The Well-Tempered Clavier: Books I and II, Complete (Dover Classical Piano Music)

Dover's strategy of reprinting venerable old editions of classical masterworks has been a godsend for musicians everywhere. Many of their reprints are of critical editions that were the best available at the time. Kroll's edition of Bach works for the Bach Gesellschaft, the source of this particular Dover volume, dates from the mid-nineteenth century, but his Well-Tempered Clavier holds up well scholarship-wise. Although the editors of the modern Henle publication had the benefit of being able to access Bach's autograph of Book II, the differences for the most part are not crucial, and the readings in the Dover volume are entirely defensible even today. Having both books of this cornerstone of the keyboard literature together in one easy-to-read volume makes this a bargain hard to pass up for performers, scholars and serious listeners alike. The one disadvantage for those interested in the many variant readings of these pieces is that only the editor's choice is given. For a comprehensive survey of the former, the Hans Bischoff edition is worth digging up--it has been reprinted both by Kalmus and G. Schirmer. Incidentally, I feel compelled to respond to some textual comments on the work itself from other reviewers: 1) The minor ending of the G-sharp minor Fugue from Book I is the reading generally accepted as correct; 2) The extra measure found in some editions of the C major Prelude from Book I is spurious, the product of an overzealous editor of the one of the early printed editions of the WTC, Schwenke. Unfortunately Gounod included it in his Ave Maria based on this prelude, which has ensured its continued existence.

Another incredible bargain from Dover. Although I think their edition of the Beethoven complete string quartets (in a single volume!) is probably the best buy in all of music, this edition of The Well Tempered Clavier is a strong competitor. (If only it had included The Art of Fugue!) This is the edition I recommend for my students because of the clarity, absence of artificial or misleading editorial markings, ease of page turns, and cost. It is not perfect; what edition EVER is--in this case, one of my quibbles is that of all the minor key fugues, only ONE (g# minor) ends without a piccardy (raised) third--it simply must be an oversight, and interestingly the accidental already present in the key signature is repeated unnecessarily. Surely B natural should have been B sharp in the final measure. Regardless of the slight problems, this is the single best tool to learn Baroque counterpoint in general and fugue specifically. No textbook I know of is capable of demonstrating the fluidity of form, nor describing the sophistication of melodic and contrapuntal writing that Bach employs. Every book I know of oversimplifies or even avoids the issues that Bach so admirably handles. The answers are here, in the music, not in a text. Absolutely invaluable for the serious music student.

This edition is certainly the most inexpensive on the market. True, it is "no frills" Bach--without the help of fingerings and phrasing--but I found the edition very useful. For instance, the Alfred edition takes up six pages for the Fugue in C# Maj, Book I, whereas this Dover edition only takes two. I found this very useful when playing from this edition because page turns are impossible with Bach!!

No doubt we should be pleased with this edition, stripped clean of editorials, phrasings, and fingerings, it seems very close to the "source," as Bach wrote it without the frills and boxes of an "expert" interpretation. For a basic manuscript, this is the one, complete and clear. It elucidates how much room Bach left us to find ourselves in his music, rather than finding Czerny or Tovey. In this edition, Bach's assurances as a great teacher shine through: solve it yourself, but know that it is all possible.