response" in measure17 which I like to play subito piano, to emphasize the drama.
In measures 20,21 and 22 the left hand sings again , legato.
As with all his music (or at least 99 per cent of it) Bach does not indicate a tempo.
I very strongly urge that you learn this Prelude from an Urtext version.
Above all, avoid using the Czerny edition of the Wohltemperirites Kavier.
Czerny - who was indeed a great writer of piano exercises - suggests tempi that are much too fast, as well as adds phrase lines and expression marks according to how HE thinks the music should be played. he also adds fingering.
All this makes it impossible for you to form your own conception of the music, which was exactly Bach's goal - that you play the music the way YOU perceive - by not indicating tempi,
phrase lines or expression marks.
There are many great performances on YouTube of the Wohltemperirttes Klavier, among them being Sviatoslav Richter, Rosanlind Tureck and Wanda Lanovska.
I myself do not like to play this Prelude too fast. Depending on my mood ,I play anywhere from 88 to the quarter note (which makes it pensive) to 112 (intense).
If you've always wanted to play this Prelude, please don't wait.
You will have to work hard and be patient, but the ultimate reward will be great indeed.
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