Prelude of the Week for Lent I, JS Bach’s Prelude in d minor
Prelude of the Week for First Sunday of Lent
Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude VI in d minor
from The Well Tempered Clavier Bk 1, composed 1722
“In all times of sorrow; in all times of joy…”
These words from the Great Litany, recited in our Lent 1 worship service, could serve as a gloss to the choice of today’s Prelude by J. S. Bach (1685-1750). The two books of the Well Tempered Clavier have been my bread and butter, my constant companions over the last forty plus years. It is a rare day that I do not play at least one, and usually a few, of these incomparable Preludes and Fugues on my piano. Sorting out the various guises of the themes, finding the correct tempo for the piece, deciding how to articulate the phrases, among other musical and technical concerns, sorts out the mind, calms anxiety, and gives profound satisfaction.
My Hungarian piano teacher, whom I have mentioned before, used to say that no time at the piano is ever wasted time. For me, exploring the volumes of The Well Tempered Clavier is an experience at once intellectual, emotional and spiritual. I marvel at Bach’s seemingly infinite invention, his perfect command of his musical language, his wit, humor, delicacy, strength and profound humanity. He himself saw his music as glorifying God, as his long and prolific career as a church musician certainly illustrates.
In the few original annotations and written phrases in his manuscripts, Bach also shows us what was in his mind and heart. At the end of the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach wrote three letters: SDG, “Soli Deo Gloria” – “Only for the Glory of God.” In another telling annotation in a book of Biblical texts Bach used for his Cantatas, he writes in the margin next to a passage about 2 Chronicles 5, “N. B. Where there is devotional music, God with his grace is always present.”
Because I understand the moment of a musical Prelude as time to move from our everyday lives into the space of communal prayer and praise, every note I play is devoted to that purpose. I hope, by my offering of music, to help draw us into that receptive and generous place where we are ready to worship together. The infinite variety of music, like the glories of Nature, reveal the wonder of Creation, and in Bach, in the Well Tempered Clavier, true riches abound.
If you are interested to read more about The Well Tempered Clavier (including the meaning of the title) this article from Vermont Public Radio is a good start. [https://www.vpr.org/post/timeline-029-well-tempered-clavier#stream/0]
Faithfully yours,
Mary Therese
