Bach - The Well Tempered Clavier Book II, Nos. 1-6

In the court and church appointments that Johann Sebastian Bach had throughout his life, he was not only required to compose and lead the musicians in performance, but to teach them as well. He himself was taught the basics of music by his older brother after the death of his parents. But his innate curiosity lead him to copy out music of other composers to learn all he could. This was a common occurrence of the time as most music was not published and if it circulated at all it was in the form of hand-made copies. So Bach was probably an autodidact to a large degree.

By copying and filtering the music of others through his mind, he created his own way of doing things, which in turn made him an excellent teacher.

The preludes and fugues of the Well Tempered Clavier were written and used to instruct and entertain students and musicians. Leave it to the creative urge of Bach to write not just one set of 24 preludes  and fugues, but two. But the differences in the two books are evidence that Bach didn't repeat himself with the second set.

The second book of the Well Tempered Clavier appeared roughly twenty years after the first volume, and Bach surely did not remain static. His style broadened, he encompassed more of the current trends in composing. While it can be said that the first book is more obviously geared to instruction, the second book is not as clear cut.


Prelude and Fugue No. 1 In C Major, BWV 870 - As in the first prelude of Book I, this prelude emphasizes harmonic progressions. But within those progressions occur snippets of melodies and themes, examples of how Bach could weave harmony and counterpoint into very satisfying music that makes profound musical sense.

The 3-voice fugue that follows has a subject that is 4 bars long, with a rest in the middle of it. Next the mildly declamatory prelude that precedes it, the fugue has a little bit of rhythmic bounce.

Prelude and Fugue No. 2 In C Minor, BWV 871 - C minor has been a key of passion and drama to many composers, and Bach wrote a dramatic prelude/ toccata in C minor in the first book. This prelude is decidedly less so. Any drama it has isn't obvious, and it is almost entirely written in two parts.

At only 28 bars, this fugue is somewhat short on the page. The subject is but one measure long, and Bach works out the fugue in a simpler form.

Prelude and Fugue No. 3 In C-sharp Major, BWV 872 - The only music Bach wrote in the key of C-sharp major is contained within the Well Tempered Clavier. The prelude of the first book is a brilliant piece, while this one is more studied and introverted and sounds akin to the C major prelude in the first book. There is a shift from 4/4 time to 3/8 time near the end and the music becomes a short fugato.

This 3-voiced fugue has a subject of only 5 notes, with the second entry coming before the first statement of it is complete.

Prelude and Fugue No. 4 In C-sharp Minor, BWV 873 - There was not always a particular feeling or emotion Bach conveyed with specific keys, but the key of C-sharp minor seems to be one of them. As in the first book, this prelude has a feeling of sadness. It is written in 3 voices throughout.

The fugue is in contrast to the prelude. It is written in 12/16 time, a compound meter of 4/4 time that implies a quick tempo. There is an interesting chromatic section within it.

Prelude and Fugue No. 5 In D Major, BWV 874 - The prelude opens with a fanfare and proceeds like a dance from one of Bach's sets of dance pieces.  The first section is repeated, rather like a Scarlatti sonata, and some have conjectured that Bach knew about the development of sonata form. The theme bounces around the voices, and is answered as it makes its way to the end.

The 4-voiced fugue is stately and refined.

Prelude and Fugue No.6 In D Minor, BWV 875 - Written in two parts, a brilliant companion piece to the D minor prelude of Book One.

An interesting subject with a chromatic section in the eighth notes, and a complex set of note values from sixteenth triplets, sixteenth notes, and eighth notes.

Saint-Saëns - Organ Improvisations, Opus 150, No. 1

François Benoist was the professor of organ at the Conservatoire de Paris for fifty years and many of France's finest musicians studied with him, organists and composers such as César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns to name only two.  He was a powerful influence, and was part of the training process to keep the Catholic churches of France stocked with trained organ players. It was the nature of church liturgy that created the tradition of organ improvisation in France, as Saint-Saëns said:

Formerly, Improvisation was the basis of organist`s talent; his virtuosity was slight – music written for organ with independent pedal was beyond his powers… It is improvisation alone that permits one to employ all the resources of a large instrument, and to adapt one´s self to the infinite variety of organs; only improvisation can follow the service perfectly, pieces written for this purpose being almost too short or too slow. Finally, the practice of improvisation frequently develops faculties of invention which, without it, would have remained latent.

