Have you ever received a Christmas gift from someone that was so perfect, and so unexpected, that you just stood there with your mouth hanging open wondering how you were so lucky to even know this person, let alone be spending the rest of your life with her? That's how I felt when Deirdre gave me two tickets each for two back-to-back concerts of Daniel Barenboim playing Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier , Books I and II, at Carnegie Hall. What we know today as Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier was finished in 1722. It consists of 24 preludes and fugues in all 12 major and minor keys. The first prelude and fugue is in C major, the second in C minor, the third in C# major, the fourth in C# minor, and so on. The precise purpose of this work is unknown. Certainly Bach liked to assemble challenging practice pieces for keyboard students. It is also believed that he was trying to demonstrate the utility of a tuning system for keyboard instruments that would accomodate all possible keys (hence the Read More...