BACH?KLAVIERBUCHLElN AND NOTENBUCH
Played by GORDON BRYAN (Pianoforte)
WHEN Bach's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann , was about ten years old, the great master compiled for him a little book of pieces for the klavier (as we should now say, for the pianoforte), mainly his own compositions, but including one or two taken from other sources. The instruction of the lad, and his practice, were no doubt what John Sebastian had in mind, but almost without exception, the little pieces are music which we treasure now for its own sake, -melodious and compactly knit with all the master's deft skill. Many of the pieces were afterwards included in other collections of his pianoforte music, a number of them, for instance, in the ' Well Tempered KJavier,' that monument of keyboard music. Sometimes the names by which they are denoted in Friedemami's little book are not those which Bach gave them later; some, for instance, to which he afterwards gave the name of Invention' ho calls here' Praeambulum.' Some are dance movements such as we find in the French and Italian Suites —Allemandes, Minuets, Courantes, and Gigues; some are simple chorales, and one or two are little choral preludes.
The pieces to bo played as ' Foundations of Music,' from Monday to Thursday inclusive, are all taken from Friedemann's little book; those for Friday and Saturday come from one of two similar books which Bach compiled for his second wife Anna Magdalena. She also had the benefit of careful teaching at his hands, and became musician enough to be a very real help to him in his work, making beautiful copies of some of his music, eventually in a handwriting so like his own that experts are often in some doubt whether it is hers or the master's. All the pieces to be played on Friday and Saturday are Bach's own except one little Rondo which Bach copied from Couperin.