Difficulty of pieces in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier?

Question

I'm having a hard time on the order of difficulty of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, like which one is to be learned first and which ones are next . . . and so on . . .

Do you have any idea on what the order of it be played? I assume Prelude no. 1 in C Major (the one with the superimposed Ave Maria melody) is the easiest . . . So what comes next?

Answer 1

Bach didn't compose these as technical exercises, per se; they are not intended to be 'graded' compositions that let you step up your technique level by level. His intention in writing them was to demonstrate that musicality did not have to be sacrificed when playing in remote keys if one was to use the equal temperament system; thus, each work is as musical and pianistically idiomatic as the next, albeit sometimes in different ways. The difficulty of the pieces is purely incidental, and it's often as difficult as you want to make it. The C major prelude is probably not as easy as you think if you want to consider changes in dynamics and tempo that are implied by the harmonic progressions. Similarly, the fugues may appear fairly easy until you consider that you're supposed to consider and play each voice independantly and that you must understand and highlight every appearence of the subject and counter-subject clearly.



Since the book is broken into two-part units, a prelude and fugue in each key and mode, there's generally a fair mix of ease and difficulty in each set. The C major prelude is, compared to many other preludes, fairly easy. However, it can't be considered seperately from its fugue, which is by no means easy. While some fugues (C sharp Minor, D Sharp Minor, B Minor, G sharp minor book 2) are definitely much harder than others, it's not really possible to say that any one fugue is the easiest. Fugues are, by their very nature, the hardest type of composition for a pianist to play well. so even the simplest of those in the WTC require a lot of study and consideration.



So, to recap, there is no graded order of difficulty for the WTC. These are not pianistic technical exercises, but rather studies in the musical, harmonic and pianistic possibilities of each key, so it is pointless to discuss which is more 'difficult' in terms of pure technical concerns, just as it is pointless (in my opinion) to play them without considering their compositional musical qualities. Any given prelude and fugue set can be played independantly as part of a recital or something, and there are occasional performances of one entire book of the WTC in one sitting. Such performances simply take them in the order they're given, i.e. in ascending chromatic order.

Answer 2

C major is NOT the easiest as a fair. The fugue is difficult. I would go in roughly this order:



B flat major

D minor

C minor

A flat major

D major

F sharp major



Many consider F minor from book II to be the easiest as a whole. G major from book II is also less difficult.

Answer 3

Grab a copy of the Two- and Three-part inventions. They are deceptively simple. ... you'll be bald (by old age or pulling your hair) out by the time you've mastered them.