Prelude in C major

The first prelude of the Well-Tempered Clavier is one unbroken pattern of broken chords, changing harmony bar by bar. It opens the forty-eight preludes and fugues. Its simple shape has made it the best known of Bach's keyboard works and the most revealing. Nothing here carries the line as a melody would. The music is harmony set in motion, and its expressive range comes from how the chords are voiced and joined. Gounod's Ave Maria, laid over it, is proof of how securely it lodges in the ear.

Playing it well is a study in evenness and in hearing the bass move beneath the figuration. Legato and pedal come into it too, so the harmonies ring without smudging.

It has no technical tricks to master, which is why it exposes every uneven finger and careless accent. Taken slowly and gently it improves the ear as much as the hands, which is the best introduction to Bach's thinking.

About this edition

Prelude in C major, BWV 846. Typeset by RSB, from IMSLP[1], licensed CC BY 3.0[2]. Cropped and de-skewed for display.

Score source · CC BY 3.0