Prelude & Fugue No. 5 in D Major

Bach intended the original (and slightly different) version of the Prelude & Fugue No. 5 in D Major for the keyboard and composition lessons he began with his eldest son around 1720. The 11-year-old Wilhelm Friedemann must have learned important principles from the opening prelude. Like the earlier preludes (Nos. 1 and 2), the Prelude in D major is constructed from an unbroken sequence of notes, which trains the right hand (especially the fourth finger) in precision and evenness, and shows the budding composer how to make a repetitive sequence melodically interesting. Like the Prelude No. 2, the movement ends with a spontaneous-sounding flourish, dramatically interrupting the prevailing flow. The fugue is unusual and ingenious, making use of the French overture style, in which majestic, jerky rhythms alternate with swirling phrases tossed from hand to hand. Usually, French overtures begin with the majestic, swirling writing, followed by the fugue; here they are combined. About J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I If we had to choose the most influential of Bach’s works in the centuries since his death, the biggest votes would probably go to the St. Matthew Passion and The Well-Tempered Clavier. The epithet “well-tempered” refers to “equal temperament”—a new method of tuning keyboard instruments, which made a wide range of keys available. Bach showed off these possibilities in two books of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, which is why the collection is sometimes known as the “48.” Partly drawing on earlier works, Bach completed Book 1 around 1722, and Book 2 20 years later, constantly revising both. He intended the pieces to be useful to players of all types of keyboard instrument.