Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major
2. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major
3. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor
4. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor
5. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp
6. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp
7. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp
8. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp
9. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major
10. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major
11. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor
12. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor
13. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-flat
14. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-flat
15. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude in E-flat minor and Fugue
16. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude in E-flat minor and Fugue
17. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major
18. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major
19. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E mino
20. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E mino
21. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Majo
22. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Majo
23. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F mino
24. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F mino

Disc 2:

1. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-shar
2. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-shar
3. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-shar
4. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-shar
5. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Majo
6. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Majo
7. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G mino
8. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G mino
9. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-flat
10. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-flat
11. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-shar
12. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-shar
13. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Majo
14. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Majo
15. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A mino
16. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-flat
17. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-flat
18. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-flat
19. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-flat
20. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Majo
21. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Majo
22. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B mino
23. The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book I, BWV 846-869 (BC L80-103): Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B mino

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8666 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1994-01-11
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .40 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
It's rather amazing today, when recordings of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier practically fall of the shelves, to recall just how unusual it was back in the 1960s for a pianist to undertake to record this amazing work. It's probably fair to say that until Glenn Gould got his fingers around it, Bach's music was used for teaching purposes more than anything else. What Gould proves in this essential set is that Bach is decidedly not just a threat to hold over the head of budding pianists but a joy to listen to. One of Gould's very greatest recordings. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

Gould's special interpretation WTC Book 1; Bk 2 even better
Glenn Gould's playing prompted the great George Szell to say, "That nut is a genius." Gould is indeed a controversial pianist. While he was responsible for resurgence in interest in Bach (along with Roselyn Tureck and some others), Gould's playing arouses tremendous passion both pro and con. For a while I subscribed to a use-list on Bach; the members argued so much about Gould that the web master had to intervene, and when that did not work she pulled the plug on the entire site.

Readers should know that I like Glenn Gould. His are not the only worthy interpretations of Bach, but they are indispensable if one is to get a broad and rounded picture of how this greatest of all composers is to be understood.

Gould learned Book One of the WTC from his mother. After he recorded it for Columbia (now Sony) he hardly ever played a selection from Book One again. On the other hand he made numerous recordings of various preludes and fugues from Book Two, both before and after his Columbia complete recording.

His interpretations are certainly unique. Comparing him with other great pianists you will find that he takes tempos that are slower or faster than more conventional versions. This drives some listeners crazy. For my taste I tend to prefer more individualistic performances, and therefore like Gould more than Schiff for example.

Other worthy interpretations of WTC are of course Edwin Fischer on EMI, Richter on Le Chant du Monde, and Schiff on Decca/London for comparison. Recordings of various individual preludes and fugues by Tureck are nearly always worthwhile.

The preludes and fugues of Book Two are a bit darker and more spiritual than those of Book One, and thus suited Gould's temperament more closely. But for beginners I will concede that it takes several listenings to fully get into the WTC, or "forty-eight", as they are also known. Still, like the Goldberg Variations and The Art of Fugue, they are more than worth the effort.

As spiritual a recording of this music as you will ever find
It is rare for an artist to so totally inhabit a work as Gould does the WTC, Books 1 & 2. Particularly striking and moving is the singing quality Gould gives many of the preludes, reminding one of Bach's B minor mass rather than harpsichord performances of the same pieces.

The fugues are also remarkable for their clarity of line and the way Gould seems to effortlessly develop whatever it is that intrigues him in a given fugue. You can hear the joy in his playing as he plays a line which falls silent and then proceeds to work his way through a fugue's complexities toward the line's rebirth.

Although Gould critics often scoff at perceived idiosyncracies in his playing, I have difficulty believing that Bach - the master improviser - would not have approved of Gould's approach. The sprituality that one hears in Bach's cello and vocal works - a spirituality present, but to a lesser degree, in his keyboard works performed on harpsichord - is fully present in these piano performances.

Not for Bach beginners--fair enough?
Someone who is already familiar with the WTCs, or who loves Glenn Gould, or both, would be the best audience for this performance. From the very first bars, with the flowing ascending theme played partly in a counter-intuitive staccato, the in-the-know listener can tell that this will be a highly idiosyncratic rendering. Sure enough, Gould willfully takes some pieces at half-speed, presumably to display the "inner structure", while others are played very fast, near the notes-per-second barrier.

It may well be true that Gould understood Bach better than any other pianist--his unexpected insights are certainly plentiful enough, however convincing they may or may not be. And Bach seems never to have been very specific about how he wanted his music played. However, a newcomer to this work would do well to begin with a more conventional reading. In the wrong hands the WTC's can be as dull as someone reciting the multiplication tables. Yet Gould's version, though faultless in execution and brimming with ideas, is just too distinctive, shall we say, to recommend as this work's bible performance.