Prelude No. 4 in C♯ minor, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 849)

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

A slow, singing prelude in 6/4, almost an aria in several voices: a long, ornamented melody over a calmly walking bass. From the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I, 1722), preludes and fugues in all twenty-four keys. C♯ minor, 6/4, 39 bars (about 3 minutes), 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.
• The edition’s appoggiaturas and mordents are not written here: sing the melody alone first, then add them once the notes are secure. Key signature with 4 sharps: 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