CSMA Distinguished Piano Faculty Member Dr. Axel Schmitt performed a free in-person concert at Tateuchi Hall on Saturday, November 5, 2022. He celebrated the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier–a compendium of 24 Preludes and Fugues in all Major and minor keys completed in 1722.
We spoke with Axel Schmitt to learn more about him and what the audience can expect from his performance at Tateuchi Hall.
Axel Schmitt, pianist
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EARLY EXPERIENCES LEARNING, PLAYING AND PERFORMING MUSIC.
I came to the piano pretty late and did not have any formal piano lessons until age eleven, so I was quite behind and had a lot to catch up on. After hearing pianists such as Sviatoslav Richter and Alfred Brendel in recital, I became more and more fascinated by the piano and soon decided that I wanted to be a musician.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BACH’S THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER FOR YOU AND IN THE WORLD OF CLASSICAL MUSIC?
The Well-Tempered Clavier has been called the “Old Testament” for pianists (the Beethoven Sonatas are the “New Testament” according to the Franz Liszt-student Hans von Bülow.) The work is the first and most important compendium of keyboard music comprising all 24 Major and Minor keys that have influenced virtually every composer and pianist after Bach. The title of the work refers to the well-tempered tuning system introduced in the Baroque period, which first made it possible to play in all major and minor keys. Before Bach, composers and performers rarely dared to venture beyond keys with more than three or four accidentals. The term “clavier” encompasses all keyboard instruments of Bach’s time, such as the clavichord, harpsichord, organ and even early fortepianos (the modern piano did not exist yet). One cannot say it better than Robert Schumann, who called The Well-Tempered Clavier “the work of all works.”
WHAT SHOULD A LISTENER WHO IS NEW TO BACH TAKE AWAY FROM HIS MUSIC?
Like most great art, The Well-Tempered Clavier is a challenge, both for the performer and the listener. It has an educational component. We have a greater appreciation the more we learn about the music. This is an intimate work that is not conceived for the concert hall and big crowds. We know from the title page that Bach wrote it “for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study.” It would make me happy if a listener wanted to hear more of Bach’s music or if they want to hear the work again to get to know it in greater detail.
TELL US ABOUT THE PROGRAM FOR YOUR UPCOMING CONCERT.
This concert will be devoted to the complete first part of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach composed a second part about two decades later, which is another set of 24 Preludes and Fugues. Each of the two parts is complete in itself and it is unusual for Bach to cover the same ground twice. For each major and minor key, Bach composed a pair of pieces in a wide range of styles: the Prelude, usually free-flowing and improvisational, is followed by a fugue in a stricter contrapuntal manner, ranging from two to five voices. As Bach provided very few tempo, dynamic and articulation markings in the score, the performer has to make many personal decisions, including the use of (or abstinence from) the pedal, which did not exist on Bach’s instruments.
