Help
Skip to main content
Basket 0 items, $0.00

Sheet Music Downloads: Delivery is currently taking longer than usual. We’re working to restore instant access as soon as possible. Audio downloads are processing as normal.

Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Maurizio Pollini (piano)

Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
While Maurizio Pollini is not well known for his performances of Bach's music he is no stranger to it...His view of the music is almost invariably lyrical and often expressively intense...In...

BBC Music Magazine, May 20104 out of 5 stars

More reviews

Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Maurizio Pollini (piano)

Purchase product

Download

Audio formats guide

44.1 kHz, 16 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

$17.25

320 kbps, MP3

$12.50

This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now lossless, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit
Free 30 day trial
Fair Play.
We pay more royalties to artists and composers than any other streaming service with our innovative Fair Play pay-per-second model
We pay artists and composers fairly with our pay-per-second model
While Maurizio Pollini is not well known for his performances of Bach's music he is no stranger to it...His view of the music is almost invariably lyrical and often expressively intense...In...

BBC Music Magazine, May 20104 out of 5 stars

More reviews

About

Maurizio Pollini, a living legend of piano, records the benchmark repertoire of the Well-Tempered Clavier for the first time in his storied career. Thus, this album is an event – a summit meeting of masters.

Despite having played the Well-Tempered Clavier in concert halls for more than twenty years, Pollini intensively restudied the music before consenting to record it. His humility and dedication result in a transcendent performance that is less an interpretation than a revelation.

Hugely popular in its own right, as a Pollini project the Well-Tempered Clavier will excite critics and his fan base alike as a crown jewel of the Bach discography on any label.

Contents and tracklist

Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
Work length1:17:13
Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 / 1
Track length1:52
Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 / 2
Track length1:56
Prelude No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 847 / 1
Track length1:30
Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 847 / 2
Track length1:40
Prelude No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848 / 1
Track length1:13
Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848 / 2
Track length2:14
Prelude No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849 / 1
Track length2:43
Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849 / 2
Track length4:47
Prelude No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850 / 1
Track length1:11
Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850 / 2
Track length1:47
Prelude No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851 / 1
Track length1:25
Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851 / 2
Track length1:58
Prelude No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 852 / 1
Track length3:58
Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 852 / 2
Track length1:39
Prelude No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853 / 1
Track length3:24
Fugue No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853 / 2
Track length5:59
Prelude No. 9 in E Major, BWV 854 / 1
Track length1:23
Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 854 / 2
Track length1:11
Prelude No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 855 / 1
Track length2:18
Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 857 / 2
Track length1:10
Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 855 / 2
Track length0:54
Prelude No. 11 in F Major, BWV 856 / 1
Track length1:14
Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 856 / 2
Track length2:02
Prelude No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 857 / 1
Track length3:57
Prelude No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858 / 1
Track length1:15
Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858 / 2
Track length1:52
Prelude No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859 / 1
Track length1:03
Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859 / 2
Track length3:28
Prelude No. 15 in G Major, BWV 860 / 1
Track length0:56
Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 860 / 2
Track length2:52
Prelude No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 861 / 1
Track length2:00
Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 861 / 2
Track length2:19
Prelude No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 862 / 1
Track length1:33
Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 862 / 2
Track length2:21
Prelude No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863 / 1
Track length1:33
Fugue No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863 / 2
Track length2:36
Excerpt,Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
Work length33:12
Praeludium 19
Track length1:14
Fuga 19 a 3
Track length2:18
Praeludium 20
Track length1:02
Fuga 20 a 4
Track length3:47
Praeludium 21
Track length1:11
Fuga 21 a 3
Track length1:32
Praeludium 22
Track length3:00
Fuga 22 a 5
Track length3:33
Praeludium 23
Track length1:19
Fuga 23 a 4
Track length2:05
Praeludium 24
Track length5:08
Fuga 24 a 4
Track length7:03

Awards and reviews

May 2010

While Maurizio Pollini is not well known for his performances of Bach's music he is no stranger to it...His view of the music is almost invariably lyrical and often expressively intense...In short there is nothing mechanical, perfunctory or bland, and my sensibilities were often touched by playing that is untainted by reverence.
4 out of 5 stars

July 2010

Close listening reveals minute changes in tone colour, subtle and strategic deployment of the piano's una corda pedal, plus long phrases and fugal textures that have beginnings, middles and ends but no dead spots.

28th February 2010

There is patrician pianism here: the arpeggios of the opening C major prelude have the limpidity one associates with his celebrated Chopin, and he digs deep to give emotional weight to the long preludes...This is vintage Pollini
3 out of 5 stars

25th February 2010

Predictably, there's much to admire in Maurizio Pollini's first Bach recording: the sovereign authority projected through every bar, the sense of balance and aristocratic detachment, the perfect weight of tone.
3 out of 5 stars
View download progress

Download queue