| Following his recording of the first book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier released last year (BIS-2621), which was praised as ‘a pleasurable benchmark for anyone seeking a traversal that honours every detail of the music’ (Gramophone), harpsichordist Masato Suzuki now offers us his interpretation of the second book of Bach’s masterly cycle of preludes and fugues. No other works from the baroque period have been as cherished, performed and studied as these collections, the objectives of which were musical, theoretical and didactic. Like the first, the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier features a prelude and fugue in each of the 12 semitones of the chromatic scale, covering all of the 24 major and minor modes. Produced almost twenty years after the first book, this collection is a sort of follow-up. Though less frequently heard than it’s predecessor, it nevertheless contains pieces of great beauty covering a wide stylistic range, and demonstrates a mastery of counterpoint that never outweighs emotion, beauty and aesthetics. Occupying a key position in Bach’s output, the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier points ahead to the major cycles of Bach’s last years and presents ‘sheer masterpieces from beginning to end’, to quote Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the composer’s first biographer.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750): The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2:
1 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 87002:24
2 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 87001:53
3 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 87103:24
4 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue in C Minor, BWV 87101:52
5 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 87202:01
6 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 87201:50
7 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 87303:03
8 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 87302:22
9 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 5 in D Major, BWV 87405:27
10 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 87402:23
11 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 87501:47
12 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 87501:53
13 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 87602:50
14 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 87602:00
15 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 8 in D-Sharp Minor, BWV 87703:25
16 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 8 in D-Sharp Minor, BWV 87702:36
17 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 9 in E Major, BWV 87804:43
18 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 87802:28
19 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 97905:00
20 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 97902:56
21 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 11 in F Major, BWV 88003:11
22 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 88001:44
23 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 88104:41
24 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 88102:08
25 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 88203:24
26 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 88202:42
27 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 88302:06
28 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 88303:42
29 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 15 in G Major, BWV 88402:48
30 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 88401:19
31 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 88502:24
32 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 88503:01
33 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 88604:07
34 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 88602:27
35 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 18 in G-Flat Minor, BWV 88704:23
36 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 18 in G-Flat Minor, BWV 88703:36
37 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 19 in A Major, BWV 88801:43
38 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 88801:38
39 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 88905:03
40 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 88901:45
41 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 89007:52
42 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 89002:11
43 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 89102:39
44 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 89104:20
45 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 23 in B Major, BWV 89202:02
46 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 89203:33
47 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 89302:24
48 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 89301:56 |
