Topic: New Bach Video Prelude n 24 in B minor BWV 869
Dear Friends,
We're one step away from completing our journey to discover WTC1; this is the final Prelude and Fugue before the summit... I certainly would never have been able to complete this adventure without the support and encouragement of my friends on this forum, whom I thank very much...
In order that the earnest character of the concluding number of the first book might not be exposed to misconception, Bach himself indicated the tempo of both pieces : Andante for the prelude, and Largo for the Fugue.
The moving bass might, otherwise, tempt this or that player, to give an Allegro rendering of the prelude-, and the exceptional length of the fugue exposes it to a similar danger, especially in the hands of the average player, who in slow performance might not perhaps succeed in euphonizing the difficulties of the work. It is to be hoped that the indications of phrasing and the present analysis will assist in securing honourable admiration for the work, and in silencing, once for all, blasphemies such as those uttered respecting it by van Bruyck.
The theme of the prelude, in the unvarnished manner in which it is presented in the first section of the same (up to the repeat), shows a strong relationship to the Andante middle- section of the E-fIat prelude (I. 7).
But how different the effect of the fourth-progressions here in the yearning key of B-minor as compared with that in the clear and firm key of E b Major Like raised beseeching hands they stretch the one over the other, while the bass, wandering quietly on, seems to represent inevitable fate, the even march of time. This mood explains why Bach almost intentionally avoids plain closes, for at a perfect cadence, by means of a feminine ending, he crosses over to a new order of progression, or follows the full close, by way of counterpart, with a half close (4a), or else avoids the tonic on the strongest beat. With exception of these insertions and changes of meaning, the metrical construction of the first part is indeed simple, and only at the end shows a measure of triplets; the second part, on the other hand, effects, for a long time, the elision of the first (unaccented) measure of each half period (i, 5), then introduces — evidently with transition to Alla breve-character — two great triplets, and only again becomes simple towards the end.
Enjoy your listening.
My actual setting is:
Played on Yamaha P125 piano stage Video Recording Samsung Galaxy A54.
VST: Hamburg Steinway D Pianoteq Stage 8.4.0
https://youtu.be/QNGpOtFB_5s
