Bach - Prelude and Fugue in d minor, BWV875 (WTC II)

[andhow04]

the prelude and fugue in d minor from the second book.  the prelude is along the line of the two part inventions.

here;s the link the the d minor from first book:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=42010.msg463537#msg463537

(11)

[scottmcc]

andhow, you know that I always enjoy your bach, and this is no exception.  I've had a tough couple days at work, and this is just the jolt I needed this morning to push me out the door into the fray.  bravo!

I have always enjoyed this particular fugue.  the rhythm is very unusual, and shows that bach was clearly way beyond "typewriter" music (aka rhythmically boring) as some would claim.

you mentioned that you were approaching the well tempered clavier in an order suggested by Bartok.  can you provide more details on this?  I would love to read more about it.

[andhow04]

i also like this fugue, which is kind of unusual in that the subject entries are always at unexpected times, usually later than one would think. its very clever with all the different strettos that he manages, both in inversion and "right side up."

bartok made an edition of the well-tempered clavier which was supposed to be educational, so he put the preludes and fugues in order of, from what i read, increasing difficulty.  the first one is G major from the second book which is not an easy fugue so i wonder if it was actually more about composition than piano technique, because the G major prelude and fugue are rather simple. but in any case when i set about doing the whole thing, i thought it might be fun to learn them in such a way that i never knew which one was coming next, since i haven't studied the bartok edition closely, tho i own it.  its kind of arbitrary but always leaves me looking forward to see what the next one ies...

[cjp_piano]

This is really good in many ways, but I especially enjoyed the variety of touches in the fugue. I love the bus pulling away at the end right as you finish, haha!

[andhow04]

thanks, its always a dangerous tendency to play some of these fugues, like this reltaively aggressive one in d minor, too hard and without relief.

i record these in a church that was very nice to give me keys (they have a nine foot steinway) and the stain glass windows, on whose inside ledge i put the recorder, have been open this summer.  in some of the reordings you can hear birds singing in the background... its fun.  so this time it caught a bus!