Prelude no 1 in C major, BWV 846

About this work

The first prelude of The Well-Tempered Clavier unfolds almost entirely through broken chords. This regularity can create the illusion of static music. Yet the bass changes direction, some notes remain suspended, and each harmony prepares the next. To hear this journey, first listen to the lowest note of every bar: it draws a more expressive line than one might expect.

The two hands must share the same movement without producing sixteen equal, dry attacks. Keep the fingers close to the keys, allow common notes to resonate and prevent changes of position from cutting the phrase. The broad final pedal does not replace this work of connection; it enlarges a sonority already built by the fingers.

How to practise this prelude

Play the bass notes alone first, then the chords as blocks, to locate tension and release. Return to the arpeggios at a slow pulse. Once the movement is secure, choose a few phrase peaks instead of making one continuous crescendo. The MIDI can help check continuity, but your touch must retain a supple breath between the cadences.

About this edition


Scoring: solo keyboard on two staves. The engraving suits piano as well as harpsichord.
Files: the PDF has two US Letter pages. The MIDI reproduces the 36 bars and 565 attacks of the source.
Source and rights: Bach's work is in the public domain. Knute Snortum's LilyPond engraving is distributed under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence. LesPartitions.info checked the pitches, prepared the working formats, added the site's link to each page and wrote this introduction.