Watch this great performance by András Schiff playing the Prelude in F minor. Most famous pieces in the collection: Prelude and fugue in F minor Number of pieces: 24 pairs of preludes and fugues Watch this great performance by András Schiff playing the first and famous Prelude in C major. Most famous pieces in the collection: Prelude and Fugue in C major, Prelude and Fugue B flat, Prelude and Fugue C minor, and Prelude and Fugue G minor Number of pieces: 24 pairs of preludes and fuguesĭifficulty: ranges from late-intermediate to advanced The well-tempered in the title refers to the employment of a tuning system that would work equally well in all keys-a circumstance rare in Bach’s day.

The first pair is in C major, the second in C minor, the third in C♯ major, the fourth in C♯ minor, and so on. Each set contains 24 pairs of prelude and fugue. It explores the distinct character and mood of each of the 12 major and 12 minor keys and constitutes the largest-scale and most-influential undertaking for solo keyboard of the Baroque era.

The Well-tempered Clavier is a collection of 48 preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach, published in two books (17). Well-tempered Clavier, Book I and Book II by J.

The following list outlines each collection, including excellent performances from great pianists around the world. You don't need to learn and digest every piece of each collection (that's a gargantuan task!), but becoming familiar with this repertoire is essential for every pianist. We often refer to entire collections that stand out given their musical quality and artistic innovation. But some pieces emerge as staples of not only piano music but classical music in general. There's a large number of piano compositions that were developed over the centuries.

Essential piano repertoire level 2