Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Friedrich Gulda

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Erster Teil (BWV 846 – 869):
• 1 Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 05:15
• 2 Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 847 04:24
• 3 Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848 03:29
• 4 Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 849 05:48
• 5 Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850 03:08
• 6 Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851 03:32
• 7 Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 852 05:16
• 8 Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853 10:33
• 9 Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 854 02:28
• 10 Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 855 03:21
• 11 Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 856 02:09
• 12 Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 857 06:59
• 13 Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858 04:06
• 14 Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859 05:23
• 15 Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 860 03:25
• 16 Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 861 04:23
• 17 Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 862 04:29
• 18 Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863 06:56
• 19 Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 864 02:31
• 20 Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 865 05:26
• 21 Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 866 02:30
• 22 Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867 06:48
• 23 Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 868 04:29
• 24 Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 869 16:38
• Zweiter Teil (BWV 870 – 893):
• 25 Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 870 04:04
• 26 Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 871 06:56
• 27 Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872 03:40
• 28 Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 873 05:27
• 29 Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 874 08:06
• 30 Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 875 03:12
• 31 Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Majorr, BWV 876 05:45
• 32 Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in D-Sharp Minor, BWV 877 09:11
• 33 Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 878 09:11
• 34 Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 879 05:06
• 35 Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 880 04:08
• 36 Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 881 08:30
• 37 Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 882 05:47
• 38 Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 883 10:31
• 39 Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 884 05:05
• 40 Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 885 05:45
• 41 Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 886 06:43
• 42 Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 887 08:24
• 43 Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 888 03:55
• 44 Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 889 06:40
• 45 Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 890 08:52
• 46 Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 891 11:26
• 47 Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 892 05:26
• 48 Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 893 05:26
• Total Runtime 04:40:42

Info for Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier

In Friedrich Gulda’s recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier two significant events in the history of Western music meet. One of these is this exceptional recording. It originates in the years of 1972/73, the high- and endpoint of the collaboration between the Austrian pianist and the sound-sorcerer from Villingen, Germany, Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. Since 1969, Gulda had been using the Black Forest studio’s state-of-the-art technical capabilities for the recording of the music cycles of Beethoven, Debussy, and Mozart, as well as his own work. You can still see the marks left from where the instrument had been precisely placed to the millimeter so that the piano’s sonority could be optimally captured. All of this is what makes Golda’s interpretations so bold and meaningful to this day. The optimal microphone placements on the piano strings reduces the distance between Bach’s work and the audience, allowing the listener to physically experience the music. The Bösendorfer sounds out in full stereo; its extreme dynamics creates a wide emotional spectrum, ranging from delicate intimacy to unbridled extroversion. The other epic event is the work itself: although it may be taken for granted today, Johann Sebastian Bach created a cycle of works played through all 24 major and minor keys that, with its development of equally tempered tuning, was a quantum spring forward. At the same time, Bach underlined the cosmic dimension of his creation by intentionally leaving open the choice of which “clavier” the piece should be played on (at that time, Clavichord, Cembalo and organ). Independent of the mechanics, this underscores the divine substance of his music. Gulda died in 2000. This new release of the Gulda recordings appears on the anniversary of the pianist’s 85th birthday. It especially takes into account the encounter between two geniuses; this is a direct copy from the master tape, the first time since the seventies that the true tonal color of the original has been produced, without any “corrections” of the dynamics.

Finally, the listener can once again experience Gulda’s Bach the way Gulda had conceived it – as eruptive as that timeless meeting of spirit and emotion over 250 years ago.

Friedrich Gulda, piano

Analog-Digitally remastered

Engineered by Christof Stickel, msm Studios, Munich
Mastering by Dirk Sommer

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

Booklet for Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier