Thursday, August 5, 2021

Beethoven composed his piano sonatas Opus 2 no. 1 and Opus 57 (Appassionata), the Egmont Overture, and his String Quartet no. 11, “Serioso” in the key of F minor. Here is the Prelude and Fugue in F minor from Book II of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

 Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Today we have a lovely performance of the F major Prelude and Fugue from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier of J.S. Bach. Beethoven chose the key of F major for two piano sonatas, a violin serenade, and both his Sixth and Eighth Symphonies.

 Tuesday, Auugust 3, 2021

After listening to Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E minor, listen to Beethoven's Opus 90 piano sonata, in the same key.

 Monday, August 2, 2021

The ninth prelude and fugue pair in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is composed in E major. Works in this key are few and far between - Beethoven composed just two piano sonatas in E major, preferring E-Flat major for his big, "heroic" works.

 Sunday, August 1, 2021

The eighth pair of preludes and fugues in Book II of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier has a curious attribute: instead of being written in the key of E-flat minor (to match the preceding pair in E-flat major), it’s written in the “enharmonic”key of D-sharp minor. The difference cannot be heard or seen on the keys of the keyboard, but has only to do with how the music is written on the page: E-flat minor has six flats, while D-sharp minor has six sharps. Perhaps Bach wanted to challenge his pupils to be able to read in any key with equal fluency. 

 Saturday, July 31, 2021

The Prelude and Fugue number 7 in E-flat from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier bears the  description “Tanz Präludium Ricercar”. The “Tanz” part is easy – the prelude has a delightful dance motif; but what does Ricercar mean? The Italian verb “ricercare” means to seek out, and the Ricercar is an early type of fugue in which the key is sought out through the contrapuntal development.

 Friday, July 30, 2021

As we listen to the Prelude and Fugue in D minor from book II of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that Beethoven chose D minor as the home key for two of his best-loved compositions:

Sonata #17 , Opus 31 No. 2 – “The Tempest”

Symphony #9 , Opus 125 – the “Choral Symphony”

 Thursday, July 29, 2021

The composer Robert Schumann wrote, "let [Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier] be your daily bread. Then you will certainly become a solid musician." Here is the beautiful Prelude and Fugue in D-major from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier.

 Wednesday, July 28, 2021

In 1722, Bach compiled a set of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, and twenty years later composed another entire set. They were not published during his lifetime, but Bach lent his manuscript to his students and let them make their own personal copies. These copies made their way across Europe and ultimately into the hands of Mozart and Beethoven, among others.

 Tuesday, July 27, 2021

The development of today’s musical system of twelve major and twelve minor keys was strongly influenced by the work of the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who in 1619 published “Harmonies of the World", his investigations of the true motions of the planets. In Book 3 in particular he describes an actual theory of the importance of the major and minor modes and of temperament which allows for free motion of these modes among the keys.