Let’s resume our exploration of the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. In today’s session we’ll go back to Christine Schornsheim playing a Ruckers harpsichord of 1624, which we first heard when starting this series back in January.

F sharp minor

The F sharp minor prelude is in three voices. A very ornamented line on the right hand is accompanied by a basso continuo, with the middle voice providing both harmonic support and counterpoint in the form of thematic imitations.

The fugue, also in three parts, adds the interest of having three distinct themes. The first theme opens the piece in the middle voice, followed by the top line in bar 4 and the bottom one in bar 8. Then the second theme appears in bar 20, in quick succession first in the bass, then in the middle voice and lastly in the top part. The third subject, a run of sixteenth notes, shows up first in measure 36 and it’s easily recognizable as it continues to appear in all parts.

G major

This prelude, reminiscent of an Italian concerto, is structured in two repeating sections. It’s brilliant and virtuosic with the “moto perpetuo” effect of the relentless sixteenth notes. The theme of the three-part fugue is based on a broken arpeggio, and it shares with the prelude the effect of constant motion. It features a sort of concluding cadenza in thirty-second notes which reinforces its less strict character.