# Bach's BWV system (and the WTC)



## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

Can someone please explain this to me? Does anyone know why Book 1 and Book 2 of the Well Tempered Clavier don't consist of just 2 BWV numbers respectively? Each individual prelude & fugue has its own number. So does this mean they are a separate entity from the rest of WTC, or is Book 1 an entire piece of music, like Chopin's 24 preludes are, and the numbering is just weird.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

The BWV numbering is strange and misleading. Each prelude and fugue pair from both books is given a separate BWV numbering from 846 to 893 (48 total), but you can ignore that.

Just know that Book I was compiled by Bach in 1722, and that Book II was compiled in 1742. The two books are separate entities, each containing 24 preludes and fugues. From the titles of the books, you can imply that Book I was intended for mostly pedagogical purposes, while Book II wasn't composed with any specific purpose in mind. 

And the individual preludes and fugues aren't "separate" from the actual book, they are just part of the set they belong to... if I understand your question.


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## RBrittain (Jan 24, 2011)

Oh, I was hoping to read about some Bach-related conspiracy about the World Trade Centre.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

Yeah, the BWV system is a bit weird, mainly because Bach didn't publish most of his works. He only has about five or six actual opuses (i.e. published works). But it's convenient to give each prelude and fugue pair it's own number, don't you think? You might find this useful.

Edit: I mean, in the case of Chopin, his _Preludes_ were published all at once, so they have a single opus number (Op. 28). Whereas the _Well-Tempered Clavier_ was never published, so it hasn't got an opus number and has to be catalogued some other way.


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks for your responses... it's a little clearer now. I guess my question now is: is Book 1 (or 2) of the WTC meant to be played as a one huge work for piano, in the way that Chopin's Op. 10 Etudes are meant as one work that can be played in the concert hall? Or is each prelude and fugue a standalone piece that has little relationship to what follows?


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

Well, you have to remember that these are not concert works, nor were they published. One day, Bach might have directed some of his students to study a particular fugue. The next day he might have woken up and played his favorite preludes for his own pleasure. It's known that on one occasion Bach did actually sit down and perform an entire book of the _Well-Tempered Clavier_ for a student. But given how long that takes, I can't imagine he did it very often.

The best way to look at it - and this also applies to other Bach works, like the _Mass in B Minor_ - is as a kind of anthology. It's designed to work both as a single entity _and_ as something from which you can make selections. The first book has a very deliberately chosen beginning, the C Major Prelude, which is unlike any of the other preludes, and a deliberately chosen end, the B Minor Fugue, which has a fugue subject unlike any of the others. The second book is a bit less unified, but I think it's essentially in the same spirit.

You're free to make selections or play the whole thing. I don't think Bach would mind. Glenn Gould even used to play the fugues on their own when he didn't think the prelude matched.


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