Dear Mr. Chappell:

I have a student that is interested in learning Bach Preludes and Fugues, as well as inventions. Do you have any words of wisdom about them?

— Professor

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Dear Professor:

Here are some of my observations regarding the 48 Preludes and Fugues found in Book I and Book II of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier”, in no particular order:

It can be edifying to study the Prelude and Fugue in a key in Book I and the Prelude and Fugue in the same key in Book II. Sometimes the comparisons show that the matching keys have matching characteristics, moods, and even (in the Bb Minor preludes, for example) matching melodies.

The same is true for the two-part inventions and the three-part "inventions" (called "sinfonias"). The key scheme matches. Compare those in the same key.

It is interesting that there is often a seeming total mismatch of Prelude to Fugue in terms of mood or length. It is apparently a true fact that Bach sometimes plugged in a pre-existing piece just to fill the 48 spaces and also sometimes transposed that piece into the needed key. So there is not always any real musical connection between a Prelude and Fugue.

Some Preludes are easy, followed by a difficult Fugue, and vice versa. It can be useful to find Preludes and Fugues that are matched in difficulty so that one or the other piece is not an inordinate challenge to the student.

Some keys with high numbers of accidentals might be more of a challenge for a student to read, but from just the physical standpoint of playing them some of the best to start with in Book I are D minor, E minor (probably the easiest in Book I), F# major, G minor, and Bb minor; and in Book II are C minor, Eb major (probably the easiest on this list), E major, and A major.

Book II is musically more mature and sublime than Book I, but teachers almost always stick to Book I, perhaps because that is what they were taught, or else because those pieces are more "popular" (automatic result of being assigned more often), or else because the teachers haven’t explored all 48, or else for some other reason I can’t fathom.

Tricky fingerings, you say? I have a theory that Bach composed this music nowhere in the neighborhood of a keyboard. It’s easier to find serviceable fingerings for the works of Liszt. But my theory goes on to assert that Bach didn’t compose for the instrument, he composed for the composition. Which perhaps explains why you can play anything he wrote on any instrument and it still sounds good.

— J.C.