Prelude No. 2 BWV 847

The Anacrouse collection offers pianists, beginners and advanced alike, a wide choice of classical works from the Renaissance to the present day. It brings together major works of the repertoire as well as rarer pieces, and also offers transcriptions for piano solo or four hands, selected for their musical and educational interest. Each score, available individually, benefits from careful editorial work: a rigorously established musical text, clear and legible engraving, accompanied by a short biography of the composer and a note on the work.

The “Prelude No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847” is a piece of irresistible driving energy, taken from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. From a pedagogical point of view, it is a first-rate exercise for developing the independence and evenness of the hands, while working on wrist suppleness through a continuous flow of semiquavers. The final section, marked by changes of tempo (Presto, Adagio, Allegro), also makes it possible to approach freedom of interpretation and the shaping of the musical discourse.

Contrasting with the serenity of the first prelude in C major, this work by Johann Sebastian Bach displays a more tormented, impetuous character. Although initially conceived for study, this prelude bears witness to Bach’s genius for transforming a simple rhythmic cell into a dramatic sonic architecture, foreshadowing in some respects the intensity of Romanticism.