Prelude No. 22 in B♭ minor, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 867)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 5 (Advanced) · Baroque · Piano

A grave, solemn prelude, almost a lament: slow five-voice chords tighten over a steady pulse of eighth notes. From the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I, 1722), preludes and fugues in all twenty-four keys. B♭ minor, 4/4, 24 bars (about one minute), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Shape each chord in the air before playing it, and hold the common notes from one chord to the next to keep the legato. Key signature with 5 flats: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together.

More pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach

• Partita 4 (BWV 828) — movement 6
• Aus meines Herzens Grunde (Chorale 1) (BWV 269)
• Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major (BWV 772)
• Prelude No. 1 in C major, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 846)
• Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A minor (BWV 784)
• Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779)
• Little Prelude in F major (BWV 928)
• Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D minor (BWV 775)

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0