I'm learning Bach's f minor p+f from WTC II and am a little confused by the prelude. The piece is in 2/4 meter and starts on beat 2. While this would normally be the upbeat, with the strong beat coming at the start of bar 2, this supposed upbeat sounds very much like the main beat. When other thematic material comes in (i.e bar 16, bar 20) it is also on the last beat of the bar as opposed to the first. Why did Bach write it in this way? Do I try and play as written (which sounds a little strange to my ears) or do I just treat the upbeats as downbeats?
Edit: I just realized that people may have read the thread title and anticipated a witty subject. Sorry about that...