Book 1

The 48 preludes and fugues that constitute the four CDs of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier have been in the works since the release of The Art of the Fugue CD in summer of 2001. The first part of this project, consisting of the entire first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, was recorded on July 19, 2002 at the KAS Music & Sound Studios in Astoria (formerly Master Sound) and is due for release in Spring of 2003. The remaining two CDs covering Book 2 will be recorded in summer 2003 and released during the subsequent months.

The entire project is also being planned as a multi-media DVD. That release will include video commentary on each prelude and fugue, synchronized scrolling music to accompany the audio, and the original MIDI files that created the performance. The video components have already been produced by Emmy award winning TV producers Juan Barrera and Molly McBride of Satya Productions.

About the Well-Tempered Clavier

The Well-Tempered Clavier is undoubtedly J.S.Bach's best known keyboard composition. It consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all twelve major and minor keys, 48 preludes and fugues in all. Book one was composed in 1722 while Bach was holding the position of court music director at the small principality of Coethen. Book two was composed quite a bit later, around 1740 in Leipzig. The main purpose of both books was to demonstrate the feasibility of a relatively new system of tuning keyboard instruments called "equal temperament" which theoretically enabled musicians to move freely between all possible major and minor keys.

A secondary objective was to offer young musicians a systematic learning method that covered all the technical and compositional requirements of musicianship. In this respect the work continued Bach's earlier didactic compositions created mainly for his family.

In lesser hands the project would have emerged as a dry academic exercise. But for Bach this was an opportunity to engage his boundless imagination and produce an astonishing panorama of styles, moods, and musical inventions. No two preludes or fugues bear the same format and the range of styles is breathtaking. It is a work of genius, of consummate craftsmanship, and yet Bach's supreme technical mastery is never allowed to draw attention to itself and detract from the sheer dramatic or lyrical impact of the music.

 For detailed liner notes on the Preludes & Fugues - click here

About this Musical Sculpting CD

The greatest challenge of playing a multiple-voiced fugue on the piano is to make it sound as if played by individual players. Performers often have to sacrifice the consistency of an inner voice because of the limitation of the human hand, and most listeners find it difficult to follow more than two voices simultaneously.

The process of Musical Sculpting is intended to solve both problems. The individual voices are recorded one voice at a time eliminating technical difficulties and hence any compromises. This process enables me to give each voice an individual character that the voice can maintain throughout the piece. From the listener's point of view this process makes it easier to follow the multiple voices of even such complex fugues as the Contrapuncti of The Art of the Fugue.

This CD was programmed at Yamaha Artist Services in New York and recorded at the Astoria Master Sound studio on a Yamaha Disklavier PRO DCFIIIS

About The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst Der Fuge)

The Art of the Fugue ranks amongst the great artistic and intellectual achievements of our civilization. It is not only Bach's personal testament, being the final work of his life, but also serves as a summary of the entire preceding era of polyphonic music. The twenty two fugues and canons grow out of a single simple theme into a monumental compositional edifice.

• Chopin: Bolero Op. 19 - A little known virtuoso piece by Chopin perhaps more Polish than Spanish, but charming all the same.

• Chopin: Ballade No. 4 - This archival recording is from Taussig's graduation recital at the Universty of Toronto, Edward Johnson Recital Hall (1970). It was part of an unusually ambitious program; The Ginastera Sonata opened the concert followed by Beethoven's Op. 111 before intermission, and the second half consisted of all four Chopin Ballades.

• Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 - This is from a CBC vinyl release of 1972

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in C
  

• The concerto was recorded by the CBC Vancouver chamber orchestra with John Eliot Gardner conducting the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra in a studio recording around 1980 or 81 (?).
  

• Piano Sonata Op. 111
• Part of Taussig's graduation recital from the University of Toronto in 1970 (see above - The Romantic Virutoso)
  

• Prokofiev Sarcasms Op. 19 -
  
• The Prokofiev Sarcasms Op. 19 comes from a CBC vinyl release of 1972. Two alternative versions exists in the archive, one earlier and the other from 1976(?).
  

• Bartok Improvisations Op. 20
• This recording was a live radio broadcast that dates from the mid-70s. I performed the work along with the original field recordings of peasant songs that were the inspiration for this work, as a multi-media presentation.