Five little preludes
BWV 939-943 performed by Benjamin Alard
Paushuize, Utrecht
Behind the music
Story
Story
Extra videos
Extra videos
Credits
Credits
Gobstoppers for beginners
Bach gave his pupils something to measure themselves against
Bach composed various works for the purpose of teaching, and he obviously enjoyed challenging beginners. In the teaching booklets for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann and his wife Anna Magdalena, he collected all sorts of compositions, some of which he wrote himself. In both cases, the pieces are tailored to the level of the pupil concerned, without making any concessions to musicality.
The Five little preludes are also presumed to have originated for teaching purposes, although it is not clear when Bach wrote them or for whom. The originals have been lost, while the copies date from 1726 at the earliest. From this, we can deduce that the pieces could have been composed as early as 1717, but possibly also twenty years later. The last Prelude is said to have been written by Bach in Arnstadt already. And there is some debate about whether Bach actually wrote these five preludes himself. However, few people still doubt it, if only for the fact that the pieces are included in the extremely popular beginners’ book published by Hans Bischoff in the second half of the nineteenth century, Kleine Präludien und Fughetten.
The mastery of the little pieces lies in their combination of apparent simplicity and musical richness. They can be played very nicely with little technical prowess, whereas when played by a professional they reveal a surprising depth. This allows the pieces to be used at different stages of the learning process, thus revealing different shades of colour every time, like a gobstopper.
- BWV
- 939-943
- Title
- five little preludes
- Instrument
- harpsichord
- Genre
- harpsichord works
- Year
- 1703 (BWV 943) and between 1717 and 1739
- City
- Arnstadt/Köthen/Leipzig
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
Translation
Credits
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- Release date
- 12 June 2015
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- Recording date
- 1 March 2015
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- Location
- Paushuize, Utrecht
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- Harpsichordist
- Benjamin Alard
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- Harpsichord
- Joel Katzman after Joannes Couchet, ca. 1650.
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- Film director and editor
- Lucas van Woerkum
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- Music recording producers
- Guido Tichelman, Bastiaan Kuijt
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- Camera
- Robert M. Berger
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- Camera assistants
- Stef van Wijk, Uriel Matahelumual
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- Grip
- Jeroen de Haan, Thijme de Zoet
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- Lights
- Zen Bloot
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- Best boy
- Thomas Jeninga
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- Interview
- Onno van Ameijde
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- Producer concert
- Erik van Lith
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- Producer film
- Jessie Verbrugh
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- Acknowledgements
- Lex Martens and Provincie Utrecht
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