Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

This is the explanation of clefs which begins the Wilhelm Friedemann Klavierbüchlein, in Johann Sebastian's hand.

Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (Bach's original spelling: Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach) is a collection of keyboard music compiled by the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann. It is frequently referred to simply as Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann.

Johann Sebastian began compiling the collection in 1720. Most of the pieces included are better known as parts of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions and Sinfonias. The authorship of most other works is debated: particularly the famous Little Preludes BWV 924–932 are sometimes attributed to Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Contents

A guide to ornaments, written in Bach's hand and included in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.
Close-up of the first bar of Applicatio in C major, BWV 994. Bach's fingering marks are clearly visible.

The book begins with a preface that contains an explanation of clefs and a guide to playing ornaments. The pieces of the collection are arranged by complexity, beginning with the most simple works. Of these, Applicatio in C major BWV 994 and Prelude in G minor BWV 930 are particularly notable because they are the only surviving works that feature the fingering in Bach's own hand (the only other Bach piece with fingering marks is the C major Prelude BWV 870a, however, the marks are not in Bach's hand. They were probably added by Johann Caspar Vogler, Bach's pupil and successor at Weimar[1]).

Here is a complete list of pieces, in order of appearance in the manuscript:

See also

Notes

  1. Faulkner, 13.

References

External links