Towards the latter half of the 19th century, France's musical life was in many ways centered around the new symphonic organs introduced by the organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. French organists and composers like Franck and Saint-Saëns worked with the builder to create an instrument that was symphonic in scope. The list of musicians trained on the organ in France is extensive, and includes some of the most well-known composers of the era.

Many young musicians made their living as church organists around France, as did Saint-Saëns. From 1853 to 1878 he played regularly in churches. He resigned in 1878, but never quit playing the instrument completely. He would visit his organist friends at their churches and take turns improvising with them.

Saint-Saëns wrote few works for solo organ, which underlines his thoughts on the instrument as mainly for improvisation or accompanying. The set of Seven Improvisations, opus 150 was written late in his career 1916-1917, as he was in bed recuperating from a bout of bronchitis.  The pieces look backward in their use of church modes and plainchant themes, standard fare for organ improvisation in France, but the first piece begins quietly with a whole tone scale in the pedals:

One of the most valuable innovations of Cavaillé-Coll organs was the swell device, a box surrounding the organ pipes that had shutters that could be opened and closed to control the volume of the sound coming from the organ. There was always a certain amount of control over volume with the organ before, but as the keyboard is not touch sensitive as the piano it was done by adding stops of pipes to the music line. Simply speaking, the more pipes engaged, the louder the sound. The swell device gave more control of volume and nuance, and directly lead to the symphonic school of organ playing and composition in France. This device is heard to good effect in this piece by Saint-Saëns.

Saint-Saëns kept up his organ and piano technique up until the very end of his life of 86 years. He himself played the premiere of the Seven Improvisations in 1917 when he was 82 years old.

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29 In B-flat Major 'Hammerklavier'

Beethoven composed the 29th piano sonata in 1817-1818, and it was around this time that he began to use his native German language instead of the more traditional Italian for his compositions. The sonata in German was called Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier, and although the 28th sonata was the first one to have a German title, this sonata has been known as the Hammerklavier for many years. The literal translation of hammerklavier is hammer keyboard.

The sonata belongs to  Beethoven's third compositional style period, and for many years the difficulties both technically and interpretively prevented it from being played.  Beethoven's piano student Carl Czerny studied all of the sonatas with him and could have played the Hammerklavier, but it was not in a public performance. Pride of place for the first public performance of which there is evidence goes to Franz Liszt who played it in Paris in 1836. Hector Berlioz wrote a review of the performance that said in part:

Liszt has explained the work in such a way that if the composer himself had returned from the grave, joy and pride would have swept over him. It was the ideal performance of a work with the reputation of being unperformable. Liszt, in bringing back a work that was previously not understood has shown that he is a pianist of the future.

This sonata is the only one in which Beethoven included beats per minute markings for the metronome, and the discussion is ongoing as to the validity of them. Due to the fast tempos indicated by Beethoven, there have been arguments suggesting that his metronome was in error, or that his deafness prevented him from actually hearing the work at the given tempo, while others say that other works that he left markings for were not excessive, and that he wanted the fast tempos. The question of tempo has lead to performances of about 40 minutes if the metronome markings are followed to performances on the other ends of the scale that are 50 or more minutes. As with any great masterwork, the artistry of the performer determines the value of the interpretation. There are recorded performances from both extremes that are very good, as well as performances that take more of the middle ground that are very good.

