The Well-Tempered Clavier: Books I and II, Complete (Dover Classical Piano Music)

Nadia Boulanger said that every musician should study The Well-Tempered Clavier. I value Boulanger's opinion, so that is exactly what I did. In this edition, where the manuscript by Kirnberger (Bach's student) contradicts the manuscript by Altnichol (Bach's son-in-law), both versions are presented. Czerny's edition, on the other hand, merely follows the Altnichol manuscript. Here are some of my random thoughts on the WTC: --You're probably familiar with the Bach-Gounod masterpiece. Did you know that that was a class assignment when Gounod was a student at the Paris Conservatory? I'm curious about what the other students wrote. --Sometimes experts disagree. In the C major fugue in Book II, the coda starts at measure 68 according to Keller and measure 80 according to Altschuler. --Bach, forever the symbolist, writes 24 entries of the subject in the first fugue in Book I. He uses all 12 semitones in the subject in the last fugue in Book I. --If you collect pungent dissonances, like I do, you might be interested in this one: the f minor prelude Book II has a French sixth in ms. 27 and a German sixth in ms. 55. The f# minor prelude has a French sixth in ms. 28. If you can find any more augmented sixth chords, please write back. --Someone expressed doubts that the d minor Toccata and Fugue is by Bach, since the subject is answered in the sub-dominant. But the same thing is true in the g# minor fugue in Book I. --Ravel wrote a piano piece in which the first section presents a theme, a second section presents another theme, and the third section restates both themes in quodlibet. I wonder if he got the idea from the Eb major prelude in Book I. --When I was in high school, a fellow student commented that the D major fugue in Book I wasn't very fugal. I wondered if there was something fugal about the piece which she was overlooking. Apparently not, because the printed commentary says the same thing. --The c#m fugue in Book I starts out slow, with long note values. That creates a somber mood, but it could get tiring after a while. Bach probably realized that, so that could be why he wrote a faster countermelody in measure 35 and another one in measure 49. In the B major fugue in Book II, he adds a countermelody in measure 28, and probably for the same reason. --Ever heard of the Golden Proportion? The number .616 has been alleged to have magical powers. Mozart starts most of his development sections at the .616 point from the start and his recapitulation sections ..616 from the end. But the a minor prelude in Book II is divided into two equal repeated sections. So Bach must not have gone for that sort of thing. Of the books on the subject which I have read, I would recommend Keller (B002JAWQYM) over Ledbetter (0300178956), Ledbetter over Altschuler (0316035297), and Altschuler over Kirkpatrick (0300030584).

This is the great, rite-of-passage music for keyboard players, the most greatness you'll ever find in one keyboard volume, with so much richness and depth, increasing technique and sensibility. Dover's edition has terrific layout and price, as advertised, but is not as durable as one might hope. After twenty years of hauling it around and playing from it every day, you'll need to have it rebound.

Wonderful presentation and the music can be read clearly. Spine's a bit stiff, as it would be for any book, and I have a bit of trouble keeping it still against the music desk without using a clip, but that's a minor detail that doesn't affect my rating.

What does one say about Bach's WTC? I'm not nearly gifted enough to play all these pieces, but I love muddling through a small selection and testing my brain's musical boundaries (which are far too narrow, I'm the first to admit). My favorite is Prelude 22 from Book II (pp. 186-187), in B-flat Minor. I had a mild obsession with this Prelude and Fugue before I bought this book (it's the reason I bought the book to begin with), and I'll fully admit that the fugue is beyond my abilities. Like, leaps and bounds beyond. However, I've learned the Prelude well enough to entertain myself and to drive my housemates crazy with playing it over and over. Somehow, Bach's work is complex enough to never quite stick for me, so it's a new battle every time I start the piece again. A lovely way to spend an hour or afternoon, in other words. The book is nice quality. I have to prop it open to the page I want (yes, usually 186-187), because I don't like breaking book spines, but it should break well if someone else has fewer qualms about that sort of thing.

The Well Tempered Clavier almost completely free of markings! I was thrilled when I recieved this clean and clear copy! So many music students fall into the rut of playing Bach the way the editor interprets his pieces - BIG MISTAKE! With this useful collection, you can interpret Bach in your own unique way. Good Luck!

The music in this is of course, very good. However, I don't think the pagination and printing was done that well. For example the first prelude in C-major, which is a 2 page piece, is printed so that the first page is on the right side of the book, and you need to turn the page... Which is an unnecessary page turn. Had they simply skipped a page, that first piece wouldn't have a page turn. It seems like they valued compactness over page turns. Also on mine the printing is a bit light so thin parts of notation, like the bar on rests, doesn't show up very clearly. I went through mine with a .7mm pencil and fixed any lines that were too faint. All of that being said, I'm glad to find a complete Well-Tempered Clavier set in an edition like this, and I'm happy to have it. I haven't seen other editions on the market, but in spite of the flaws in this one, it's still a good book of good music.

I have volumes one and two in separate books. Finally, finally, I bought this book of excellently printed scores, giving me WTC I and II in one book. I highly recommend this edition because its print is perfect and the pages are extremely sturdy, providing for a long life of refreshing Bach, Prelude 1, BWV 846 through the Allegro moderato Fugue 24, BWV 893.

This is a must-have in your piano repertoire. Good for practicing or performing. The pieces are therapeutic to practice, and are helping my piano skills develop. There's always something to discover in the Well-Tempered Clavier. I cannot speak to its faithfulness to original manuscripts, etc... But I like it very much. Great value.