J S BACH's THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER ( interpreted by S D Rodrian )

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Unlike, say, Chopin's piano pieces, J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is not a cycle written to exploit the capabilities of 'a' particular instrument. Instead these pieces are a mind-bogging record of sheer human ingenuity: Striking as they may be, individually, taken as a whole they embody an unparalleled record of never-ending novelties...

If not an even more striking novelty than the one before it, at the very least every piece makes you scratch your head as to how Bach could have yet come up with one more such wondrous a curiosity--Not merely as a complete conception, where each piece is concerned, but also in the case of almost every musical phrase after musical phrase throughout all the works in the assembly. And still there are pieces here which are beautiful beyond telling.
   COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Copyright (P) 1997 Mr. S. D. Rodrian
Although any transcription of Bach's music is by definition in the Public Domain, these 'interpretations' ARE copyrighted as performances:
This music may not be reproduced by any means without the expressed written permission of S. D. Rodrian... with the one exception that these Midi files (either in the ZIPped "JSB_WTC.ZIP" file or individually) may be freely distributed through the WWW as long as they are not modified in any way:
J S Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book ONE: 24 Preludes & Fugues.
MP3 versions of these files are available at:
Bach_Well-Tempered_Clavier_BOOK_ONE or at either:
http://mp3s.sdrodrian.com or:
http://mp3.sdrodrian.com
Midi file -------- work
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MIDIS

R-PF01.MID Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 846
R-PF02.MID Prelude and Fugue in cm BWV 847
R-PF03.MID Prelude and Fugue in C# BWV 848
R-PF04.MID Prelude and Fugue in c#m BWV 849
R-PF05.MID Prelude and Fugue in D BWV 850
R-PF06.MID Prelude and Fugue in dm BWV 851
R-PF07.MID Prelude and Fugue in Eb BWV 852
R-PF08.MID Prelude and Fugue in d#m BWV 853
R-PF09.MID Prelude and Fugue in E BWV 854
R-PF10.MID Prelude and Fugue in em BWV 855
R-PF11.MID Prelude and Fugue in F BWV 856
R-PF12.MID Prelude and Fugue in fm BWV 857
R-PF13.MID Prelude and Fugue in F# BWV 858
R-PF14.MID Prelude and Fugue in f#m BWV 859
R-PF15.MID Prelude and Fugue in G BWV 860
R-PF16.MID Prelude and Fugue in gm BWV 861
R-PF17.MID Prelude and Fugue in Ab BWV 862
R-PF18.MID Prelude and Fugue in g#m BWV 863
R-PF19.MID Prelude and Fugue in A BWV 864
R-PF20.MID Prelude and Fugue in am BWV 865
R-PF21.MID Prelude and Fugue in Bb BWV 866
R-PF22.MID Prelude and Fugue in bbm BWV 867
R-PF23.MID Prelude and Fugue in B BWV 868
R-PF24.MID Prelude and Fugue in bm BWV 869

J.S.Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book TWO: 24 Preludes & Fugues.
MP3 versions of these files are available at:
Bach_Well-Tempered_Clavier_BOOK_TWO or at either:
http://mp3s.sdrodrian.com or:
http://mp3.sdrodrian.com
Midi file -------- work
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MIDIS.
R-PFII01.MID Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 870
R-PFII02.MID Prelude and Fugue in cm BWV 871
R-PFII03.MID Prelude and Fugue in C# BWV 872
R-PFII04.MID Prelude and Fugue in c#m BWV 873
R-PFII05.MID Prelude and Fugue in D BWV 874
R-PFII06.MID Prelude and Fugue in dm BWV 875
R-PFII07.MID Prelude and Fugue in Eb BWV 876
R-PFII08.MID Prelude and Fugue in d#m BWV 877
R-PFII09.MID Prelude and Fugue in E BWV 878
R-PFII10.MID Prelude and Fugue in em BWV 879
R-PFII11.MID Prelude and Fugue in F BWV 880
R-PFII12.MID Prelude and Fugue in fm BWV 881
R-PFII13.MID Prelude and Fugue in F# BWV 882
R-PFII14.MID Prelude and Fugue in f#m BWV 883
R-PFII15.MID Prelude and Fugue in G BWV 884
R-PFII16.MID Prelude and Fugue in gm BWV 885
R-PFII17.MID Prelude and Fugue in Ab BWV 886
R-PFII18.MID Prelude and Fugue in g#m BWV 887
R-PFII19.MID Prelude and Fugue in A BWV 888
R-PFII20.MID Prelude and Fugue in am BWV 889
R-PFII21.MID Prelude and Fugue in Bb BWV 890
R-PFII22.MID Prelude and Fugue in bbm BWV 891
R-PFII23.MID Prelude and Fugue in B BWV 892
R-PFII24.MID Prelude and Fugue in bm BWV 893
I am making these files available now (rather than later) because I have reached a point of diminishing returns in their editing. That is, theoretically the pieces can always come closer still to the way I think they ought to be interpreted --but not by so much that it justifies my spending all that much more effort on it. Although it was fun while it lasted, it's time to work on something else now.
As a point of departure you must understand that I use the SoundBlaster AWE32 card (on a P.120 PC): This card comes with digitally sampled instruments. [I use Master Tracks Pro.]
On other software (provided the hardware is capable of digitally-sampled instruments), if you don't know how to avoid the FM banks of computer-generated instruments try the Midi Mapper (which might have been properly programmed with your card's wave table instruments).
These files are set to a minimum 'stereo' pan. The following set of 'controls' instructions are for the AWE32 card, but users of other cards may deduce the effect I'm after from them...
for the CREATIVE MIXER: set the Treble, Bass, and MIDI Volumes to their loudest possible settings. Then set MAIN VOLUME to play at your own particular comfort level. NOTE that the note 'velocities' in these files are set to the loudest possible setting (whenever and wherever possible).
Set all right/left 'balances' as close as possible to the center.
for the AWE32 CONTROL PANEL: Use the Qsound (not Reverb and Chorus).
for the BOB (break-out box): Make sure all the controller 'boxes' (under the M's) are unchecked... Save this setting to the default.bob file if need be: When any box is 'checked' it interferes with the controller information sent by the midi files for proper playback.
RETURN TO MAIN MIDI INDEX

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