Bach - WTC II Prelude and fugue no. 20 in A minor BWV 889 - Schornsheim | Netherlands Bach Society

For the dignified and slightly melancholy key of A minor, Bach chose a pair of works filled with mirrors. Whereas the deadly serious prelude barely has room to breathe, the fugue provides relaxation. It’s almost humorous – and let’s be honest, that’s not exactly what the Thomaskantor is known for. The prelude is strictly constructed, with a complete inversion in the middle. Chromaticism dominates the picture. What a relief when the fugue opens with calmness and space. Exuberantly, Bach sends the fingers flying over the whole keyboard; first dancing from top to bottom, and then up to the top again in a scale of trills covering more than two octaves. Here we find Bach at his wittiest. Twenty years after his first collection of music in every key imaginable, Bach completed a second ’Wohltemperirte Clavier’. We recorded his first book of Preludes and Fugues at the homes of 24 different musicians. For this second part, performed in its entirety by Christine Schornsheim, we chose 12 very different locations in Utrecht, to celebrate the 900th anniversary of our home city. Recorded for the project All of Bach on on 12 September 2022 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, the Netherlands. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel and consider donating For the interview with Christine Schornsheim on the Wohltemperirte Clavier II and the process of recording this in its entirety, see For more information on BWV 889 and this production go to All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material on For concert dates and tickets go to Christine Schornsheim, harpsichordist Harpsichord: Bruce Kennedy, 1989 after Michael Mietke 0:00 Prelude 5:40 Fugue