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Artist: Heidrun Holtmann

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Heidrun Holtmann:

Johann Sebastian Bach - Well-Tempered Clavier

Between the composition of the two books of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s ›Well-Tempered Clavier‹ lie nearly two decades. He compiled the first during his years as Kapellmeister in Köthen in Saxony-Anhalt (1717 to 1723). Some of the pieces, or early forms of them, may already have been composed at the end of his time in Weimar. As Christoph Wolff notes, it was »probably his most revolutionary work for a keyboard instrument up to then«, in several respects. It was the first time a composer had written works in all the twelve major and twelve minor keys of the chromatic scale and put them together in a collection. In addition, the 24 preludes and fugues offered a compendium of the playing techniques, genres and forms of the piano music of the time. Not only that, they provided an overview of the art of composition and understanding of music. Bach also offers an introduction to the fundamentals of music playing, musical thinking and creativity.