The Well-Tempered Clavier facts for kids
The Well-Tempered Clavier (also known as WTC) is the name of two important music collections. They were written by the famous Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. He created these pieces for solo keyboard instruments. The first collection was finished in 1722, and the second in 1742. But people didn't see them published until 1801, which was 50 years after Bach passed away. Even though the music was first written for the harpsichord, which was popular back then, most people today play and listen to it on a piano.
Contents
What is The Well-Tempered Clavier?
Both of Bach's collections have 24 short preludes and 24 fugues. A prelude is like an introduction, often free-flowing. A fugue is a more complex piece where different melodies chase and weave around each other. This weaving of melodies is called counterpoint. Some of these pieces are easy to learn, while others are quite challenging because of all the different melodies happening at once.
How the Music is Organized
What makes these collections special is how they are put together. Each prelude and its matching fugue is written in a different major or minor key. They are arranged in a specific order, going up by semitones. A semitone is the smallest distance between two notes in Western music, like going from a white key to the very next black key on a piano.
For example, the first prelude and fugue are in C major. The next pair is in C minor. Then comes C-sharp major (or D-flat major), followed by C-sharp minor. This pattern continues all the way through the musical alphabet. The very last two preludes and fugues are in B major and B minor. This arrangement shows off all the different keys and how they sound.
Why is This Music Important?
The Well-Tempered Clavier was very important for music history. It showed how composers could write music in all 24 major and minor keys. This idea inspired many other composers later on.
Composers Inspired by Bach
Many famous composers followed Bach's lead and wrote their own sets of pieces in all 24 keys. Some of the best-known examples include the Preludes by Frédéric Chopin. Other composers who did this were Charles-Valentin Alkan, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Famous Melodies from the WTC
Some parts of The Well-Tempered Clavier have become very famous on their own. For instance, the French composer Charles Gounod took the melody from the first Prelude in C Major from the WTC and used it to create his well-known version of Ave Maria.
Listen to The Well-Tempered Clavier
- Well-Tempered Clavier preludes and fugues
- Fugues played on piano, organ, and harpsichord (Flash interactive)
Images for kids
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Title page of Das Wohltemperierte Clavier, Book I, written by Bach himself.
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Bach's own handwriting for the 4th Fugue of Book I.
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The top of Bach's title page for the first book. Some think these loops might be instructions for tuning instruments.
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An early version of the first prelude from the first book, written by Bach in his eldest son's notebook.
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A page from a published edition of Book I, Prelude No. 12, from 1866.
See also
In Spanish: El clave bien temperado para niños
