July 3

Hello, WTC Club,

I’m sure you’ve noticed today’s key signature.  I think JSB hit it out of the ballpark in both volumes with his C# Major P&F’s, both are just beautiful, absolutely worth all the concentration to deal with B# and FX and everything else.  It’s the anti-pandemic — all positivity, optimism, sunshine, and concentration.

I hope you are enjoying the project!    XOXOXO Helen

Comments:

Celia: Hi Everyone! I found playing through Fugue 3 a challenge because of those double sharps, but it is gorgeous. I am thinking I may try to learn Prelude and Fugue 3 sometime soon! Hope everyone is enjoying this as much as I am so far!

Celia: Also, I read on Wikipedia that the WTC 1 C# Major Prelude and Fugue were originally published in C Major in another collection – does anyone know if this is true?

Helen: Hi, Celia! There are some nice articles about 848 (C#M) P&F online, but I can’t find the one that suggests it was originally published no flats no sharps! That would certainly make it easier. I found this intriguing comment by, I think, pianist Patrick Ayrton: “Yet the Prelude is a model of melodious simplicity and the Fugue has one of the liveliest themes of the whole Wohltemperirte Clavier. Bach was clearly more in line with Johann Mattheson, who predicted in 1719 that in a couple of hundred years’ time musicians would be playing C-sharp major just as easily as the village organists of the time played C major.” I’m not sure that Mattheson’s prediction has come true, but it implies Ayrton’s understanding that Bach intended us to resolve our problems with lots and lots of sharps. 🙂

Grace: I used to have the C# major from book two memorized, so I found it much easier to read than the next day’s pieces. Funny how experience works like that!

Helen: Hi, Grace! One can certainly say, Thank Goodness for experience, when one is playing a key signature like this one. 🙂

Sabrina: This is a couple days late because I just figured out how to comment, but I really enjoyed the c# major fugue! The key signature seemed pretty intimidating at first, but I found that it wasn’t too terrible once I got used to it. For some reason I’ve had to read through double sharps in a lot of the flute music I’ve played, so I think that made it a little less confusing for me when I came across them in this prelude and fugue (although it’s still not exactly easy).

Helen: Hi, Sabrina! Almost everyone has something to say about this key signature, and this beauty of a fugue! And how cool that your flute experience has made double sharps easier for you. Someday we will master these little devils. 🙂

Nadia: Although I was playing from WTCII, I thought the C# minor fugue was beautiful. It was my favorite one I’ve come across so far. I played through it multiple times and with separate hands to really bring out the different voices.

Helen: Nadia, that P&F from WTCII is one of my very favorites, especially the Prelude! Glad you enjoyed.