Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C Minor

The Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C Minor began life around 1720 as a teaching exercise for Bach’s 11-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann, forming part of his little keyboard book—the Clavierbüchlein. Once Friedemann had mastered the widely spread, opened-up chords of the Prelude No. 1, his father moved on to challenge his fledgling fingers with more closely spaced patterns. Like the First, the Second Prelude also outlines and elaborates a fairly straightforward chord sequence with a nimble and unbroken sequence of notes, allowing the player to develop an even touch and smooth flow. Having set up the expectation of a continuous run of the same musical idea right to the end, Bach creates a sense of drama by unexpectedly interrupting this flow with new patterns for the right hand, and an improvised-sounding flourish (cadenza). It’s followed by a three-voice fugue, based on a rocking theme—one of Bach’s catchiest. 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.