Today’s P&F is WTCI No. 2, C Minor, BWV 847. Yesterday’s C Major Prelude was the most famous of the 48 P&F’s in both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier, and arguably the most famous fugue is today’s fugue. My concentration today was not sublime; I found myself thinking about summer plans and was rather surprised to find myself at the end of both the P&F after five or so minutes of not-high-quality sight playing. This means I missed the lovely, fairly textbook presentation of fugue. Regardless, there is a deep satisfaction in feeling the finger choices in my Henle Urtext Edition (Hans-Martin Theopold did these fingerings). I think Bach provides nice yoga for the hands and, if one is mentally available, the mind.
Yesterday’s post was truncated by the advancing hour, and my desperate attempts to learn how to use my website to make these posts and have them appear where I want (still a work in progress). Wonderful thoughts had come to mind as I played yesterday’s P&F in C Major; memories in particular of two dear adult students, now both deceased, who loved Bach so very much. Ellen commented that the famous Prelude in C was always appropriate, and she strived to keep it in her hands for lunches with friends, funerals, weddings, christenings. Although she was not a professional pianist, she shared her efforts with her loved ones, and she loved this Prelude for its versatility and utility. Carol was learning the A Minor Invention, and she decided to practice it 100 times between lessons. She found it remarkable that, regardless of how many repetitions, she never tired of it, whereas she quickly grew weary of, say, Satie. She rallied one morning near the end to sit at her piano a final time and play her invention. As I played yesterday’s C Major P&F, I mused on the “mystic, sweet communion” one enjoys with those who have moved on to bigger things when one plays the same music. As Carol used to say, “… to be continued…” and that’s what I felt yesterday; the continuation of a worthwhile conversation.