Prelude in D major, WTC I
D major at full tilt - Bach showing off.
The Prelude in D major (BWV 850) from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier is perhaps the most overtly brilliant prelude in the entire collection. D major was the key of trumpets and kettledrums in the Baroque orchestra, and Bach writes for the keyboard as if it could produce that same ceremonial brightness: rapid scale passages, broken chords that span the full range of the instrument, and a rhythmic drive that never lets up across the prelude's compact span.
Written in 1722, the piece stands in vivid contrast to the more introspective preludes on either side of it in the WTC sequence. It makes no apologies for its extroversion. The player's job is not to find hidden depth but to execute the sparkle cleanly - and in doing so, discover that achieving that clean execution is itself the depth.
Accuracy first, then speed.
The rapid passages in this prelude are unforgiving: a single missed note in a scale run registers immediately because there is no sustain or accompaniment to mask it. Loop each four-bar unit at 60% tempo until every note speaks cleanly, then gradually increase the tempo. The right hand's scale passages benefit from deliberate fingering decisions made once and kept consistent throughout.
Before you practice.
01 Is the D major prelude BWV 850 harder than the C major BWV 846?
Yes, noticeably. BWV 850 uses faster runs that alternate between hands and demands more articulate fingerwork than the smooth arpeggios of the C major prelude.
02 How many measures is the D major WTC prelude?
35 bars in 4/4, with a consistent sixteenth-note texture that keeps both hands active throughout.
Evenness is the whole game.
Use the loop tool on any passage where the right-hand scales feel uneven - usually the fingering transition at the octave break is the culprit. Play those bars hands separately at 50% tempo, exaggerating the finger lift on each note, before combining hands. Once both hands are clean, the piece almost plays itself.
