Bach wrote two books of preludes and fugues. There is one prelude and one fugue in each key in both books,. so there are 24 preludes and fugues in book one and 24 in book 2. This is the sixth in book one, in D minor. I transcribed it, adding octaves and a few other notes for the modern piano.
Bach’s instruments:
Bach only played a very primitive ancestor of our piano. which was nothing like our modern instrument, so we have no idea how he would have shaped his music for the kind of grand pianos that our normally used for performances today. But he was a master of the organ, and on organ you can add octaves at any time simply by using stops.
I love the sound of this piece. The tempo and constant movement of the piece is incredibly pleasing.
Huge sound. Almost orchestral. A Romantic sound – but before the Baroque Brigade beats me up, hear me out – I feel Bach was a Romantic, and so was Vivaldi. “Tempesta di Mare,” anyone? or Bach’s 2nd Violin Partita? Raw, uncut emotion, both of those. There’s no law that says Bach must be mechanical. A man wrote the music, a man with 14 kids. He had emotions – probably too many at once!
Well done. I listened to Richter but prefer the slower tempo you used for this piece.
I quite like this. That is, I know that piece – I quite like what you did with it, and the idea of transcribing it for the piano as for “another instrument” which basically it is, is just the right thing to do (to my ears).