Le clavier bien tempéré I - Prélude 08 BWV 853

About this work

With its three-minim metre, the Prelude in E-flat minor breathes more broadly than its complex key signature might suggest. The chords move in waves, supported by a bass that must remain audible even in the densest passages. Every dissonance prepares a release: allowing it to live gives the piece weight without making it static.

First place the chords without seeking the final tempo. Listen to the upper note, then the bass, and decide which one leads each phrase. When returning to the complete text, give long values their full duration without weighing every beat in the same way.

Establishing a slow pulse

Count in minims rather than crotchets to preserve the larger motion. Practise the chord sequences in two-bar groups and change the pedal with the harmony. On the harpsichord, replace this support with a more connected articulation and a clear hierarchy between the voices.

Format and source


Instrument: the two staves contain the complete keyboard part.
Document: the engraving has 40 bars across two US Letter pages. Its checking MIDI contains 854 attacks.
Licence: the work is free of patrimonial copyright. Knute Snortum's LilyPond source is offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. LesPartitions.info compared the source and derived files, then added a clickable link at the foot of each page.