Prelude in C Major, BWV 846 -- Urtext

Praeludium - Präludium - From the Well-Tempered Clavier

This Prelude 1, BWV 846 is probably the easiest composition in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

This prelude in C Major is the first prelude in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

It can be studied by early-intermediate pianists.

Prelude BWV 846 appears also in the Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach [Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach] (1725).

This notebook was filled with favorite selections of the members of the Bach family.

There is also a slightly different version of this prelude, known as Prelude BWV 846A, in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Bach's Prelude BWV 846 consists of a simple progression of arpeggiated chords.

It is one of Johann Sebastian Bach's most famous compositions for the keyboard.

Please note that some sources show a trill of the last E of measure 34.

If playing this trill, be sure to start it on the upper auxiliary note.

It served as the inspiration for Gounod's Ave Maria.

Duration : 02:03

Source : Johann Sebastian Bach, Das wohltemperierte Klavier 1 [The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1] (1722).