Bach Well Tempered Clavier Analysis
It is argued that Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier has influenced music ever since it has been written and published. Bach was known as a great teacher, and his students are what motivated him to write The Well Tempered Clavier, a monstrosity of a collection of Harpsichord/Keyboard works. Bach revolutionized music for many years to come and numerous other composers were influenced by his works. This is indeed why the musical trinity has been formed by classical musicians, because without Bach (the father), there is no way that Beethoven (the son), Brahms (the holy ghost of musicians), Chopin, Berlioz, and many other composers would be the same. For example, Chopin had the Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 out in front of him while he wrote his famous twenty-four preludes. This is why it is fantastic that Bach was rediscovered one hundred years after seemingly disappearing. Unfortunately, Bach
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5 BWV 850. I chose this piece because I have performed it, and I somewhat know what it takes to play this piece, and I understand what Bach was trying to teach as an etude. Of course, the big intention of the Well Tempered Clavier was to teach the student in fugal form, but there was a specific intention to be taught with each prelude and fugue that Bach wrote. I believe the point Bach was trying to make with Prelude Number 5 is to employ perpetual motion in the right hand while using typical Baroque bass in the left hand. The prelude begins with a melodic sort of beginning before diving into an episode, but the theme reappears one more time, in a different key, before the piece concludes. Until the very end, the left hand is just playing bass notes and doesn’t really do much other than keep time. But at the end, there is a cadence in which both the right and left hands are perpetually playing sixteenth notes at the same time, before ending on a tonic chord, a typical ending for Baroque
5 BWV 850. I chose this piece because I have performed it, and I somewhat know what it takes to play this piece, and I understand what Bach was trying to teach as an etude. Of course, the big intention of the Well Tempered Clavier was to teach the student in fugal form, but there was a specific intention to be taught with each prelude and fugue that Bach wrote. I believe the point Bach was trying to make with Prelude Number 5 is to employ perpetual motion in the right hand while using typical Baroque bass in the left hand. The prelude begins with a melodic sort of beginning before diving into an episode, but the theme reappears one more time, in a different key, before the piece concludes. Until the very end, the left hand is just playing bass notes and doesn’t really do much other than keep time. But at the end, there is a cadence in which both the right and left hands are perpetually playing sixteenth notes at the same time, before ending on a tonic chord, a typical ending for Baroque