155 Days With Bach and Me

Harpsichord. An entire CD’s worth of harpsichord.

I’m back to the “Pedal Steel Greats” CD I joked about a week or so ago.

For the first 10 minutes (okay, maybe five), this is okay music. But after 30, 40, 50 minutes, the harpsichord sounds like an assortment of trash can lids banging together. It loses all semblance of melody to my ears.

Fortunately, there are a few snippets of music here (which is what these selections are — snippets because the longest is only 5:05 and the shortest is a mere 1:14…24 tracks in all) that are iconic, almost always identified with Bach and/or Baroque music. For example:

Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C major, movement 1 (“Praeludium”). Everyone’s heard this version by Glenn Gould:

That YouTube clip includes both movements (“Praeludium” and “Fuga”) of the first two compositions on this CD: Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C major, and Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C minor. And they’re both stellar. I think they’re even more so played on the piano. The piano is much smoother and mellower the harpsichord and, I think, it can bring out the nuances of a composition much better than a harpsichord can. Plus, this YouTube clip features the legendary Glenn Gould, who was as famous for his eccentricities as he was for his impeccable interpretations of Bach’s music. (For example, when he played, he liked to hum and “sing” softly to himself. You can hear him doing that in this recording.)

It’s interesting to compare the tempo and tone of, say, Prelude & Fugue No. 3, Movement 1 (“Praeludium”) on today’s Brilliant Classics CD to Glenn Gould’s version. Gould plays it almost double time. I like it played briskly. It makes me feel alive.

Here’s Gould’s version of Prelude & Fugue No. 3 and No. 4:

But what do I know? I’m not Glenn Gould. Or Johann Sebastian. Or even Leon Berben, the brilliant chap who performed these pieces on harpsichord for this Brilliant Classics CD.

All I know is The Well-Tempered Clavier is exceptional music that transcends (especially when played on the piano) its time. It will be music people will listen to for as long as there are people to listen.

These are the compositions on today’s CD:
BWV 846-870 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I)
Published in 1722 when Bach was 37 years old.