A playable selection of preludes and fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, carefully transposed from daunting black-note keys into friendlier, more approachable keys. The music remains essentially unchanged, but the notation has been opened up for young and developing pianists who are ready for more Bach, without the barrier of intimidating key signatures.

The music itself has not been fundamentally altered. The aim is simply to remove some of the visual and technical barriers that can prevent young or developing pianists from approaching these wonderful pieces. The result is a collection of Bach masterpieces that feels clear, inviting and refreshingly playable.

Of course, purists may point out that part of Bach’s extraordinary achievement in The Well-Tempered Clavier was precisely to write a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key. These two magnificent volumes are sublime as they stand, and Bach’s original conception remains breathtaking. Yet the very breadth of that achievement can also place some of its treasures beyond the reach of beginner and intermediate pianists, hidden behind the apparent complexity of unfamiliar key signatures and notation.

This edition is intended to open the door. It satisfies the young pianist’s appetite for more Bach: music that is rewarding, substantial yet surprisingly playable, while remaining unmistakably — and entirely — J. S. Bach.

Contents

Prelude № 3 in C major (originally C# major)
Prelude № 4 in C minor (originally C# minor)
Prelude № 8 in D minor (originally D# minor)
Prelude № 13 in F major (originally F# major)
Prelude № 18 in G minor (originally G# minor)
Prelude № 22 in A minor (originally Bb minor)
Fugue № 3 in C major (originally C# major)
Fugue № 4 in D minor (originally C# minor)
Fugue № 13 in F major (originally F# major)