The sonata is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro - The opening movement is in sonata form, and has the incredibly fast metronome marking of half note = 138 beats per minute. The music begins with thundering B-flat major chords:

The first theme of the movement is derived from these chords and winds its way for some 34 measures until it comes to the opening B-flat major chords again, but they are only played for a measure until the music shifts to D major, an interval of a third above the home key.  The interval of a third and the relationships that evolve from it are part of the underlying structure of this entire sonata, and impart a different sound to the ear. After a short section of modulation, the second theme in G major begins, a key that is a third lower than the home key of B-flat.  This section continues and makes brief references to other keys along with trills before it leads back to B-flat, and the exposition is repeated. The beginning of the development section has the music transition to E-flat major for an extended section in counterpoint. The ensuing fugato is based on the first subject of the exposition and after a ingenious working through and modulations by descending thirds, the development begins to lead to the recapitulation, but not before it visits the keys of D major and the very odd key of B major. The recapitulation begins with B-flat major chords in the right hand and a descending figure in the left hand. Modulations bring the music to the key of G-flat major before a sudden return of the opening chords appears, this time in B minor. The music segues to the second theme that is now heard in the home key of B-flat major. Moving towards the end of the movement, trills in each hand are heard sandwiched between repeats of material heard earlier. The end of the movement leaves no doubt that it is in the key of B-flat major as it plays fortissimo in whole note octaves.

II. Scherzo: Assai vivace -  Beethoven opens the second movement with a parody of the first subject in the home key of B-flat of the initial movement. The metronome marking for this movement is also very fast, dotted half note = 80:

After the scherzo has its say, the music shifts to B-flat minor for a mysterious trio:

The hands alternate with the theme of the trio and the triplet accompaniment until the meter shifts to 2/4 time, still in the key of B-flat minor, at presto tempo. This short section ends with a cadenza in F major and a bar and a half of what sounds like a chuckle. The scherzo resumes and winds up with a stubborn B natural hammered out in cut time until the scherzo makes a quiet and brief ending.

III. Adagio sostenuto -  The third movement is legendary for its length, poignancy and difficulty. It varies in time of performance, but can take 20 minutes or more with some pianists. It was foreshadowed by Beethoven himself in the 2nd movement of his Piano Sonata No. 7 written 20 years before. It is in sonata form and begins in the key of F-sharp minor. The first bar of the movement was an after thought; Beethoven sent the one measure to his publisher as the manuscript was being prepared for publication and asked that it be used to begin the movement:

After slowly evolving, the first theme segues into the second theme in D major (the relationship of thirds continues in this movement as D major is a third below F-sharp minor). The development section makes free references to the first theme and is quite short. The first theme leads off the recapitulation, and the second theme is heard in the tonic of F-sharp minor. This transforms into F-sharp major, and the second theme is heard again in G major. The key of B minor makes a short appearance before the home key returns. The music goes slowly from minor to major until it comes to rest with a short arpeggiated chord in F-sharp major.

IV. Introduzione: Largo, allegro – Fuga: Allegro risoluto -  The abruptness of the end of the previous movement sets trhe stage for the phenomenal introduction of the finale of the sonata. In meticulous notation, Beethoven writes down his mental process of realizing the theme of the fugue that is to follow. With instruction in Italian to subdivide each quarter note into 4 sixteenth notes, and as the metronome marking of one sixteenth note = 76, this movement begins very slowly:

Ideas are presented and rejected; in G-flat major, B-flat major and G-sharp minor. Another episode that reaches fortissimo in A major gives way to trills and a lead-in to the presentation of the subject of a 3-voice fugue in B-flat major:

This may be a fugue, but it is a fugue under Beethoven's terms. While he uses many contrapuntal techniques, they are used with an intensity that is Beethoven's own. The Italian words he used at the beginning of the fugue translate to say Fugue in three voices with some license, he continued to make his own way artistically. 

The first performance below is by Claudio Arrau, one of the great pianists and Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. His performance takes about 45 minutes, and he does not follow Beethoven's metronome markings. The second performance below is by Stephan Möller, a fine pianist who does take the sonata at Beethoven's metronome markings. His performance takes about 40 minutes. Each performance has its merits, and it is interesting to compare them. 

