# Choose One Prelude and One Fugue from the WTC



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Choose one prelude, and one fugue from the WTC. You don't have to say they are favorites, or rank them. Just choose.

Mine are both from Book i: 


The prelude in C minor.
The C minor fugue.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Book II: g minor prelude
Book II: F# major fugue


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

B minor prelude and fugue from Book I.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Way too hard, but probably the Eb minor prelude from Book I (second place to C# major, Book II) and the B minor fugue, Book I (second place: E major, Book II).


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## PierreN (Aug 4, 2013)

I might single out prelude no. 12 in A minor from Book I because, to my ears, it's nothing special. All 23 other preludes from Book I and Book II are stunning masterpieces.
Singling out a fugue is harder. They're all masterpieces. Maybe Fugue no. 6 in D minor from Book I is merely an ordinary masterpiece while the other 23 fugues are stunning masterpieces.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

from book 1 no. 7


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Prelude: Book 1: C major
Fugue: Book 2: B minor

We weren't asked why, but it's because the Prelude is the first and the Fugue is the last. It's a sort of alpha and omega thing. :tiphat:


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

From Book II - Prelude and Fugue in E flat major.

Why are we doing this?


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)




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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Ok, I will choose the C major Prelude from Book I and the B minor Fugue from Book I. (Close to Eclectic Al's choices, but both of mine are from book I).

I've prioritized the pieces I most want to learn at the moment from each book:

Bk I:
C major Prelude/Fugue (currently working on these)
C# minor Prelude/Fugue
Eb major Prelude/Fugue
G minor Prelude/Fugue
B minor Prelude/Fugue

Bk II:
C# major Prelude/Fugue
G# minor Prelude/Fugue
F minor Prelude/Fugue

Does this mean I like book I more than II? I don't know, they both seem excellent to me. But some pieces from book I seemed to 'grab' me more on first listen, where perhaps I've warmed up more to book II over time. Personally I don't find book I more pedagogical and book II more poetic. Book II perhaps seems a little more galant.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

As personal preferences with no musicological assessment involved, the prelude in B flat minor and the fugue in C minor from Bk.1. The prelude could easily fit into one of the Passions, and I was actually asked to repeat the fugue when someone caught me playing it on the organ in a hospital chapel. I like the words Prout set to the fugue subject, as told to me by one of my piano teachers decades ago: "John Sebastian Bach/Sat upon a tack/And he soon got up again".


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

A runner-up pair:


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

PierreN said:


> I might single out prelude no. 12 in A minor from Book I because, to my ears, it's nothing special. All 23 other preludes from Book I and Book II are stunning masterpieces.
> Singling out a fugue is harder. They're all masterpieces. Maybe Fugue no. 6 in D minor from Book I is merely an ordinary masterpiece while the other 23 fugues are stunning masterpieces.


I think the A minor prelude is pretty special, it sounds very upbeat and triumphant for a minor key prelude. A stunning little gem and the character of it is paired exceptionally well with the fugue.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Bulldog said:


> From Book II - Prelude and Fugue in E flat major.
> 
> Why are we doing this?


Maybe to bring attention to specific pieces so others can investigate. You can miss a lot trying to get through 4 discs of this stuff unless you're a hermit.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I definitely prefer Book I to Book II, because they sound somehow more distinctive and familiar. Maybe it's just me.


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