Bach Prelude and Fugue in C# major, book I

In this video I discuss and play the 3rd Prelude and Fugue of the Well Tempered Clavier.
I come back to problems of finding a suitable speed for this music, and I briefly discuss equal versus unequal temperament
The generally accepted speed for this Prelude:
• Bach: WTC1 No. 3 in C ...
On the subject of temperaments:
• Meantone Temperament a...

[@zikuanzhao5358]

Beautiful interpretation

[@Dieguito-gy1dw]

brilliant!

[@ChristianJoannes]

I concur with your tempo approach. There is also a solid indication that tempo ordinario was the reference to keep in mind: Busoni wrote an etude based on the prelude which is utterly difficult to play and he insists that tempo should be the same than for the original prelude BWV 848. It would be absolutely impossible to play his transcription at Gould's tempo which means that Busoni himself and god knows how much he loved speed , was playing the prelude somehow slower than today's standard.

[@charlestebbs]

These are well presented and well played. Thank you. I will pass your discussion on to a student of mine. I agree that pianists often take these pieces as rapid exercises after the Czerny 'velocity' school (whether they realise it or not) and whizz past the abundant detail and musical content. For me the C sharp pair can be even closer in tempo and still stay within your definition of tempo ordinario (e.g. with the prelude at the upper end around 80 and the fugue still slightly quicker as you play it) so there are many different possibilities. The bounce of the piano action encourages this and is fun to play off in this way (as opposed to the lifting of fingers needed on the harpsichord which might feel more natural at your slower tempo). Here is my version - we have a similar tempo in the fugue ua-cam.com/video/u049XPUldcg/v-deo.html . Incidentally I had the piano tuned in Bach/Lehman temperament for some of my WTC recordings which works quite well and gives a certain sharpness to the basic C# major triad due to its wide third. Here is a link to my demonstration of this temperament on the piano (in relation to Bach of course). I know it is not perfect but this stuff is very hard to explain. ua-cam.com/video/V0SVvfF52AE/v-deo.html

[@patrickcollins9091]

Merci beaucoup, it's a great help to take apart the process especially a major musical influence like Bach

[@silvanmeschke]

Very beautiful, I love this amazing piece!