Claudio Arrau

Stephan Möller 

Liszt - Fantasy And Fugue On The Theme B-A-C-H For Organ S.260

The piano was central to the musical life of Franz Liszt. He was a virtuoso performer on the instrument from an early age, and his tours of Europe were legendary, and his compositions for piano and orchestra challenged the conservative nature that had crept into music in the middle 19th century. But despite his leadership with Wagner in what was called at the time "New Music", he had an interest in past composers and forms.  He championed works by composers that were unknown to the public at the time, such as the late music of Schubert and the opus 106 piano sonata "Hammerklavier" by Beethoven. He helped create pathways to new modes of expression by having one eye on the future and one on the past.

Although as a composer he is most well known for his music for solo piano and the symphonic poems for orchestra, he also composed in most other genres of music, including works for solo organ. The articleThe Organ Music Of Liszt by musicologist Zoltán Gárdonyi   states that Liszt traveled to Geneva Switzerland in 1836 and improvised on a church organ there.

As a trained pianist, Liszt was not adept at the pedals of the organ to begin with, and perhaps never got really proficient on them. But the manuals of course were a different story. He probably could adjust quite rapidly to the differences in the keyboards of pianos and organs. And there are many differences in the two instruments besides the pedals.

Liszt composed around 40 works for organ with the majority of them being transcriptions of other composer's music as well as his own. But he did compose two masterpieces of the literature for organ. The first was composed in 1850, the Fantasy and Fugue On The Chorale 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam' from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera The Prophet. This is a massive work that takes around thirty minutes to perform. The second of Liszt's masterpieces for solo organ was composed ion 1855, the  Fantasy And Fugue On The Theme B-A-C-H.

In the 1840's the Bach revival was in full swing with Felix Mendelssohn continuing to lead the way in exposing the music to audiences. Mendelssohn played some of Bach's organ works at a concert in 1840, and Liszt wrote transcriptions of selected organ works for piano. Liszt's homage to Bach's music is based on the spelling in German musical nomenclature:

Bach himself used this 'Bach motif'' in one of his fugues in his The Art Of Fugue, and there is a long list of composers past and present who have used it.

Liszt begins the work with the motif in a solo for pedals:

The first part of the work is a fantasy with wide ranging tonalities that leads into the fugue which begins in the pedals. The fugue works through a few entrances of  the subject and then becomes a more free working out of ideas and motives until the subject returns in a more agitated form.  A section of trills for the pedals leads back to a fragment of the subject. After a short section marked maestoso, the Bach motif is heard again  in octaves in the pedal with shifting harmonies in the keyboards. This seems to be leading up to a grand finish, but instead they lead into a few bars in a more hushed tone that add a sense of mystery. This spell is broken by the final bars in fortissimo that modulate to the end chord in B-flat major. 

Chopin - 24 Preludes, Opus 28

The  opus 28 preludes by Chopin were first published in 1839, a date that coincides with the winter of  1838-1839 in which he spent inMajorca with George Sand and her children. This has led some to believe that Chopin wrote the preludes in Majorca over that winter, but while some of theme were no doubt written then, there is evidence that some of the preludes were begun as early as 1831.  Each of the 24 major and minor keys are represented by a prelude. Some of them are quite short, with the longest lasting under 6 minutes.

Contemporary critics and musicians were somewhat baffled by the preludes, as illustrated by the words written by Robert Schumann:

The Preludes are strange pieces. I confess I had imagined them differently, to be designed in a grand style like the Etudes. But almost the opposite is true. They are sketches, beginnings of Etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, eagle wings, a wild motley of pieces. But each piece, written in a fine, pearly hand, shows: 'Frederick Chopin wrote it.' One recognizes him in the pauses by the passionate breathing. He is and remains the boldest and proudest poetic mind of the time. The collection also contains the morbid, the feverish, the repellent. may each search what suits him; only the philistine stay away!

