Tempo in Bach's WTC

[pianoplayjl]

Is there any evidence that Bach assigned tempo to his prelude and fugues? I heard that the speed markings in the many publisher editions, Verlag for instance, only put them in after Bach's time and were not originally on the manuscript. Some sections are obviously fast and others slow. But how fast and how slow is it to be played?

I learnt Bach's prelude and fugue in C minor WTC 1 and there were varied speeds in many recordings. There is no universal speed indication.

JL

[j_menz]

Tempo is pretty much at the discretion of the player, subject to it "working".  There were no tempo indications originally, though there were conventions that would have made some things more obvious then than may be the case today.

[jtguru]

You're right, there is no universal speed. With any piece, there is variation in the tempo at which different people play (just usually not to as extreme a degree as with certain parts of the WTC). Just play at whatever tempo fits what you perceive to be the mood of the piece in question.

[48dreams]

Is there any evidence that Bach assigned tempo to his prelude and fugues? I heard that the speed markings in the many publisher editions, Verlag for instance, only put them in after Bach's time and were not originally on the manuscript. Some sections are obviously fast and others slow. But how fast and how slow is it to be played?

I learnt Bach's prelude and fugue in C minor WTC 1 and there were varied speeds in many recordings. There is no universal speed indication.

JL

There is evidence, yes, with five of the preludes and fugues.  Of course, editorial editions would not have been available until after Bach's time would they?  It wasn't until 1801 that the first printed copies of the WTC became available.  Until that time hand copied manuscripts were all that was in circulation.  The "correct" tempo is that which reflects the character of the piece.

[werq34ac]

Tempo is really up to you (within reason). Taking this prelude for an example, it's a pretty energetic prelude isn't it? There's a sort of moto perpetuo which means this prelude is going to be kinda fast. Or if it's not played fast, then at least it will sound fast (which is accomplished by articulation and quality of sound). It really depends on your tastes. Do you think this piece is presto? Allegro molto? Allegro giusto? Allegretto? Maybe Moderato even? Although I personally think it doesn't really work any slower than allegretto. Personally, I think I like it Allegro Molto. After choosing which tempo marking you like, (we'll say allegro molto for now), you figure out what metronome marking corresponds to allegro molto. COMPLETELY IGNORE WHAT THE METRONOME SAYS IS ALLEGRO. Those are incredibly inaccurate since I've seen prestos at 88 and allegros at 180. Although they are pretty decent indications IFF(if and only if) the shortest values are 16th notes (straight 16th notes, no triplets and what not) but not to be followed as law. More like suggestions.


And using my prelude, D minor from book 1 as an example, I've decided that the tempo could be anywhere from 70 to 90 to the quarter note. 70 would be allegro giusto and 90 would be something like vivace or allegro molto. I figured that presto would be too frantic and allegretto would lose the energy and flow.