J. S. Bach - Selections from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (Charles Lieou)

Lunchtime concert, St. John's College, Santa Fe, NM Dec 3 2021 Video credit: Rick Bolton 00:31 Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C, BWV 846 04:52 Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor, BWV 849 11:35 Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D, BWV 850 14:40 Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E-flat minor, BWV 853 24:45 Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F, BWV 856 27:07 Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G minor, BWV 861 32:00 Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A, BWV 864 35:25 Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B minor, BWV 869 On January 22, 1720, Johann Sebastian Bach first initiated his little son Wilhelm Friedemann with his first keyboard lessons. The documentation of those lessons and the musical works composed for Wilhelm Friedemann have miraculously survived in the manuscript book now known to us as the Clavierbüchlein. A fact also often overlooked is that several of the Preludes from Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier first appeared as written out exercises for the young Wilhelm Friedemann in his Clavierbüchlein. Of the works being performed today, the Preludes in C, c-sharp, e-flat, and F all first appeared in the Clavierbüchlein (see accompanying musical examples). Although there can be no doubt that J.S. Bach intended these Preludes and Fugues to be an exemplary model of contrapuntal composition, one must also keep in mind the pedagogical or didactic nature of the work. Bach himself stated in the foreword for the first publication of Volume One of the Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) that this was a work “…for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning…”; and also, as … “a pastime for those already skilled in this study…”. With this pedagogical intent always present, one can see the various stylistic elements which Bach deemed important for the young student. These include the following: 1. Many of the Preludes are early examples of technical studies or etudes intended for the development of clear and independent finger technique (e.g., Preludes in C major, D major, F major, and A major performed on today’s recital). However, Bach would not have limited the teaching of a young keyboard player to finger technique alone. In the same sense that Chopin later incorporated lyrical cantabile style into several of his Etudes, we notice the same approach from Bach. The ability to play in the cantabile style is emphasized by the rather contemplative and intimate nature of some of the various Preludes (e.g., c-sharp minor, e-flat minor, b minor). 2. Descartes, in his final work, The Passions of the Soul (1646), had laid the groundwork for the eventual Affektenlehre. The Doctrine of Affections suggests that each musical work should portray one of these “passions”. For Descartes, “passions” could be summarized into six categories; love, hatred, desire, joy, and sadness. Although Descartes acknowledged many more variants of the above listed six, we can certainly see that each of the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Book I (and the later Book II as well) can be assigned a certain “passion”. Indeed, the selection of the present program encompasses a broad range of tempi, structure, mood, and emotions, and includes some of the most profound works J. S. Bach wrote for the keyboard. 3. The elements of the dance and its various forms were always prevalent in the Baroque. The young keyboard player needed to be well-versed in these dances. Bach provides this in the Preludes and Fugues by incorporating these styles into several of the works. In the works you will hear today, we can see the Pastorale (C Major Prelude), the Loure (c-sharp minor Prelude), French Overture (D major Prelude), Sarabande (e-flat minor Prelude), and Minuet (F major Fugue). The fugal techniques represented in the Fugues truly represent the culmination of contrapuntal technique in the eighteenth century. Several of these Fugues are of particular interest. The subject of the five-voice triple Fugue in c-sharp minor constitutes a transformed B-A-C-H motif. The meditative and desolate three-voice Fugue in e-flat minor (scored in d-sharp minor) showcases practically all techniques of fugal writing including inversion, stretto, and augmentation. The subject of the monumental four-voice b minor Fugue that concludes the present program includes all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale and a series of semitone sighs arranged in intervallic leaps which, according to some commentators, may allude to crucifixion. Despite the compositional and intellectual pinnacle which the Fugues represent, their grace, fluidity, and truly celestial qualities will be eternally appreciated and revered by the musically educated and by the avid listener.