Program
300 years ago, in 1722, Johann Sebastian Bach completed the first volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This collection of preludes and fugues was conceived as ‘a guide to tonalities’, providing an experience of fluency in all 12 major and 12 minor keys, including those that were almost never or never at all used at that time. 22 years later, a second volume was added to the first. The extensive work eventually became the ‘musical Bible’ of all musicians, which saw entire generations of performers and composers mature.
In the year of the first volume 300th anniversary, Dom Radio and the Faculty of Historical and Contemporary Performance of the Moscow Conservatory present a festival-marathon in which all 48 preludes and fugues from both volumes of the Well-Tempered Clavier will be performed.