B AC H ’ S P R E L U D E A N D F U G U E I N C M I N O R : A S T U DY O F T H E VA R I O U S E D I T I O N S AVA I L A B L E T O A N A R T I S T

There is made available to any serious student of Bach a huge number of editions

of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach’s WTC has been published in hundreds of different editions over the past century and there is much debate over stylistic interpretation. Bach originally did not provide many directives in his compositions. However, there is a deluge of editions now available to the public with many added musical elements such as dynamics, fingerings, and articulations. This presents an interesting dilemma to those interested in purchasing the work for use. Which edition is appropriate? Which would you tell someone to buy? What follows is an analysis of three editions of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in c minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, in light of these questions. As most choices of editions are made by piano teachers for their students, the edition chosen will aim to be one most appropriate for this demographic.

One’s choice of which edition to use lies, in part, with whether one has a

predilection for historical accuracy or for embellished interpretations. Bach rarely provided directions for tempo, articulation, dynamics or phrasing, and therefore the addition of these into any edition is a matter of interpretation by the editor based upon informed and professional judgement. Czerny’s 1837 edition is perhaps one of the most widely published editions of the WTC. Czerny’s work is replete with fortissimos, pianos, diminuendos, crescendos, sforzandos and the like. The choice to add these musical elements came in part from Czerny’s subjective experiences gleaned from listening to Beethoven’s interpretations of Bach’s pieces. Beethoven’s use of added dynamics, phrasing and articulations were not