New-York tribune., 1910-07-31

that they were composed 10 ne4p prayer 10 d.
tain to a cdnfdbilc style
His Ioyeliest work, the fOrty-eight preIudes
and fugues in all the keys major and MINOR
known as THE Well Tempered Clavichord' not
only had the educational purpose already as
signed to it but was also tribute to that one OF
the clavier Instruments which was most capable
If expression It's melodies, whether treated
freely, as in the preludes, or strictly, as IN the
fugues are full of the charm OF spontaneous
song. and are in a spiritual sense as eloquent
voice of romanticism as the rec1tatlves II the
"Chromatic Prelude" and the efforts at the ex-
preston of set ideas in the "CaprIcc1o on the
Departure of a Beloved Brother are IN a ma
terfaI Ii pIeases me when 1 hear the sharp
ira ior fugue To think that Bach probably found
the inspiration for such themes on those sun
day excursions which. he tells US, he used TO
make in order to rejoice and refresh hhlsel1 a0
popular merrymakings with the songs ana
dances of the folk In further explanation OF Ine
title and puroose of THE Well Tempered Claw
cbordr If ray be said that it composed TO
illustrate ne practicability OF equal tempeFi-
ment- In ,Iaviers tuned according 10 the SE9-
TEN approved ~ Bach all the tWenty-IouF Ae4S
in ebroma.ic succession are equally in tune.
whereas In the system formerly employed GER
tain keys had u be avoided For instance b
sharp major and Q sharp major never Bach
gathered the first twenty-four preIudes ana
fusues together in 1122 and the second set IN
11H OF the first set three copies are eXtdIll III
Bach's handwriting: Of the second there IS no
complete autograph The work was not pr-n'-d
until 1900.
By Bach's four duets for two clavierS. ms
variations for cIavier with two keyboards. eelo
effects in other works and the compositions
specified as written for clavlcembaIo 'h+tpSl-
cbord,. as we'll as other works in which the
clavier figures in association with other lIStTU-
ments. the student should be warned that the
notes as written down and afterWard printed oS
no means represent the music as it was lttud'iS
heard in Bachs time. The mechanical eoAStruc-
ton of the harpsichord, with its several sets "i
strings and its couplers, placed at the command
of the player a much greater variety ana VOL
ume of sound in proportion To the norma Fo''e
of the instrument than can be obtained rom
the pianoforte to-day. Since the name cl E,-"
is so frequently bracketed with that Of List II
seems also we'll to explain that SIX OF b'itHS
rreIudes and fugues for the organ were iran
scribed for the pianOforte by List Ihe TaH-
scriptions We're experiment Llszt desiring To
see what effect could be produced on piano
forte with works which their creator intended 10
be played upon the organ. with its multlpHcl'S
of keyboards-two or three for the hands and
one for the feet In reducing the mechanism
which was at Bachs service to its lowest terms
so to speak LisZt, anxious not to sacrifice any
of the original pOlyphonic fabric, produced a set
of virtuoso pieces which long remained his pFl-
yate property. He made the transcrlptIons ID
1912 and it was more than ten years later tilat
he yielded to the pleadings of Dehn and gave
them to the public. III T. n