 No. 1  In C Major - Agitato - Chopin studied the set of preludes and fugues The Well -Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the opus 28 set was in some ways inspired by it. But Chopin made his own way artistically in his set. This first prelude shows a vague similarity in that it is in the key of C major and acts as a type of introduction to the set. But from the start, Chopin's set shows a marked difference in mood and approach. This prelude is short and rhythmically complex, and just as the listener's ear begins to discern distinct voices within the music, it is over:

No. 2  In A Minor - Lento - One of the peculiarities of the set was in Chopin's use of the term prelude. The name implies that a prelude comes before something else, as in Bach's prelude and fugue pairs. Chopin's preludes introduce nothing. They are entities unto themselves. When they are played as a set however, each prelude does lead to something; another prelude of varying distinction. The second prelude is brooding, melancholy, and full of dissonances in marked contrast to the opening prelude:

The melody as such is repeated in different pitches and accompaniment until the bleakness of the end.

No. 3  In G Major - Vivace - The mood shifts to brightness with the 3rd prelude. It begins with a widely spaced figure in the left hand that continues in a few differing harmonies, but stays in the home key of G major for the most part:

Chopin also makes his own way in key progression of the preludes. Unlike Bach who progressed chromatically and alternating major with minor, Chopin progresses on the circle of fifths alternating major and minor.

No. 4  In E Minor - Largo - A prelude that looks very simple on paper. A single voice in the right hand has the melody while block chords are played in the left. But simple does not always equate to easy. To bring out the descending bass line while keeping the right hand melody singing its intense song is not an easy task to do:

No. 5  In D Major - Molto allegro - A one-page prelude that has sixteenth notes moving throughout in an accompaniment while an eighth note theme appears within the accompaniment as shown by the notation. A quite rhythmically complex prelude:

No. 6  In B Minor - Lento assai - This sad prelude has the melody in the left hand that is reminiscent of the cello, with a repeating accompaniment in the right:

No. 7  In A Major - Andantino - A wisp of a prelude that is only 16 bars long, this is a miniature mazurka, a dance of Chopin's native Poland. It provides a short period of respite before the onslaught of the next prelude:

No. 8  In F-sharp Minor - Molto agitato - A most challenging prelude, one of the most difficult technically in the set. Scholarship has this as one of the earliest written preludes in 1831, around the same time as the first set of opus 10 etudes:

A dotted rhythm melody in the low part of the right hand plays against eight sixteenth notes in the same hand, while the left hand plays a sixteenth triplet-eighth note accompaniment for the entire piece. The harmonic structure is no less complex as it modulates to remote keys of E-flat minor and others.

No. 9  In E Major - Largo - A very slow prelude with a bass line almost as important as the melody in the right hand. The right hand melody is entrusted mostly to the little finger of that hand and must be more pronounced than the accompaniment in the lower right hand:

No. 10 In C-sharp Minor - Molto allegro - This odd prelude is quite short and consists of  a few runs down the keyboard in the right hand with arpeggiated chords spanning a tenth in the left hand:

No. 11 In B Major - Vivace -  although written in 6/8 time, this prelude drifts into short sections of 3/4 time, which is  hemiola. This gives a hesitant, not quite right rhythmic feeling to this prelude, something which Chopin was fond of:

No. 12 In G-sharp Minor - Presto - The two-note slurs in the right hand along with the tempo make this prelude one of the difficult ones. The impression I get from this prelude is a great struggle, an effect that Chopin might well have had in mind:

No. 13 In F-sharp Major - Lento - This prelude is a mini-nocturne, with a deceptively simple rolling bass in the left hand and melody in the right. There is a section a little over half way through the piece where the accompaniment changes and the melody gets more pensive, but overall the mood remains tender. The dynamic range is marked piano at the beginning, with a sensitive performance keeping the dynamic range within subtle shades of it:

No. 14 In E-flat Minor - Allegro - This prelude is marked to be played pesante (heavy). With the hands playing the same notes an octave apart, it may seem at first like a finger exercise, but the raising and lowering of pitch and volume as well as the unpredictability of what's coming next goes beyond finger work. There is difficulty in determining any definite melody. The mood of the piece is just as indefinite. This isi one of the most enigmatic of the preludes:

No. 15 In D-flat Major - Sustenuto 'Raindrop' - The longest in duration of all the preludes, this one is also the most well known single prelude of the set. The name of 'raindrop' was given to it either by Chopin's lover George Sands, or the pianist/conductor Hans von Bülow. There are a few sets of nicknames by performers for all the preludes, (including von Bülow's) by way of interpreting their individual mood. Chopin himself only put a name to one of his works, that being the slow movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ Minor, Op. 35, the famous Funeral March.

