Fugue

Frankly speaking, the most challenging piece in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, in my opinion, is none other than this A major fugue. While my students play it without difficulty, it was quite a struggle for me. This fugue is also very difficult to play. However, in my case, the tempo tends to be quite fast, which I believe contributes to the difficulty.

As with other fugues, avoid using the pedal as much as possible in this fugue. This is to prevent muddiness from the fast sixteenth notes. The places where the pedal is primarily needed are where the dotted eighth note + sixteenth note rhythm occurs. Measures 5, 20, and 23-24 are examples of where this rhythm appears. The purpose is to sustain the dotted eighth note until the following sixteenth note.

Let's take measure 23 as an example. Between beats 3 and 4, this rhythm appears in both the soprano and bass. Ideally, one would simply hold the dotted eighth note with the finger and connect it to the sixteenth note, but this becomes very difficult when inner voices are involved. Therefore, for instance, from around the upbeat of beat 3 in measure 23, briefly depress the pedal to connect to the next sixteenth note. This pattern is repeated thereafter. Of course, there are several other places where a brief pedal is used not only for dotted eighth notes but also to connect other notes. In measure 25, beat 1, the pedal is used to sustain the bass eighth note E for its full duration. This is because the left hand must play the alto voice immediately after playing E.

Other suggestions are as follows:

• In measure 6, it is easier if the right hand plays only the sixteenth notes, and all other notes are taken by the left hand. The exception is the alto note B on the upbeat of beat 4, which should be taken by the right hand.
• In measure 5, on the upbeat of beat 4, both the sixteenth notes A and F# should be taken by the left hand, leading directly into measure 6.
• In measure 24, beat 4, the alto sixteenth notes B, F#, G#, A should be played by the right hand, using fingerings 2-1-1-1 or 2-1-2-1. Be careful not to release the soprano F#.
• In measure 29, beat 2, for the alto sixteenth notes E, D, C#, B, it is advisable to take D, C#, B with the left hand.