Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier Vol.1 (egarr)

We sometimes forget how closely the didactic aspect of 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' (Das Wohltemperierte Clavier) is bound up with the various upheavals of the 1720s which refocused Johann Sebastian Bach on his roles as father and teacher. His ambitious scheme for associating a prelude and a fugue with each other of the major and minor keys could easily have become something of a tedious chore. But, on the contrary, it reveals Bach's highly personal genius for constant creative renewal within the framework of two fixed forms. Richard Egarr presents the complete First Book on a copy by Joel Katzman of a 1638 Ruckers, using the temperament which recent research suggests Bach himself advocated.