The prelude begins with a bitter sweet melody in D-flat Major. Many times the major mode in music denotes a certain mood, but with Chopin the mood between major and minor could be blurred. An A-flat 'rainsrop' repeats and is the reason for the nickname.:

In the contrasting middle section in C-sharp Minor (the enharmonic equivalent of D-flat Minor was used to make the music easier to read) the 'rainsdrop has enharmonically changed to G-sharp as the left hand brings forth chords in a steady progression in volume until the eruption of a climax with the left hand in octaves with the raindrops also in octaves plus inner voices. This section is repeated, and after a section of transition the opening of the prelude returns with some minor changes.  The A-flat continues right up to the quiet ending of one of Chopin's most demanding and well-known works.

No. 16 In B-flat Minor - Presto con fuoco - The prelude begins with six startling chords that bring the listener to attention for what follows. And what follows is music of immense difficulty. The right hand plays runs that are not conventional scales or arpeggios, but unconventional configurations of intervals, accidentals and snatches of scales while the left hand part is no less difficult due to the leaps required from octaves to chords. All of it to be played at an incredibly fast tempo that can seem like chaos ensues.  But that is an illusion for this is a very difficult prelude. Chopin was no proponent of chaos in music:

No. 17 A-flat Major - Allegretto - A very melodic prelude not given to any overt virtuoso display. When the main section is repeated, there are recurring low notes in the bass that are reminiscent of a bell that accompany the music to the end:

No. 18 In F Minor - Molto allegro - This prelude may be thought of as a spiritual brother in mood to the 14th prelude as this one snarls and snaps its way through less than a minute of dissonance, runs and sections where the hands play in unison an octave apart.  Four bars from the end, each hand plays a trill that is followed by sixteenth note staccato triplets that are spit out with great vehemence before the final chords:

No. 19 In E-flat Major - Vivace - This prelude is designated to be played semper legato, an incredibly difficult thing to do considering the leaping triplets (up to 2 octaves) both hands must make throughout. And this is to be done at a low dynamic and rapid tempo as well. Very poetic music in the guise of great difficulty:

No. 20 In C Minor - Largo - Thick chords give the impression of a funeral march to this shortest by number of bars (only nine) of all the preludes. Not a particularly difficult one technically, it does require richness of tone, especially in the fortissimo sections as well as an ability to balance chords so the melody is heard:

No. 21 In B-flat Major - Cantabile - A simple melody begins this prelude with a steady two-part accompaniment:

After the opening there is a section that gives the impression of G-flat major that creates a marked contrast. The mood of the piece, as with many of the preludes, has more than one possibility. This has lead to many different interpretations by pianists, and has helped to keep the opus 28 preludes in the repertoire for so many years.

No. 22 In G Minor - Molto agitato - A fiery, tempestuous prelude that has the melody in octaves in the left hand with the right hand answering in chords. Rapid in tempo, it is all too easy to pound the music out of the piano. Struggling in mood and impatient by nature, there is little if any resolution within the ending:

No. 23 In F Major - Moderato - As previously stated, there is no evidence that Chopin intended opus 28 to be played as a set at one sitting. But this prelude does shows how he composed preludes of contrast that followed one another. This 23rd prelude sits between two passionate preludes and avoids drama with a benign melody that plays out in the bass as the right hand passes up and down the keyboard. The addition of an E-flat to the arpeggiated F major chord in the next to the last measure is kind of a mystery. it implies a modulation to B-flat major, but there is no modulation. The note is accented and is clearly intended to be there. To what specific purpose has been open to conjecture:

No. 24 In D Minor - Allegro appassionato - The final prelude of the set is a wild, impassioned virtuosic piece that has a widely spaced accompaniment in the left hand while the right hand plays arpeggios up and down the keyboard, chromatic triplet thirds, and a buildup of near chaos that at the end descends from the top of the keyboard to three low D's hammered out in the left hand: