It’s time to resume our journey through the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier! For our next installment, let’s listen to the prelude/fugue sets in G sharp minor and A major, in the version by Christophe Rousset. He recorded his album on an original 1628 Ruckers harpsichord, restored by Alain Anselm, part of the collection at the Château de Versailles.

G sharp minor

This prelude is written in sonata form, with two repeating sections, and it’s interesting in that it’s the only piece in the entire book to require a change in manuals as it has piano and forte markings. Its use of appoggiaturas foreshadows the galant style, sounding almost like it could have been written by one of JSB’s oldest sons. The fugue, in 6/8, is in 3 parts and it features two themes (i.e. it’s a double fugue) – the first one with diatonic steps and wider intervals, the second one chromatic, superimposed on the first one.

A major

The A major prelude is a pastorale in 12/8, reminiscent of a 3-part invention. It plays with its theme in its original and inverted form, and it presents them both in a final coda over a pedal point. The fugue features an off-beat, syncopated subject which is exposed only in its original form. Due to its smaller scale and lighter tone, this fugue, and to some extent the whole prelude/fugue pair, resembles the ones in Book I.