”The ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ is the Old Testament, Beethoven's sonatas the New. We must believe in both.” Hans von Bülow.

The preludes and fugues of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” embrace an entire cosmos of compositional devices and musical characters – the “ne plus ultra” of ‘unity through diversity’. Here Bach not only presented the sum total of keyboard artistry in his day but foresaw its future evolution.His treatment of the keys marked a turning point in music history.

The autograph score, originally a fair copy, contains later revisions and alterations reflecting the composer at work.

This new facsimile edition presents the manuscript in high-quality four-colour reproduction. Bach authority Christoph Wolff provides a Commentary to the work’s genesis and the characteristics of Bach’s handwriting.

Martina Rebmann(Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) describes the subsequent history of the autograph.