The Well-Tempered Clavier: 48 Preludes and Fugues Book II (Volume 2) (Dover Classical Piano Music) - Softcover

Bach, Johann Sebastian; Tovey, Donald Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486493709 ISBN 13: 9780486493701

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2014

Synopsis

A monument in the history of Western music, The Well-Tempered Clavier represents not only the culmination of J. S. Bach's own maturation process but also the impetus for the emerging style and structure of modern keyboard music. Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin were influenced by its polyphonic richness and depth of harmony, and Schumann counseled young musicians to "make The Well-Tempered Clavier your daily bread." Modern pianists can follow Schumann's advice with this new edition of an authoritative and long-out-of-print score that offers illuminating perspectives from a pair of eminent musical interpreters.
Book II of this two-volume set features Sir Donald Francis Tovey's analyses of 24 preludes and fugues, including suggestions for performance. In addition to commentaries by Tovey, a lauded Bach scholar and world-famous musicologist, the pieces are complemented by fingerings devised by Harold Samuel, a major Bach interpreter. Students, teachers, and professionals will appreciate this finely engraved and modestly priced version of Bach's enduring works.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"His art was of an encyclopedic nature, drawing together and surmounting the techniques, the styles, and the general achievements of his own and earlier generations and leading to a new perspective." — Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
This informed assessment of the genius of Bach's works can be applied with greatest accuracy to The Well-Tempered Clavier. This highly influential work is monumental in the history of Western music. It represents not only the culmination of Bach's own maturation process, but also the galvanization of the emerging style and structure of modern keyboard music.
The grace and fecundity of The Well-Tempered Clavier have thrilled audiences, musicians, and composers for centuries. Mozart, when rapidly advancing to the height of his mastery, had but to read a manuscript copy of The Well-Tempered Clavier and his style developed a new polyphonic richness and depth of harmony. Beethoven studied all the accessible works of Bach profoundly (including The Well-Tempered Clavier) and frequently quoted them in his sketchbooks, often with direct bearing on his own works. Chopin is nowhere more characteristic than when he shows his love of The Well-Tempered Clavier in his Etudes and Preludes. It was Schumann who, in a series of maxims for young musicians, said "Make The Well-Tempered Clavier your daily bread."
This remarkable volume contains all 48 preludes and fugues, from Books I and II, in all major keys, reproduced directly from the authoritative Bach-Gesellschaft edition. The fine engraving is beautiful, clear, and easy to read. These elegant pieces, which vary in difficulty, are available complete in one low-cost, convenient Dover edition.

About the Author:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments exemplify the heart and soul of the Baroque period. A revival of interest and performances of his music began early in the 19th century and continues to this day. He is now widely considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition.
Sir Donald Francis Tovey was a British music analyst, musicologist, music writer, composer, conductor, and pianist. He is best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis and his editions of the works of Bach and Beethoven.
Eric Wen is the Edward Aldwell Professor of Music at the Mannes College of Music in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0486493709
• ISBN 13: 9780486493701
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208