The Well-Tempered Synthesizer

The Well-Tempered Synthesizer is a 1969 album released by Wendy Carlos following the groundbreaking Switched-On Bach in the previous year. The album consists of a selection of pieces by Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, and Handel as well as Bach whose music was exclusively featured on the first album. The title of The Well-Tempered Synthesizer is a play on Bach's own collection of pieces entitled The Well-Tempered Clavier.

All selections were performed on a Moog modular synthesizer system. Like Switched On Bach, The Well-Tempered Synthesizer was recorded on an 8 track Ampex tape recorder using numerous takes and overdubs. This was long before the days of MIDI sequencers and recording the album was by all accounts a laborious process.

About Carlos's rendition of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, renowned Canadian concert pianist Glenn Gould had the following to say:

Carlos's realization of the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto is, to put it bluntly, the finest performance of any of the Brandenburgs — live, canned, or intuited — I've ever heard. [1].

Track listing

1. Monteverdi: "Orfeo Suite" (Toccata; Ritornello I; Choro II; Ritornello II; Choro II; Ritornello II)
2. Scarlatti: "Sonata In G Major"
3. Scarlatti: "Sonata In D Major"
4. Handel: "Water Music: Bourrée"
5. Handel: "Water Music: Air"
6. Handel: "Water Music: Allegro Deciso"
7. Scarlatti: "Sonata In E Major"
8. Scarlatti: "Sonata In D Major"
9. Bach: "Brandenburg Concerto #4 in G Major: Allegro"
10. Bach: "Brandenburg Concerto #4 in G Major: Andante"
11. Bach: "Brandenburg Concerto #4 in G Major: Presto"
12. Monteverdi: "Domine Ad Adjuvandum" (from the 1610 Vespers)