Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor from Well Tempered Clavier Book 1

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)

JS Bach was a German composer and musician who lived in the Baroque era of classical music – a stylistic period that came after the Renaissance and lasted about 150 years.

The WTC is a collection of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, composed for solo keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Bach wrote that it was composed "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study". Book 1 was composed in 1722.

The collection is generally regarded as being among the most important works in the history of classical music.

A prelude is often an introductory piece, in this case introducing the fugues A fugue is a highly complex compositional technique that contains interweaving melodic lines that create dense and beautiful textures. Typically there two or more voices, or vocal lines, built on a subject or theme and one or more sub themes that are passed between the voices in different variations.

Recorded July 2019

Piano: 2003 Steinway & Sons "B"

Prelude

Fugue