Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, BWV 870-893

German Title

Das Wohltemeprierte Clavier, Teil II

English Title

The Well-Tempered-Clavier, Book II (WTC 2)

French Title

Le Clavier bien tempéré, Livre II

Spanish Title

El clave bien temperado, Librito II

Works

Preludes & Fugues (24), for keyboard, BWV 870-893
Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 870
Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 871
Prelude & Fugue No. 3 in C sharp major, BWV 872
Prelude & Fugue No. 4 in C sharp minor, BWV 873
Prelude & Fugue No. 5 in D major, BWV 874
Prelude & Fugue No. 6 in D minor, BWV 875
Prelude & Fugue No. 7 in E flat major, BWV 876
Prelude & Fugue No. 8 in E flat minor, BWV 877
Prelude & Fugue No. 9 in E major, BWV 878
Prelude & Fugue No. 10 in E minor, BWV 879
Prelude & Fugue No. 11 in F major, BWV 880
Prelude & Fugue No. 12 in F minor, BWV 881
Prelude & Fugue No. 13 in F sharp major, BWV 882
Prelude & Fugue No. 14 in F sharp minor, BWV 883
Prelude & Fugue No. 15 in G major, BWV 884
Prelude & Fugue No. 16 in G minor, BWV 885
Prelude & Fugue No. 17 in A flat major, BWV 886
Prelude & Fugue No. 18 in G sharp minor, BWV 887
Prelude & Fugue No. 19 in A major, BWV 888
Prelude & Fugue No. 20 in A minor, BWV 889
Prelude & Fugue No. 21 in B flat major, BWV 890
Prelude & Fugue No. 22 in B flat minor, BWV 891
Prelude & Fugue No. 23 in B major, BWV 892
Prelude & Fugue No. 24 in B minor, BWV 893

Scoring

Harpsichord

Score

References

Composed

BGA

NBA

BC

First Published

BWV 846-869

c1740

XIV

V/6.2

L104-127

Bonn, 1801

Music

Music Examples

Contents

Recordings | Reviews | Discussions | Articles | Links

Recordings

Reviews

Reviews of Well-Tempered Clavier Book I:
Comparative Review: Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier Book 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Review: Bach's Well Tempered Clavier from Barenboim
Review: Well-Tempered Clavier Book I - played by Daniel Barenboim
Review: Till Fellner Records Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Book I
Review: Fischer’s WTC I on Naxos
Review: Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 from Pierre Hantai
Review: Bach’s WTC - One More Time
Review: Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 from Christiane Jaccottet
Review: Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 from Kirkpatrick
Review: Ton Koopman’s Well Tempered Clavier Book 1
Review: Bach’s Well Temepred Clavier Book 1 from a Legend
Review: Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 from Robert Levin
Review: Bach & Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues from Olli Mustonen
Review: Edward Parmentier Plays Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier
Review: Richter’s WTC Book 1 (3 Parts)
Review: Schepkin’s Well Tempered Clavier, Book I (10 Parts)
Review: WTC Book I - Tureck (1975-1976)
Reviews of Well-Tempered Clavier Books I & II:
Review: A Terrific Trio of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier
Review: Review: WTC By Ottavio Dantone
Review: Samuel Feinberg’s Well Tempered Clavier (3 Parts)
Review: Hewitt's recordings of the Well Tempered Clavier
Review: Nikolayeva’s WTC
Review: WTC Ruzickova

Discussions

Discussions of Well-Tempered Clavier Book I:
General Discussions: Part 1
Discussions: WTC 1 BWV 846-869 - played by Till Fellner
Discussions of Well-Tempered Clavier Book II:
General Discussions: Part 1

Articles

Article: Das Wohltemperirte Clavier - 　Pitch, Tuning and Temperament Design [C. Francis]

Article: The Hänfling/Bümler Temperament - A Trigger for Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier? [T. Braatz]
Article: Implication of Bach’s Title "Well Tempered Clavier" [P. Metcalf]

Links　

Well-Tempered Clavier
Composition history, Later significance and influence, What tuning did Bach intend?, References, External links (Wikipedia)

The Well-Tempered Clavier (24), collection of preludes & fugues, Book II, BWV 870-893
Composition Description (John Palmer / AMG)

BACH - Well Tempered Clavier - complete recordings of both books [N/A]
Recording list (Ron / University at Albany)

J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier
MIDI Files (S.D. Rodian)

Debby Lyttle's Home Page
A couple of short essays on the Well Tempered Clavier and Brandenburg Concertos (Debby Lyttle)

Johann Sebastian Bach: the Well Tempered Tuning is Unequal
Technical essay, which instructs the reader about the correct harpsichord tuning for the WTC (Dr. Herbert A. Kellner)

Music of Sweet Temperament - The Well Tempered Clavier 2 or Das wohltemperirte Clavier 2
A Method for the WTC by J.S. Bach 2001 - A fiction (Iori Fujita)

The Well Tempered Clavier
A Comment for the WTC - by Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk in 1744 (Iori Fujita)

Well-Tempered Clavier: analysis, scores, and digital sound
Interactive analyses of Bach fugues with complete scores synchronized with digital sound and hyperlinked commentary. (Tim Smith & and David Korevaar)

Cracking the "Bach" Code - Breakthrough WTC Recording
Peter Watchorn's WTC 1 reviewed in American Record Guide by Peter Catalano (Catalano)

Bach's Art of Temperament
Article (Bradley Lehman)

Bach's Extraordinary Temperament: Our Rosetta Stone
Article (Bradley Lehman)

Johann Sebastian Bach's Tuning
Website (Bradley Lehman)

Temperament derived from the 1722 title page
Article (1999) [German] (Andreas Sparschuh)

The “Bach Temperament”:
Article (Kenneth Mobbs & Alexander Mackenzie)

How tuned Bach?:
Discussion group (YahooGroups)

J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier - In-depth Analysis and Interpretation
Full text of the 1951 book (Siglind Bruhn)

J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemeprierte Clavier
Animated visualizations of the music [shockwave required] (Tim Smith / Northern Arizona University)

J.S. Bach's Well-tempered Clavier
This website intends to provide input in developing practically applicable concepts to improve the understanding and interpretation of JS Bach's Well-tempered Clavier, whether one uses the piano, the harpsichord, organ, electronic keyboard, or any other instrument. (Philip Goeth)

Prepared by Aryeh Oron (February 2007 - November 2023)